You and I have an active email account that we check regularly. But, email is considered to be ‘old school’ due to the emergence and popularity of digital and social media.
Let’s face it, EMAIL isn’t dead! This conventional mode of marketing and communication has been here since forever and is here to stay. Email has evolved from plain-text direct messages to highly targeted and automated emails featuring HTML and CSS coded design, interactivity, videos, live feeds, etc.
Email persists as the most desired option for B2B and B2C communication across the world. Uplers takes you through the Email Marketing province and manifests why Email is the KING of all digital channels.
Read on to understand what is email marketing and why it is still ruling over the marketing world.
1. Email is Permission-based Marketing
Email is the most personal form of online communication, as it is permission-based. Businesses that use email marketing focus on sending emails that are highly relevant to the subscribers, based on the customers’ choices and privacy. Marketers that follow the best practices make sure they build email lists organically and send emails only to those customers who have opted-in on their own.
With the latest GDPR law, marketers need to get the subscribers’ consent in the form of a positive/double opt-in to keep sending them emails. This means if a subscriber fills up a form to download a report/ebook or registers just for a particular event, then they wouldn’t be included in the mailing list, until and unless they opt-in and click the check-box to keep receiving updates from the business.
Check out this sign-up form from SuperOffice that is in compliance with the GDPR update.
This reduces spam emails in the subscribers’ inbox and makes way for more relevant and useful emails. The subscriber also has the option to unsubscribe from the brands’ email list the moment they want to.
2. Email drives better Conversions
Email has an unbeaten record of driving the most conversions and ROI, even more than social media.
Here are some stats to support!
- In a survey by OptinMonster, 21% of marketers across all industries stated that email delivers the highest ROI, making it a leader in the online marketing space.
- The marketers surveyed also said that the greatest benefit of email marketing is lead generation, followed by improved sales and greater conversions.
- According to a report from Campaign Monitor, for every $1 spent on email marketing, an ROI of $44 is made.
Considering these numbers, email marketing continues to be the dominant and preferred marketing channel for businesses large and small.
3. Emails are Personalized Messages in Real-Time
There is a lot of clutter in the digital space and people are bombarded with content everywhere. Too much irrelevant content can get your subscribers irritated!
Emails let you break this clutter by sending personalized, timely messages that match the subscribers’ interests and behaviors. It’s an era of email hyper-personalization. Sending the right email to the right person at the right time triggers subscriber action and keeps them engaged with your brand’s emails. Relevant and tailor-made emails also build trust in the subscribers and customers.
Emails that are segmented and targeted to a specific group generate better conversions than non-segmented, generic emails. Email marketers can leverage list segmentation to send tailor-made emails based on the subscribers’ geographic location, demographics, psychographics, special interests, time zone, purchase behavior, etc.
With the advent of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Predictive Analytics and Business Intelligence, marketers can easily give the subscribers a 360-degree approach by automatically merging insights from their online data. Marketers can now create emails featuring dynamic content, relevant product recommendations and real-time customized copy for each individual subscriber.
4. Email lets you Automate Delivery and create Workflows
Once you get your email marketing campaign up and running, you can create multiple campaigns for your business and create workflows to manage these campaigns effectively. Email marketing automation tools and platforms help you create and send automated emails that are highly relevant to your leads and subscribers.
Email workflows and automated systems automatically send emails to your subscribers after they take specific actions. Here’s how an automation workflow looks like:
5. Email works for every stage of the Buyer’s Journey
Emails are for everyone!
Your emails can be of use to every subscriber in your email list, irrespective of the stage they may be in the buyer’s journey. Email plays different roles in every three stages:
- Awareness Stage: You can send introductory emails explaining them of who you are and what your brand does.
- Consideration Stage: You can highlight your unique features and benefits that make you stand out from your competitors.
- Decision Stage: You can send deals, offers, demos and tutorials to help them make the decision.
All you need to do is understand the needs of your leads and prospects and send them nurture emails that would convert them into customers.
6. Emails can look as lively and Interactive as you want
You can add life to your emails and delight your subscribers by using interactivity and animation.
Emails started with messages in plain-text and today they have evolved to be engaging and interactive messages featuring high definition images and animation, that evoke interest in the subscribers and keep them engaged.
With interactive email elements such as animated GIFs, accordions, sliders, menus, countdown timers, etc. you can convey the message in a lively and innovative way. Interactivity, gamification, and humor grab subscriber attention and persuade them to click.
7. Emails can be Tested to know what works best
Not sure how your target audience will receive your email? Email testing can help you get clarity!
Email A/B testing is the biggest boon of email marketing which tells you what will work well and gain you results before you send the final copy.
You can test various versions of the following email elements:
- Subject Line
- CTA
- Email Copy
- Images
- Offer
- Send Time
- Personalization
Create two or more versions of your email with various combinations of these elements and send to different sets of subscribers. The emails that receive the most opens and clicks can be considered as the final version for best results.
8. Email performance is Measurable
Email marketing efforts are measurable. Businesses using email marketing can track the performance of the email after it is sent to their subscribers, and analyze the results. Email metrics such as open rates and click-through rates give you detail of what worked in your favor and what needs to be improved to get the desired results.
You need to keep track of the following key metrics for your email campaign:
- Open rate: Measures the number of people in your email list who opened or viewed your email.
- Click-through rate: Measures the percentage of recipients who have clicked on a link or CTA in your email.
- Delivery Rate: Gives the percentage of emails that were actually delivered to the subscribers’ inbox.
- Bounce Rate: Measures the percentage of total emails sent that were not delivered to the subscribers’ inbox.
- Email Sharing Rate: Shows the percentage of recipients who shared your email on social media platforms or forwarded it to a friend.
- Unsubscribe Rate: Measures the percentage of people who opt out of your email list.
These metrics let email marketers determine the effectiveness of the campaigns that they run.
Wrap Up
If you aren’t using or have stopped using email marketing for your business, then you are missing out on huge opportunities for improving business visibility and growth. Planning to start? We can help you in creating a winning Email Marketing Campaign for your business. Get in touch with us.