If there is one thing all successful brands have in common, it’s that they’ve mastered the art of keeping their customers informed and engaged.
To achieve this, they’ve harnessed the power of email marketing. If you’re unfamiliar, email marketing is a type of marketing that uses email to communicate with customers. Essentially, you’re using email to send out promotional material, updates, and important announcements.
Since its inception, email marketing has always been used as a tool to grow and sustain a business. However, in recent years, the importance of email marketing to business growth has increased.
In 2019, 48% of American adults used email to research products or services, while 20% used it to get urgent alerts or notifications. Meanwhile, 11% used email to communicate with business contacts.
Why should you consider using email marketing? Let’s explore.
1. It’s Scalable
One of the major draws of email marketing is its scalability. Your email efforts don’t have to be limited to one platform or domain. With a little effort, you can develop a robust strategy to target multiple audiences with single emails.
For example, you can create an email campaign to promote your mobile phone accessories business. You can target men and women, as well as those living in cities and villages. Your message will be delivered to those with and without a smartphone.
You’re not tied down to one platform like social media when using email marketing. You can take advantage of all the different email service providers and their platforms to grow your business.
2. It Has A Long History
You may be familiar with email marketing because it’s been used for years. But did you know that modern email marketing began with an IBM executive named Bill Hartzer?
In the 1960s, Bill Hartzer used email to communicate with customers and prospects on a daily basis. His goal was to transform the way businesses communicated with customers. His efforts lead to the creation of DMA (Display Mailers), which later became Netscape Mail.
In the 1980s, the internet emerged as a new medium for marketing and business. As a result, email marketing became even more important. And since the dawn of the digital age, email marketing has remained one of the most effective and popular types of marketing.
3. It Works
Let’s be honest, at this point, you’re reading this article because you know that email marketing works. You either directly engage with an email list or you have a presence on social media where you can engage with your audience.
According to HubSpot Blogs, 86% of consumers have responded to email marketing campaigns. So it would seem that email marketing is one of the most successful types of marketing.
4. It Has A Long Tail
With each new generation, the curve of human attention and interest tends to shift to the right. This is known as the Pareto Principle, which states that “about 20% of the population controls about 80% of the wealth and influence.”
In other words, a small group of people enjoy a large chunk of the market share while the majority remains under-served. Email marketing provides a unique platform to reach the unreached.
The challenge for business today is to identify the 20% of their target audience that are likely to be dissatisfied with the products and services offered and then try to correct the situation. With the help of email marketing, businesses can target their ideal customers and offer them the best possible products and services.
How Is Email Marketing Different From Social Media Marketing?
If you’re wondering how email marketing is different from social media marketing, let’s discuss the major differences.
While social media marketing mainly focuses on growing your audience on social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, email marketing goes one step further. In essence, email marketing is the combination of social media and direct mail. So while social media marketing is focused on engaging with your audience, email marketing is focused on engaging with your audience and converting them into leads and customers.
Here are the differences:
Audience
With social media marketing, your target audience is typically people who are already interested in your product or service. In other words, you’re mainly engaging with customers (or potential customers) who are already aware of you and your company.
Email marketing targets a completely different audience. Instead of looking to attract casual browsers on to your site, you’re trying to attract people who are already interested in your product or service and have a desire to hear from you.
Because your target audience for email marketing is made up of people who are already interested in your product or service, you have the luxury of selecting your messaging more carefully. You don’t have to try and appeal to everyone with one message.
Product/Service Awareness
People who are already interested in your product or service will have heard of it. So when you send out promotional emails, these individuals are more likely to open and read them. In other words, they’re more likely to be “product aware”.
In contrast, when you promote a product or service on social media, your audience may or may not be familiar with the product or service. This is especially true if the product or service is niche or unfamiliar to the person reading the social media post.
Aside from the issue of product awareness, your target audience for social media posts is made up of people who are potentially interested in your product or service. And although you may be able to engage with these individuals via social media, you cannot compel them to purchase your product or service. This is why you use email marketing to gain brand awareness and drive leads to your website.
Direct Mail
Although email marketing was originally created as a method of passing on mail that arrived unsolicited, it’s primarily used today as a means of advertising and getting people to take action. This is why most marketers prefer to use email marketing instead of social media. After all, social media is all about getting people to like, share, and engage with your content. But unless you have a massive following, you’re unlikely to convince someone to buy a product or service from a brand they’ve never heard of via social media.
In contrast to social media, direct mail provides a more personal connection with potential customers. This is because when somebody receives a piece of direct mail, it is more likely that they’ll remember the brand. And if they do remember the brand, it’s much more likely that they’ll be interested in what the brand has to offer. In essence, direct mail provides a better chance of converting casual browsers into paying customers.
Conversion
People who use email marketing to find leads and then turn them into customers are known as “conversion experts.” Because of their experience in converting casual browsers into paying customers, these individuals can develop and implement effective email marketing strategies to grow their business.
According to HubSpot Blogs, 82% of businesses obtained new customers via email marketing. So if you’re looking for ways to grow your business, consider using email marketing to generate new leads and then turn them into paying customers.
Mobile
In the last few years, more and more consumers have been relying on their mobile phones instead of desktop or laptop computers when it comes to searching for products and services online. In fact, in the 2020 digital survey that was conducted by HubSpot, 66% of respondents said that they used mobile phones for marketing and research, compared to 14% who used laptop computers and 10% who used desktop computers. The survey of 2,000 U.S. adults also showed that 20% used online marketplaces through mobile phones, while 14% used them to read product reviews.
The takeaway from all this is that while mobile phones were once used only as a tool to make calls, they’ve evolved into an essential part of our everyday lives. And with each passing day, more and more people are relying on mobile phones not only for phone calls, but also for email, shopping, and research. This demonstrates how mobile phones have transformed into essential information appliances.
Conclusion
The major takeaway from this entire discussion is that while all the examples given thus far have focused on using email marketing to gain leads, you can use it for so much more. In the right situation, email marketing can be an extremely effective tool for boosting brand awareness, generating leads, and turning those leads into customers.