It is al too easy to neglect the reasons why email marketing is still important today. When the ‘shiny new thing’ arrived – namely social media – many marketers forgot about their mailing lists. And why not? Was there not a better, faster and more ‘cool’ form of communication than a traditional newsletter?
I’m not saying that the ways consume content hasn’t changed. Of course, the channels that are available today are much more numerous than they have been, but that does not mean that email marketing is in any way less important.
Think in terms of digital television (raise your hand if you remember analogue television!). When digital television was launched with tens of new channels – neither S4C nor BBC 1 became less important. Indeed in many ways, they became even more important. Almost like a rock in the middle of constantly shifting sands and tides.
I’m therefore going to show you 3 simple reason why email marketing is still important today.
Reason 1: The loyal audience
Those who have subscribed to your newsletter have already expressed some interest or shown allegiance of sorts to you or your brand.
Consider how difficult it really is to get a customer or user to achieve a goal on your website e.g. purchasing a commodity or product, or subscribing to your mailing list. These have already done so, and some of them will have been on your mailing list for many years. You should not neglect that allegiance by not sharing content with them. They’ll thank you for it, and you will benefit in return.
Reason 2: Everyone has an email address
OK – not everyone, perhaps. But as in the days before the world wide web as we know it, it might be assumed that nearly everyone had a physical address where they resided. We can think toughly the same for email addresses (certainly so in the developed countries).
It is plausible that a person might not have a Twitter account, or a Facebook or an Instagram account (we can’t be everywhere, right?), but it is impossible to have any of them without owning an email address.
Reason 3: This is your rock floating on the sand
It’s not my intention to preach in biblical terms, but I do have a serious point to make, so bear with me!
The web is such a busy place these days; news websites will create content that beg for your attention. There are Twitter or Facebook feeds, which are never the same twice and ar enough to overwhelm us. No-one has time for keeping up with all the content.
It is much more likely that the content that is being created for your social media platforms will be drowned out by the noise, compared to email – which has a much higher engagement rate by default. This platform is your opportunity to create content of value to your subscribers – or exclusive content that is not available otherwise. A small sanctuary amidst the turbulence, if you like.
Having said that, email marketing cannot be independent of each other platforms – your website, your social media and your email need to all work together, towards the same objective within the bigger picture.
The web today is an ever changing beach of sand. But here and there on the expanse of the restless sand, there will be an ever present rock, protruding to the surface in the ebb and flow. If you’re a digital marketer the name of one such rock is ’email’!
(But it is important to remember that recently available technology has vastly improved, enabling us to contact our subscribers by email in a much more effective manner than before. The weather is shaping the rock also. But that is a topic for another article!)
Ask yourself why email marketing is still important to you
There are several reasons why email marketing can be important to you, depending on what your goals are. Do you want to increase sales (online or offline)? Or share the contents of the website? To increase awareness of your brand?
Email marketing is a very sustainable medium. This is an opportunity to build long-term relationships with customers or audiences. Remember that we need to do three things:
- Offer a consistent and strategic place on your website for people to subscribe
- Send emails regularly, whether it is a weekly or monthly basis
- Provide unique content to your subscribers – they’re special!
I will talk more about these final three points in another article soon.
Is email marketing important to you as an individual, for your business or for your organisation? Have you struggled to know how to grow or contact your subscribers? Let’s start a discussion in the comments below.