Why Email Marketing Is More Important Than Ever

There is a consistent mantra among marketers right now - do more with less.

Marketing budgets are being slashed, or are simply non-existent.  Yet, even with anemic budgets, marketers are still expected to deliver results.

Email is one of the cheapest ways to drive sales.  And, according to Marketing Sherpa, people are still reading their email.

I attended Marketing Sherpa's Email Summitthis last week.  Here are some of the top learnings I took away:

5 must-do's - Don't share subscriber's email address with others

                  - Offer special pricing for email subscribers

                  - Allow subscribers to customize frequency 

                  - Allow subscribers to customize information they receive from you

                  - Give subscribers a first look at new products

Segment your list - "Batch and blast" emails are going the way of the dinosaur.  Segment your list and customize messaging and offers for each segment.  The more relevant you make those customized emails, the higher the response you'll get. (examples of segments:  gender, frequency of purchase, amount of activity, area of interest, etc.) 

Test and test some more - Test subject lines, content, calls to action, conversion rates.  Your gut is often wrong.  By testing to see what gets the highest response you can dramatically increase your results.

Scrub your list - get rid of invalid email addresses, inactive addresses and other dead-weight that's hurting your delivery, your response rates and your reputation. 

Bottom line - it's all about being relevant to your audience.   

Coming next - some specific examples. 

                  

Comments

[Mark Garner]

Hi Holly,

All Hail King Email. (Has a medieval ring to it, don't you think?)

Anyway, I've recently posted a couple of articles on the effectiveness of email that may be of interest to your readers.

One highlights recent research that shows how hugely effective email is

And the other is a practical critique of how to get your email past all the technical hurdles and into the inbox.

http://www.breakthroughecommerce.com/library/ecommerce/email-still-king-of-online-marketing/

http://www.breakthroughecommerce.com/library/email-marketing/email-deliverability-%e2%80%93-getting-to-first-base/

[Ying Cheng]

Thanks Holly!
It absolutely makes sense!
-Ying
www.la-yin.com

[email marketing San Diego]

Thank you for sharing this, I agree that email is one of the cheapest way to drive sales.

-faith-

[freelance graphic design jobs]

Email marketing is one of the most effective way to help you promote your sales and products online. It is also you use to communicate with your clients and customers online.