Have you recently started a business? Or are you looking to grow the reach of your business? If your answer is a resounding yes, then you’ve come to the right place. Did you know that over 34% of people all over the world use email? That’s nearly 2.5 billion people. A report by The Radicati Group states that around 196 billion emails get exchanged daily. As surprising as it may sound, email is still quite popular.
And yes, you guessed it right, email marketing is one of the most effective and powerful marketing strategies to connect with potential customers living in different parts of the world.
So, look at how email marketing is still the most powerful tool to take your business to the next level!
What is Email Marketing?
David Newman, author, and eMarketing guru said,
‘Email has an ability many channels don’t: creating valuable personal touches – at scale.’
First things first – before we tell you why email marketing is a powerful tool for your business, it’s essential for us to tell you what email marketing is and how it works. So, without further ado, let’s take a look.
Email marketing is the kind of advertising in which potential or existing customers see advertisements only after consenting to receive them.
Such a form of marketing operates on the choice of the customers – meaning to say that customers have the choice to opt out of viewing the advertisements. People generally sign up for email marketing on the website of the brand they are interested in.
The marketers have to keep a record of the registrations received on the website. Email marketing should ensure that the email list is secure. Furthermore, the customer must know the privacy policy before they sign up for the email list.
Through email marketing, you can build trust with customers and let them know about your newest releases. Email marketing helps you keep the customers informed about what’s going on with your brand.
With more people using smartphones every day, email marketing is a great way to engage with the audience.
Email Marketing – A Powerful Tool for Businesses
If you’re looking for a personal way to reach your target customers, email is certainly the way to go. Email marketing effectively works only when it is personalized and tailored as per the customer’s interests.
Take a look at the following list of reasons and ways email marketing can help boost your business.
1. Economical and Cost Effectiveness
Marketing – glossy posters and purchased adverts on social media. Correct? Well, that’s not the only way you can lure those riches to your business.
The Direct Marketing Association stated that email marketing is likely to generate $40 in return on investment (ROI) for each dollar spent in your company. With the help of email marketing, you can invite potential customers to your business at an inexpensive rate.
Email marketing is easy and effective as it allows businesses to convey their message and reach many potential customers to generate leads in different industries like healthcare, advertising, technology, etc. If you have a small business and are on a budget, email marketing is the best choice for you than traditional marketing options such as TV or direct mail.
2. Better Than Social Media
Despite the increase in social media usage, email marketing remains the most effective way to increase business reach because emails are personalized. They’re not just another sponsored ad you view on Instagram or Facebook.
Of course, social media is one of the most important aspects to boost your sales. It is essential for any business’ market strategy as it enhances customer interaction and strengthens your relationship with existing and potential customers.
But if you are truly looking to convert those potential customers into members, supporters, or customers, email marketing is the road to tread on. Wondering why? As shocking as it must sound to you, email marketing has more respondents than organic search or social media channels.
Furthermore, a study by the marketer in March 2016 suggests that 80% and 81% of respondents stated that email marketing creates retention and customer acquisition.
3. Call to Action
Whenever you read an email about a sale or a new line of products, your curiosity leads you to check what the email is all about. Think about it! An email is transactional. It drives people to your website – thus, increasing sales.
So, if you include a call to action in your email, it will certainly drive traffic to your website. You will surely see those results within a short span. You should know that emails are not always about new products or newsletters.
They can even be about a new initiative at your company – just something personalized that makes you stand out from the rest. You can and must customize your emails based on the triggers of people viewing your website.
A study by Experian reveals an interesting fact that will boost your sales is that – transactional emails are opened eight times more than general emails. Thus, increasing six times more revenue!
4. Customized and Personalized Emails
Personalized emails are the way to go for successful email marketing. So, when you decide to send out emails about your company or service, you need to tailor each message as per the interests of your customers.
The best way to do this is by dividing your audience into lists and sending out emails that your customers resonate with. Your email should be able to provide some value to the reader.
Here lies the difference between a social media post or story and email marketing. When you’re addressing the audience on social media or any other advertisement channel, you address the audience collectively as a whole.
However, whenever you send out an email, you can address people separately by their names and talk about topics (based on their public activity on the internet) that only they are interested in.
According to the DMA, targeted and segmented emails are likely to generate 58% of the total revenue earned by your company. Furthermore, if you use segmented campaigns to market your product or service, you should expect a 760% increase in revenue (as per the Campaign Monitor).
Now, your email will successfully find its way into your readers’ inbox instead of going to the spam folder! Customized emails are the best way to build relationships with potential and current customers, as these emails give you a chance to be friendly and personable.
5. Convenience and Emails
With technology reaching great heights and people using this technology (almost) all the time, emails are easy to access. Smartphones have become highly common in today’s world – which brings us to the conclusion that people are truly checking their emails a lot!
According to a study by ExactTarget, 91% of people use smartphones to check their emails. So, if email marketing has not been used in your company as a marketing strategy yet, you are losing potential customers on a highly effective channel used by most of the world.
6. Timely and Regular Mails
Wouldn’t it be great if your favorite brand of shoes gave you a discount on your birthday? Well, if it didn’t happen for you, you can certainly make it happen for someone who loves your brand!
If you’re wondering how you can attract customers to your brand, one of the best ways to do that is by showing that you remember their birthday and know what they like. Customers look forward to seasonal and holiday sales.
Do you know? Customers are likely to purchase from you if you create a sense of urgency in your emails. So, if you tell the reader that a deal is ending soon, it is likely that a purchase will be made sooner than later.
Importantly, you’ve got to let customers know that you care about them. So, a birthday email or, better yet, an email giving them a discount offer or a coupon code on their birthday is sure to get you some great return on investment!
Like we said, your emails must be timely and regular. Stay in touch with your customers because they deserve the goodness you are bringing to them.
Final Words
After reading the points mentioned above, we are sure you can try email marketing to grow your business. After all, email marketing does have it all – inexpensive, engagement, increased website traffic, more sales, and whatnot!
Email marketing works best only when you are mindful of all the pointers we gave you in this article. You have to ensure that your emails are personalized and don’t forget to include a call for action. Just because email marketing comes at a low cost does not mean it requires less attention.
Remember that people are more responsive to emails than any other advertisement on social media or television.
If you personalize your emails using effective email marketing software, you can certainly ensure that readers resonate with you, your brand, and your cause. Ensure that your emails are short and simple – K(eep) I(t) S(short) and S(simple) – KISS! No one likes reading long emails.
Address the key issue to gauge the interest of your readers and don’t keep them waiting. So, now that you know all the awesome tips and information we gave you about email marketing, we hope you can get started on your email marketing journey right away!
Alexandra Whitt working as a brand and marketing specialist at MedicoReach. She has been working in b2b industry for the past two years. She empowers the marketers by sharing valuable information across different verticals such as healthcare, technology, marketing, etc.