In our last post we introduced you to our friend, email marketing. We touched on attracting an audience for your direct digital messaging and how easily that messaging can be seen. Let’s now get a good look at the benefits of using this tool in your marketing strategy (and a couple negatives to be aware of).
Low Cost, High ROI
According to pure360.com, email marketing consistently delivers the highest ROI (return on investment) of any marketing channel. This is because it costs very little to click that send button once you’ve perfected your newsletter, digital campaign, promo, you name it. Even with using specialized software to help automate and track stats, your overall spending is far lower than ad space costs. According to Campaign Monitor, for every dollar spent on email marketing, the average ROI is about $44. Can we get a “Cha Ching”!
Talk to a Specific Audience Bracket
The fact that your email audience has opted in for your messaging is one reason for this tool’s great ROI. But talking to your audience also gets easier through email because you can pinpoint who gets this promo message and that product info. Segmenting your email list by region, age, or interest also reduces the amount of irrelevant marketing material people get in their inboxes. We know how annoying that can be!
One Way Ticket to the Website
Your website is your online identity. If you’re an online retailer, it’s your only identity so building traffic is essential. Email marketing provides a one-way cyberstreet to your website when your audience clicks on your message (Constant Contact). Be sure to have a number easily available, as phone calls are another popular line of communication when your audience is engaged by your email.
Simple Stats
With the right software, reeling in the stats on your email messaging is incredibly easy. In a survey by Campaign Monitor and Ascend2, 89% of marketers consider their email marketing campaigns successful, citing conversions, click-throughs, and list growth as their target objectives. Because email can be accessed on devices like phones, tablets, and now watches, your email messaging has virtually no delays reaching the right eyeballs and stats can start showing in just a few minutes (Pure360).
A Word of Caution
Approximately 5 seconds is spent on observing digital content (JDRGroup.com). Is that 5 seconds long enough to make your audience want to click on your message? When creating your email content, focus on imagery. Humans are visual and impatient, so professional photos and videos are best for engaging email subscribers. Avoid excess wordiness.
Avoid treating your subscribers as dollar signs. If you’re constantly bombarding your audience with “buy, buy, buy” messaging, it’s likely they will soon find the ‘unsubscribe’ button at the bottom of your emails. SavvySME suggests sending helpful info every so often. For example, tips of DIY projects, recipes, and the like show customers that you’re also there to be caring and thoughtful.
Email is here to stay, and here to grow, according to Statista.com. In 2022, it’s expected that email users will top 4.3 billion, that’s half the world’s population! Is your messaging making the cut?