In the digital era, measurement of marketing Return on Investment (ROI) is more accurate than ever, and email marketing remains one of the highest ROI marketing channels, making it a popular choice for any shrewd Marketing Director / business owner.
A few facts on the popularity of email marketing
- ROI for email marketing stands at £42 for every pound spent – £10 more than in 2018, according to a survey by DMA.
- Email still rules despite the popularity of social media – 85% of British adults sent or received emails in 2020, making it the most common online activity in the country (Statisca).
- 59% of consumers prefer email, higher than other marketing channels including face-to-face, phone and mail.
It’s why email remains the leading marketing channel for the majority of organisations in the UK, followed by social media.
Why email marketing works
Whether you deal with B2B or B2C, from manufacturing to ecommerce, charities to education, email marketing can reach your audience. With the right mechanisms in place, emails can be personalised to a user and their wants, questions and needs.
Where email marketing is used
I create email campaigns on behalf of my clients for many purposes, building relationships and informing/educating their customers and prospects.
Examples include:
Generating revenue
Emails are used to update your reader about your latest offers and availability, enticing them to visit your business or website, or call you to purchase your products and services.
Informing customers
Email can serve as an educational tool, keeping readers up-to-date about the business / industry / charity / organisation and its processes, regulations and more.
Increasing loyalty
I’ve created a series of financial education emails on behalf of a UK consultancy that connects brands with young people and their families, in this case reminding teachers about free resources they have signed up for that help their pupils make smarter money choices.
Building relationships and limiting customer churn
Email campaigns are an effective tool for building up customer relationships. Using an email automation service when you get a new enquiry is an excellent way of drip-feeding information at regular intervals, until your potential customer reaches the point in their buying cycle when they are ready to make a purchase.
Fundraising or rallying support
I work with several charities where emails have been effectively used to boost support and increase fundraising.
Part of a sales campaign
Emails can be woven into a larger sales campaign. With my client Portsdown – a furniture fit-out specialist for education and local government – I created a series of emails that worked in conjunction with pre- and post-sales calls, highlighting the company’s USPs.
What to send and when
Catch the reader’s attention
A quarter of DMA survey respondents said the subject line was the most important factor when opening an email – emphasising the importance of the customer knowing who is emailing them and why.
Emails with texts and pictures are the favourites of consumers. Articles and infographics also rank high on the list, whereas videos and GIFs are among the least popular.
Make it relevant and personalised
Receiving irrelevant information is one of the main reasons why users unsubscribe from an emailing service. Whilst 59% of DMA respondents agreed that most email marketing they get is irrelevant, the flipside was that 12% saw the email marketing they received as relevant. This was a 4% increase on the previous year, and DMA believes this is due to the investment in targeted and personalised email campaigns.
When to send
According to Campaign Monitor, Wednesday has the highest email open rate. In comparison, the day with the lowest open rates, as well as the lowest click-through rates, is (unsurprisingly) Sunday. Since the pandemic, the highest email opening rate is registered at 9 a.m. (Litmus)
Outsourcing your email marketing
According to research by Onrec, almost half of marketers outsource their email marketing solutions. It makes sense. It’s a proven tool for attracting and retaining customers and it’s easy to get it wrong and alienate your audience, or worse still cause them to unsubscribe.
We have created many email campaigns for our clients over the years with excellent results. If you would like to discuss your ideas for an email marketing campaign to get the best ROI, please get in touch.
