What is Email Marketing? 10 advantages of Email marketing
Most of us use email on a daily basis. We email our friends, colleagues, clients, and customers. What makes email marketing one of the best ways to grow your business is the fact that most email users check their emails almost daily. It’s an engaging system of personalized communication that allows you to quickly and easily provide updates on new products and services, offer discounts, and deliver timely information on the latest industry trends. Email marketing allows you to stay in touch and communicate with your current customers, but also reach new customers. Every company, whether it's a small business or a large enterprise, can utilize email marketing as part of its digital marketing strategy. Email marketing is considered one of the best ways to communicate with your customers. It can help you nurture leads, raise brand awareness and sell your products. As a business owner, you're always looking for ways to expand your business and connect with new customers, and running email marketing campaigns can help you reach those goals. There are many email marketing benefits for businesses, from increasing brand awareness to building stronger customer relationships. As Email marketing can be an extremely powerful marketing tool to have at your business’s disposal. In this article, we'll be going over what is email marketing, why email marketing is important, the benefits of email marketing campaigns, and more. Email marketing can increase sales for your business and take your business to new heights, so continue reading to find out more about why incorporating email into your digital marketing strategy can help your business by leaps and bounds.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a marketing strategy surrounding sending emails to current and potential customers to increase brand awareness, drive engagement, nurture leads, or make a sale.
As a business, you simply can’t ignore or neglect email. If you look at the data, there are over 4 billion email users worldwide—with a 2.7% increase from the previous year and that’s more than half of the world’s population. Email marketing typically has a significantly higher ROI than many other marketing channels (like social media).
The foremost thing that makes email marketing more effective than SEO and social media is that you have a direct line to your audience. Email marketing is more of an umbrella term that encompasses two categories of messaging.
1- Cold Emails (Prospecting Emails)
2- Warm Emails (Marketing Emails)
Cold Email:
Cold emails target people who are either unfamiliar with your brand or have yet to engage with it. These people are commonly referred to as prospects. Cold emails are written as short, simple, plain text messages. Like the kind of email, you would send to a friend. They do not contain graphics or images. They contain a singular, soft call-to-action (CTA), such as “learn more” or “contact us.” Their objective is to introduce your business. Convey authority. Engage the recipient and enter them into your sales funnel.
Benefits:
- Grows your brand’s reach
- Builds your contact lists
- Increases site traffic
- Simmers customers from the competition
- Turns prospects into leads
Warm Email:
Warm emails target people who are already engaged with your brand and opted in to receive additional emails from you. This can include either existing customers or leads. There are several different kinds of leads, including marketing qualified leads (MQL), sales accepted leads (SAL), and sales qualified leads (SQL). Warm emails are written as informative, visually engaging, HTML-based messages. (Though they can also be written as plain text messages as well.) They often use styling, graphics, and images. They can contain either singular or multiple hard CTAs, such as “buy now” or “sign up”. Their objective is to convey authority, engage the recipient, convert the recipient as well as build loyalty.
Benefits:
- Builds a relationship with contacts
- Turns leads into customers
- Increases site traffic
- Improves conversions
- Generates repeat business
Cold versus warm emailing is actually only one of several different ways to differentiate the two sides of email marketing.
Another is defining your messaging as inbound or outbound.
Outbound Email Marketing:
A business contacts a prospect first by sending messages out to them unsolicited. Cold emailing is considered outbound marketing.
Inbound Email Marketing:
A prospect engages with a business first by entering into its sales funnel via one of the brand's points of contact. Warm emailing is considered inbound marketing. In other words, treating email marketing as a singular process of sending out emails collectively to a contact list is not enough. It is more of a multi-faceted process. The types of emails you might send include:
- Prospecting Emails
- Welcome Emails
- Lead Nurturing Emails
- Newsletters
- Promotional Emails
- Seasonal Emails
- Transactional Emails
- Post-Purchase Emails
- Cart-Abandonment Emails
- Branding Emails
There are so many different types of emails you can send. Email marketing is used by thousands of businesses of all sizes across the globe. Those who are unfamiliar with this method of marketing may not immediately understand why it is so widely held amongst companies in a variety of industries – but here are ten reasons why email marketing is seen by many as the most effective marketing channel. Let us take a look at how email can help businesses, small and large, connect and educate their target audience.
The foremost thing that makes email marketing more effective than SEO and social media is that you have a direct line to your audience. Email marketing is more of an umbrella term that encompasses two categories of messaging.
1- Cold Emails (Prospecting Emails)
2- Warm Emails (Marketing Emails)
Cold Email:
Cold emails target people who are either unfamiliar with your brand or have yet to engage with it. These people are commonly referred to as prospects. Cold emails are written as short, simple, plain text messages. Like the kind of email, you would send to a friend. They do not contain graphics or images. They contain a singular, soft call-to-action (CTA), such as “learn more” or “contact us.” Their objective is to introduce your business. Convey authority. Engage the recipient and enter them into your sales funnel.
Benefits:
- Grows your brand’s reach
- Builds your contact lists
- Increases site traffic
- Simmers customers from the competition
- Turns prospects into leads
Warm Email:
Warm emails target people who are already engaged with your brand and opted in to receive additional emails from you. This can include either existing customers or leads. There are several different kinds of leads, including marketing qualified leads (MQL), sales accepted leads (SAL), and sales qualified leads (SQL). Warm emails are written as informative, visually engaging, HTML-based messages. (Though they can also be written as plain text messages as well.) They often use styling, graphics, and images. They can contain either singular or multiple hard CTAs, such as “buy now” or “sign up”. Their objective is to convey authority, engage the recipient, convert the recipient as well as build loyalty.
Benefits:
- Builds a relationship with contacts
- Turns leads into customers
- Increases site traffic
- Improves conversions
- Generates repeat business
Cold versus warm emailing is actually only one of several different ways to differentiate the two sides of email marketing.
Another is defining your messaging as inbound or outbound.
Outbound Email Marketing:
A business contacts a prospect first by sending messages out to them unsolicited. Cold emailing is considered outbound marketing.
Inbound Email Marketing:
A prospect engages with a business first by entering into its sales funnel via one of the brand's points of contact. Warm emailing is considered inbound marketing. In other words, treating email marketing as a singular process of sending out emails collectively to a contact list is not enough. It is more of a multi-faceted process. The types of emails you might send include:
- Prospecting Emails
- Welcome Emails
- Lead Nurturing Emails
- Newsletters
- Promotional Emails
- Seasonal Emails
- Transactional Emails
- Post-Purchase Emails
- Cart-Abandonment Emails
- Branding Emails
There are so many different types of emails you can send. Email marketing is used by thousands of businesses of all sizes across the globe. Those who are unfamiliar with this method of marketing may not immediately understand why it is so widely held amongst companies in a variety of industries – but here are ten reasons why email marketing is seen by many as the most effective marketing channel. Let us take a look at how email can help businesses, small and large, connect and educate their target audience.
10 Advantages of Email
1- Unmatched ROI:
Email marketing doesn't cost a lot of money to start, but it can bring a lot of money in return. This makes email marketing campaigns a great opportunity to drive revenue for your business without costing you a ton of money. In the business world, results are arguably all that matters. With this in mind, the main reason that most businesses invest in email marketing is the fantastic return on investment. Small business owners are always looking for ways to grow their business without spending a lot of money, and email marketing are one of the best ways to do so because you're targeting people who you already know are interested in your business.
2- Instant Impact:
One of the main email marketing benefits for businesses is that you can get immediate results. Due to the immediacy of email, a business can start seeing results within minutes of its emails being sent. A 24-hour sale is a brilliant marketing ploy that can be utilized by email, as it creates a sense of urgency and convinces subscribers to take immediate action. Compared to other marketing strategies that take weeks or even months to see results, email marketing delivers results very quickly. But not only do results come quickly, but they're also easy to track. For you to know that your email campaigns are performing well, you need to be able to track important KPIs, like bounce rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate. With most email marketing software, it's easy to track these KPIs so you can easily see the success of your email marketing campaigns and if anything needs to be improved.
3- Low Costs:
One of the most obvious advantages of email marketing is its lower cost compared to mainstream marketing channels. There are no print or postage costs and no fees paid in exchange for exposure on a certain billboard, magazine, or television channel. Email marketers might consider investing in specialist software to automate, track and evaluate their emails. Granted, there may be a small overhead for sending thousands of emails at a time, but these costs are far lower than what you would expect to pay using other marketing channels. Find out how much it costs to use Pure360 to power your email marketing.
4- Reach An Already Engaged Audience:
Email marketing is one of the only channels that consumers ask to receive. The majority of businesses using the platform only send messages to those who have signed up to receive them. This can allow for much higher conversion rates as a business is only targeting those who already have an interest in their brand. It is, of course, possible to send unsolicited email marketing messages, but this is only likely to annoy consumers and results in a damaged brand image. As a company that offers email marketing software, we strongly suggest that you don’t use purchased lists for your email marketing – the results you’ll see from growing your list and acquiring customers organically will lead to far stronger results.
5.Deliver Targeted Messages:
Most marketing professionals would happily pay to ensure they were only spending money targeting those who were interested in their brand. Email marketers can go one step further though, by only sending emails to subscribers who meet certain criteria.If a franchise only has an offer in certain areas of the country, it can easily arrange for emails to be sent only to those living in certain areas. If there is a sale on sports goods, it can be arranged for only those who have shown an interest in sports to receive an email. Email list segmentation works fantastically for brands who gain information about their subscribers. Studies have shown that marketers who use this tactic often boast improved engagement rates as a result.
6- Drive Revenue:
Email marketing is great for taking advantage of impulse buying. There aren’t many other marketing platforms that allow customers to go from witnessing an offer to purchasing an item within two clicks of a button. With a tempting call to action and a link straight to the checkout, email newsletters can drive sales like no other channel. With email marketing, you can focus more on leads who are likely going to purchase your products or services. With email marketing, you can also do lead scoring, which is a great way to keep track of your leads and prioritize those who are most likely to become future customers.
7- Easy To Get Started:
Email marketing doesn’t necessarily require a huge team or reams of technical nous to be successful. It’s certainly possible to jazz up an email campaign with fancy templates, videos, images, and logos. Yet, some of the most successful campaigns utilize simple plain text emails, suggesting that it’s the content of an email that is the most important thing. However, if you want to grow your email marketing audience, you need to create personalized content that they can relate to. Your customers want to know you're thinking of them. It can also be helpful to use an email marketing platform that gives you insight into your customers' data so you can create more relevant content for them.
8- Easy To Measure:
Another key benefit of email marketing is that it’s easy to see where you’re going wrong. Most email marketing software will allow you to track open, click-through, and conversion rates, making it simple to spot how a campaign can be improved. These changes can be made almost immediately too, whereas print or broadcast advertising requires quite a bit of effort to alter. Discover the essential email marketing metrics. With email marketing, you can send customer satisfaction surveys and ask your customers to respond with any feedback they have. This is an easy way to track what needs improvement based on what your customers want. It's crucial that your customers always have a positive experience with your business, and collecting feedback is a great way to ensure that your customers remain loyal to your brand.
9- Easy To Share & Increase Engagement:
Subscribers can forward brilliant deals and offer to their friends at the click of a button. There aren’t many other types of marketing that can be shared as easily as this. Before you know it, subscribers could become brand evangelists; focused on introducing your business to a new market. Not only is email marketing a great way to generate website traffic, but also social media traffic.
With email marketing campaigns, you can easily plug your social media accounts and encourage your subscribers to go to them to find out more information about your brand or even sign up for special promotions. You can even combine your email marketing campaigns with your social media marketing strategy to attract customers across all your marketing channels.
More and more we see brands cleverly utilizing this tactic, and the social proof has become a huge influence for online selling in recent years.
10- Automated Messages:
No matter the size of your business, you're likely sending out a lot of emails at once. Sending out mass amounts of emails can be time-consuming, especially if you're creating personalized emails (which you should be).
However, with email marketing, you can automate messages to save time. Not all types of emails should be automated, but certain emails, like follow-up emails or welcome emails that don't need to be personalized, can be. By automating these types of emails, you can spend more time on more important tasks. Automating messages also allows you to reach more people at once since you don't have to go in and manually write each email.
Email marketing doesn't cost a lot of money to start, but it can bring a lot of money in return. This makes email marketing campaigns a great opportunity to drive revenue for your business without costing you a ton of money. In the business world, results are arguably all that matters. With this in mind, the main reason that most businesses invest in email marketing is the fantastic return on investment. Small business owners are always looking for ways to grow their business without spending a lot of money, and email marketing are one of the best ways to do so because you're targeting people who you already know are interested in your business.
2- Instant Impact:
One of the main email marketing benefits for businesses is that you can get immediate results. Due to the immediacy of email, a business can start seeing results within minutes of its emails being sent. A 24-hour sale is a brilliant marketing ploy that can be utilized by email, as it creates a sense of urgency and convinces subscribers to take immediate action. Compared to other marketing strategies that take weeks or even months to see results, email marketing delivers results very quickly. But not only do results come quickly, but they're also easy to track. For you to know that your email campaigns are performing well, you need to be able to track important KPIs, like bounce rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate. With most email marketing software, it's easy to track these KPIs so you can easily see the success of your email marketing campaigns and if anything needs to be improved.
3- Low Costs:
One of the most obvious advantages of email marketing is its lower cost compared to mainstream marketing channels. There are no print or postage costs and no fees paid in exchange for exposure on a certain billboard, magazine, or television channel. Email marketers might consider investing in specialist software to automate, track and evaluate their emails. Granted, there may be a small overhead for sending thousands of emails at a time, but these costs are far lower than what you would expect to pay using other marketing channels. Find out how much it costs to use Pure360 to power your email marketing.
4- Reach An Already Engaged Audience:
Email marketing is one of the only channels that consumers ask to receive. The majority of businesses using the platform only send messages to those who have signed up to receive them. This can allow for much higher conversion rates as a business is only targeting those who already have an interest in their brand. It is, of course, possible to send unsolicited email marketing messages, but this is only likely to annoy consumers and results in a damaged brand image. As a company that offers email marketing software, we strongly suggest that you don’t use purchased lists for your email marketing – the results you’ll see from growing your list and acquiring customers organically will lead to far stronger results.
5.Deliver Targeted Messages:
Most marketing professionals would happily pay to ensure they were only spending money targeting those who were interested in their brand. Email marketers can go one step further though, by only sending emails to subscribers who meet certain criteria.If a franchise only has an offer in certain areas of the country, it can easily arrange for emails to be sent only to those living in certain areas. If there is a sale on sports goods, it can be arranged for only those who have shown an interest in sports to receive an email. Email list segmentation works fantastically for brands who gain information about their subscribers. Studies have shown that marketers who use this tactic often boast improved engagement rates as a result.
6- Drive Revenue:
Email marketing is great for taking advantage of impulse buying. There aren’t many other marketing platforms that allow customers to go from witnessing an offer to purchasing an item within two clicks of a button. With a tempting call to action and a link straight to the checkout, email newsletters can drive sales like no other channel. With email marketing, you can focus more on leads who are likely going to purchase your products or services. With email marketing, you can also do lead scoring, which is a great way to keep track of your leads and prioritize those who are most likely to become future customers.
7- Easy To Get Started:
Email marketing doesn’t necessarily require a huge team or reams of technical nous to be successful. It’s certainly possible to jazz up an email campaign with fancy templates, videos, images, and logos. Yet, some of the most successful campaigns utilize simple plain text emails, suggesting that it’s the content of an email that is the most important thing. However, if you want to grow your email marketing audience, you need to create personalized content that they can relate to. Your customers want to know you're thinking of them. It can also be helpful to use an email marketing platform that gives you insight into your customers' data so you can create more relevant content for them.
8- Easy To Measure:
Another key benefit of email marketing is that it’s easy to see where you’re going wrong. Most email marketing software will allow you to track open, click-through, and conversion rates, making it simple to spot how a campaign can be improved. These changes can be made almost immediately too, whereas print or broadcast advertising requires quite a bit of effort to alter. Discover the essential email marketing metrics. With email marketing, you can send customer satisfaction surveys and ask your customers to respond with any feedback they have. This is an easy way to track what needs improvement based on what your customers want. It's crucial that your customers always have a positive experience with your business, and collecting feedback is a great way to ensure that your customers remain loyal to your brand.
9- Easy To Share & Increase Engagement:
Subscribers can forward brilliant deals and offer to their friends at the click of a button. There aren’t many other types of marketing that can be shared as easily as this. Before you know it, subscribers could become brand evangelists; focused on introducing your business to a new market. Not only is email marketing a great way to generate website traffic, but also social media traffic.
With email marketing campaigns, you can easily plug your social media accounts and encourage your subscribers to go to them to find out more information about your brand or even sign up for special promotions. You can even combine your email marketing campaigns with your social media marketing strategy to attract customers across all your marketing channels.
More and more we see brands cleverly utilizing this tactic, and the social proof has become a huge influence for online selling in recent years.
10- Automated Messages:
No matter the size of your business, you're likely sending out a lot of emails at once. Sending out mass amounts of emails can be time-consuming, especially if you're creating personalized emails (which you should be).
However, with email marketing, you can automate messages to save time. Not all types of emails should be automated, but certain emails, like follow-up emails or welcome emails that don't need to be personalized, can be. By automating these types of emails, you can spend more time on more important tasks. Automating messages also allows you to reach more people at once since you don't have to go in and manually write each email.
Conclusion
It’s clear to see that email continues to be the most effective marketing channel available to every business. Perhaps it’s time for your business to start making email marketing a priority. If you are still confused about how to go about it, Book an appointment with Right Media digital marketing agency. We know what’s right for you.