The email inbox is one internet destination that nearly everyone visits every day, especially if communications are a part of your business or lifestyle. In fact, more than 92 percent of U.S. Internet users have and use email. This is why it is vital to consider email marketing for your business.
Spanning generations, genders, cultures, and geography, nearly everyone uses email, making it one of the best ways for businesses to communicate with their customers. Email marketing is great for any business, but it’s especially useful for small businesses, who need to make the most of their marketing budget.
And while there are newer forms of customer outreach — like search engine and social media marketing — email usage is far from outdated. In fact, beyond being the most effective way to reach customers, email use is still growing worldwide. Researchers project that in 2025, Internet users around the globe will send more than 375 billion emails every day.
The Inbox is where customers want to receive your product pitches
Unlike most other marketing channels — where advertisements are viewed as an intrusion — consumers consistently say that the inbox is one area where they want to receive information, offers, or deals from preferred publications, services, or vendors.
Surveys show U.S. consumers prefer business communications through email, over other forms of advertising like direct mail, text messages and push notifications. The preference for email is shared by both men and women, and over all age groups.
Moreover, the consumers preference for email extends to smartphone users, as nearly half said they want messages from businesses to go to their email inbox, instead of through social media apps or SMS text messaging.
Email marketing delivers the best Return on Investment
Of all the types of marketing, email marketing is proven to deliver one of the best returns on investment. Studies show that email marketing returns $36 for every $1 invested.
It’s easy to see why email marketing is cost effective. With the variety of online tools available, anyone with the time can put together an email campaign, and there’s no cost for printing, airtime, boosting, or other costs that come with advertising. Plus, in addition to being one of the best investments in marketing, email is also very versatile, offering all kinds of ways to make an impression on your target audience.
Email opens a conversation with your customers
Email marketing is one of the most productive ways to communicate with customers. It works to accomplish many things, constantly keeping you in contact with your followers. You can provide updates to clients, make announcements, promote sales and specials, send surveys, or find other creative ways to use emails to market your small business.
One favorite is the email newsletter, where business owners can start a direct conversation with their customers. Newsletters can be a forum where you discuss products, services, staff, specials, events, or even provide the owners’ thoughts on important issues and topics.
Build your brand over email with content tailored for your audience
Whether you’re trying to make a sale or attract a website user, email offers a great way to reach your audience. In fact, surveys show that Internet users spend 172 minutes a day reading email, giving you ample opportunity to make an impression with engaging content that connects with this audience.
By offering compelling writing, photos, graphics, videos, and product information through email, you have an opportunity to build your business brand and grow your following, attracting new buyers along the way. Email is also a great place to share content from other channels that you may already be producing, like social media posts or printed and mailed material.
For example, regular email updates offer the opportunity to establish your business as a source of expert content, which will attract more subscribers and expand your brand’s reach. No matter what your industry, email offers a platform to demonstrate your knowledge to potential customers. By identifying it as a source of authority, customers will look to your business for information, and soon thereafter, products and services.
Email lists are a business asset that you build and own
Unlike social media, which can be unpredictable about how it will prioritize your posts
While social media offers exciting new ways to reach an audience of potential customers, these platforms come with regulations and outcomes that can be unpredictable, where businesses have suddenly lost priority, followers, reach, or potentially even been thrown off the platform altogether. Social media platforms own all of the content posted on it, including the content on your business accounts. These social media powerhouses can even ban accounts for violations, some of which are vague and hard to understand.
None of the problems exist with email marketing. Your business owns the list. You own the content. You control what your audience of customers sees and when they see it. It’s a unique business asset that you build on over time as you work to expand your email marketing campaign’s reach and returns.
Getting the best returns takes expert management
While anyone can get started in email marketing, the best results come from experienced marketing professionals like those at Gifted Owl Technologies. From content to distribution to results, Gifted Owl’s experts are ready to help businesses of any size get the most from a well-executed email marketing campaign.