Is Email Marketing Still Profitable?
Introduction:
We have compiled, from separate sources, Is Email Marketing Still Profitable?.
[1]The key to running a successful business is enticing customers and clients to do business with you. So whether you’re scrambling to lure customers back during a global pandemic or expanding your markets during “normal” business times, the question is, How do you do that? What are the best ways to get customers to come to your store, website, restaurant, office, etc.?
We all know the answer: it’s marketing. But marketing is not a simple process. There are various practices, tactics, and strategies that are part of an overall marketing plan—and they are constantly evolving. It can make formulating a marketing plan for your small business overwhelming.
To help simplify the process, there is one marketing method that has maintained its claim to fame. Email marketing still promises to deliver the highest ROI of all marketing channels—$42 back for every dollar you spend.
That’s not to say email as an industry, and your approach to it, isn’t evolving—it is, or it should be. As Tom Kulzer, CEO and founder of AWeber, a leading email marketing solution for small businesses, says, “The most effective [email] marketing strategies adapt, grow, and innovate.”
AWeber recently released its 2020 Small Business Marketing Email Marketing Statistics Report, featuring insights from small business owners and industry experts. These are the techniques that are working for other small business owners. See if they’ll work for you as well.
While email marketing can boast about its effective ROI, not all small businesses are using it. According to the report, 66% of businesses surveyed say they use email marketing to “promote their businesses or communicate with leads and/or customers.”
If you are not among that percentage, it’s time (past time, actually) to incorporate email into your marketing strategy. If the ROI isn’t enough to convince you, remember, email is the marketing channel most consumers say they want businesses to use to communicate with them.
Still, you likely have questions if email marketing will work for you. Take a look at some common questions the survey addresses.
How effective is email marketing?
Very. Of those surveyed, 79% say it’s “important” or “very important” to their businesses. However, while business owners acknowledge the importance of email marketing in general, only 60% think their own email marketing strategies are “effective” or “very effective,” while 26% say it’s either “ineffective” or “very ineffective.”
Effective email strategies are “personal, targeted, and crafted with the customers’ objectives and objections in mind.”
[2]General Email Marketing Statistics and Best Practices
- The global e-mail marketing market was valued at $7.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to increase to $17.9 billion by 2027. (Statista, 2021)
- There are 4 billion daily email users. This number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. (Statista, 2021)
- More than 306 billion emails are sent and received each day. (Statista, 2021)
- Active email accounts surpassed 5.6 billion in 2019. (Statista, 2019)
- 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)
- More than 40% of marketers saw budget cuts to email since the pandemic. (Litmus, 2020)
- Across all industries, the average email open rate is 19.8%, the click-through rate is 11.3%, and the bounce rate is 9.4%. (Constant Contact, 2021)
- Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue. (Campaign Monitor, 2019)
- 4 out of 5 marketers said they’d rather give up social media than email marketing. (Litmus, 2020)
- 35% of marketers send their customers 3-5 emails per week. (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)
- 78% of marketers in 2020 said email is important to overall company success, compared to 71% in 2019. (Litmus, 2020)
- 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)
- 31% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)
- The U.S. spent over 350 million dollars on email advertising in 2019. (Statista, 2019)
- Brands that always include an A/B test in their emails generate an ROI of 48:1. (Litmus, 2019)
- Globally, Fridays see the highest email open rates (nearly 19%), compared to the lowest open rates (17%) on Saturdays. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)
- 66% of marketers believe artificial intelligence is a way to optimize email send times. (Statista, 2019)
- 23% of brands have already experimented with interactive elements in email, an additional 32% are planning on trying it soon. (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)
Bigger Profits Through Better Email – The Simple Way
Email marketing is an incredibly effective channel for driving conversions. Here we outline the foundation and components of an effective email strategy.
Here’s something incredible.
Email marketing consistently shows up at the top of the list for marketing tactic effectiveness, ROI and conversion rate.
Yet, for most companies, total spend on email marketing ranks towards the bottom of the budget.
Yes, it’s true that budget line items like social advertising, search engine marketing, and website design naturally require more dollars from the coffer. But there’s another reason – one we think reveals a gap savvy marketers will quickly recognize and leverage for explosive profits.
Here’s the thought: If the squeaky wheel gets the grease, then email runs too silently. It’s almost a backroom project. Set it and forget it. Send a blast here and there. That’s why most companies invest less time and money on email than just about any other marketing function.
That means if you’re willing to step out and give email the recognition it deserves, you can get better results at a lower cost than by any other tool on deck.
Before you shout “Eureka” and dive in, though, take a look at the email fundamentals we’re listing here. Make sure your team is observing the basics.
Your results will depend on it.
Email Marketing Best Practices – How to Make Sure Your Foundation is Strong
We teach this point constantly: The fundamentals should make up the framework of your strategy. That applies across the board – whether you’re building an email campaign or learning to play backgammon. Cover the fundamentals before you worry about getting fancy.
In our experience we often find that basic principles are ignored or disregarded altogether. It’s all too easy to get off track and start majoring in the minors. Don’t let that happen to you. If the foundation is weak, the most elaborate building on the planet can topple.
What will your email marketing messages include?
Ask any marketing copywriter to name the most important part of an email, and you’re likely to hear one response more than any other: The subject line.
Undoubtedly, the content of the message doesn’t matter if the mail doesn’t get opened, and the subject line is instrumental in getting that open.
There’s one thing more important, though: Your relationship with the recipient.
Grandmothers opens every single email from their grandchildren, and most will do just about anything those emails ask.
Why?
It’s all about relationship.
The tighter your relationship with the people on your mailing list, the more success you’ll have with that list.
How do you build relationship?
You do it the same way you build any other relationship. You make sure factors like this are in place:
- Be honest
- Be helpful
- Be trustworthy
- Listen more than you speak
- Keep the best interest of the other in mind
You may change from your “civilian clothes” to your “business clothes,” but be sure the clothes are all that change. Treat those on your mailing list the way you treat your friends. Be kind and considerate. Make them glad they know you.
Conclusion:
We hope that these ideas have helped your marketing efforts
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