Email Marketing is one of the most profitable and efficient ways of direct marketing. As a term, it may sound simplistic and confusing at the same time, which is why the following blog post will list everything you need to know about it, so that you don't get lost in a sea of tools, complex techniques and special terminology.
What is Email Marketing?
Email Marketing is the sending of commercial (advertising, promotional and other) emails to a list of contacts who have given their permission to receive such messages from your company.
You can use email marketing to inform your customers about your company news, to increase sales and to build a community around your brand.
Modern email marketing has moved away from mass mailings and tends to be relatively more personalised, focusing on quality of content over quantity.
This may sound time-consuming and difficult, but ever-evolving automation is helping to make everything easier.
The Different Types of Email Marketing
1. Promotional Emails
Email marketing campaigns are used to promote special offers, new product releases, limited content (such as e-books and webinars) and for general promotion of your brand. A promotional email campaign could consist of 3 - 10 emails sent over a predetermined period of several days or weeks.
This type of email usually has a call to action - or CTA, for short. The CTA is an encouragement for the user to take the action you want them to take (for example, making a purchase or visiting your website).
Promotional emails are usually sent either whenever there is a special offer, or during commercially critical periods (e.g. Christmas, Black Friday, sales periods and others).
2. Informative Emails
A. Newsletters
A newsletter, as the name suggests, communicates news related to your business, such as new features, new content (e.g. studies) or new milestones you have achieved and want to share with your subscribers. This type of email helps to maintain solid relationships with your audience and is good to have a "letter" format and address topics of interest to them.
In conclusion, share your thoughts, ideas and suggestions through the newsletters you will produce!
Β. Announcements
Email is a means of sharing important messages. If there is any error on your website, problem with your product shipments or breakdowns in your system, email is the ideal way to communicate.
3. Re-engagement emails
Emails of this type aim to "rekindle" your relationship with customers and/or subscribers who have been inactive for a long time.
You can take advantage of these types of emails by sending personalized offers, discounts on users' birthdays, and more.
Why Is Email Marketing Important?
Email is not a new technology. In fact, it was one of the first means of digital communication and came into use in 1971. However, keep in mind that even though it has been around for more than 50 years, it is used more than ever.
Perhaps, consider that email marketing is a waste of time, since we are in the age where social media moderates. However, mail has its own, unique advantages, which cannot be found in other channels and other platforms.
Email campaigns can be personalized much more easily than those on social media, while at the same time their cost is significantly lower. Finally, its immediacy (since it lands you directly in users' inboxes) is a powerful arrow in your quiver.
Let's take a look at the numbers:
- In 2020, there were more than 4 billion global email users.
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/255080/number-of-e-mail-users-worldwide/ - 80% of Americans check their email at least once a day, with nearly a quarter checking their personal email multiple times a day.
Source: https://www.digitalmarketingcommunity.com/researches/inbox-report-consumer-perceptions-email-2018-fluent/ - 62% of consumers ranked email as their top preferred communication channel with small businesses.
Source: https://www.sendinblue.com/blog/consumer-behavior-trends/
Why Is Email Marketing Important?
Being an important means of growing your business, it helps you increase conversions (sales of your products and services), increase brand awareness and maintain close relationships with your customers, increasing their "loyalty" to your company.
After all, email marketing is affordable, can address your audience both en masse and individually, and appeals to all age groups.
In conclusion, don't waste a minute – immediately include it in your promotions and see its positive results immediately!
