As a business owner, you will have definitely come across the phrase ‘email marketing is dead’. But don’t be fooled! Despite the rise in organic and paid social media marketing, email marketing still remains a powerful and cost-effective digital marketing channel, and one that every business should take full advantage of.
With roughly over 4 billion email users worldwide, email marketing allows you to reach a massive audience on a global reach, while remaining one of the most cost-effective digital marketing strategies, delivering a high return on investment compared to traditional advertising methods. So even if you’re still a small business, you can immediately reach large audiences that your competitors are reaching without having to have a substantial budget! Not only this, but, unlike social media where algorithms often control reach and engagement, emails land directly in your client/consumers inbox, so you know your message has got through!
Investing in a good email marketing platform allows you to divide your audience into different segments and lists, depending on demographics, interaction, interests, and so on. By doing this, you can target individual groups of people with much more personalised messages tailored to them, and this will in turn increase your open rates, click through rates and conversions.
Sending a mix of flows and campaigns is also important as it builds a relationship with your subscribers. By sending regular product updates, newsletters, and offers, you keep consumers engaged and loyal, increasing customer retention.
Lastly, email marketing is a powerful tool for measuring results, as it provides valuable insights through analytics and tracking features. KPIs such as open rates, conversion rates and CTR’s all allow you to assess the effectiveness of your campaign, and sheds insight into what works and what doesn’t! Running A/B tests also allows you to test different creatives and CAT’s (call to actions) on a small scale, allowing you to see what drives better results.
So what kind of emails should you be sending your subscribers and how often?
Firstly, flows are a powerful way of sending automated messages that both nurture relationships and drive conversions. For example, when someone places an order, this could trigger a ‘Welcome’ flow to your new customer, offering them a discount on their next purchase which will increase the likelihood of them placing another order. ‘Abandoned Cart’ flows and ‘Abandoned Checkout’ flows re-engage a customer who got lost on the customer journey before placing an order, and sending a personal discount always helps encourage them to that final step! Lastly, a ‘Thank You’ flow will let the customer know their order has been received, and is also a good way to cross-sell and or up-sell other products they may not have seen before.
Campaigns are useful for sending bigger announcements to a larger audience, such as promoting a new product, highlighting a sale, as well as updates regarding the business and the community, keeping subscribers engaged and informed. Typically, sending 2 to 3 emails a week resonates best with subscribers, as this amount is enough to keep consumers connected without pestering them with lots of marketing. But, just like any other digital platform, email marketing is at its most powerful when used as part of a wider digital marketing strategy, involving a balanced mix of paid and unpaid channels such as organic social media and SEO!
