If a business wants to communicate with a customer, the best way to do it is through email.
According to Hubspot, 86% of consumers would like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with at least monthly (with 15% preferring daily emails). Emails are the quickest way to announce a sale, share company news, or remarket to previous customers.
Recent research found that email marketing is popular across generations, enabling businesses to reach broad audiences effectively and inexpensively.
Simply put, email marketing refers to the use of email communications in a marketing strategy to reach specific business goals.
Emails can be used to generate sales, enhance customer engagement (i.e., newsletters), acquire customers, create brand awareness and reward customer loyalty.
For existing clients and customers, email marketing emphasizes communication and awareness. For potential customers, emails can be used to entice and attract in an outreach campaign.
The most effective email marketing campaign is planned by modality, audience, and goals. Campaigns to onboard new customers, reengage inactive customers, or drive customers from lead to conversion all have unique goals and approaches.
Newsletters are effective for keeping your customers tuned into your brand. They typically contain an intro, description, and links with images informing customers regarding new products or services, industry news, important announcements, or any changes in your business that you wish to convey.
These emails are typically sent out to first-time clients after online registration but are also used for sales generation, lead follow up, or brand awareness. A welcome message usually works best when combined with a special offer to further generate customer interest or action.
This campaign boosts customer retention and loyalty. This type of email highlights milestones important to the brand or the customer and is usually accompanied by a special promo or discount code that they can use.
This email campaign is used to target customers in sales, especially those who have purchased similar items or those who have not completed their purchase. These emails also come with promotional codes or discounts that expire within a certain timeframe.
Again, for those involved in e-commerce, sending an email about an abandoned cart can encourage customers to complete their purchases. These emails can be automated messages that ask the customer to complete their purchase within a specific timeframe.
Want to learn more about how customers abandon carts? Read our previous blog on cart abandonment here.
Email marketing is very effective in generating customer interest. When done right, a newsletter is cost-effective, fast, and simple way to keep customers informed on (and excited about) new product launches or new promotions.
Email marketing allows you to regularly stay in touch with customers and website visitors. Proven buyers also appreciate being kept up-to-date with the latest products and promos. Studies show it costs five times more to acquire a new customer compared to retaining an existing customer.
Email marketing has greater chances of being seen, compared to social media updates where they can miss out announcements and just scroll up their news feeds. With a few clicks, emails can be sent to thousands of users. Those users are free to read at their own convenience- whether online or offline.
As mentioned earlier, email marketing is cost-effective and is relatively easier and cheaper to maintain. Email marketing services such as MailChimp or ActiveCampaign have simplified the process, allowing for greater automation and customization.
While email marketing is simple to launch and administer, developing a goal-centered strategy creates results.
Define your KPIs. What is your clickthrough rate, the percentage of recipients who clicked on a link in your email? Or the conversion rate, the percentage of recipients who proceeded to purchase a product or complete a form requesting more information? Your open rate? Even the unsubscribe rate and the list growth rate provide insights into your email effectiveness.
Different subscribers and customers need approaches designed for their unique needs. Segmenting your email marketing by recipient type at a minimum. Likely customers, new customers, and ongoing customers all need a different message and touch.
Beyond segmentation, message personalization increases relevance, driving mail opens and engagement with your brand.
An integrated CRM can manage contacts, distribution lists, and campaigns, making it easier to segment, personalize, and measure. if you have an existing Marketing Automation system, or even a CRM with automation features, use the email marketing engine to automate your initiatives.
Regardless of a business’s size and industry, emails can present a number of business opportunities from lead generation to customer engagement.
Of course, email marketing is flexible and scalable enough to achieve complex marketing goals depending on your needs, your infrastructure, and the organization's capability. Often a first step in a marketing mix, email marketing allows brands to begin to grow capability as its technology and organizational maturity continue to evolve. To see how to grow your marketing impact, read our Data Science Maturity Model resource. Regardless of a business's marketing experience, multiple best practices can be applied to any level to expand your capabilities. For more information on all things related to email marketing and SEO, visit the Arcalea blog.