Email. Certainly not the most exciting form of marketing. But did you know that it’s still the best method of direct response marketing there is?
Customers on your mailing list want and expect to hear from you. That’s what they signed up for after all.
The professional world once predicted the end of emails due to the success and dominance of social media. But email hasn’t gone away and if you’re not using it right in your e-commerce business, you could be missing out on a lot of sales.
Email can capture people’s interest like no other form of marketing. And in the saturated social commerce landscape of today. Capturing interest is vital. Don’t believe us? Check out these email marketing stats:
- 21% of sent emails are opened within the first hour of delivery.
- Emails marketing boasts a 4200% ROI ($42 return for every $1 spent).
- Email is 40% better at converting traffic to customers than social media.
- 61% of customers would like to receive promotional emails every week.
(Stats from Snovio)
For more stats and data on email marketing, check out this awesome list.
So why does email marketing still have this success and how can you acquire new customers simply by sending emails? The answers are below!
Email is better at converting
Email remains a significantly more effective way to acquire customers than social media. The key word here is “acquire”. Social media is useful, but mainly for engaging with your customers. If you want to acquire them as paying customers, then email is king.
This is because the expectations with email are different from the customer’s angle. They signed up because they want to receive sales and offer information. With an email, a customer is more open to a direct language where details and clear information is given. The transaction between retailer and audience is clear. If they don’t like it, they will simply unsubscribe.
Email open rates usually average around 25%, whereas on a social media channel like Facebook only around 6% of users that like your page will see your post. When moving the needle on your bottom line is the most important thing, email is the most valuable marketing tool available to you.
Communicating details like loyalty programs or inbound marketing messaging is particularly effective via email as it’s information that doesn’t work on Facebook. You can’t send someone a message to someone when they like your Facebook page, but you can send them an automated welcome email when they subscribe to your newsletter. There’s a clear winner there.
When ROI is vital to your success
Email is a low-cost marketing option. You can get as fancy as you like, sure. But at its core, email marketing is still just writing sentences to send to a group of people. And with an ROI of 4200%, you also can’t afford to not do it.
The starting point of an email marketing campaign is picking the right tools. Platforms like Mailchimp or Constant Contact let you create branded and reusable email templates so you can quickly send your emails without fussing over the design every time. These platforms simplify everything in emails – from design to delivery.
You can also invest in a more robust email marketing service like Klaviyo which lets you send automated emails en masse that are personalized to your customers.
Mailchimp, Constant Contact, and Klaviyo can all be used with WebSell webstores too.
With a relatively small commitment of time, you can have a new revenue stream up and running in just a few hours. Even having a simple automated welcome email for your customers can start delivering returns without you checking in daily or weekly. When ROI is your focus, email marketing is essential.
Personalized and customizable
Email offers direct and personalized communication. You can send emails directly to a customer’s address and address them by their first name so you can start to build a personal relationship with your audience. You can also use the power of your integrated e-commerce platform to send them personal offers based on how they’ve interacted with your business.
All the major email marketing services allow you to fully customize your email templates so your emails are branded and look like an extension of your webstore.
Wrapping Up
If you want more tips on how to improve your email marketing, check out this post.
Or, if you simply don’t have the time or resources, you can let WebSell design, create, and manage your email marketing campaigns. If you’re interested in exploring our email marketing services, talk to your WebSell account manager via the usual channels.
Email is still one of the best ways to acquire and retain customers. With a 4200% ROI, you’d be silly not to at least try it out for your business.
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