STRATEGY FOR BRILLIANT E-MAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS

E-MAIL MARKETING

What is E-mail Marketing?

Email marketing is, quite simply, using the tools of email to deliver advertising messages. The vast majority of Internet users have email accounts which allow them to receive an almost unlimited number of messages instantly. According to a survey conducted by Pew Internet, 82% of U.S. adults use the Internet, and email is one of the fastest, cheapest and easiest ways for marketers to connect with customers.

One of the greatest advantages of email marketing is that it allows marketers to send targeted messages. Print, radio and television ads are broadcast indiscriminately and frequently reach consumers who have no interest in the product offered. But email marketing allows companies to tailor certain ads to certain customers. If a customer has shopped for a brand of shoes in the past, companies can email them coupons for that same brand knowing that they have already expressed an interest.

Popular E-mail Marketing Services

The email marketing industry has exploded over the last 15 years. In 2011, companies spent $1.51 billion on email marketing efforts. In order to tap into this growth, a number of companies have started to provide email marketing services to businesses large and small. Below are some of the most popular providers.

>iContact

>Benchmark Email

>Constant Contact

>Pinpointe

>GetResponse

>Mailgen

Types of E-mail Marketing:

1. E-mail Newsletters:

These are regular emails that are sent to a list of subscribers who have chosen to receive updates from a company. Newsletters usually don't have explicit sales messages, but try instead to build a relationship between a customer and a brand. They often have a conversational tone and contain news and information that will be of interest to the customer. The goal is to keep a customer connected to a company even when they are not buying anything.

2. Transactional E-mails:

These are emails that are sent out after certain actions trigger them. When a customer buys a product or makes a reservation, emails are sent out confirming that transaction. They legitimize online commerce by giving customers a way to prove they have bought something. Transactional emails often also contain new sales messages. Studies have shown that transactional emails are opened 51.3% of the time, while newsletters are only opened 36.6% of the time. Knowing that they have a captive audience, marketers will often try to insert new sales pitches into emails that are not explicitly for selling. For example, airline reservation emails often ask if you would like to upgrade your seat for a fee.

3. Direct E-mails:

These are used to inform customers about new products, sales and special offers. They provide customers with direct information about products and usually provide a link or another easy way for customers to access the product. They are similar to the coupons, catalogs, and sales fliers that used to be sent through the post office.

7 Reasons Using E-mail Marketing Can Help Your Business Grow :

> E-mail has Larger Reach-

With Facebook boasting over 1 billion active users and Twitter boasting 255 million, it’s tempting to believe that social media is the most effective way to reach the masses. These are impressive numbers, but what isn’t so frequently shared are the statistics on email usage. The total number of worldwide email accounts was 3.9 billion in 2013, and projected to reach 4.9 billion by 2017, according to Radicati.

> E-mail delivers your message-

If marketers have to choose between adding a subscriber to their email list, or gaining a new Facebook fan, they should go for the email subscriber every time, says Forrester Research.

There are two key reasons why:

First, 90% of email gets delivered to the intended recipient’s inbox, whereas only 2% of your Facebook fans see your posts in their News Feed. This is because Facebook limits the number of times your posts appear in the News Feed in an attempt to drive brands towards their paid advertising options.

This is a big deal when it comes to getting your messages seen.

Secondly, your email subscribers have explicitly told you they want to hear from you when they signed up for your email list. There are strict laws and regulations around SPAM laws, so if you’re emailing a prospect or customer, it is because they gave you permission to. Now think about the ads in your Facebook News Feed – did you ask those companies to market to you? Probably not. More than likely, you performed a Google search or visited their website. That’s decidedly different than proactively signing up from an email newsletter.

Email is the proven marketing channel to ensure your audience gets your message.

> E-mail drives conversions-

Most marketers are laser focused on driving conversions. Regardless of whether this is in the form of leads, sales, memberships, or a metric unique to your business strategy, the ultimate goal for marketers is to turn potential customers into paying customers.

And when it comes to conversions, there isn’t a more powerful channel than email.

> E-mail has a higher ROI-

Given email’s unmatched ability to drive conversions, it would make sense that email is also the most effective marketing channel to drive ROI. Email marketing yields an average 3,800% return on investment for businesses and for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return on investment is $38.

> E-mail is the preferred communication channel-

For many, social networks are a very personal form of communication used to keep up to date with friends & family. When people log in to their social media accounts, they are there to see photos and updates from people they know and care about.

Email on the contrary, is a much more professional medium and people expect to receive information about products and services through that channel.

> E-mail is an open platform-

Over the past few years, many brands have invested millions of dollars into buying large social followings in order to be able to communicate and engage with an audience.

The diverse array of companies involved in email marketing ensures that no one party can make changes that are going to have a widespread effect, and unlike Facebook or Twitter, if you invest the time and money into building a great email list it’s an asset you will own and be able to leverage without the threat of someone limiting its effectiveness.

> E- mail will be around forever-

Email on the contrary has a long history of stability. The first promotional email campaign was sent in 1978 to a total of 400 people, and email has been growing consistently since. Interestingly, the email space itself has evolved from a time where you needed a developer to build an email, to today where tools like Campaign Monitor empower the modern marketer to create and send beautiful branded emails. This shift has put the power of business email into the hands of more people.

Building your email list, unlike building a social media following, is a stable long-term investment that will pay off for many years to come.