If you’re not taking advantage of email marketing, you should. And here’s why.
When clients come to us for our recommendations, we commonly include email marketing on our list of suggested implementations. That’s because we believe email is very effective at generating leads, driving sales, and nurturing customer relationships. We could spend all day talking about the business benefits of email marketing, but we think we can convince you of the tool’s awesomeness with just three reasons.
#1 Email Marketing Has a High ROI
If there’s one thing you should know about email marketing, it’s this: email has a 4400% ROI. That means that for every $1 spent, email returns $44. Let’s just stop and consider those numbers for a second.
A 4400% ROI?! That’s crazy. But wait, it gets crazier. Email marketing also drives more conversions than any other marketing channel, including search and social. And, consumers who purchase products through email spend 138% more than those that don’t receive email offers. Clearly, email campaigns are powerful revenue drivers. So what is it about email that makes it such an effective marketing tool?
Well first, a lot of people use email. Over 85% of adults in the U.S. send and receive messages. And of those people, 90% of them check their inbox every day. People can (and do) check their email almost anywhere— 11% of people admit to checking their email during a formal ceremony.
Second, email is accessible on all devices. In a previous blog, we talked about the importance of making your website mobile-responsive. This is because more than half of all website traffic came from a mobile phone. Luckily, it is very easy to write or read emails on phones and tablets. At least 50% of all emails are opened on a mobile device already.
Third, email marketing is incredibly affordable. If we look at Facebook, about 2% of your followers will see your organic posts. In order to get more reach, you have to pay for it by creating a sponsored post. With email marketing, however, 90% of messages are delivered into the inboxes of your customers. You can get your content in front of a lot of eyeballs without having to pay for a “sponsored email.” Bonus! There’s no email algorithm working against you!
#2 Email Automation Builds Trust
We know email marketing has a high ROI for some very compelling reasons. But it also helps you stay engaged with your customers through automation. Now, we’ve all gotten that “Happy Birthday!” email from our dentist. While that is an example of automation, it’s not a very good one. You can (and should) think bigger and better.
Automation is a powerful email marketing feature that allows you to send multiple touchpoints, triggered by time or action, to customers throughout their buying journey.
To make the most of automation, you want to be strategic. This starts by mapping out the customer journey and building email campaigns tailored to that journey. This way, you’re not sending random emails, but rather emails that are timely, relevant, and catch people at the right time with the right message.
Automation strategies work. Automated emails get 119% higher click rates compared to one-time emails sent to an entire subscriber list. And, automated emails have conversion rates up to 50% because, again, you’re sending perfectly timed emails that catch people when they’re ready to act. In the beginning, the act may be opening your emails and clicking through to your website. Later the act may be purchasing a product or leaving a review.
Here are some examples of popular automated messages.
Welcome Emails
If someone purchases a product or opts into your subscriber list, sending them a welcome email would be wise. On average, 320% more revenue is attributed to welcome emails. They set the tone for the kind of relationship you’ll have with your customers. Sharing instructions, tips, or answers to common questions signals to customers that you care about creating a positive brand experience.
Take this welcome email from AirBnB for example. The content clearly outlines the next steps customers can take to start using the AirBnB platform, like find a home or explore experiences.
Promotional Emails
One of the main reasons customers opt into emails is for the promotions. Seventy-seven percent of people prefer to receive promotional messages through email than any other channel. Email is a great tool to share special offers, sales, seasonal or holiday discounts, or upgrade discounts.
The Starbucks email below blends promotional and branding content together, giving the message a little more umph. In addition to offering a promotion, the email also highlights featured drinks that customers can now try with their special offer!
Lead Nurturing Emails
Wouldn’t it be great if every email subscriber moved down the conversion funnel as quickly as American Olympic medalist bobsledder Aja Evans?
Unfortunately, it can take weeks or even months for a lead to become a converting customer. But within that timeline, there’s a valuable opportunity to build relationships and trust with your subscribers.
Ninety-two percent of customers are more likely to purchase additional products or services from businesses they trust. To build that trust, you can automate email campaigns to continue to educate, inform, and engage audiences hanging out in the awareness or consideration phases of the sales funnel. Your emails can highlight industry news, blog articles, or free resources on your website. There are endless content opportunities.
This email from Sephora is a great nurturing email example. A lot of their customers are into video tutorials. So the makeup company smartly delivered a makeup tutorial to their subscribers’ inboxes. This email helps Sephora continue the conversation with customers.
Automation is important because, unless your Santa Clause, it can be really hard to keep track of which customers are naughty or nice, new or returning, cart abandoners or purchasers, etc. Isn’t it nice that your email marketing tool can keep track of all this for you? The tool knows what content to send when and to whom.
#3 Email Personalization Drives Purchases
Automation goes hand-in-hand with the third compelling reason in our list, which is personalization. Emails that go out based on actions or timed-triggers don’t have to have a one-size-fits-all message. Instead, you can make each subscriber feel like that special someone. Doing so pays off. Personalized emails can increase click-through-rates by 14% and conversions by 10%.
To be clear, personalization is so much more than using your customer’s first name in the subject line or body copy. (That’s just a no brainer!) We’re talking about personalizing your email content to match the wants and needs of many different customer segments.
For example, you can promote winter coats to subscribers in Alaska and swimsuits to subscribers in Hawaii. You can send a 10% coupon to low-spending customers and a 20% coupon to high-spending customers. This type of tailored content is 25% more likely to be opened.
Personalizing your emails starts by segmenting your subscriber list. Depending on your strategy and goals, you can segment by age, location, past purchases, position in the sales funnel, or personal interests. Once you have email lists for all of your customer segments, you can start brainstorming content for each of them.
Let’s look at some examples of great personalized email content.
Summary Emails
Lyft is one of many companies that send annual summaries. Using customer data, this email breaks down the customer’s relationship with the company, encouraging them to think about how they’ll continue to use the ride-share company in the future.
Personalized Recommendations
Personalization can go as far as talking to your customers individually. Customer history and behavior data are powerful sources for personalized emails. For example, Spotify will look at their customers’ listening history to create emails notifying customers of artist recommendations.
And referencing Sephora for a second time, the company sends “Restock Your Stash” emails based on products customers have previously purchased.
In today’s world, your brand is defined by the customer experience. Eighty six percent of consumers will go so far as to pay MORE for a positive experience. Using personalization tools within an email marketing campaign is one easy way to deliver that personalized, special, one-of-a-kind brand experiences.
High ROI + Automation + Personalization = A No Brainer
In the digital marketing ecosystem, email along with social media and paid digital advertising all work together to increase your brand awareness, website traffic, and conversions. But email offers exclusive perks. It has a very high ROI. It offers great exposure. It lets you keep in touch with thousands of people while also sending super-personalized content.
Have we convinced you that email marketing is a killer tactic? If you think email could work for your business, let’s continue the conversation. Our team of strategists, copywriters, and designers can get your awesome email campaigns off the ground.
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