11 reasons why you need to focus on email

Whether you have just started your company or have been running it for a while, you want to see your turnover increase. This is where marketing comes in. But which channels should you use to bring in all these new customers? The 11 reasons why you need to focus on email as a communication channel are provided below.

1. Everybody has an email address

Facebook has a billion active users. Twitter boasts 255 million members. It is tempting to put all your eggs in the social media basket. But let’s compare this with email.

In as early as 2013, there were 3.9 trillion email addresses. An email address is essential for online activities: if you want to create an activity somewhere you need an email address — even for a social media account.

Regardless of the age of your target group, everybody opens his or her email with one device or another. Of course, you have to tailor your content to the wishes and needs of your target group. An 18-year-old consumes news and information in an entirely different way than a 60-year-old does.

Via email — unlike other marketing channels, like print or TV — you have direct two-way communication with your target group.

2. Email is your customer’s favourite communication channel

Most people are not waiting for heaps and heaps of unsolicited advertising at the most inconvenient moments. Social media is used for remaining in touch with friends and family. TV is used for relaxation. Email, however, is a far more professional medium, the users of which expect to receive certain information. According to MarketingSherpa, the large majority wants to receive solicited promotional content primarily by email.

3. Email marketing is an open channel

If you can choose between a social media fan or a subscriber to your newsletter, you should opt for the latter. Why?

90% of every email sent is delivered to your recipient’s inbox. If you post a message on Facebook, about 2% of your Facebook fans will actually see it. A Facebook algorithm takes many variables into account and has a clear preference for sponsored posts. In practice, this means that the chance that your email is seen is about 45 times as big.

Of course, social media is an important part of your marketing mix, but bear in mind that they are owned by third parties and that they are checked by these parties. This means that you as a company are fully dependent on every change such platform decides to make.

Email, on the other hand, is not controlled by a specific entity. It is open communication, and there are many services available for receiving and sending emails. These parties are not without influence, though: Outlook and Gmail decide what they consider spam and how they want to display HTML code. You, on the other hand, collect your database of recipients yourself, and it will always remain your property.

4. Your newsletter subscribers have given you their approval explicitly

Your contacts have given you their approval explicitly to receive communication from you when they are subscribed to your newsletter. Under the GDPR, you are also allowed to send emails to your prospects and customers.

Email is therefore highly successful in informing people. Once your mailing list has grown, you can send a message quickly without any costs, except what you need to pay to an email marketing platform.

These people have granted you permission to keep their data. In contrast to placing an advertisement in a newspaper, where your message might be spotted by somebody by coincidence, you have a list of committed and interested people who are waiting for your message. The longer your mailing list, the higher your potential turnover.

5. Email marketing leads to conversions

The more people read your message (remember the reach of an average social media post), the bigger the chance that they will actually take action on the basis of the respective email.

By regularly sharing interesting content with your recipients, you will remain at the back of their mind. When they need a product from your assortment, they might think about you more easily.

Additionally, email incites someone to take action. You can easily add buttons to have people register for an event, provide links to a product or blog on your website, and offer discounts.

Furthermore, you gain insight into what your readers find interesting. You receive data on the emails that were opened and the links that were clicked.

6. Email marketing is cost effective

Unlike magazine advertisements for instance, the costs of email marketing are extremely transparent. You do not only know exactly what it costs, but with the data you also know how much it has brought in.

How come email is so effective? In contrast to social media posts, where you send the same message to everybody, you have the possibility of using personalisation on the basis of previous purchases, location, or personal interests. The more data you can collect and combine in your email marketing software package, the more powerful and personal your emails will be.

7. Email is the perfect tool for accessible personalisation

By personalisation we do not really mean the ‘Hi Bob’ kind of personalisation. We mean tailoring the message effectively to an individual reader. Of course, you need data for this. By using a professional email tool, you immediately have many additional possibilities at your disposal. A promotional email specifically to your male audience, for instance. Within this group, you can even zoom in on segments on the basis of specific products, preferences, and purchasing or clicking behaviour. Not surprisingly, the response and ROI of personalised messages are a lot higher.

8. Email is essential for achieving customer loyalty

The strength of communication after the sale often gets too little attention. Nevertheless, finding new customers is more expensive than encouraging existing customers to come back for a new purchase. You build a relationship, and satisfied customers bring in new customers.

By sending emails to your existing customers, you can keep on informing them and make sure they will not forget you. The stronger the content you send, the better your results.

With email marketing you bring visitors to your website.

Even if you have put the most magnificent website online, it will not get noticed if you cannot attract any visitors to it. Email marketing helps you inform your subscribers about your presence and added value on a continuous basis. By placing links on your website, you also gain insight into the type of content your target groups are interested in.

9. You are in the reader’s pocket

With mobile devices people can check their email whenever they want. You only need to click ‘Send’ to reach a large group of people with your message in an instant. The combination of smartphones and email marketing gives you speed and reach for effective marketing. With promotions in particular this is a huge benefit.

10. With email marketing you collect feedback

If you make customer satisfaction a priority, collecting feedback is indispensable. Email marketing enables you to send your customers surveys at strategic moments to collect real feedback to improve your product assortment, sales approach, or emails.

11. Child’s play, thanks to technology

Sending professional emails does not require any specific IT knowledge, provided that you have a good tool. With Flexmail it is easy to collect and combine data, compose professional emails, gain insight into your campaign results, send automatic emails to new subscribers, or create your own marketing automation scenarios.

Originally published at https://flexmail.be.