Is Email Marketing Dead? | The Truth About Email Marketing in 2018

Email marketing has been around since, well, email. It’s a valuable tool used by online and brick and mortar businesses alike. But is email marketing slowly becoming ineffective? Especially with so many other ways to reach prospective or returning clients, it can seem like email marketing is becoming a thing of that past.

I hear it over and over again and as soon as I ask someone why they think that, they say something along the lines of, “I hate getting those emails and never open them!”. That’s great, you don’t open them so lets forget about the other billions of people who use email? The real truth is that people don’t hate getting emails. They hate getting emails they don’t want!

Sadly, it’s a common issue in any area of marketing that people want to use intuition to run their marketing campaigns. Mainly because it can be very difficult to see something from a target markets perspective, so instead of going on personal anecdotes, it’s best to market by the data.

That being said, the best way to see if email marketing is effective will be to look at the statistics and performance of email marketing! But I’ll give you a preview, a business is run by only promoting what brings money in. So if emails didn’t bring money in, then why would so many businesses still be flooding your inbox? And why are companies like AWeber and ConvertKit still in business?

Let’s take a look at the facts!

Email marketing isn’t dying. In fact, it’s probably more essential now than ever. It’s estimated that the average number of emails sent per day in 2017 was 269 billion! Those numbers are expected to keep rising and many people simply accept email as a daily part of life now no matter your demographic.

So what does that mean?

It means that regardless of the age, gender, race, etc.., of your target market, they can be reached via email!

But how does a customer view an email?

According to a survey by Demand Wave emails were the primary form of communication for professionals (at least for B2B marketing). A few key images are below.

That’s because Instant Message, Social Media, and areas like them, have been for relaxing and browsing content. While they should also be in your marketing plan, they simply aren’t viewed as a professional means of communication. So a customer receiving an email from you (if it relates to them) will see it as a more professional approach to solving their needs. Depending on your business model that may be preferred, especially if your business model is B2B.

Aside from B2B however, many people want to receive emails! According to hubspots marketing statistics, 86% of consumers would like to receive promotional emails from companies that they do business with on a monthly basis and 15% would like to get them daily!

While there are upsides, as previously listed, there are negatives to email marketing the same as any marketing approach.

Many people have a bad taste in their mouth because it’s a preferred communication method for SPAM. Although, according to DMA Insights, 53% of people claim they receive too many irrelevant emails. This doesn’t knock email marketing out as a contender. It highlights the issues with businesses casting to wide of a net in their email marketing instead of targeting effectively.

Some have claimed doom and gloom to email marketing with the onset of the GDPR, it will actually help fix the previous issue of too many irrelevant emails. So now the main problem with email marketing to consumers is being solved. Collecting a users email now requires full and recorded consent, ensuring you’re only targeting people who are truly interested in your service.

That’s great, email preferences are being recorded and you have a huge audience to target.

But is there really an effective return on investment?

According to Optin Monsters study on email marketing vs social media email marketing smoked social media in all aspects except sharing. Additionally, they recorded a 21% ROI which is nothing to laugh at. And Hubspot highlights more important features on how it helps drive sales.

Another important aspect that many people might miss is that your email marketing list is yours and always will be. As opposed to a social media account which may get banned, blocked, or may take a hit if the platform updates to have less exposure.

Ok, But Where Do I Start?

So if one thing is certain, it’s that email marketing isn’t going anywhere! Which means it may be a beneficial addition to your sales/marketing funnels.

While some businesses do thrive without an email list, it’s something that is cheap to maintain for the possibility of a high reward. Especially if you’re just starting out and have less than 2,000 email subscribers, then you can signup easily for mailchimps free plan. Additionally they offer upgrade plans for super cheap, even though there are some extras that would be nice to have that they don’t.

Thankfully there isn’t a lack of email management services out there if you want more support for a few extra bucks. Including Constant Contact, AWeber, ConvertKit, Get Response, and MailJet. All of which are great alternatives that have different weaknesses and different strengths.

If there are any questions or comments relating to email marketing, please comment below or email!

Originally published at www.motivationdrivethru.com