Email Marketing Introduction
Why email marketing?
1. £30 return on investment for every pound spent [1]
For most businesses, there are few factors that matter more than the return on investment. The UK-based Direct Marketing Association carried out a survey of its members and found the average return on investment, for email marketing for every pound spent was £30.01 [1].
2. 86% of consumers like emails from companies they know [2]
According to marketingsherpa.com, 86% of consumers would like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with at least monthly, and 15% would like to get them daily [2].
You therefore can send your messages instantly to people who want to receive them; just think about that for a second!
3. See results within minutes
Email is nearly instant; we all send them every day and know its speed.
Businesses can start seeing responses within minutes of the emails being sent, as a good campaign should create a sense of urgency and convince subscribers to take immediate action.
Whilst it does take time to craft and effectively manage effective email marketing campaigns, you should not lose sight of the speed of email and the opportunities this presents.
Contents
- Summary of the benefits of email marketing
- Why is email so powerful?
- Why email works?
- Where do I get my email list from?
- What if I do not have a list?
- How do I build my list?
- Can I buy an email list?
- How are the emails sent out?
- Why is email management software used?
- Other benefits of email platforms?
- What are the costs of direct email marketing?
- References
Summary of the benefits of email marketing
There are many advantages to email over other forms of marketing:
1. Low Cost
Email is much lower cost than other marketing channels, with no postage, printing, or ads to pay for.
2. Easy to create
Email does not need a large team or huge technical know-how to be very successful.
3. Easy to share
Your subscribers can very easily forward your messages and promotions to a friend at a click of a button.
4. Easy to target
Target your email subscribers based on their specific likes and previous purchases.
5. Fast customer action
Take advantage of impulse buying, with your subscribers able to enquire or buy with a couple of clicks.
6. Speak to your fans
Remember that your subscribers have asked to receive the emails you are sending them.
Why is email so powerful?
There are few mediums that allow immediate marketing direct to potential buyers like email.
Email is often discounted as it is familiar and commonly misused. Though it has been a constant ever-growing form of electronic communication since 1965 [8]. For the marketer, email offers a huge opportunity because it is so widely used.
1. Easy to target
If you know the details of your subscribers, then it is easier to send messages that they are likely to be interested in, to increase your marketing response.
By default, you will know far more about your existing, and past customers than you will about new potential customers.
Even if you only know what they previously purchased, this gives them a head start on new prospects.
Plus, sixty percent of global consumers with Internet access prefer to buy new products from a familiar brand rather than switch to a new brand, according to a study from Nielsen[10].
Email is powerful because you know already something about the person you are emailing, plus they are more likely to buy from you than a company they have not previously heard of.
So, you can target people on your email list, by only sending them information and offers that they are likely to be interested in.
This is a very efficient form of marketing if done properly.
2. Fast customer action
Have you ever received a special offer from a company via email and acted on it immediately? Are you getting fast responses from your email campaigns?
The very nature of email is speed. We all scan our email inboxes quickly deleting the stuff of no interest; though we would not be doing this if we were not looking for something of interest.
The key for your marketing is to be sending out emails your subscribers want to receive, such as:
- New research in their industry.
- New tools that may make their lives easier.
- Interesting views from a leader in their industry.
- Special offers for a product or service that they are highly likely to be interested in.
You are only limited by your imagination.
The more you know your customers/clients, and the more targeted the email that you send them, the more you will enjoy a fast and positive response.
3. Speak to your fans
Email is communication with your company’s fans, not selling to unknown people. The purpose is to build trust, then proportions will be successful.
Too many companies view email as a source of selling, rather than building a relationship.
Today we are all bombarded by marketing messages from every angle: email spam, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Twitter Ads, website banner ads, website pop-up ads, YouTube Ads, TV ads and the list goes on.
It is easy to get overwhelmed by this bombardment, but most of us quickly filter most out by only listening to people and companies we trust.
Email is an extremely effective way of building this trust. If you concentrate on giving people what they want and adding value, then when you do share promotions and offers they are much more likely to listen.
Why email works?
Email continues to give great returns to those who use it well.
Many forms of digital marketing have been and gone, but email continues to be extremely effective for those who use it to build relationships, and take advantage of its low cost and ease of use when compared to other forms of marketing.
1. Low Cost
It is 6-7 times more expensive to acquire a new customer than to keep an existing one [9]. Are you saving money by targeting existing customers?
Many companies forget that an excellent source of new business can be their existing customers and past enquirers.
Depending on the size of your business and how long you have been collecting data, you could have a large valuable database ready for mailing.
Email marketing only incurs the costs of the management and content creation, avoiding such things as:
- Expensive ads from third-party platforms.
- Time for search engine optimisation.
2. Easy to create
The software platforms are user-friendly, so sending out emails does not need to be complicated. We can do this for you or set this up for you.
The fact that email is so easy is its greatest advantage and disadvantage.
So many email campaigns are poorly planned and fail.
We often add most value to our clients by helping them:
- Collate their database into logical groups.
- Think about specific messages to each group.
- Set up their email their platform to reflect these points.
This gives a structure to all emails to be sent out.
3. Easy to share
Social media has thrived on the nature of people to share with others. Businesses often forget this huge benefit of email.
If your companies email messages are genuinely useful and add value, it is likely that some of the people you send your emails to will share them with others.
People often mix with other like-minded people.
Let’s say for example you are a plumbing company that specialises in new domestic boiler installations, and you have a large number of homeowners as past clients.
It is likely that those homeowners will know other homeowners.
So, if your messages are of genuine interest, and if you give people an incentive to share, you may be surprised how many people will share your emails with others.
Where do I get my email list from?
Most businesses already have lists of past enquirers and customers, even if not in electronic format.
The potential value of this resource should not be underestimated.
The first job with any list is to organise it into names, email addresses, and any other useful data you have, such as gender, age, previous purchases, etc.
Start collating your list!
What if I do not have a list?
If you currently do not have a list you have two options:
- Start creating a list – the best strategy 👍
- Buy a list – we are not fans (as many lists are not worth the paper they are written on and can be expensive!) 👎
See our discussion of these options below.
How do I build my list?
There are a large number of ways that you can start capturing customer and prospect details to building your email list, some ideas include:
- If you have premises, start asking for people’s details who enter the premises, for example via a ‘sign up for special offer’.
- Go through all past correspondence with all clients and enquirers in your business, and start documenting this into a list.
- On your website offer incentives for people to sign up and leave you their email address, often called lead magnets:
- Free eBook, white paper, or ‘how to’ which would be useful to them.
- A free tool, for example, a loan calculator, currency converter, etc.
- Sign up for exclusive offers.
- A free webinar.
- You are only really limited by your imagination.
- Set up a relevant pay-per-click campaign on Google AdWords or Facebook Ads that will drive traffic to your website, visitors that may want to subscribe for what you are offering – if well managed, this can be an extremely effective way of building your list.
Can I buy an email list?
There are many companies that sell email lists, and this does look like a very appealing option compared to the more time-consuming option of building a list from scratch.
There are though many risks which could cause very low returns; disadvantages include:
- The list has already been emailed before, including your competitors, so people on the list will be tired of what you may be sending them.
- The data is inaccurate, such as incorrect names, users will mark you as spam.
- Typically, emails are sent out via an email service provider such as AWebber [3], or MailChimp [4], and a purchased email list will probably violate their terms of service.
- For more disadvantages see article 8 Dangers of Buying an Email List [5].
Direct email marketing can work very well when the recipient has subscribed and trusts the sender.
When buying a list, you have no relationship with the recipient, so by default, the campaign will be less successful.
Why is email management software used?
The concept of email is simple, but the practicalities of sending out 1,000’s of emails raises many technical challenges, which means this cannot be done without robust software.
Below some of the challenges that will be faced if you do not use good email management software:
- Flagged as a spammer– emails from desktop software like Outlook will probably get ‘flagged’ as spam, as all are sent out at the same time, so are likely to be blocked by your ISP (Internet Service Provider). The emails will not be received, and you have the hassle of getting your email address unblocked. Email management software breaks up the email delivery thus preventing this from happening.
- Website blocked- if your website is hosted on the same account as your email (which is common), then your ISP email ban could also cause your website to be blocked stopping all browsing.
- Cannot unsubscribe– software such as Outlook does not allow people to unsubscribe, so you are more likely to be marked as spam.
- Cannot deliver– programs like Outlook are not set up to send large volumes of email, so will probably fail to send out all your emails.
For any company that is going to use email as part of its marketing mix, a professional email management platform is essential.
Other benefits of email platforms?
In addition to getting around the technical challenges of sending out 1,000’s of emails, email platforms will help you manage your campaigns better and find out:
- Who opens your emails and who is ignoring them.
- If anyone has marked your message as spam.
- Click rates and which links get the most clicks.
This will help you to optimise future campaigns to increase their performance.
You can also schedule messages to be sent at specific times.
What are the costs of direct email marketing?
There is the cost of the email management software, which can start from as little as $10 to $199 per month (more for large volumes).
You also need to budget for other work relating to setting up and managing campaigns, such as:
- Segmenting your email lists.
- The text for the email plus associated graphics.
- Getting the email template designed and set up.
- Integrations set up with sign-up forms, such as website forms.
- Website pages possibly set up, for specific ‘special offers’.
References
- “DMA Insight: Marketer email tracking study 2017.” dma.org.uk
- “Email Research Chart: How often customers want to receive promotional emails.” marketingsherpa.com
- “AWeber” aweber.com
- “Mailchimp” mailchimp.com
- “8 Dangers of Buying an Email List.” blog.hubspot.com
- “Constant Contact.” constantcontact.com
- “Infusionsoft.” Infusionsoft.com
- “How did email grow from messages between academics to a global epidemic?” Theguardian.com. 2016.03.07
- “How to Attract Your Past Customers to Increase Your Sales and Revenue.” conversio.com. 2015.06.11
- “Global Consumers more likely to buy new products from familiar brands.” nielsen.com. 2013.01.22
