Email addresses are like diamonds for marketers.
They are precious, and we marvel like dragons, gazing over our hoard of email addresses.
And while emails aren’t necessarily forever (as people can unsubscribe at any time), they are surprisingly valuable and a heavy-duty tool in a marketer’s toolbox.
Email marketing is still here and is doing some heavy lifting for startups worldwide.
Email isn’t dead – but it is changing.
If you’re a founder or are considering running your own business, read on to see why email marketing is still highly relevant to startups and small businesses.
What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a digital marketing channel that uses email to communicate with target audiences.
Marketing email aims to build relationships and to give your customers what they want when they need it, whether it is helpful advice, products they need or other content to excite your email subscribers.
Email marketing is often used to build customer relationships, increase brand awareness, and drive sales or conversions. It is considered a cost-effective marketing strategy with a high return on investment (ROI) compared to other marketing channels.
What are the benefits of Email Marketing?
It’s a channel you own and control
Once someone hands over their personal details to you, they are yours to contact until the person unsubscribes. This is a bonus over other channels. With social media, you’re at the mercy of the algorithms and the company. If Facebook changes the algorithm to restrict your reach or TikTok gets blocked in your country, you’ve lost access to that audience.
And while email providers are increasing spam filters, they will never truly block access to email newsletters because so many people genuinely like seeing emails from certain companies they love in their inboxes.
In addition (as long as your privacy policy covers this), you can use those email addresses on Facebook and other platforms to either target those customers or look for similar customers.
High Return on Investment (ROI)
According to Litmus Resource Centre, email marketing has an ROI of 3,200%, which is $32 for every $1 put in. That’s massive! Some industries may even see higher ROI over time. This makes email marketing one of the highest ROI-driving channels.
Early ROI is hugely important for small businesses and startups, so driving your marketing towards getting customers onto that email list is vital. Build a relationship with your customers, and you have a list that will lap up every launch.
Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy
In addition to the high ROI, email marketing is very cost-effective. There are very few startup costs to build an email list. Starting an email list is free, and with some clever marketing, getting contacts on your email list can be free or very cheap.
You can be specific with what you show your audience by segmenting the list, which means you can show customers particular messages based on where they are in their journey. You can also remove any people who are not engaging to keep the cost down.
Increasing Brand Awareness and Engagement
Every time an email drops, your brand awareness grows. Brand awareness helps your customers know you and remember when they need a solution to a problem you can solve.
Let’s get brainy for a second.
We learn by building pathways in the brain, and spaced repetition helps us to remember things. Remember flash cards when you were at school? Email can act like a flashcard to help your customers build knowledge of your brand, remember your name and associate it with the products you sell.
Wrap-up
In all, email certainly is still alive – especially for startups. The ROI is nothing to sniff at, and the channel’s cost-effectiveness is very helpful for getting the most out of your marketing budget.
For more help with your email, contact Lennie & Stan today.