The value of email marketing

Speed, efficiency, ease, and impact; email marketing has it all! Not to sound like a salesperson straight off the bat, but when it comes to a tool this useful, it can’t be undervalued. Digital marketing has overtaken traditional marketing as the most profitable and efficient method of promotion, and a large portion of this comes directly from e-mail marketing.

But what makes email marketing so great?

Spread Your Message

Well, for one, it allows you to communicate with the masses. In 2019, research found that over half of the world’s population was using email; a number expected to grow to over 4.3 billion in four years. With so many people online, your audience pool is immense. Email allows you to share information, promote products and services, and communicate with the public on a massive scale; an opportunity that, honestly, is invaluable.

That being said, a substantial email list is only productive if you’re reaching the right people.You’ve heard the phrase “work smarter, not harder”. Building your subscriber list follows this principle. You want quality over quantity. Acquiring a large number of subscribers might seem like a positive, but if they aren’t engaging, it’s a fruitless endeavour. Sending information to readers who couldn’t care less won’t benefit your business. Not only are you wasting your own time and energy, but it can greatly skew your analytics. 

Subsequently, if you have a large list, but your emails keep bouncing, this can imply several things. On one hand, your emails may not be reaching their intended targets due to spelling errors or an obsolete address. On the other? You may have been blocked! It is fundamental that your list consists solely of subscribers that want to be contacted. In fact, in many countries there are regulations put in place to prevent companies from subscribing people without their consent. 

As long as you are following regulations and not contacting people with unwanted spam, email marketing hits the mark. The long and short of it? Email works, so make it work for you!

Pick Your Pie

Or rather, know your audience! Once you have developed a streamlined subscriber list, it’s important to tailor your emails. This can be done through segmentation, an integral aspect of quality email marketing. Segmenting allows you to customise emails, sending relevant content only to those interested in said content. Through the use of analytics, you are able to learn what content intrigues which readers, what topics different groups engage with, and what content can be reworked or removed altogether. Some programs, such as MailChimp and Constant Contact, have their own built-in analytics feature, but other CRM tools such as HubSpot work just as well. 

Why is it so important to segment? Picture a pie! Let’s say it’s apple, fresh out of the oven and ready to eat. You slice it up, ready to serve, but not everyone wants apple pie. Some people prefer cherry. Others, pumpkin. How can you satisfy everyone if you only offer one kind of pie? 

While it may take some time, by knowing your audience and their preferences, you can learn which pies to bake, or rather, which content to send to whom. Whether you base your segments on interest, engagement, location, or another characteristic, knowing your demographics is integral. What’s more? With email marketing, not only can you segment your emails to reach specific audiences, but you can automate the process. Producing targeted campaigns and implementing automated correspondence saves you time, money, and energy. Get the baking out of the way, automate, and send your readers exactly what they want, when they want it, one slice at a time.

Control Your Costs

Like other forms of digital marketing, email marketing can offer an inexpensive, yet profitable form of promotion at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing. TV and print ads can run a high bill and may not have the same reach as email marketing, both in terms of numbers and specifics. In fact, in 2019 the ROI on email marketing surpassed all other forms of online marketing methods.

Even if you decide to contract out marketing and communications, you are still likely to save on cost, and certainly on time and energy. It reduces employee hours and labour, not to mention extra costs related to paper (in the case of print media) while concurrently lowering your environmental footprint. For small businesses, especially those with a lower budget, investing in email marketing just makes sense. 

Measure Your Results

Another advantage offered by email marketing is the ability to measure results. Other methods are measurable as well, but obtaining concrete, useful insights can prove difficult. Depending on your alternative of choice, whether it is a television ads or a print piece, data is often estimated. This does not mean it is totally invalid, but it may not be entirely accurate either. 

No matter the platform you use, email marketing generally allows for accessible, accurate analytics, often in real-time. As mentioned above, some platforms work in unison with outside insight analytics programs, whereas others have built in analytics, allowing for absolute ease. Either way, they deliver veritable results and useful insights, not to mention detailed information on a variety of select demographics; something traditional media can only estimate. This allows for the aforementioned segmentation and customisation. 

Why is this so useful? It allows you to deduce which email marketing practices are the most productive and which you might need to drop. You can find out which campaigns work best, what time people open their emails, and who clicks on what. Which leads convert your readers from curious to customer? Is your CTA effective? And what can you do to improve? No matter your question, there is a high likelihood your analytics can provide an answer. 

Confused about which analytics are worth noting? Check out these need-to-know metrics and find out why they are indispensable to your marketing campaign!

Get Started

I cannot stress enough how valuable email marketing can be! It allows you to communicate clearly and concisely with customers and clients worldwide, using the most productive marketing tactics, without breaking your budget. It is both far-reaching and personal. The opportunity to measure results means the opportunity to constantly improve. 

Want to learn more about the basics of email marketing? Hang tight for my upcoming blog, giving you a full run-down of campaigns necessities!