Traditional email marketing is a form of marketing that exists in its own silo. Marketers have been using email to communicate with customers since the 1970s, but it wasn’t until recent years that businesses started treating it as a viable marketing channel. The rise of content marketing, combined with the growth of email marketing as a whole, has caused traditional email marketing to be regarded as old-school.
Email Is Now Seen As A Viable Marketing Channel
In 2018, more businesses than ever are seeing the value in email marketing. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 79% of marketing respondents see email as a viable marketing channel, up from 69% in 2017.
In addition, 72% of respondents use email to communicate with customers at least once a week, and 55% use it at least once a day. These numbers indicate that businesses are beginning to understand the full power of email as a marketing tool.
This change in attitude is reflected in the types of emails marketers are sending. For example, marketers are increasingly using email to communicate with customers about news and events that pertain to their niche or industry (e.g., pharmaceutical companies using email to communicate about disease diagnoses or treatments).
Traditional forms of email marketing – such as sending marketing emails to large mailing lists – are still extremely popular, with 70% of respondents planning on using them at least occasionally. But businesses need to evolve their approach if they want to take advantage of this trend.
How To Make Email Marketing Work For You
The main reason why businesses are seeing the value in email marketing is because of the ways in which they can track the effectiveness of each campaign. According to HubSpot Blogs research, 79% of marketing respondents use email to learn what’s working and what needs to be changed with their next campaign. Similarly, 66% use email to follow up with customers, and 58% use it to get feedback on their products or services.
If you’re looking to gain traction with email marketing, consider focusing on one or two of these use cases and customizing your approach to fit them. For example, if you’re primarily using email to follow up with customers about orders, consider using a tool like Salesforce or HubSpot Channels to gain a better understanding of which parts of your marketing funnel are working and which aren’t. These insights can help you determine the next step in your marketing strategy – whether you want to increase marketing productivity, find more effective ways to communicate about your brand, or determine the optimal timing for a new product launch.
Why Email Subscribers Are Preferred Over Social Media Followers
Apart from learning what’s working and what needs to be changed in your marketing strategy, another major benefit of email marketing is that you can target specific groups of people. In 2018, respondents to HubSpot Blogs research cited this very reason as the number one reason why they prefer to receive emails from brands rather than social media platforms. If you’re looking to grow your email list, consider using a tool like MailChimp or HubSpot to gain a better understanding of which groups of people you might want to reach out to.
This strategy makes sense when you think about it. Remember, your email list is a living, breathing database that you can use to send out marketing emails when the mood strikes you. By identifying specific groups of people who will benefit from your communications (i.e., the pharmaceutical industry), you can tailor your approach to send out personalized, targeted emails that speak to their needs. This leads to more effective marketing and faster growth.
The Importance Of Building A Solid Email List
While most businesses are starting to see the advantages of email marketing, only 22% of respondents to our research have a fully developed email list. These respondents are more likely to have a 5% or higher open rate and a 20% or higher click-through rate. Additionally, respondents with a well-established email list are more than twice as likely to have a direct interaction with a customer within 24 hours of sending an email as those who have less than 5% open rate.
Building a quality email list is both challenging and time-consuming. Our research found that it takes an average business 10 weeks to a month to gain a decent size of email list, with 37% of businesses taking more than a month to get there. This is a considerable amount of time, especially since you’re probably not going to get immediate results.
An important thing to keep in mind is that your email list is not as valuable as you think it is. In our research, we found that respondents value their email lists at around $13 each. This makes it cheaper for you to acquire new subscribers than it is to maintain an already-established email list. The key is to find the right balance between the two. You can use email marketing to get the word out about your business, but you need to be careful about how you go about doing it.