Does Email Marketing Still Make Sense?

How we communicate as humans rapidly change alongside technology and culture. Email as a popular mode of communication really started to pick up momentum in the 1990s and has remained a go-to medium for professional and personal messaging — for many, a much preferable alternative to slower and more wasteful paper mail.

Emails have been a backbone of marketing campaigns for companies, typically providing a cost-effective way to reach the right people at the right times. With various social media platforms becoming so critical to marketing, entrepreneurs may find themselves wondering: Does focusing on email marketing still make sense?

It’s smart to evaluate the effectiveness of various marketing channels over time instead of sticking to the status quo. Keep reading to learn more about the case for prioritizing email marketing in today’s business landscape.

Why Email Marketing Matters for Small Businesses?

In such a social-media-savvy world, it’s easy to assume these platforms would dominate the marketing game. Most of us spend some time on social media each day — with many people even accumulating hours of screen time. However, as expert Neil Patel explains, email marketing actually remains the leading channel — outranking even SEO and social media.

Email is everywhere

Why does email continue to dominate? To start, the saturation of email means that most people have at least one address to which they can receive marketing messages. So, by sheer volume, email marketing can allow for an extensive reach.

Allows for personalization

Not only does email position your brand to be able to reach many people, but it also allows for personalization, something consumers are increasingly expecting from their favorite companies. People tend to ignore generic messages that make them feel like any old buyer. Research shows time and time again that people instead respond to personalized messages that address their exact wants and needs — making them feel like your company knows and understands them well enough to send highly tailored messages. Just personalizing the subject line can boost open rates by 50 percent.

Driving calls to action

As the Motley Fool outlines, emails are highly effective for persuading recipients to take desirable actions via links. Examples of some useful calls to action that can be embedded in emails include:

• Shopping sales/collections
• Watching videos
• Reading blog posts
• Downloading an app
• Joining loyalty program
• Taking surveys
• Connecting on social media

Relationship building

Another reason why email is such a key tool in your marketing toolbelt is its ability to build up a brand relationship with recipients. Not only does each message give you an opportunity to show off your brand’s personality and values, but it also allows you to strengthen the bond between your company and the customer.

Case in point: When one of your favorite brands sends you a heartfelt birthday message — with a nice freebie or discount to celebrate the day — you tend to feel special. This helps you forge even more positive associations with the brand, ramping up your loyalty and perhaps increasing your chances of opening future emails to see what goodies are contained within.

Think of every single email as a chance to continue the conversation and to genuinely engage your customer base.

Getting the Most from Your Email Marketing Campaigns

The value of email marketing is abundantly clear. Now, what are some best practices of email marketing for small business?

Nail the subject lines

Never underestimate the power of a catchy subject line. Most people get dozens of emails a day, each message clamoring for their attention as they go about their busy lives. This means it’s your responsibility to keep refining your strategy with the goal of figuring out what raises your click-to-open rates. If you’re seeing lots of delivered emails going unopened, consider new tactics to compel people to open your emails by testing out different kinds of subject lines.

Power personalization with data

There’s a surplus of data available to help marketers nowadays understand the demographics and behavior of their target audience at a granular level. This means brands can create hyper-specific segments of customers based on shared characteristics — then craft emails that resonate with each segment.

Data also allows brands to make relevant, customized product recommendations, either by segment or by the individual. Populating emails with the products people have actually browsed or added to their carts is much more compelling than sending out an email filled with random products and hoping they hit. Using dynamic content essentially means sending out a template across segments — which will then use data to fill in specific images, text, etc. based on various demographics. So, a 25-year old woman in New York City would end up seeing a very different email than a 60-year-old man in Florida, with language, imagery, and product selections tailored to what will resonate most with each.

Create content with email in mind

There are only so many “shop our sale!” and “buy now!” emails you can send out before it gets repetitive. Avoid becoming a one-trick pony by creating quality content that can be blasted out to your customer base via email. Blog posts, videos, photoshoots, social media contests… the options are nearly endless. This type of content should avoid being overly promotional, instead of aiming to convey genuinely entertaining and interesting information. Of course, you can apply tasteful calls to action where they fit naturally.

It’s a win-win. Not only will generating this content strengthen your email marketing campaigns, but it’ll also increase your SEO rankings.

Hit your stride with email timing

There’s no universally best time to send an email — it will always depend on your customers, your niche, etc. But lots of research has gone into understanding how a time of day/week affects engagement rates. As HubSpot cites, Fridays tend to perform the best in terms of having the most people open and click-through on links within emails, with Tuesday in second.

It’s up to you to find your own groove for email scheduling — including not the only time of day and week, but also ideal frequency.

The answer to the question of whether email marketing still makes sense is a resounding yes.