The Importance of E-mail Marketing: These Are the Reasons It Matters
By the time the day ends, it is estimated more than 250 billion e-mails will have traveled across the internet. That is no surprise considering estimations that there will be four billion e-mail users worldwide by the end of 2019. With numbers like those, your company better take e-mail seriously as a marketing channel.
It is not just about the numbers, though. In digital marketing, success is achieved by leveraging all the different platforms and channels at your disposal, each one with its unique set of advantages. E-mail is no exception.
So, what makes e-mail such a vital piece of any digital marketing strategy?
Meant to Inspire Action
If the headline is appealing, you will open the message. If you are interested in what you see, you will hit reply, forward it to someone else, or click on the links provided. E-mail has become such an intrinsic part of our daily lives that we are hardwired to associate it with some form of action. That already puts marketers at an advantage, as they are more likely to get a response from their target audience.
Easy to Automate and Measure
There are a lot of e-mail platforms and tools available that allow marketers to get hard data about the messages they send, including open and click-through rates, which can immediately be used to optimize the content.
Inexpensive
Aside from general operational costs, e-mail marketing is not really expensive. Sending out a personalized or informative e-mail will cost you close to nothing. Compared to all the other channels available, e-mail is the most cost-effective as long as you take the time to use it creatively.
Personalization
While other marketing channels restrict the size or quality of your message, e-mail grants absolute freedom. There are no limits to how much you want to say or how you want to say it. If you want to, you can turn e-mails into miniature websites, with images and interactive media and a brand-centric design.
Your company can speak directly to your prospects or existing customers, in their own voice, under their own preferred terms.
Personalization opens up to endless possibilities that are limited only by your imagination.
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High Rate of Acquisition
It should come as no surprise that e-mail ranks second only to organic search in terms of acquisition of new clients. After all, e-mail speaks directly to prospects. That personalized touch we mentioned above and that hardwired action response all add up to a significant rate of quality engagement with a decent probability of conversion.
Increased Rate of Interaction Thanks to Mobile Usage
How often do you check your e-mail? Once per day? Twice? Ten times? Whenever you get a notification for a new message?
Truth is, with the undeniable rise of mobile usage, people are more connected than ever. This means they can check their e-mail with a single touch of their finger as many times as they need. This level of engagement is not enjoyed by any other marketing channel, which provides ample opportunity for companies to remain in constant communication with prospects or clients.
Constant Communication with Clients and Prospects
People are constantly checking e-mail. This makes it the best possible channel to keep an open and constant line of communication with your desired audience.
If you need to alert them of something fast, chances are an e-mail is the first thing most of them will see, long before any social media post.
E-mail is a vital component of any communication plans you or your company may have for the future. The numbers do not lie, and this remains an extremely effective and tactical marketing channel.
As long as you take the time to plan things through, e-mail marketing can and will spell all the difference for your business.
(Click the following image for access to a PDF with the kind of infographic that puts e-mail in perspective:)
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