Much like SEO, email marketing has often been pronounced dead. However, despite the popularity of social media, of SEO, and a thousand marketing hacks that plague the internet, it is still very much alive and kicking.
Not only is it alive, it is also very effective, and can still drive you traffic, increase sales, boost revenues, and anything else you might need it to. Let’s take a look at a few key features of email marketing and why it still has such an edge.
It’s Affordable
People will hail social media as being free and having a huge reach – and while that would be right, email marketing had the same benefits.
You can start doing an email marketing campaign at any time, and you don’t always need to hire anyone to do it for you. You may not be an expert, but you can easily craft a starting campaign which will get you going. There are many software solutions you can turn to, that can come in handy at this point. There are also countless resources that can help you get started.
It’s Expected
Let’s face it – your customers expect you to reach out to them, they want you to send them an email with your latest offers and updates. They might not have the time or might not remember to check out your social feeds or your website, and if they like your brand, they will sign up to your newsletter, and they will actually want to receive it. If you include a freebie or anything else exclusive in it, you are even more likely to turn your one time buyers into repeat customers.
Emails are Checked Often
People still check their email more often than they do their social feeds. At least some of them do. If you are likely to be seen within 12 hours of sending out the newsletter, why wouldn’t you use this avenue to reach out to the people who have expressed interest in your brand?
It is Scalable
As your business grows, you can also grow your email campaigns. As you reach more people, and as more people sign up to get news from you, you don’t have to hire any additional people to run the campaign for you. One person is still enough, who can send out any number of emails, using the right tools. And as you expand your reach, your customer base will also scale up. Just make sure you offer your visitors an easy way to sign up to the newsletter. You don’t need a pop up window, a call to action and a clearly visible button will do it.
It is Measurable
With the right tracking tool, you will easily know who has opened an email and when, and you will be able to learn which subject lines work better, what times of day provide better responses and so on. All of this knowledge can help you tweak your campaigns, not just in general, but to specific audiences. If someone has not visited your site in a while, you can send them a personalized invite. If they have abandoned their cart, a different email will do. Just make sure you don’t turn into a spammer.
It is Clickable
If someone is reading their email on the commute, they will be more likely to click on your links to pass the time. And since you already know they like your brand, you can send an offer they will likely be drawn to, thus increasing your chances of a conversion.
Email is still very powerful, and with not enough people utilizing it as a sales and marketing tool, now might be the time for you to craft a killer campaign, and reap all the benefits of a less crowded playing field.