Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to attract new customers and retain existing clients

Is email marketing still relevant in a digital environment dominated by social media posts, interactive ads, and mobile campaigns? While email is one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, in recent years the strategy feels like it’s become overshadowed by newer, flashier ways to grab peoples’ attention online, like social media and Google Advertising. 

Don’t get us wrong — these strategies are important as part of an integrated digital marketing plan. But the data (and consumer input) reveals that robust email marketing has yet to fall out of style. Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective strategies to put your products and services in front of consumers, has the highest return on investment of all digital marketing channels, and is unmatched in its ability to drive direct traffic to your website or landing page. 

And your clients are on email — more than 90% of people over the age of 17 use email, and 99% of consumers check their email daily (some admit to checking over 20 times a day). 

Trust us when we say that email marketing isn’t dead — far from it. Keep reading to learn why.

SEE ALSO: Surprising Email Marketing Statistics That Will Make You Rethink List Segmentation

Acquisition

Email marketing is one of the most effective strategies for acquiring and converting new customers, vastly outperforming flashier tactics like social media marketing. In a side-by-side comparison, email marketing generates 10, 20, or even 50 times the number of clicks over social media posts. While emails have an average click-through rate of 3.57%, Facebook and Twitter have rates of 0.07% and 0.03%, respectively.

Other digital marketing strategies like social and search are excellent for building brand awareness and credibility, but no strategy is more effective at driving direct traffic, conversions, and sales than email marketing. One report found that 66% of customers have made a purchase based on an email campaign. Additionally, email marketing has an incredible return on investment — on average, $36 for every $1 in spend.

Education And Engagement

Why does email drive such high click-through rates? Because aside from encouraging customers to take action, email marketing is a highly relevant tool to educate prospective and existing clients, engage your customer base with your brand, and nurture long-lasting relationships.

Email campaigns offer you the ability to do several things that help educate, engage, and ultimately convert customers.

• Personalize. According to one market study, 71% of consumers believe personalized experiences would influence their decision to interact with emails. Today’s consumers expect email promotions to be tailored directly to them, and are less likely to engage with brands that make them feel like nameless entities in a mass marketing campaign. Something as small as including the recipient’s name in an email can significantly impact a consumer’s impression of your brand and willingness to engage with your emails.

• Promote content. Email marketing is one of the best ways to distribute your educational content (like blogs, videos, white papers, case studies, and webinars) to the widest audience. Promoting relevant and useful content will help you build credibility, authority, and trust among prospective and current clients. 

• Segment. Segmentation ensures that every email your customers receive from you is timely, relevant, and useful. Targeted, tailored email campaigns designed to resonate with your readers will drive higher open rates and click-through rates. One marketing experiment found that a segmented email campaign generated a 94% open rate and 38% CTR, compared to a non-segmented email campaign that generated a 42% open rate and 4.5% CTR. And if that’s not convincing enough, know that marketers who send segmented campaigns notice a 760% increase in revenue.

Ultimately, email campaigns that are highly personalized, strategically targeted, and filled with curated content have the potential to drive impressive levels of engagement and activity from your customer lists. 

Retention

Customer retention is just as important as customer acquisition. Why? Because loyal customers are more cost-effective to maintain, more likely to be brand promoters on social media and review sites, more likely to buy your products and services again, and more likely to refer your company to others. 

Email marketing is an effective retention strategy to build and strengthen long-term relationships with your existing customer base. Regular contact keeps your brand top of mind, and giving your clients content worth reading — like educational blogs, videos, and new offerings — will boost engagement and interest. Additionally, sending emails that contain special promos or exclusive content are an excellent tool to make your loyal customers feel valued.

Are you ready to learn more about the benefits of including email marketing as part of an integrated digital marketing plan? Then contact our team to set up a consultation today.