No matter who your target audience is, chances are that email marketing is part of your overall marketing strategy.
But, with more and more people getting information and engaging with social media posts and some people automatically deleting things in their “promotions” folder, is email marketing really worth it in the 21st century ?
The short answer is yes! Read on to learn why email marketing should remain a part of your marketing plan.
What is email marketing?
In a nutshell, email marketing can be defined as any email communication sent to a potential customer with the intention of converting them into a sale. But as a marketer, it's best to think of email marketing as a personalized communication flow that builds a relationship of trust between you, your brand, and your contact.
How does email marketing work?
There are two main types of email marketing: inbound and outbound. The input is generally used by B2C brands, while the output is usually for B2B companies.
We'll focus primarily on inbound marketing, but the thing to know about outbound marketing is that it's often used for email content marketing to engage with other businesses for collaboration and backlinks.
Otherwise, when getting started with email marketing , you first need to gain email subscribers . So, you create email marketing campaigns targeting the type of people who have signed up to receive your emails.
After some a/b testing for your email marketing campaigns , you should start to get familiar with what works with your particular clientele and be able to create messages that are better suited to your goals.
But is email marketing worth it in a world where there are so many other options? Let's look at some benefits.
Email marketing is just one of many channels that can be used in a digital marketing strategy, but it is potentially the most effective. Some of the benefits of using email marketing include:
• Email has an average ROI of $44 for every $1 spent.
• Almost all Americans check email at least once a day, and many Millennials and Gen Z-ers prefer email advertising over other types.
• Email is accessible: Customers don't need to leave home or be tech-savvy to interact with your marketing materials.
• Nearly a third of Americans recently visited a company's store or site after receiving an email. This may seem small, but remember: they probably wouldn't have appeared without email.
Email Marketing Best Practices and Strategies
If you want your email marketing campaign to be successful, you need to set yourself up for success by following email marketing tips regarding best practices and strategies.
Ask before sending an email
Have you ever received an email, and when you unsubscribed, had to check "I never signed up to receive these messages?" He is so annoying and it feels invasive. Users may wonder, “How did they get your email address? What other information do they have? Why should you trust this company? "
So if you want your email campaign to be successful , ask for permission before you send that first email.
Even if your current email list is small, never ever buy email lists . Also, if you ask them to "enter your email address to get 20% off your first purchase" or similar, make it very clear by doing so, you sign them up for other advertising or a subscription.
See also: Must have marketing tools for 2022
Personalize your messaging
Personalize emails to your subscribers. Forbes compiled a great list of statistics regarding expectations for personalization, both for email and for other parts of your brand (like product recommendations on your website). Some highlights include :
• 70% of Millennials are tired of companies sending irrelevant emails
• 71% of all consumers consider personalization before reading or even opening brand emails.
• Some marketers claim that personalized emails have generated up to a 760% increase in revenue.
• Brands report their conversions have improved by up to 202% when using personalized calls to action in emails
We have email marketing automation , you can track the email and website behavior of your contacts to create relevant messages for them. This allows you to segment your lists so you can only send useful emails to certain groups of people.
Another way to make sure your message is personalized is with an Email Drip Campaign , which sends emails only when triggered by specific events.
Be aware of how often you send emails
Too often, marketers execute invasive and ineffective electronic blast marketing. One of the 10 commandments of email marketing is “Remember that 'timing is everything'” for good reason: customers want to hear from you, but they don't want to hear from you all the time.
While it may seem counterintuitive, fewer emails often mean more engagement . So less really is more!
Don't waste anyone's time
Keep your messages short and to the point. The number of consumers using mobile devices is growing and more than half of email opens now occur on a mobile device. Therefore, your best way to communicate is through concise, conversational and relevant messages.
Look at your metrics
If you're not tracking your email marketing KPIs , you won't know how effective your email marketing strategy was. Fortunately, many email marketing packages and platforms offer reporting capabilities, so you'll know what works and weed out what doesn't.
Email marketing history and trends
These days it's hard to imagine life without email, but email marketing has a history that continues to evolve.
In 1971, Ray Tomlinson sent the first email. So what did the message of this historic leap in communication say? Tomlinson says it was "something like QWERTYUIOP".
Seven years later, Gary Thuerk, marketing manager for Digital Equipment Corp, sent the first email blast promoting DEC machines to 400 users via Arpanet. The promotional email worked, generating $13 million worth of sales.
In the early 2000s, spam was becoming a huge problem. So, in 2003, President George W. Bush signed the CAN-SPAM Act into law as part of a national effort to combat the flood of unsolicited email.
Marketers knew they needed to adjust their email marketing strategies if they wanted to reach their audience.
Then came 2020. A lot happened that year, but let's talk about the Email Marketing Renaissance. Permission-based marketing, also known as inbound marketing, has changed the way marketers and consumers engage with each other.
Email plays an important role in the inbound buyer's journey. By staying in touch with interested prospects through the right types of emails , you can help build relationships and bring leads closer to conversions.
Looking Ahead: Trends in Email Marketing Automation
In addition to the growth already experienced, there are also new trends to watch out for.
Email loyalty programs
Loyalty programs will play a bigger role in email marketing automation. These programs allow marketers to take a closer look at their customer data. That information will allow marketers to better understand the wants and needs of their customers and how they respond to certain campaigns.
Image Rich Email
To capture the interest of the mobile user, image-rich emails will play a bigger role in email marketing. Marketers can use images to create behind-the-scenes shots, sneak peeks at new product launches, and story-driven images to capture the attention of your potential customer. Images need to be compelling enough to be shared, as social media is likely to continue to dominate the lives of many consumers.
Email and artificial intelligence
Expect AI to play a much bigger role in email marketing. In addition to its benefits for email marketing automation, AI will enable greater personalization, optimization, reporting, segmentation, and content automation, resulting in faster and more effective marketing campaigns.
Disclaim: This page may contain an affiliate links which in other way round I earn a commission.
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