Is Email Marketing Dead? No, And Here’s What You Need to Know About It

We often hear that email marketing is useless in today’s day and age. What is the reason for such claims? That’s simple – there are now so many more platforms where businesses can reach their clients, as well as potential customers. So, what is the truth? Is email marketing dead for real?

The truth is, not at all! A well-implemented email marketing strategy can work wonders for businesses, whether small or large, old or new.

Ask any email marketing specialist and they will tell you that. Not because it’s their bread and butter and they’re trying to win you over but because they genuinely believe in the medium and KNOW that it can benefit a brand.

Don’t believe us? These statistics might change your mind.

Email Marketing Statistics That Will Leave You Shocked

• By 2023, there are estimated to be around 4.3 billion active email users. In 2019, there were 3.9 billion. (Source: Statista)
• The number of emails sent and received on a daily basis is likely to increase from 293.6 billion in 2019 to 347.3 billion in 2022. (Source, Statista)
• 81% of professionals, according to eMarketer, believe that email is a great channel for customer acquisition.
• According to a study conducted by DMA, in 2018, the ROI of email marketing was £42 for every £1 spent.

Now do you understand the importance of email marketing?

Of all the stats you can come across, this last one gives you an idea of just how much your business can benefit from an email campaign, given an email marketing specialist devises the plan.

So what does this mean?

Is social media the first platform marketers think of nowadays? Maybe.

Do Facebook and Google ads lead to leads (see what we did there)? Sure.

But does that really take away from the effectiveness of a well-executed email marketing strategy? Do the benefits of email marketing suddenly disappear in light of newer technology and ways?

Of course not – trying to obtain email leads is just as important! Then,

Why Does Email Marketing Amass Such Negative Publicity?

The reason for that is simple:

People are not doing email marketing right– they don’t know how to send a professional email.

There is a difference between using a medium incorrectly and the medium itself being useless.

In this case, fortunately or unfortunately, it is the former.

Marketers or business owners are unable to get the most out of the platform due to outdated or inefficient practices and end up blaming email itself.

Which is why we’re going to discuss some brilliant tips with you in this email guide so you can revolutionize your email marketing strategy and see the difference.

But before that,

Do You Need an Email Marketing Strategy? Why?

Despite the popularity of social media and a shift in the way communication takes place, email marketing benefits your company to this day.

Whether you are a small business or large, you should bring it on board your overall strategy if you haven’t already.

And we’ll tell you exactly why:

1. It’s instant

99% of consumers check their email EVERY day, according to DMA Insights. Also, lots of people check their email on their mobile phones. What does this mean for you? Your message will reach the consumer sooner rather than later.

2. It’s personal

Amid a whirlpool of marketing messages your consumers are bombarded with on a daily basis, YOU single them out and talk to them directly. Given that you personalize the message, of course.

3. It’s cheap

Email is the best way you can reach a large number of people at a very small cost. And the ROI is great, as you now know!

4. It’s easily trackable

For any campaign to work, you need to analyze it and make changes every step of the way. The results of an email marketing strategy are easy to measure.

5. It can be automated

We are living in an age of automation and efficiency – why does email have to be any different? While email is more of a traditional medium, it can still be automated to produce the best results.

6. It’s interactive

With videos, carousels, quizzes, and much more, you can engage your customers…inside their mailboxes!

7. It’s creative

You have a massive amount of room to attract your customers using short, quirky copy and graphics that grab their attention instantly! You just have to let yourself be creative.

Now, back to those tricks we were going to share with you!

Email Marketing Tips for 2020

An email marketing strategy addresses many needs of an organization – it doesn’t just fulfill one purpose.

According to the same study by DMA, the following are some of the most important objectives of email marketing:

• Sales – 62%
• Engagement – 50%
• Brand awareness – 47%
• Building loyalty – 45%

And you can achieve all of them with a well-thought-out strategy that incorporates the email marketing best practices we’ll share below.

Let’s begin!

1. Build Your Email List with Lead Magnets.

Before you can go ahead and actually start working on your email content and other aspects of your email marketing campaign implementation, you need a substantial emails list.

You also need to make sure this list consists of people who are actually interested in any information, deals, and other communication you can send their way. Blasting emails to random, uninterested people will just be a waste of time and effort.

A great way to build an email list is with lead magnets.

What is a lead magnet? You know when you’re about to leave a site and a pop-up appears, promising you something in return for your email address? That is a lead magnet.

It basically “attracts” leads by offering something of interest to people who enter their email addresses. A lead magnet on the right web page with a catchy copy and design can help you build your email list substantially.

But that’s not all – you also have to make an offer people would be interested in. This could be anything, ranging from special discounts, exclusive tips and tricks, and much more.

2. Do Not Skip the Welcome Email.

An email marketing specialist will never take a welcome email lightly or consider skipping it altogether.

But before we get to the how and why of it all, what exactly is a welcome email?

You know when you subscribe to a newsletter or a blog, for example, and you get an email welcoming you on board? That is a welcome email. As a business, it is your first instance of communication with your new connection.

Why is it important?

Well, GetResponse studied approximately 4 billion emails sent by their customers in 126 countries and across 19 industries. According to the data collected, the average open rate for a welcome email is a staggering 82%!

Astonishing, right? Invescpro pins this number at around 50% and Chief Marketer says it is 60% but the point is the same – welcome emails are a must.

As a result of a welcome email, the new subscriber has more engagement with the brand, the company can generate more revenue, and conversion rates are higher among many other benefits.

Writing a welcome email is an art but if you get it right, you can hit it off with your potential future customers the right way!

3. Optimize Your Emails for Mobile.

According to Litmus, 46% of all emails are opened on a mobile device. That is nearly half of all emails sent.

But that’s not all.

35% business professionals use a mobile device to check their email, according to Convince and Convert.

So whether you are a B2B business or B2C, know that there is a high chance the receivers of your email will see it on a handheld device.

Which means that the email needs to optimized as such – only then will it be displayed properly on a mobile screen. Otherwise, you will have half an image cut off somewhere and a super magnified line of text somewhere else.

And if the user’s experience with reading an email from you is that poor, how will they ever think they will have a good experience buying from you or conducting business with you?

You need to make sure your email is displayed perfectly on different kinds of screens.

Here are some guidelines that can help you achieve that:

The Essential Guide to Optimizing Your Emails for Mobile

If you are looking for an email marketing specialist who can help you out with each aspect of your email marketing strategy, get in touch with one of our experts today!

4. Personalize Your Emails.

Now more than ever, people are used to customized communication they feel is talking directly to them.

They don’t want to feel like an afterthought – an email address that was added to a list of thousands of others.

And what will happen if your communication isn’t personalized to the need or requirements of the reader? They will choose another brand over you without a split second of hesitation.

Personalization is a must – and not just in one aspect of the email.

• According to Yes LifeCycle Marketing, if you go for personalization in the subject line, you experience a 50% higher open rate.
• GetResponse claims that the open rate reaches 29.95% when the email body in personalized. The click-through rate also becomes 5.03%.

You should ensure that each element jumps out at the reader, making them think it was written specifically for them, addressing a need they have.

When customizing your emails, there are certain steps you need to take to get it right. Some of them include:

• Understanding the audience and their needs.
• Building customer personas.
• Using email to react to actions your customers are taking (behavior-triggered) with regard to your product/service.
• Personalizing all elements of the email.
• Asking relevant questions that make the reader want to act.
• Using graphics in a smart way to increase click-through rates.
• Delivering customized offers.

Have a chat with an email marketing specialist at CANZ Marketing to understand how you can personalize your emails better.

5. Embrace Email Marketing Automation.

If you are a small business, it is likely that you do not have the funds to hire a massive team.

This means that you can’t hire an email marketing specialist that can deal with each aspect of each of your email campaigns.

A lack of funds also means you can’t always afford to outsource the task.

So, what is the next best option?

Welcome email automation into your strategy!

An email automation software can help you set up campaigns that kick into action when the user takes a particular action.

Welcome emails, that we discussed in the first point, are the perfect example of this. You don’t need to track every subscription and then send a welcome email their way manually – you can just have the program do it for you.

The best part about this is that automated emails are timely and personalized, making sure you make a great impression with them.

You can use automation as part of your email marketing strategy to:

• Remind customers about promotions
• Encourage them to revisit their abandoned cart
• Ask them for feedback
• And so on

So, what next?

Here is a list of some of the best email automation tools you can go for:

30 Best Email Marketing Automation Tools to Transform Your Business

You can take a look at these and others and pick the one that fits best with your email marketing strategy.

6. Make Your Message Attractive.

This sounds obvious.

But it really isn’t.

It’s easy to think of email as a boring, more formal channel of communication. Guilty? It’s okay – it’s never too late to realize why email marketing is important and start fixing your strategy.

All you need is to start thinking like an email marketing specialist.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

• Is this message right for the receiver?
• Will this text speak to the consumer?
• Is there any way I can make the copy more creative?
• What kind of images should I use in this email?
• Are these colors right for the message I am trying to give?
• Will this be visually appealing to the reader as soon as they open the email?
• Does my subject line even make them WANT to open the email?
• How can I make the email more interactive?
• Does a reader from this demographic really want to take a quiz or would they rather watch a video?
• Will this image look interesting on a mobile device too?

You get the point, right?

The idea is to put yourself in the shoes of the receiver and then see where the email stands. If it turns out that even you’re bored by the email you’re creating, the person you’re sending it will end up taking a nap.

Give yourself room to be creative with every element of the email – each one matters.

Not sure how to get started? An email marketing specialist at CANZ, an email marketing company that promises results, can help. Get in touch.

7. Draft Exemplary Copy.

We talked about making the email creative in the last point. We also talked about a bunch of elements that can help you do that.

But the actual email copy deserves a separate mention. You can have the perfect colors and graphic design but it will all go to waste if your copy is not up to the mark.

How?

Well, for starters, a very important part of your email copy is the subject line. If you have a bland, generic subject line, the reader won’t even glance at the email twice, let alone open it.

You need the subject line to make the receiver click on the email, whether that is by making them curious about what’s inside, giving them an incentive, or anything in between.

Then you need to keep that engagement and excitement intact once the email has been opened.

Here are some things you can do to ensure that:

• Draft the copy such that it sounds like a personal, one-on-one conversation, not a generic message that you are sending out in an email blast. You want the reader to think you are talking to them about a topic that is relevant to them in particular.
• Keep the email short – nobody has the time to go through paragraphs upon paragraphs of text. Get to the point quickly and end the email soon after – before the reader closes it without even going through the entire thing.
• Don’t use difficult language that may be hard for a layperson to understand. Use simple words with a creative twist for the best results.
• Choose you-focused copy as opposed to I-focused copy. You want the reader to feel like the email is about them, not you.
• Include a call-to-action that is tempting enough for the reader to click. Try to steer clear of multiple call-to-action buttons in your copy though – focus on a single action you want the receiver of the email to take.

Taking care of these small but important details can make all the difference to your email marketing strategy.

Want to see a professional email example so you can learn how these tips can be applied for success? Give this blog post a read and find not one, but many examples of brands doing email marketing right:

Email Marketing: Top 3 Winning Industries

Don’t Believe the Myths – Revive Your Email Marketing Strategy Today!

So, what are your thoughts now – is email marketing dead?

Absolutely not, but you may be killing it a slow painful death because you don’t have an effective marketing plan when it comes to email.

And now that you’re done with this blog post, you don’t need an email marketing specialist to tell you that, lol!

Implement these tips and tricks and enjoy email marketing benefits that are out of this world.

For email marketing consultation or targeted email marketing services, get in touch with one of our experts today.

And if you need any other help, you know what to do!