It’s a little worrying how many people believe that email is dead. On what assumption is this basis made? Well, it is true that a lot of people have email accounts that they only created so they could join social media websites.
And a lot of people certainly don’t bother checking their emails purely because their inboxes have gotten clogged up with spam. But it’s not like most people don’t still use email on a daily basis!
Part of me wonders if some people think email is dead based only on the fact that it used to be so popular. A lot of people seem to see technology as somehow both ever-changing and static.
That once a new technology has arrived that everyone moves onto that and ignores the previous innovation. But, of course, this isn’t true. Emails didn’t kill written letters. Social media didn’t kill emails. Heck, smartphones didn’t even kill regular cell phones!
So don’t dismiss the more classic methods of online marketing. If you want the best results, you have to include extensive email functionality in your marketing. Here’s why email is still so useful when you’re trying to get the word out.
You build and own your network
So you’ve joined Facebook and Twitter. You have a bunch of followers made up of loyal customers. This is important, of course. But the fact is that the social media platform you’re using actually owns your network there.
Facebook, for example, doesn’t necessarily show your business posts to all of your followers. If you want to guarantee that, you have to pay. If you have an email list, then you control that network. You can ensure that the right message goes to all of your subscribers.
Email lists are easier to build than you think
How do you get people to sign up to your email list? Here’s a hot tip: don’t try to encourage them through the use of popups. If you can develop your site so that a popup will appear after a few minutes of browsing, with an option to never show the popup again? Then fine. But most websites have a popup appear whenever the user’s cursor hovers away from the tab.
A simple button on your website (in clear view at all times, of course) has been proven to be more effective. You can also look into a fantastic source for B2B email lists if you need more sales leads via email. This practice allows you to target very specific audiences.
The statistics show the potential
An estimated 91% of all Internet users check their email on a daily basis. You may believe that people dismiss most of the emails they get. But the statistics show that the clickthrough rate of email marketing is high.
What this means is that there’s a lot of potential. But you have to know how to use email marketing. You need to know how to write good subject lines as well as good copy. The emails themselves need to be beautifully designed. Consider getting help from a marketing agency if you’re unconfident about your email-writing abilities.
1 comment
Great article! Email marketing is far from dead. If you have a good email marketing platform equipped with a thought through strategy it’s going to work wonders. Right now I’m using GetResponse. My favorite thing about email marketing is that it’s still evolving and there are many opportunities.
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