Email Marketing is officially back in Vogue! It has returned from the wilderness and is no longer the poor relation of social media marketing.
Forrester Research (2015) found that email marketing delivers up to 40% more return than all other social media platforms combined. A strong statistic indeed.
If that’s not enough to convince you, here are some more reasons why your company should be investing in email marketing campaigns?
- It is cost effective
- Relatively easy to produce
- Emails can be targeted
- Provides detailed feedback
- Helps build company relationships
So, how do you build an authentic email list? For starters, never buy a listing. It may seem tempting when you are starting off, but it’s hard to trust the quality of bought lists and you will increase your prospects of being labelled a spammer.
It’s far better, and more rewarding in the long-term, to organically grow your email list through website sign-up, social media promotion and encouraging sign-up at events and exhibitions. Of course, offering incentives – such as discounts or pre-sale previews – also works well. After all, who doesn’t love a bargain?
Some further statistics to keep in mind when designing your campaign is that 33% of emails are opened based on subject line alone – so be interesting, first impressions matter. Almost 40% of emails are now opened on mobile devices, the screens of which, on average, only fit 4 -7 words.
MailChimp is my favourite email marketing service. It’s used by more than 15 million people globally, so I’m clearly not alone. It’s a great platform for designing emails, sharing online and tracking analytics. Did I mention it’s also free?
So, email marketing is back and there’s no reason why your business shouldn’t join the party! But before you do, here are some basic etiquette rules you’ll do well to follow:
- Always get permission before signing someone up
- Include opt-out/unsubscribe options within 2 clicks
- Don’t use 3rd party lists
- Be honest and transparent about who you are
Happy emailing #emailisback #digitalmarketing
Karen Twomey is a freelance PR & Social Media Consultant who specialises in online campaigns and social media training. For further details check out her website www.communicationshub.ie