Here are the Top 5 research-backed reasons email marketing is vital for businesses of all sizes:
1. Email is an easy way to reach mobile customers
One reason email marketing has value for business owners is that it’s an easy way to start reaching consumers on mobile without investing a lot in new technology or software. According to numeroius reports, 52% of mobilephone users access emails from their phones. This means that nearly tmore than half of your customers and subscribers read email marketing messages on mobile devices!
Using email is better for mobile marketing than SMS because:
- It works on mobile devices other than phones
- Emails are free for the consumer, whereas texting may incur a charge
- Emails have far more space for content than text messages, allowing for better marketing pieces.
2. It’s an effective way to keep customers informed
Email marketing isn’t something marketers do just because they can and it’s easy. The tactic is very effective at helping business owners and consumers stay connected. In fact, consumers often seek out email marketing campaigns from their favorite brands and local stores. This goes beyond coupons (which we’ll discuss next). Most online online shoppers now subscribe to store or product emails in order to stay informed.
There is a real value to staying connected to customers and email marketing makes that easy to do.
3. Email offers drive online visitors and sales
Though consumers are looking to save money, it can turn into increased revenue for the retailer. E-coupons are big business, and email marketing is at its heart. The number of mobile coupons used is estimated to double over the next five years to reach 1 billion people. Email marketing is a good way to start reaching the growing number of online bargain hunters. The big brands are already using this tactic for that purpose.
4. It’s easy to customise and integrate into other marketing tactics.
The versatility of email marketing is another reason marketers should keep the tactic in their marketing toolbox. Depending on the depth of the email database and the skill of the crafter, email marketing messages can range from simple to very complex. Emails can be personalised to include the name of the user and even more. A small study of 139 marketers from Retention Science found that websites use several kinds of personalisation tactics that can easily be applied to email. Nearly half of UK online retailers used personalised product recommendations (44.9%), about a third added the customer’s name and/or a unique welcome message (31.5%), and a quarter of the respondents reported adding shopping cart reminders (27.6%) to cover all of their personalisation bases. Email marketing can also be utilised with just about any other marketing tactic, which makes email an important part of any integrated marketing campaign.
5. Email marketing is inexpensive.
To sum up the best reason to use email marketing: It’s easy, effective, and inexpensive. Email marketing allows business owners to reach a large number of consumers at a rate of pennies per message. For small-business owners on a budget, this makes it a better choice than traditional marketing channels like TV, radio, or direct mail.
The point of all this is that email may be an old tactic, but it remains a vital one. It’s relatively easy to get started with email marketing, so there’s no excuse for business owners to not be taking advantage of the tactic. Understandably, business owners may be too busy to handle the email marketing on their own, but this is something that web agencies like us do every day, and were very good at it.