It seems every few months a new innovation or idea comes out that marketers will try to use to reach customers. Some of these tactics may seem great on the surface, but when you dive deeper, the results can be underwhelming.
Before you spend a large portion of your budget on a new idea that may or may not work, take a step back and consider a more traditional approach that’s proven to consistently make money.
Email is one of the most powerful tools in your marketing toolkit.
According to research, the number of email users continues to increase every year and will be up to 4.4 billion users by the end of 2023. So there’s a very good chance your customers will be using email.
If used correctly, email marketing can help improve sales. Social media and direct mail are also effective tools, but email has the highest conversion rate of purchases from a marketing message. It often also costs less to run an email campaign, so you’ll likely have a more favorable ROI.
The power of promotional emails
Promotional emails are one of the most common ways that marketers can increase sales and show the benefit of their campaigns. You probably get a handful of these emails in your personal inbox every day with the latest deals, sales, or promotions from your favorite brands.
Source: Campaign Monitor
At first glance, this type of marketing messaging might seem intrusive, but the majority of people don’t seem to mind. In fact, 72% of customers prefer to receive promotional content in emails, compared to only 17% who choose social media.
It’s important to note that not all emails need to be promotional. Lead nurturing messages can also help raise brand awareness and build relationships, which can play a major factor in decision-making for B2B contacts.
How to measure email marketing
It’s essential that you measure the impact your email marketing strategy has so you can determine if your campaign is making money. There are simple metrics that you need to understand like open rates and click-through rates, but to find the financial impact, you’ll need to know your email conversion rate and earnings.
Once you have that information, there’s a simple calculation to determine your return on investment. Take your sales growth—the additional earnings as a result of your campaign—and subtract your marketing cost for the campaign. This gives you your total earnings after operating costs. You’ll then divide that by your marketing cost to come up with your ROI for your campaign.
Does it really matter?
Email should be one of the primary digital tools you use to reach your customers. Marketing departments are often asked to accomplish more while spending less, and email is one of the best ways to reach that goal.
It’s important to understand that email is not the only marketing activity you can use to make money. Social and paid search are still commonly used to increase sales. However, email has the highest percentage of purchases.
What now?
You now understand the value of sending marketing emails, how to make money with these campaigns, and how to measure your ROI to prove your success. Your next step should be to look at ways to optimize your campaigns for the best performance. Aside from basic email practices like automation, list segmentation, and content personalization, you should also look at adding or improving your call to action to help generate more clicks and conversions.