Is Email Marketing Dead? Not Even Close

Does email marketing still serve a purpose

More than 34% of people worldwide use email. That’s roughly 2.5 billion people, the predictions are that email marketing will continue to grow. Any notion you may have heard that email marketing is dead or dying would be incorrect according to the statistics. Put simply, email marketing is an incredible and reliable method to connect with your audience. It is estimated that out of the 196 billion emails that are sent each day, 109 billion are business email. Now that’s a lot of emails to compete with but it proves that email marketing is a tried and tested method, and is still bringing in results for millions of companies around the globe. 

Why Email Marketing still has a role to play

Email is a big part of our lives. A very big part, think about your own experiences, you probably receive a number of email marketing newsletter daily which inspires your decision to purchase a product or service. This also applies to all of your friends and family too, do you even know anyone without an email address.  Email marketing is also a very personal way of reaching your target customers, emails from your friends and family are alongside email updates from the companies you follow.  

What the Stats Say

As mentioned the number of emails sent and received each year is only going up.  From 102.6 last year to a predicted 126.7 trillion emails expected to be sent in 2022. On average you are getting at least 13 commercial emails a day. Of course, that means nothing if we don’t check them, but with the ease of access and the mail apps allowing us to check emails directly from our phones, it’s estimated that we are checking out emails as much as 20 times a day. Over 50% check their email before doing anything else online. To put that in perspective emails are checked first by 58% off people compared to only 14% of people checking their social media first, or 5% of people checking the news first. 

No matter who or where your target audience is Emails as one of the longest standing methods remains a great way to reach your audience. 

What Practices should be used

If you’re responsible for the success of your day to day email marketing campaigns then sometimes it can feel like there are just so many elements to keep track of.  To help make sure you keep in mind these practices when creating your campaign.  

• Know your audience, your audience is more than just a demographic group, work with them and discover the best ways to communicate your message. 
• Utilize A/B testing, an important element for every campaign, a good email marketer is never done testing whether it’s the CTA, body or subject lines. 
• Follow a checklist, avoid the blushes of a simple error. Before you hit send create a checklist of all the important steps you need to check. 
• Personalizing your emails using the first names of your recipients is incredibly important when wanting to improve results. 
• Along with personalizing for the individual to make your emails relevant to the current season, your audience won’t engage with an email about winter coats in the middle of summer.  
• Track your results, without the proper tracking of whether your emails are working or not you may as well be shooting in the dark. 

Creating an effective email does not necessarily mean it needs to be complicated,  in fact, a good email can be rather simple.  As long as you follow the best practices your results will only improve.    

What Practices should be avoided

For those who are struggling with getting good results from your email marketing campaigns, there is a good chance you might be making some mistake.  But not to worry now you know what you should be doing, here’s what you should avoid: 

• Don’t forget the CTA
• Not having an automated welcome email
• Overwhelming your audience with too many emails
• Not optimizing for mobile display

Email marketing is still thriving and can achieve the results you need for your business but be sure to avoid these practices.  

How to succeed with email marketing 

So is email marketing really dead? Far from it, email marketing is alive and increasingly relevant. It’s the ideal way for you to reach audiences across demographics easily and directly. Remember, if you need help getting the most out of your email list, we’re here to help.  Let’s Talk!