Emails Are Back...But Where Did They Go? You might think email is so 2000s, but more businesses are utilizing it over social media.
By Henny Yeshanew Edited by Russell Sicklick
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Emails are back!
Who uses email marketing in the era of social media marketing?
You need to rethink that because even in the age of social media, more than 70 percent of people still like to hear from businesses via email.
Now how do I know all that? Well, I'm in my sixth year of running an agency that specializes in paid advertising and email marketing. We have witnessed firsthand the power emails have for small businesses that do not have large budgets for advertising.
That's how I know, and I'm here to share that knowledge with you. So, keep reading.
Back...where did they go?
You might think that emails are long gone, but you need to think again. With the biggest trends related to social media, augmented reality and voice, emails are holding their own very well during these times.
Each of these channels has its strengths, and none can be denied. But an older channel is still going strong against all the new trends, and entrepreneurs and marketers fell in love with emails.
So, what has caused the change to occur, and is it here to stay or not?
Why marketers distanced themselves from emails in the first place?
Email marketing was a considerable trade back in the day. But with the rise of social media channels, marketers and entrepreneurs thought these were a more effective way of staying in touch with customers.
The potential that emails had was underestimated, and they were sidelined. But the scene has changed now, with various reasons behind it.
Fake accounts are one thing, but many people have stopped using social media because it gets too much of their attention and time. Some recent data leakages have further dented the overall image of these social media companies.
And, of course, not to forget about the change in terms and conditions associated with user privacy. But many people still consider emails a much more serious medium that entrepreneurs and marketers have to tap into.
The pandemic era also has a role to play here as more and more people found emails to be a far more reliable medium of holding conversations and sharing files than social media.
Related: 3 Cold-Email-Marketing Tips to Get More Clients Fast
How is email marketing favorable?
Here are some interesting facts that tell you that email marketing is still as lucrative as it was in the past:
Mailing lists
Email marketing allows entrepreneurs and marketers to access various mailing lists of their subscribers. This is something that they can never achieve if they use social media channels. This is the list of people serious about your business, and they need to hear more from you.
Positive ROI impact
Emails have directly and positively impacted the return on investment. The median ROI using email marketing can be 122 percent. This is highly profitable, and you are only using a single marketing source. Imagine if you use it in combination with your social media channels.
More purchases through emails
Customers who receive more offers on products to purchase through email will spend 138 percent more than those who don't receive any email offers. It means that as a business, you can expect a return of $38 on every single dollar you spend on email marketing.
Increase traffic to your website
With emails, you will be able to increase traffic to your website. This will be organic, and it will positively influence your Google ranking.
You can influence your ranking with social media management and SEO. Gaining more organic traffic on your website will make your site rank higher in Google search results in no time.
Tracking becomes easy and simple
Tracking your ROI this way is much simpler. You need to have a proper tool in place and check how many people read your emails and click on the links given in that email. Moreover, you will see that assessing a campaign's success is much easier this way. You will be able to find your ROI from this campaign in no time.
Instantly change your tactics
As you can get more concise insights on your campaign, you will devise a new plan faster. With the right tool, you will segment your list of subscribers into different groups with different characteristics. As a result, you will deliver more targeting content and alter your tactics accordingly.
The content integrates with other marketing platforms
You can easily convert your content from your emails and copy-paste it into other social media marketing channels, as well as convert it into different posts. This way, you won't have to start everything from scratch, saving you a substantial amount of time when creating various campaigns on different platforms.
Costs are always on the low side
One of the big benefits of using email marketing is that it doesn't cost you much. Costs at the mainstream marketing platforms are much higher. Also, with email, you won't have to deal with any fees or postage costs.
You are reaching an already engaged audience
Of course, you're reaching an already engaged audience. People have subscribed to your mailing list because they want to hear more from you. This is the time to adequately market your products and services and even make new offers.
Related: Your Email Marketing Is Destined to Fail Without These 3 Essentials
Final thoughts
Emails are back with a bang. They should have never left the main stage. But marketers and entrepreneurs underestimated their power and went with other marketing platforms, including social media channels.
Now they have started to realize that you can significantly increase your ROI when you use email marketing. Social media platforms might seem to be very engaging at first, however, nothing beats old reliable email marketing when it comes to conversion.
Related: Why Email Marketing Is Better for Your Business Than Social Media
