What is Email Marketing?
Email Marketing is a form of marketing used to make customers aware of new products and discounts. Mails can also be used to convince leads to make a purchase, sign up for a subscription, register for an event, book a demo, and many more.
It is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing and communication. Also one of the most effective forms yet very competitive. There are many other methods available in the market for communication with the audience like social media, but email is still the monarch in the marketing field with over 4.5 Billion users.
Email Marketing is the most effective marketing form with an ROI (Return on investment) of $36 per every dollar spent on budget. Email marketing ranks in the top position despite the entry of social media marketing, affiliate marketing, and SEO.
Is Email Marketing Dead?
No one can deny that other social media platforms rose abruptly in the last decade. But the thing to keep in mind is that users need a mail address to log in to the social media platform. So, they have mail and that’s what an email marketer needs.
Data analysis on FinancesOnline shows an increase in mail users every year.
According to HubSpot, four out of five marketers gave up on social media marketing over email marketing.
Modern forms of email marketing are more focused on consent, segmentation, and personalization instead of old-fashioned one-size-fits-all. Personalization and designing may sound time-consuming, but most of the load is leveraged by automation. In the long term, well-designed email marketing builds community around the brand and brings sales.
So, Email marketing is definitely not dead or outdated.
Also Read – Marketing Automation Bizleads Summit 2022
Why Email Marketing is Important
The email was invented in 1971. This 51-year-old technology is used by most users and by most digital marketers over any other social media. There is a rise in the popularity of other social media, but email has numerous advantages and more users.
- Personalization: Email marketing campaigns provide a wider range of customization options than other social media.
- Low cost: Compared to other marketing channels, email marketing costs are significantly less considering its reach and conversion rate. Low-cost marketing makes it ideal for small businesses.
- Direct access: Email marketing provides direct access to the individual inbox. That makes this channel powerful.
Still not convinced, have a look at the facts:
- There are over 4.5 billion email users across the planet.
- Over 80% of email users check their inboxes at least once per day. one-fourth of them do it multiple times a day.
- 62% of consumers prefer email over other communication mediums with businesses.
Considering these data, statistics, and advantages, neglecting email marketing in digital marketing strategy will result in lost sales opportunities as well as missing out on the chance to build enduring customer relationships.
The Benefits of Email Marketing
Emails are widely used for order confirmation, subscription to the newsletter, and promotion of awareness about new products. They are the most essential part of business growth and management.
Some key benefits of email marketing are:
1. Conversions
Personalised offers on special occasions of subscribers like birthdays and anniversaries are a way of re-engagement. Apart from a promotional email, this is also a way to make a subscriber to conversion.
Consider sending an abandoned cart email when the subscriber left the items in the cart and doesn’t checkout.
2. Brand awareness
Email ranks on top when it comes to one-to-one communication. The scalability of email marketing allows brands to send a large number of emails at once while remaining cost-effective compared to other marketing channels.
People these days don’t let everyone into their inbox which is curated and reserved for specific and favourite brands and publications.
Nowadays, people only allow certain, favourite brands and publications into their inboxes. Showing up in their curated and reserved inbox will keep the brand alive in their mind.
3. Customer loyalty and Communication
Emails are the most powerful way to build a loyal community. It drives customers’ loyalty from Lead-nurturing to conversion and retention. This form of direct and streamlined communication is the most essential tool to use alongside sales.
In short, email marketing is the most powerful channel for the business to drive more sales by reaching a wider audience, reclaiming abandoned cart sales, and developing the most loyal community while maintaining cost-effectiveness.
Fundamentals of Email Marketing
Keep some fundamentals in mind to maximise the output of the email marketing campaign.
1. Use Engaging Titles
Interesting subject lines decides the opening rate of emails. Use eye-catchy subject lines but do not make them clickbait and spammy. Users might unsubscribe or mark the email as spam if deceived.
2. Use CTA
Use the click-to-action button in your email to bring readers to your landing page or to make them do something else.
3. Stay Short
Keep the email short and to the point as most of the emails are opened on mobile phones. If needed, bring the reader to a landing page.
4. Do not feel Robotic
The recipient receives lots of emails daily and most of them are ignored. To stand out, use their name and remain to the point. Talk about their benefits.
5. Never Buy Email List
First of all, buying an email list is illegal. Secondly, most of the email addresses in those lists are dead and don’t deliver ROI.
6. Deliver What you Promise
If you are offering a great deal or content, make sure you deliver what you promised. Don’t make a fool of your subscribers. This action will increase the unsubscription rate and mark you as spam as well.
Types of Email Marketing Campaigns
There are several types of email marketing serving different purposes in different avenues. You should choose and design your campaign according to your needs and purposes.
Welcome emails
These types of emails are sent when a new customer signs up in your domain. Design an email that encourages them to learn more about your products and services. Offer them trials or discounts to introduce a potential customer to your business.
Newsletter emails
These types of emails are the most popular and often contain calls to action for subscribers to do something. It might be customer reviews or checking out new services or products. These types of emails can also be used to bring subscribers to read a new blog post.
Confirmation emails
These types of emails are sent to those who have recently signed up, subscribed to a newsletter, and purchased something. These emails are a way to let the customer know that they are in for receiving additional information and their order is confirmed if they made a purchase.
Dedicated emails
These types of emails are sent to only a portion of the email list. This list contains inactive users and those who have some occasions like birthdays and anniversaries. These emails are also sent to those who have recently purchased something.
Promotional emails
These types of emails are more common and generic. They are usually used to maintain brand awareness and to tease new products and services and are sent to a large audience at once.
Invite emails
These types of emails are usually used to announce upcoming events and seminars. These types of emails are used to gain attention and increase awareness.
Survey emails
Feedback from customers for your product and service is one of the best ways to improve your quality. These emails are used to collect feedback, reviews, and ratings. These emails also show the costumes that their feedback matters to the brand. Businesses also can use feedback to improve and create a better product.
Email Marketing Strategies
To succeed in email marketing, consider some key strategies in mind. Here are some best practices:
1. Clean Email list
One of the most essential email marketing strategies is keeping email lists clean from incorrect email addresses and dormant subscribers. Removing them will maintain the sender’s (domain and IP address) reputation.
2. Right Email list-building strategies.
The pillar of a successful email marketing campaign is the correct strategy for building an email list. In a case study, Linkedin was found to be the best email list builder for B2B brands but failed for B2C brands.
To build a good email list, consider
- Offer a coupon or discount on some product
- Provide some downloadable stuff
- Hosting a webinar
3. Be one objective specific
Design every campaign around one objective. Cluttering the email with multiple objectives will confuse the subscribers and eventually lead to a decrease in conversion rates.
4. Keep engaging with subscribes regularly
Consistently sending emails to your subscribers is crucial for maintaining engagement and achieving a high conversion rate. To ensure successful email marketing campaigns, it’s essential to use reliable email marketing campaign software that facilitates regular communication and relationship nurturing.
Consider removing dead or cold subscribers from email lists or consider running a re-engagement campaign.
Conclusion
Email marketing has proven itself the best channel for direct communication in past decades. If you are missing out on email marketing, consider adding it to your marketing portfolio.
FAQs
What are email marketing regulations?
CAN-SPAM and GDPR (for Europe) make sure that you protect users’ privacy. Avoid purchasing email lists as these regulations also keep check on this.
What is email automation?
Email automation is the use of certain tools to send emails to a user a notification email when they leave items in their cart. Automated emails are also used as confirmation notifications of purchases.