A Digital Marketing Agency Explains Why E-Mail Marketing Should be Part of Your Marketing Mix
Now that it seems all marketer are gathering towards Messenger, Snapchat and VR campaigns, does the good, old-fashioned e-mail newsletter still has a place in your marketing strategy?
Believe it or not, the answer is a vigorous “yes!”
The practice of sending email to prospective customers has dramatically evolved in the past 5 years bit is still being used by many successful companies to generate leads and increase sales. As many marketers can confirm, there are many reasons why you should give it a shot.
Everyone has an email
How do you think you registered with Facebook, Instagram, your Banking account, your loan account, your travel agency, your phone? With an email! Yes, to use your smartphone, you have to have an email… Even to open a new email with Google or Outlook, you need to have an old email, or ANOTHER email so you can receive security keys in the event your primary email was compromised.
So, everyone has an email. Actually, everybody has several emails.
Now, remember that if you want to be seen, you need to use a channel that a great number of people interact with.
Don’t answer “Facebook.” As I said, you need an email before you can use Facebook.
Here’s a statistic you might be surprised to know: according to ExactTarget, a consultancy, 91% of all US consumers still use e-mail daily.
Social media and e-mail are synergistic
Yes, people don’t discover you thanks to your emails, they discover you through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. Those are great places to share your TOFU content, and you can even make sponsored (read ads) posts to further expand their scope.
But social media is only the first step to invite your followers to sign up for your mailing list.
For instance, you can include an e-mail newsletter signup form in your blog posts. That way, you use social media to generate mass traffic to your best content on your website. The followers who click through can be given the option to join your mailing list once they read your article. It also works the other way: include social media links in your newsletters to encourage your prospects to like your social pages.
A great way to promote your stuff
Of course, e-mail campaigns aren’t just for newsletter. Companies can also use email marketing to inform their customers about their newest promos. According to a study conducted by the Nielsen company, 27% of US online shoppers sign up for newsletters in order to save money. Hence, you can use e-mail blasts to give your customer first dibs on sales and new products.
A survey from Loyalty360 also found that 59% of respondents would sign up for e-mail updates if a reward is being offered. As such, you can incentivize e-mail signups by offering a token gift or a virtual discount towards their first purchase. That way, they get a nice little something from you while you broaden your client database.
But the reason why you want to have a strong email marketing is to use it for indoctrinating your prospects. It takes about 7 touches for someone to eventually purchase your product and email marketing is a great part of those 7 touches.
It’s a cost-effective marketing channel
A joint study from Forrester Research and Shop.org found that 85% of U.S. retail companies see e-mail marketing as one of the best lead generation channels—and it’s not surprising why. After all, starting an e-mail campaign is considerably cheaper than launching a full-blown tri-media campaign.
Conclusion
Some people still see email marketing as “old school,” but there’s no denying that it deserves a substantial place in your overall marketing mix. With its reach and cost-efficiency, you’d be lax in not taking full advantage of this tried-and-tested channel.
Sources:
Top 5 Reasons Why Email Marketing Still Works, Inc.com
Does Email Marketing Still Work? 5 Reasons Email is Still King, TheBalance.com
