If you thought that email was on its way out, you’d be dead wrong. In fact, email marketing is as strong as it ever was. Why? Because people are inundated with brand messages from all channels– they’re only going to opt-in if they’re REALLY interested in what you have to offer. That, or they already purchased from you in the past.
What does that mean for your business?
When you send an email to your customer list, you’re sending a targeted message to a group of people who are really interested in your product or service; they’re going to interact with your email. That could be…
- Clicking on links
- Using special coupons
- Sharing the newsletter
- Buying your product(s)
All that, plus you actually OWN your email list. You don’t own social media fans. You do own your email list. If you work with us, you’ll quickly understand that this is a big part of philosophy.
So, all this email marketing rah rah is great. Show me the numbers though. I’d be glad to.
- People who receive email offers are 138% more likely to purchase than people who do not receive offers in their email (source: Convince & Convert) [Click To tweet]
- Almost 50% of people who buy stuff (44% to be exact) bought at least 1 item in 2014 because of an email message (source: Marketing Zen) [Click to tweet]
- Just under 70% of consumers prefer to communicate with businesses via email (source: eMarketer) [Click to tweet]
Frankly, we could make this another 39-Email-Stats-That-Will-Make-You-Go-Bonkers-kind-of-post, but the internet is saturated with those already. Google it. Email marketing is stronger than ever. And if you think otherwise, it might be because you’re thinking about how you check your email on your laptop less often….less often than you check on your phone (aha!).
Mobile email stats are skyrocketing. Just think about it: almost everyone you know has their email synced with their smartphone. As an email comes in, the phone is updating and alerting the user in the form of a notification. If you click on that notification and open the email, that counts.
- A shade under 75% of smartphone users owners are checking email on their phone (source: Gartner) [Click to tweet]
- Over 50% of emails are now opened on mobile….I repeat, OVER HALF of emails are opened from the phone (source: Litmus) [Click to tweet]
So, it’s not a matter of should you be emailing your customers. It’s more of a question of what will you be emailing them, how often, and when. Sadly, there is no magic answer that covers every business or industry. We’re going to try our best to guide you though.
What should you email your customers?
This part is easier than you think. Make a list of what your customers want. Most likely, this will look something like this….
- Discounts
- New products
- Business news
- Industry news
- Contests
- Product info
This list could differ, or at least the order could vary. Let’s say for instance you run a music venue in New York City. Your email list will most likely consist of: concert announcements, upcoming shows, ticket links to all shows, ticket giveaways, information/ blog posts on the artists.
Now let’s pretend you run a small Italian restaurant. Maybe you want to include discounts (depends if you compete more with price or quality). Maybe you want to include contest info (ex: win a $30 gift card). For sure though, you will want to include new menu items, any upcoming food pairing events, and some form of information about the restaurant (ex: the GM just got married, the source of the vegetables, how the pasta is made, the long-time waitress Suzy just had her birthday, etc).
Give The Customer Places To Click In Your Emails
The content within the email newsletter is key (obviously), but DON’T FORGET to have plenty of places for them to click. Your email is almost useless without call-to-actions and links.
If you have a contest you’re running, link to it!
If you are selling tickets to an event, link to it!
If you wrote a blog post on your restaurants family recipe… you get the idea.
Anyone who gives out their email address wants to be emailed
As I mentioned earlier, if someone is willing to give you their email address, they’re interested in what you’re offering. They want your emails. Now, it’s up to you to keep them interested and clicking (and buying).
To summarize the above…
- Consumers still love email… maybe even more than ever
- People are checking their email on their phone more than non-mobile devices
- Customers can’t buy or go to your website if they don’t have links to click on in the newsletter
If you need help with your email marketing or content, email me at mig@newcontentcollective.com or fill out the form on our contact page.