Insights

What is email marketing?

With over 4 billion daily users, email is one of the most utilized online communication platforms. Naturally, that means there are opportunities for businesses to capitalize on its global reach for their marketing efforts.

Email marketing uses emails to convey a message to a larger audience. It can be more personal than other types of marketing since emails can be tailored to fit specific audiences.

Like every type of marketing, email marketing has its own unique challenges but given the right information and tools, it can be a positive endeavor for your business to invest in, not a struggle. In this blog, and the rest of our Email Marketing 101 series, we’re going to cover the best practices of email marketing and why it shouldn’t be overlooked.

Why is email marketing important?

Email marketing is similar to social media marketing in that having a follower is parallel to having a subscriber, but the main difference (and biggest challenge) comes from the interaction with the message. Unlike most social media where you can see and engage with posts in your feed, in email marketing you see the email appear in your inbox but don’t see the content until you open the email itself…if you choose to do so. This means users may not see your message if they do not open your email. And, traditionally, gaining subscribers can be far more tricky than gaining followers – no one likes a cluttered inbox.

Despite the challenges listed above and some saying it’s outdated or ineffective, it can be a results-driven marketing medium for many businesses. Here’s why:

Meaningful audiences

Although growing a subscriber list can be difficult, the users that subscribe have a reason for doing so. They care about your product or service and are more likely to engage with your email, which could lead to future conversions.

Diversified messaging

You can tailor emails to specific audiences, which can’t be done to the same extent with social media or traditional marketing methods. Depending on how much information you’ve collected on your users and the email marketing tool utilized, you have the potential to: address emails directly to that user using their name, create slightly different emails and send to segmented audiences, and personalize offerings or recommendations.

Creating multiple posts with slightly-varied messages would be considered excessive or even spam on social media, but in email marketing that is one of your biggest superpowers. You can send a different email to each of your targeted audiences.

How to overcome the challenges and improve your email marketing

Make it consistent

Consistency is key when it comes to being a successful email marketer. There are a few ways in which consistency plays out in emails.

Consistent look across desktop and mobile devices – make sure the formatting of your email is compatible with all types of devices to ensure a clean, error-free email.
Consistent brand voice – engaging in the same brand voice as with all other marketing you do will provide a well-rounded experience for your audience.
Consistent sending – whether you send an email a day, one email per week, or one per month, stick to what you do!

Make it measurable

Tracking, monitoring, and responding to your metrics is critical to a successful email marketing campaign. Two of the most important and common metrics to analyze are the open and click-through rate. These provide insight into how many users are actively engaging with your email and the content inside of it. We will talk more about these analytics in our Email Marketing 101 series.

Make it openable

If it looks like spam, tastes like spam and smells like spam… it’s probably spam. So, make emails personable! If they look like they came from an actual human being they will have a higher probability of being opened. Avoid generic-looking emails by creating a sense of urgency,  intrigue, or excitement with your subject lines.

Thank you for reading through the first blog in our Email Marketing 101 series! Follow along to learn more about the best practices within this field of marketing. Here is a sneak peek at the next blogs in the series.

• How to improve your open rates
• How to grow your subscriber list
• How to improve your click-through rates
• How to create attention-grabbing subject lines

Learn more about what we can do for you in terms of email marketing, right here!