Email is an old name in the business yet it continues to be one of the top performing marketing channels. It’s a medium that’s been through it all and proved again and again why it’s an effective way to reach customers and nurture relationships. You may already have a good idea of why emails are relevant but get ready to fall in love with this marketing format all over again.
Is Email Marketing Still Effective?
Email marketing is not only effective, but also reliable. This is a tried-and-true method for connecting with a huge base of customers and relaying useful information about your company. Email campaigns aren’t always focused on advertising either. They make it possible to communicate changes, ask for feedback, share tips and tricks, and more.
The reason why email marketing is still so effective is because it’s a consistent form of communication everyone knows they can turn to. You’re reaching more people with cost-effective campaigns. What were the holiday hours again? Wasn’t there a sale on t-shirts recently? Did their restaurant week menu get released yet? Questions like these can be easily referenced by customers when they pull your emails back up.
In addition, email can drive traffic towards all other aspects of your business from your main website to a product landing page to your social media profiles. Your customers can get all necessary information in one spot and keep in touch with your brand.
Why Email Marketing is Important
Email marketing is a tool used to grow businesses and those that know how to tap into it’s power will find that that’s really the case. This is a marketing channel that you own completely. Unlike campaigns you’re running on other channels, your email list is completely yours. This means all of this valuable information is aligned with your vision as opposed to the other way around.
It’s important to take advantage of all forms of marketing but search engines and social media plays favor to the algorithm and not to you. Rather than figuring out what trends work, with email you’re able to focus your efforts on your audience rather than an audience plus an algorithm.
Email Marketing Benefits
There’s a whole host of benefits that come with email for both you and your audience. The great thing about email marketing is that both sides reap the rewards of a strategic communication campaign.
Personalized content for nurturing relationships. Customizing your audience’s experiences is a big task that can come with big returns. With email on your side, this becomes much more manageable while still experiencing similar gains. You’re able to segment your list and add dynamic content that speaks to your customer on a one-to-one basis. For example, you can personalize from the smallest to largest details like easily inserting their name in your greeting or sending them curated how-to blog posts that show them how to make the most of their recent purchase.
Generating web and social media traffic. It’s quick to send your audience over to your website or social accounts using email. This is because emails are a great medium for sharing all sorts of information and letting your audience parse through what they’re most interested in. Consider the most recent marketing email you received. There were likely multiple product categories highlighted, a sale here or there, discount codes, and even blog posts. A lot of information can go in one email and each piece plays a part in enticing your audience to click.
Staying on top of the chaos of running a campaign. Here’s where email marketing automation comes in. An intuitive platform keeps you on track and helps you move campaigns forward without the need to hit send on everything that goes out. Thanks to the wonders of technology, emails can be sent using specific triggers and continue to run through a campaign without additional guidance from you. Just set something up once and return to it every so often to tweak and optimize. Beyond that, watch your automated campaigns do the work!
Cost-effective campaigns that reach the right people at the right time. This point builds on what we’ve mentioned before but is one of the most valuable benefits that email can offer. It takes less time and employee power to create an email campaign than a traditional campaign. Unlike print or direct marketing which may require photoshoots, mailings, ad placement, etc. At the same time, you can also trust that your dollars are being put to good use. Paired with automated campaigns, you know you’ll be reaching customers when they’re ready.
The Future of Email Marketing
Email has come a long way. Just think back on the journey it’s made from basic text to the incorporation of gifs, graphics, and other kinds of dynamic content. There’s no telling what cool layouts emails will have in another 50 years but if there’s one thing we do know it’s that technology will play a huge role in this.
Personalized content will be vital moving forward as people look to humanized communications and forming connections, and technology will help bridge the gap. We’re expecting machine learning and AI to find their way into the world of email. Combined with CRM and marketing automation, this will take the audience experience to a new level with tailored messaging and optimized campaigns.
In addition, emails will become more interactive than before, capable of creating a back and forth journey between the customer and the brand. This will only do more to increase the level of one-to-one connections with customers and lead to better engagement and increased click rates.
The Takeaway
Obviously email marketing is not going anywhere, especially anytime soon. In fact, we can only expect it to continue growing alongside the advancements being made everywhere else. With all the benefits that come with email, it’s no surprise that it’s still a powerhouse decades later. And, we’ll all be anticipating the exciting innovations and changes that will continue to build up email as one of the most reliable and useful marketing channels.
