Engage With Customers. Studies show that a whopping 269 billion emails were sent and received each day during 2018 and the average expected ROI is a satisfying $32 for every $1 spent on email marketing.
According to the above research, email marketing is a way that a huge number (over 80%) of businesses rely on this form of marketing to retain and keep new customers, and as their primary method of acquiring new customers.
Business owners are always looking for great ways to connect and build relationships with their leads and customers. And if you’re not using email marketing to do that, you may be missing out on a powerful opportunity.
So, you may be wondering, how email marketing really can make a difference in your business?
Let’s start by taking a look below at 3 of the great reasons why email marketing is one of the best digital marketing tactics that a business can invest in.
One of the most important considerations for any business is their marketing budget, so let’s see how getting a great email campaign together is a no-brainer in terms of costs.
“The average expected ROI is a satisfying $32 for every $1 spent on email marketing.”
Email Marketing is Affordable
Many businesses are working within a tight marketing budget, which means they need to find the most affordable ways to reach and engage with their audience
Email marketing is a cost-effective digital marketing strategy that can be up and running with little investment to get started.
The maintenance of email marketing over time in terms of budget is also relatively inexpensive, which allows businesses of all sizes to get more bang for their buck in terms of their marketing spend.
It’s no surprise why so many business owners are eager to start developing email marketing campaigns.
Many of the more traditional marketing strategies such as flyers and printed materials, direct mail and TV/radio ads cost thousands of dollars over the period of a year, whereas email marketing allows businesses to reach a huge audience for just a few cents per customer.
High-value ROI
This significant ROI can really help to improve your bottom line and do a lot more with your marketing budget, for much less cost. Which is one of the great reasons email marketing is not only a good option for larger-scale businesses but also perfect for sole entrepreneurs and small businesses.
The costs involved with this marketing strategy are relatively few. However, the exact costs of your campaigns will depend on a few different factors, which include weighing up the in-house resources you have.
In addition to creating an email strategy and identifying campaign opportunities, you will also need to decide on who will create the marketing content and put your campaigns into action.
Outsource your email marketing
If you do not have the in-house resources to develop and implement your small business email marketing campaigns, then you might wonder about the possibility of hiring outside help.
Though working with an email marketing agency does require an up-front investment, it can actually help you save more money in the long term.
Working with an agency allows you to free up your own marketing team to be able to focus more on other core marketing tasks, such as developing more long-term strategies. Using an agency will also be able to help you see better results more quickly given their experience and their knowledge of best practice and the pitfalls of using email marketing as a marketing tool.
“Working with an email marketing agency does require an up-front investment, it can actually help you save more money in the long term.”
Consumers Prefer Email
According to one study, 72% of consumers prefer to receive promotional messages through email.
The number one reason why email marketing is a no-brainer for companies is that consumers prefer email. Most businesses are working with limited marketing budgets, which means that they can’t waste time with marketing tactics that won’t resonate well with their target market.
While social media has become a popular way for businesses to communicate with their audience, brands sometimes just can’t get the organic reach they are looking for through these channels. However, social media isn’t the only answer.
Email marketing can also provide a great medium that allows businesses to reach out to their potential leads and customers.
It seems that many consumers actually prefer to communicate with brands through email. The most plausible reason is mainly that it is permission-based, rather than simply just random marketing you didn’t ask for.
This kind of email marketing is possibly the worst kind, as you stand to not only frustrate potential customers but also actively antagonize them.
The customers on your email marketing list actually signed up because they want to get updates from you and know more about your company. They’re interested in learning more about your brand including your promotions and discounts. And that alone makes email marketing such an effective strategy to reach your consumers.
So now you’ve seen that customers are looking to communicate with their favorite brands and services by email, you may be wondering why consumers prefer receiving updates from brands through email? Here are just a few reasons why email marketing works so well with the modern consumer:
- The personal touch Today’s consumer is busy with longer working hours and less free time and are often bombarded with marketing messages. Email segmentation makes it easy to deliver the most relevant offers and content to the consumer.
The ones they will respond best to are those that are personalized and relevant. With this marketing strategy, you can personalize your content and message based on each subscriber’s individual preferences and buying patterns.
- Convenient With access to email at every opportunity it’s at their fingertips on their smartphone, most consumers find this type of communication very convenient.Engage With Customers
Not only can consumers stay connected with their favorite brands and services from anywhere, but they can easily redeem any coupon codes or other special offers directly where they are, at any time, from their phone.
- Instant Consumers like the ability to get information about exclusive offers and last-minute deals. Sending email campaigns allows your business to instantly distribute your sales emails and promotions, to enable your consumers can take advantage of the opportunity to get a great deal.
If you want to get the most out of your marketing emails and know why email marketing works, then it’s vital that your email content is optimized for mobile devices. Let’s take a look below at ways to do this.
Keep your marketing emails optimized for mobile
As a massive wave of consumers is practically living their whole life on their mobiles, it makes sense to ensure your marketing is optimized for the way most consumers will be reading your communication.
If you’re hoping to catch the attention of this growing audience, it’s absolutely vital to the success of your email marketing campaign to make sure your emails can be read on smartphones.
There are a few things that you should focus on and make an important part of your email marketing strategy if you are looking to develop mobile-friendly emails:
- Keep it simple. Start with a responsive template that you know subscribers will be able to read on their mobile devices.Use a simple email design that looks good on a smaller screen.
- Limit your images. Too many images can take a long time to load, and larger images may not be viewable on a smaller screen without excessive scrolling. Images are of course, a great way to engage your audience. However, but if you want your readers to not wait for a long list of pics to load, it’s best to limit them
- Make good use of call-to-action buttons. Always use a button for your customers call-to-action, rather than a link. Links can easily be broken, and buttons are also much easier to click when using a touchscreen device than clicking links. Make sure the button is large enough for anyone to be able to click as they are taken to the next step of their customer journey.
- Optimize your text. Make sure your message quickly arrives at the point and try to avoid using long paragraphs. The text you use is important as the images you use, and both should be kept as concise as possible. Your email marketing message should be easy to scroll and read through.
Now that you’ve seen some of the huge benefits of email marketing and why it’s such a popular method of communication with consumers, let’s take a look below at some of the types of messages that work well as part of your customer engagement email marketing strategy.
We will start with a question many may have, relating to the number of emails you should send. No one wants to bombard their customers! So, read on to find out the optimum number to make sure your readers are happy to engage with your content.
How many emails should I send per week?
There have been a number of studies that have discovered that email users prefer to receive marketing emails just once a week. This frequency allows you to communicate consistently without overwhelming your subscribers.
When it comes to the types of email messages that consumers like to receive, there are a few different reasons why consumers generally sign up for email communications from brands:
- Sending out free content such as E-Books and how-to guides
- Info on existing products and services
- Newsletters and brand updates
- Rewards and loyalty programs
- Sales promo and coupons
- Competitions
- Product launches
The only way to know for sure if your email marketing is working is by making sure you continually track the success of your email campaigns.
Make sure you track important metrics, such as click-through and open rates, and any conversions to see the types of content your subscribers respond to best.
Studying and creating reports on your Unsubscribe rate can also help you to more easily understand the types of content your audience isn’t engaged with.
“There have been a number of studies that have discovered that email users prefer to receive marketing emails just once a week.”
So once you have decided how you intend to grab the attention of your customers, engaging them with your product or service, let’s look at ways in which you can bring your communication to life and guarantee your customers will be clicking on your emails and joining you on your brand journey!
Some amazing effective ways to engage your customers by email
Create a story
When you are creating email campaigns, it’s important to include relevant content that relates to your brand’s message and the interests of your subscribers.
Content that engages in storytelling and inspires its readers provides a really unique value to their online customer experience.
One of the best ways to do this is through creating a content-rich email newsletter. Be sure to include customer success stories, any product launches or updates to existing products or services, great tips and more!
When you personally connect with your subscribers in a personal way through well researched, interesting and engaging content, it will encourage them to explore your products and become part of your loyal customer base.
According to Forbes, the huge group of new consumers, the millennials, no longer become engaged through ads alone and are expecting much more from brands in terms of their online content.
When a brand is able to connect with its audiences on a personal level, they’re able to build a long-lasting relationship and drive new customer conversion and also, more importantly, help to retain existing customers.
Use powerful subject lines
It’s crucial to create subject lines that appeal to your readers and lead to higher engagement rates. Strong subject lines are short and descriptive. They should also contain the promise of something unmissable within.
As our inboxes are constantly flooded with emails each day, we are making decisions based on the subject lines which attract us at first glance.
To instantly engage your readers, make sure you Include maybe a cliffhanger subject title, an emoji, coupon codes, or cliffhangers. These are great ways of making sure your customers will be reading yours and not simply delete it!
Create polished email designs
If an email is difficult to consume, chances are that a reader will stop engaging with it. Use eye-catching and relevant images with short blocks of copy will encourage customers to read through the entire email.
Making sure you have a not only creative, but a clear and professionally looking email design is essential to customer engagement.
In 2016, over 70% of emails were opened on a mobile device. Using responsive design for mobile is crucial to grab your reader’s attention in an engaging way.
So, make sure your desktop version is a powerful lure to your potential customers, but also that your newsletters engaging content can be viewed on mobile.
And finally…
Using an effective email campaign that is directly targeted to your ideal customer is a low cost, time-efficient and guaranteed way of using your marketing budget the best way you can.
Creating rich and interesting content will make sure you start to effectively build a loyal customer base, who will purchase from you time after time.
