Why businesses should invest in email marketing
Email promotion is a popular marketing channel for many
reasons. Different email techniques are used by marketers to reach their target
markets or already established customers. If designed correctly, email
marketing campaigns can be very successful in any given industry. However, if
poorly conceived, a campaign is likely to be ineffective and a waste of energy
and resources.
Reasons to use email marketing
Image credit: Pixabay
In the scheme of things, while it’s been around for a while,
email marketing is relatively new when compared to its counterpart, direct
mail. The latter has long been in practice but with tech used as a primary
communication channel nowadays, many business have chosen to switch over to
electronic marketing. Business News Daily
reports email marketing provider iContact indicated SMEs (small and medium
enterprises) routinely dedicate large chunks of their marketing dollars to
email campaigns.
Since its inception, email marketing has quickly grown to
become a powerful tool. After all, it’s efficient fast and cost-effective. Not
to mention, metrics can be tracked, unlike direct mail when you have no idea whether
or not your promotional materials were tossed in the trash without being looked
at.
Types of emails used in marketing
The type of email you send out should clearly reflect the
reason why the company is reaching out. Different types of emails include:
- Newsletters that share information, such as updates and new releases.
- Press releases about the company, including any changes or "big" news.
- Promotional emails to announce sales or other initiatives.
- Surveys or questionnaires to solicit customer feedback.
- Thank you emails to supportive customers.
- "Loyalty" emails, including coupons and discounts.
- Transactional emails that outline orders, sales, payments, etc.
Prior to "sending all" on a company-compiled email
list, decision makers should carefully consider who the target audience is, it
may be only certain customers or groups should receive a particular type of
email. For instance, do not send out a promo email for new customers to an
entire email list. The email sent should have a purpose and not necessarily be
sent out in volume. You don’t want to annoy
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| Image credit: Pixabay |
It is also critical to follow sensible and acceptable email
practices and be sure to adhere to compliance laws, such as the Can Spam Act of
2003. No legitimate business wants to be labeled as a spammer.
Also, pay
attention to your bounce rate, in other words, emails that are never delivered
or ones that repeatedly cannot be delivered. ISPs are more likely to label you
a spammer if this metric is too high. According to Hubspot, you’ll
ideally want to keep this to under 2 percent.
In-house or use a third party vendor
One of the most important decisions to make when creating an
email list is whether to build it in-house by staff or hire a vendor that
specializes in email marketing and use their email management services. This
decision should not be taken lightly as the different types of emails sent
should all have a professional look and feel. In branding, consistency is
critical and the types of emails sent will be a highly visible representation
of the company.
Many businesses opt to go with a third party vendor; this is
pretty standard these days. There are customizable templates and the service is
usually in an affordable range. In many cases it is cheaper, especially for
SMEs that don't have the resources. Fathom Delivers
offers a number of suggestions of what to look for and what type of questions
to ask potential email marketing vendors. Also, conduct research before
engaging with vendors to be sure the service will best meet your marketing
needs distribution. Information and reviews can be often be found on the web.
Email marketing is a mainstream form of promotion these days
and businesses are wise to invest in this channel.
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