Email marketing is one of the oldest and most effective digital marketing methods. It offers companies a direct line to their customers and allows them to build strong relationships with them. However, there are many other benefits associated with email campaigns, some of which may be less obvious than others.
With up to 99% of email users checking their inbox daily, it is clear that this form of marketing has staying power. We will discuss some of the top benefits of email marketing and how you can leverage them to increase conversions.
1. Low Entry Barrier
There's a reason startups, solo entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits often begin their marketing efforts with just an email strategy. It's easy to set up, does not require any specialized or technical knowledge, and provides a low barrier to entry for new businesses. In most cases, you can even get started for free.
All you need is an email builder, possibly templates, and a way to automate the sending process. You can find these three elements in most email marketing software. Our in-depth research on the best email marketing software can help you start on the right foot. And don’t worry, there's no coding or design experience needed.
That can make email marketing an especially good channel for smaller businesses, like photographers, dentists, and law firms.
2. Highly Targeted
Another benefit of email marketing is that you already know that your audience is interested in hearing from you. When somebody subscribes to your list, they essentially permit you to contact them with relevant information or offers. It allows you to create specific, targeted campaigns that address their wants and needs.
In contrast, other forms of marketing, such as TV, print, and digital ads, lack this targeting capability. While you can target ads, they are still shooting in the dark and can be costly if not done correctly. With email lists, you know that your messages are reaching only the right people.
3. Supplements SEO Efforts
Most marketers are surprised to learn that email marketing is an excellent complement to SEO efforts. It's a way to combine what's called push marketing with pull marketing. You bring in traffic with SEO (pull), convert it to email leads, and then market to those leads directly via email (push.)
Plus, search engine algorithms consider the amount of direct traffic more than ever before. This in turn helps increase the overall visibility of your brand and content on the web as a result of better rankings. So keep in mind that people who click on a link in your emails and land on your website are seen as direct traffic.
For this reason, CTAs and links to your website should be included in your emails. It will not only help boost conversions but also give the search engines a positive signal that you are providing relevant content to your readers.
4. Personalized Messaging
Personalized emails are incredibly effective. Consumer surveys have reported that 76% of consumers prefer to receive personalized promotional emails from brands. Additionally, studies show that email campaigns with customized messaging have as much as 6x higher transaction rates than generic messages.
The great thing about email marketing is that it makes personalization easy. With the help of email marketing software, you can create custom campaigns with personalized messages without manually changing the content for each recipient.
Here, the magic is in the parameters that you can include in your texts, which are automatically exchanged with each contact's data when they are sent. You can add their name, location, or other details to the message and make your content seem like you wrote it just for them.
Example of How Parameters Can Be Used in an Email
Segmenting subscribers by interests, demographics, and behaviors can additionally be used to create even more personalized campaigns.
For example, if you have a special offer for people in the UK, you could create a segment for users from this region only and send them your campaign exclusively. The possibilities are endless and can be extended further through automation. For instance, you could create an automation that puts customers directly into a "Loyal Customer" segment if they make more than 3 purchases. You could then send these customers exclusive deals or reward them even more with additional loyalty levels.
Note: Whether you use parameters and/or segments, in the end, they are only useful if you have the necessary data. Think about how to get the information into your system and at which touchpoints you can collect it. You may get the name of a subscriber when you add them to your list, but it's a different story for their birthday, job position, etc.
5. Measurable
Part of any successful marketing plan is the ability to measure results. After all, it's unlikely to get it perfect the first time, so you need to be able to track your metrics and adjust accordingly. Luckily, most email marketing software provides detailed insights that allow you to measure the success of your campaigns.
You'll see open rates, click-through rates, unsubscribes, and more. With this information in hand, you can make decisions about your campaigns and measure your ROI. It's fairly simple to track conversions, so you know exactly how effectively each email drives sales or leads.
Use SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) objectives to define the success of each campaign and determine how your campaigns stack up against the competition.
6. Creates Brand Awareness
It's no secret that email marketing is one of the best ways to increase brand awareness. With every email you send, you remind your subscribers who you are and what you have to offer. Staying top of mind is key to building customer relationships and encouraging loyalty.
Use email marketing to send out special offers, discounts, or announcements. For instance, a new product launch or upcoming sale can be easily shared with your email list to build anticipation. It’s something they might never have noticed otherwise.
Last but not least, you can use visuals in your emails to create a strong and memorable brand image that resonates with subscribers. This includes using branded logos, colors, and compelling images that capture their attention and reinforce your brand. Check out our email design guide for more details.
7. Provides a High ROI
Email marketing can result in an incredibly high return on investment. Studies show that for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average ROI is $36. That is virtually unmatched by any other marketing channel.
In addition to providing an impressive ROI, email marketing is the most cost-effective way to reach your target audience. It requires minimal setup costs and upkeep fees compared to other forms of advertising. It's also easier to track results than offline campaigns, so you can see exactly which messages resonate with your customers.
Email marketing is a great option for businesses of any size and budget. Regardless of how much you have to spend, investing in a proper email marketing strategy is the most likely to pay off.
8. Nurtures Customer Relationships
Email marketing is an excellent way to keep customers engaged and build relationships with them. Think about your ideal customer journey. Wouldn't it be helpful if you guided your customers from the moment they discover you to becoming loyal customers?
Through email marketing, you can send emails tailored to each stage of the buyer's journey – all automated. This is called lifecycle marketing and it can include welcome emails, onboarding, demos, helpful tips, and advice. In parallel, you can, of course, also continue with product announcements, discounts, and other campaigns. By providing relevant content at the right time, you can nurture leads more effectively and turn them into paying customers.
Maintaining contact from the beginning and building trust is critical, which can be completed with sales incentives. Not only does this help you close a sale faster, but you also lose fewer customers because they have forgotten about you or because a competitor has done it better.
And don’t forget to use the opportunity to thank customers for their loyalty or give them exclusive offers that make them keep coming back. This also applies to B2B, where you can use email marketing to stay in touch with existing customers and provide them with the latest updates or resources.
9. Provides a High Level of Automation
You most likely have more pressing matters to attend to than manually sending out emails every day. That's why email marketing is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of automation. The idea behind it is to create automated workflows that run on their own after initial setup. For email marketing, that specifically means automatically sending emails based on custom triggers and actions of users.
For example, an abandoned cart email could be sent to customers who have added items to their shopping cart but have not completed the purchase within one day (the trigger). Or you can set up a drip campaign that sends a series of emails over a period of time based on specific customer behavior and engagement. AI in email marketing software is now making automation setup much easier.
Automation Workflow inside MailerLite
These automated workflows allow you to stay engaged with your customers without manually sending out any emails. This saves you time and ensures that your customers always receive timely, relevant messages. (If you want to do a deep dive into email automation, check out our guide to email marketing automation strategy.
10. Gives You Ownership
When you use other forms of communication, such as social media, you're at the mercy of the platform. If they change their policies or algorithms, your content may not be seen by as many people as before. If they decide to ban your account, you could lose access to all your followers.
With email marketing, however, you own your contact list and can use it whenever you want. You control who receives your emails and when they get them. There's no risk of being locked out or having restrictions on your content. You only have to worry about your email following best practices to stay out of spam filters.
11. Enables Repurposing of Content
Creating content can be time-consuming, so it's important to get the most out of each piece you produce. With email marketing, you can easily repurpose content for multiple channels.
For example, if you've written a blog post about a product launch, you can use that same content in an email newsletter to your subscribers. Or you can use a webinar recording as the basis for an email series.
Repurposing content is an efficient way to get more mileage from your efforts while staying consistent with your messaging across different channels.
12. It’s Shareable
One of the great things about emails is that they are incredibly easy to share. Not many people think of this, but if you are sending an important email, you should take advantage of it. Just add a sentence at the end of your content that goes in the direction of something like this: "Forward this email to someone who may also find this information helpful”.
Even if only a few people do so once in a while, this can quickly lead to additional customers without any extra effort. Sharing is very effective because of the social proof effect. In other words, people are more likely to trust a company that has been recommended by someone they know.
13. Reaches a Global Audience on Any Device
Speaking of extending your reach, email marketing isn't limited by geographical boundaries. It can be sent to anyone with an internet connection and an email address, regardless of where they are located in the world.
Since most emails are now opened on mobile devices, you can reach customers wherever they are and on any device they are using.
Ensure a mobile-friendly design of your emails and check that they are optimally formatted for all screen sizes to guarantee a great experience regardless of the device your email is viewed on.
14. Teaches You about Your Audience
Finally, email marketing teaches you valuable insights about your audience. You'll be able to see what content resonates with them, which emails get the most opens and clicks, and other metrics that can help you better understand who your customers are and what they want.
Use A/B testing to experiment with different versions of your emails and optimize them to increase their performance over the long term. You wouldn't think so, but sometimes just a different word in the subject line is enough to massively increase your open rates.
If you want to gather deeper insights, email is also a great way to get customer feedback. Include surveys or polls, which will help you gain data about what people think of your product or service.
Final Word
Email marketing is a powerful tool for any business. It lets you stay connected with your customers, build relationships, and grow your brand. The 14 benefits of email marketing we discussed show why it is an essential part of globally successful marketing strategies.
If you want to leverage the power of email marketing, start by creating an email list and finding an email marketing software that fits your needs. Once you've got all the pieces in place, it’s time to start creating content, testing it, and monitoring your results to maximize your ROI long-term.
With a little effort and creativity, you will see how the power of email marketing can help you reach new heights for your business.
