Email marketing is one of the oldest and most effective ways of introducing, engaging, and informing your customer base, but with time comes innovation and technology. The rise of social media has seen some take this as the end of the email marketing era. Unfortunately, they couldn’t be more wrong about the resilience, effects, and lasting benefits of email marketing and what it can still potentially offer businesses. This article will look at email marketing today and why your business still needs a mean lean email marketing campaign.
Why is email marketing still important today?
Although the rise of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the likes have created more marketing channels for businesses, it doesn’t mean emails have suddenly become obsolete and are of no use. Social media and email marketing can work together to create a holistic marketing campaign. This section will look at some statistics regarding email marketing.
More people are opening email accounts
More people are opening email accounts. In 2020, the number was 4 billion, and according to Statista, that number will increase to 4.6 billion users by 2025. The volume of emails exchanged is also on the rise. The same source predicts an increase of 107.4 billion emails exchanged per day – rising from 269 billion in 2017 to 376.4 billion in 2025. This increase shows emails are not a thing of the past but still have room to grow.
Preferred means of communication
Businesses and individuals prefer you contact them through their emails compared to other forms of marketing strategies. In a survey by Spike, 77% of US workers preferred contact through their emails over 23% who prefer messaging apps. There is also the mindset that emails are professional compared to other means of communicating. In another research, 86% of business professionals prefer to connect by email for business purposes.
The estimated value of an email address
According to Experian CheetahMail, the value of an email address is 84.50 pounds. The value of an email only highlights the relevance of email addresses even today.
Four reasons to use email marketing in 2022
Since we have cleared the air on how relevant email marketing is to a business, we will look at the reasons to adopt an email marketing strategy in 2022.
1. Cost-effective and high return on investment
The setup of email marketing is relatively simple and cheap. You can get emails from potential clients through the promise of freebies on your website, email search tools, or buying bulk emails. None of the activities are capital-intensive investments, so they are easy to start compared to other marketing strategies. It is also easy to automate the sending of emails. Once you set up and are satisfied with the results, it carries on automatically for the foreseeable future.
Aside from the relatively cheap setup cost, there is also the return on investment. Email marketing has one of the highest rates of returns, with a 2019 study capping it at $44 for every $1 you invest. This statement means every time you spend a dollar on an email marketing campaign – you can expect a return between 38-44 dollars. These statistics also support the study that showed email marketing drives the highest customer acquisition and retention, and the study puts the figures at 81% and 80%, respectively.
2. Personalization and customization
Another benefit of using email marketing in 2022 is the personalization of emails. You can add features like a person’s name, emojis, or the use of different colors and shades. Personalization can also help by dividing your emails into segments. Some popular segments are:
New customers
These are customers new to the product or company. Create a chain of emails introducing them to the company and products.
Cart abandoners
These customers start a purchasing process but do not follow through with buying the product. So, their cart still has that un-purchased product.
Past buyers
These customers have brought your product in the past but have made no recent purchases.
Cold subscribers
Cold subscribers do not open their emails, and they rarely do and are potentially an untapped market.
Frequent shoppers
These are customers that frequently patronize your businesses and company. They often buy and are the people bringing in the cash.
Customizing your emails allows you to tailor your emails to individual needs and makes them a bit more personal when compared with other forms of advertising. You can comfortably meet each customer on their buyer’s journey.
3. Ease of tracking metrics
Tracking how well your strategy is doing is necessary if you want a successful marketing campaign. Thankfully, email marketing tools offer you the ability to track metrics like:
Click-through rates
These are the percentage of people who opened the email and clicked on the hyperlink attached.
Email open rates
It tells you the percentage of people that saw the email and opened it.
Conversion rates
These are the percentage of people who registered or brought a product after clicking on a call-to-action button.
Cold subscribers
These are individuals who subscribe but do not open their emails.
The number of unsubscribes
The people who decide they want to stop receiving emails from your business.
Access to this information can equip you to make better decisions, and the A/B test can guide you on what works best for your customers. The gist of A/B testing is you create two original designs or concepts and show them to different customer bases, which you can select by segments or randomly. The idea is to see how customers respond to these and then choose the better of the two. A/B Test can test for the better “Call to Action” button, headings of emails, designs of the email, and so on.
Tracking your metrics allows you to make adjustments until satisfied.
4. Merging with social media
When social media is used in sales outreach—it encourages readers to follow the organization on their other platforms. It’s possible to include your Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest handle in emails you send to customers, creating a holistic marketing strategy. Including pictures that customers can save on Pinterest or Instagram photos customers can share can help improve customer engagement.
Conclusion
In conclusion, email marketing is far from over, as its benefits are still relevant today and in the foreseeable future. The ease, flexibility, and exposure email marketing offer make it a significant investment. It will only get more efficient as time goes on, and businesses utilize it alongside other marketing channels. Do you have other things that you would add?
Photo credit: The feature image has been done by Anton Matyukha.
