Email marketing has been around since 1978, and it’s not been without its challenges over this time.
From the switch to mobile-first design to the introduction of GDPR, there have been a lot of changes for this channel to navigate.
Despite all of this, it still remains one of the most effective marketing channels to help with lead generation and customer retention. 320 billion emails are sent daily in 2021, proving that it isn’t going to disappear anytime soon.
Ultimately, if you’re not using email marketing, you’re making your sales team work harder than they need to and you are missing out on leads.
Some marketers have written off email marketing, claiming that it’s outdated and isn’t relevant anymore - we couldn’t disagree with this viewpoint more.
One of the main advantages of email marketing, which is often overlooked, is that your audience has said they specifically want to hear from you.
You’ve got the benefit of knowing your audience is keen to be informed about your products or services. Therefore, they are likely to be an engaged audience, making them the perfect group to promote your brand to and generate leads and engagement.
This is a huge advantage in modern marketing, an era where a person is often bombarded with promotions on every website they visit and each time they perform an online search - there really is no escape from ads.
If someone has specifically said they want to hear more from you, why wouldn’t you talk to them?
Beyond this, email can become even more targeted. After your audience has opted in, you can begin to segment them to share the most relevant messages with them at the most impactful time. Depending on what information you feed into your email marketing platform, it’s possible to segment by age, product interest and where they are on the buying journey. Through email it’s possible to send your customers the perfect message at the right time to maximise its impact.
It’s because of this ability to tailor messaging for your audience that email marketing has one of the highest returns on investment. In 2020, the estimated average return on investment for email marketing was £35.41 for every £1 spent. As so many people use email on a daily basis, the potential for nurturing leads and encouraging repeat business is huge, making it a marketing channel that you can’t afford to ignore.
As well as helping you generate leads, effective email marketing can also support your other marketing channels and improve your overall brand and sales performance. For example, you may see an increase in your Google brand searches following an email campaign, or increased engagement on your social media channels.
With automated emails, you can keep talking to your customers about the benefits of your brand and products without lifting a finger. This will provide your audience with key information and give your sales team a headstart on the conversation when they start to work through leads. These emails also serve to keep your brand front of mind of customers at a point when they might be talking to several other companies. If you're providing useful, informative content that positions you as the authority in your field then straight away you have an advantage over the competition - isn't that something we are all striving for?
We firmly believe that email marketing has a place in any marketing campaign. If you want to start taking full advantage of this ever important channel, speak to a LEADOLOGIST™.
