Articles on social media marketing are a dime-a-dozen these days, but you have to search a little harder to find anything about email marketing. Why is that? Should we not worry about email marketing because it’s not relevant? Absolutely not. Email marketing is the secret ingredient that most companies are missing, and it’s time we fixed that.
Join us as we look at 5 compelling reasons why email marketing is an absolute must for your business in 2017 and beyond.
5 Reasons Why Email Marketing Should Be Your Top Priority
Email Marketing seems like something that, by all means, should be overshadowed by things like social media, but that’s not the case. Think about it, how often do you check your emails? It’s become such a key part of our lives that we’ve become desensitized to its power over the brands we follow and the products we buy.
Here are five incredible reasons why you should have email marketing at the top of your list.
1. Powerful Statistics
There have been plenty of studies and research done about the power of email marketing, but until you look at the numbers, you won’t believe how much potential this holds for your business. Take a look:
- Transactional emails have 8 times more opens and generate 6 times more revenue
- For every $1 marketers spend on email marketing, they get $38 back in ROI
- Employees spend 13 hours of their work week in their email inbox on average
- 75% of Gmail’s 900 million users access their accounts on mobile devices
With statistics like these, marketers should be drooling already. Stick around, though, because we’re just getting started.
2. Maximum Reach
When we think about reach, it’s usually in regards to social media. With platforms like Facebook or Twitter, marketers start breaking out the champagne when they reach a paltry 10% of their audience, let alone anything more.
Email marketing offers something completely different and far more exciting. If we look at a study done by ReturnPath, we see these statistics surrounding reach:
- 18% of email messages are blocked or go missing
- 4% get sent to the junk folder
Okay, so that accounts for 22% of all emails. Let’s assume that percentage of your own messages never get seen. Even with that in place, you’re still reaching 78% of your customers who have already shown an interest in your brand by subscribing to your mailing list.
You simply cannot boast those kinds of numbers on social media. Even if you could, the cost of marketing that could drive that level of reach would be through the roof.
3. Fits Into Other Marketing Channels
While email marketing often beats out social media in terms of reach and ROI, it doesn’t mean they can’t work together. In fact, integrating email into other aspects of your marketing is incredibly easy.
If you stop to think about it, the connections are all right in front of you:
- Add social icons to your emails. Put them in a place where people will see them and link them to your top social media pages.
- Ask your email users to also “like” you on Facebook or tell their friends about your newsletter
- Perform an email campaign advertising your social platforms
- Provide incentive for them to follow you on social media and on your email newsletter
- Promote your email newsletter on your social media pages
- Include an opt-in form on Facebook
- Place a “retweet” button in your emails
4. Email is Growing
The total number of email accounts in the world is a lot higher than you probably think. There were over 3.9 billion email accounts in 2013, and that number is set to be over 4.9 billion by the end of 2017!
Platforms like Gmail and Yahoo Mail aren’t going anywhere. Even with social media at its peak, email isn’t slowing down. The time to invest in emails is now, because even the age of mobile devices hasn’t slowed it down.
Pew Research Center found that 52% of US cellphone users access their emails on a smartphone or mobile device. We carry our emails with us wherever we go. All of these numbers will only grow as time goes on.
5. A Direct Line to Your Customers
At the end of the day, email marketing works because it requires customers to show an interest in your brand. Opt-in forms are the only way someone can join your email list. They give you their personal email as a gesture of trust. This immediately qualifies them as a lead. They are a guaranteed part of your audience and a huge opportunity for you brand.
Research done by Nielsen found that 28% of US online shoppers subscribe to stores or product emails for the purpose of staying informed. These numbers only go up when there’s some sort of incentive offered on top of the free information.
With this direct line to your customers, the possibilities for your marketing open up more than anywhere else. With a direct line to your customers, you can start organizing personalized campaigns that target them based on criteria you choose.
For example, segmented email lists are a great way to maximize the return on your time and investment. Create custom emails for new customers, and a different layout for repeat customers who want the latest products.
Furthermore, you can also take advantage of automation to send “thank you” emails or reminders if they left something in their cart. All of these just add to the user experience and provide a smoother journey for your customers.
Final Thoughts
Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools that marketers have at their disposal. It’s time to harness that power and use it to maximize your success. How do you harness email marketing in your business? Let us know in the comments!
