Effective Email Marketing - still top ROI

People unfamiliar with email marketing often wonder what all the fuss is about. Didn't spam kill email as a marketing vehicle? And if spam didn't kill it, what about web feeds, instant messaging and all the other clever ways we can communicate online? Isn't email outmoded?

Email marketing works and works well. This digital marketing channel is still producing one of the best ROIs for each dollar spent only beaten by search engine optimization and advertising. Over 96% of marketers believe in email marketing and actively use it. It offers a targeted and highly personalised communications channel that drives immediate actions from your targeted audience.

Sounds great, and it is, but something that some businesses still miss is that email marketing, like most other advertising channels, only produces good results if used correctly and wisely. Email marketing does not mean email blasts that are quickly listed as spam. Define your strategy, know your audience, manage their personal preferences, allow them to choose... and see the results grow.

It works

Businesses engage in email marketing because it works... and works well. Those wondering about the benefits of email marketing in today's ever-changing online and marketing environment will find these statistics rather convincing...

• According to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an ROI of $45.06 for every dollar spent on it in 2008 and the prediction for 2009 is $43.52. As such, it outperforms all the other direct marketing channels examined, such as print catalogues.
• In a survey of hotel marketers by Hospitality eBusiness Strategies, 58.7% cited email marketing as one of the Internet marketing formats that generate the best results and highest ROI.
• In a survey of Internet marketers by MarketingSherpa, email to house lists beat paid ads in terms of ROI, with 42% describing email as having "great ROI - outperforms other tactics". Only SEO and behavioural targeting (which you can also do with email) scored higher.
• In another survey of hundreds of marketers by MarketingSherpa saw pay-per-click search ads rank top for ROI, followed by email marketing to house lists in second place.
• A 2008 survey by Forrester Research revealed that 95% of surveyed marketers use email marketing, with another 4% planning to do so by year end.

Why it works

Email marketing works for a number of reasons...

• It allows targeting
• It is data driven
• It drives direct sales
• It builds relationships, loyalty and trust
• It supports sales through other channels

Modern email marketing services and solutions support database integration, segmentation, personalisation and various other tricks and techniques for improving the targeting of outgoing messages. Advanced methods generate on-the-fly emails customized down to an individual recipient basis.

And every email campaign you send out generates a heap of actionable data you can use to refine your approach, messages and future email campaigns.

Email promotions and offers generate immediate action: sales, downloads, inquiries, registrations, etc. Informative email newsletters and other emails send people to offline stores and events, prepare the way for catalogues, build awareness, contribute to branding, strengthen relationships, encourage trust and cement loyalty.

All in all, a pretty good way of going about your marketing business. But...

It works... Only if done right

Just like a garden only bears fruit if managed properly, so it is with email marketing. We know it can work, but you have to get the basics right. The basics of building a list of people who want to hear from you, crafting a message, and ensuring the emails get through to those on that list.

And once you have the basics right, there's a whole spectrum of more sophisticated tactics you can employ to drive further success. Because the metrics show us that there's plenty of room for improvement and plenty of rewards waiting for those who do improve.

For example, one report found that "using web analytics to target email campaigns can produce nine times the revenues and eighteen times the profits of broadcast mailings."

Getting it right involves a longer term email marketing strategy and practical actionable steps. Don't be put off by the word strategy. For most businesses there are allot of quick steps that can be taken to start or improve your email marketing channel with almost immediate, noticeable and measurable results.

How do I start?

Indivirtual has many years experience in effective use of email marketing for both local markets and international audiences. Each client is different with different long term and short term goals. Backend systems may or may not exist. Your data can come from a sophisticated CRM system or just a bunch of excel sheets. Whatever the case, we can help you to define your email marketing strategy to suit your needs. A practical strategy that can bare fruits quickly.

Once you know how email marketing can best help you, we can step-in to help you execute the practical side of things. From design, lists management, system integration, tracking, reports, campaign refinements, etc... the services will be picked to suit your needs.

Contact us for more information and a quick evaluation of how we can help you to achieve best results for your website.