Email for Marketing is still the King… Here are 6 Reasons Why!
If Social media is the cocktail party, then email marketing is “ meet up for coffee.” The original 1 to 1 channel.
-Erik Harbison
Email Marketing is the holy grail of the online world. When you use Email for marketing, it means that you build a bond with your subscribers.
It is a relationship that requires friction to start and friction to break. That’s the caveat. Still, it is beautiful.
Still, Email marketing boasts a 42x ROI. Are you even listening to me?
For every 1$ you spend on Emails, you get 42$ back. That is literally better than winning a lottery.
Email for Marketing will help you with one thing. That’s peace of mind because you don’t need to sacrifice sleep to please lord algorithm.
So what’s the hype and, why should you care?
Let’s dive deep.
What is Email Marketing?
I’m so bored of the definitions found online that I’m going to make a new one and, I hope this becomes the standard.
Here it goes,
Email Marketing is a way of building a relationship with your target audience by adding value to their inboxes. You can add value with content, exclusive offers, or free resources.
Chances are you check your emails every day, and sometimes even more than 10 times a day. There’s no chatter like social media or annoying pop-ups like websites or search engines.
It’s just you and your love, the email inbox, chilling together and reading love letters or sometimes spam others have sent.
It’s hard to believe that a technology developed almost 5 decades ago is still as relevant today. To my surprise, the number is increasing year over year.
So what’s the problem then?
Emails are so much more than online letters meant to inform about a business activity. It is a way to nurture prospects and move them up your sales funnel with constant communication.
More businesses need to realize that.
Now that you are wise enough to know that you cannot ignore Email as a channel. Let’s dive into WHY.
Why is Email for Marketing still your Best Bet?
1. Personalized
The best part about a relationship is how you make someone feel special. Email marketing software allows you to personalize your emails in a variety of ways.
It means you can address them by their name, bring exclusive offers and even personalize your copy.
It is one of the best ways to make your customers feel more special. I still get excited with emails where my favorite brands are like “Hey Kushagra,” and I’m like Helllooooo, my well-wishers!
Long story short, it genuinely feels good even though I know it is at the mercy of software.
2. Targetted
Just like personalization feels good, targetting feels even better. It’s the sentiment of “This is exactly what I needed.”
Hubspot says Email marketing is all about sending:
The Right Mail to,
The Right People, at
The Right Time.
Tailor-made Emails hit the bull’s eye because they target the right buyer’s in their journey.
3. Data Collection
When your target audiences trust you and give you your data, it helps you to meet them where they are.
Data collection does not start and end at contact details. Your Email list responds to your list and there lies the big message.
- What kind of tone and voice do they like to read?
- Do they like the content you offer or are they just here to grab a free discount code?
- Do they engage with your emails?
- Do they click the links inside?
- Why did they unsubscribe?
All this gives you a ton of data to experiment with your communication strategies.
Another way to directly ask for data is to do a survey and give an incentive to complete it. Throw in a $5 gift coupon or a free ebook or something to make it worth their time. They get something for free and so do you. WIN-WIN.
4. Automation
One of the prime advantages of Emails is automation. If you’ve built a great system once, you need not do everything again. Just tweak and test out your copies, creatives, or content to know what works best.
Drip campaigns often come in handy for this. It is the process of sending out automatic Emails that trigger when someone takes a particular action.
Has someone filled out a form on your website for the first time?
You can do a drip sequence of welcome emails.
Did someone sign up for a lead magnet?
Do a drip sequence of introducing your brand and product with its applications.
Is your subscriber’s birthday coming up?
Do a drip sequence with exclusive discounts for birthdays and make them feel special.
Pro Tip: Throw in some scarcity element that this offer lasts for 24 hours until the birthday ends!
The possibilities are endless so put your creative hat on, and build some crazy good Email sequences that run on autopilot.
I like to call it passive communication.
5. Generates Traffic for You
Emails are one of the best ways to generate traffic to your website. It is a personal channel where you can introduce your brand and direct your subscribers to your website.
One way is to give a sneak peek of your new blog post and directing your list to read the full post on the website.
Another way is to tell them about your latest product that they can enjoy.
And another way is to direct them to PR articles for your brand to build credibility.
The point is there are n number of ways but the reason to get out of their comfortable inboxes should be effective.
Once they are on your website, it is easier for people to binge and explore other content assets.
6. Easy to measure & tweak
If you are serious about email marketing, chances are you will use Email Marketing Software. These softwares come in handy to provide you a ton of data like:
- Open Rate: It measures the number of people that opened your emails wrt total emails delivered.
- How to Tweak: You can experiment with several different subject lines to see which one gets the best open rates.
- CTR (Click through rates)- It measures the percentage of subscribers that clicked a link inside your Email.
- How to Tweak: Insert your links at different positions in your Email to test out which ones receive the best CTRs.
- Bounce Rates-Emails that did not make it to the recipient’s inboxes because their mail server didn’t allow it.
- How to Tweak: Bounces usually happen because there is something fishy with the Email that you sent. The best way to ensure low bounce rates is to check your domain security and excluding spammy words like “free offer” in your subject lines.
- Unsubscribe rates- Unsubscribe rate is basically a breakup. It means your subscribers chose to opt-out of your email services.
- How to Tweak: Most businesses don’t care about who left but, the best thing to do here is asking for a reason on the confirmation page of the unsubscribe form. It might not bring back a subscriber but, it can definitely prevent someone else from leaving.
- Deliverability- It measures the number of Emails sent from your end that actually made it to the recipient’s inbox. First, the emails are checked by service providers like Gmail or Yahoo and then hit your subscriber’s inbox.
- How to Tweak: The best way is to keep your list updated and asking new subscribers to verify their accounts to prevent spam. Track your Email data like open rate, bounce rate, and spam alerts regularly to improve deliverability.
Let’s finish with Where to Start!
Next steps for your Email Marketing journey:
1.Build an Email List: Everything about Email marketing is exciting only when you have actual people to send an Email to, right?
Start building your email list with pop-up forms or chatbots on your website. Make your content sticky so people ask more of it even when they leave your website.
2. ESP: If you want to get in the game for real, choose a high-quality Email software that gives you a lot of flexibility to build your email list the way you want to. Some of the most notable ones are here.
3. Attract your tribe: The only way to get people to your Email list is not just your website and opt-in forms. It can also be what marketers call a lead magnet.
It’s a free resource you offer in exchange for the contact information of your prospect. The good news is people love free content and, this trick works like a charm!
It is how you get subscribers to your email list and start building a relationship with them.
4. Nurture your list: The subscribers you have are your trusted companions. Now that these people are part of your Email family, engage them to make them stick around longer.
How to start nurturing your online family:
- Provide Valuable Emails every week.
- Give away free content from time to time.
- Exclusive offers for Email subscribers.
- Message them about a blog from your website that can help them.
Start with the steps mentioned above and improve your email campaigns with time.
Conclusion
Whether you believe it or not, Emails are here to stay for a looong time. It’s better to learn the tools of the trade and build your brand with the power of these virtual love letters.
If you want to show someone you care,
Build a connection,
Nurture them and
Provide value like they mean something special to you.
Your subscribers are waiting to receive your nuggets of wisdom in their inbox. You just gotta find them.
If you feel a little overwhelmed, you can always dive deep for inspiration. Here are some of the best examples of brands that are killing it with their Email Marketing efforts.
The people that care about your brand want are waiting to build a personal connection. Emails give you that power. Do not sleep on it. Not now, not ever.
