Introduction and Definition
Email marketing is a technique of direct marketing in which one or more electronic messages are sent to a group of people who have subscribed to receive them. It is often a business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer(B2C) channel in which email messages are sent to many people at once. Computer scientist Ray Tomlinson first coined the term in 1971. The U.S. Department of Defense quickly adopted it as a technology for sending secure communications to military personnel overseas through messaging systems, such as Milnet and ARPANET.
In the modern world, email marketing is the act of sending commercial messages, typically to a group of subscribers, using email. Email marketing differs from traditional forms of marketing (such as radio, television, and direct mail) in that the messages must be requested from the sender and are tailored directly to the recipients.
In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. However, the term is usually used to refer to:
* Sending emails with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers, encouraging customer loyalty and repeat business,
* Acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately, and
* Adding advertisements to emails sent by other companies to their customers.
Why Do Businesses Engage in Email Marketing?
Email marketing is one of the best ways to acquire new customers. The customer acquisition rate of email marketing is around 4-5% for every 1,000 emails sent.
Email marketing is a form of direct marketing that most businesses use to communicate commercial or fundraising messages to an audience. It is an effective way to promote your brand or business. It can be especially effective for increasing brand awareness and relies heavily upon building trust and rapport with customers for them to familiarize themselves with your brand. Some of the most successful brands worldwide, from Disney to Nike, use email to reach their customers.
In this day and age, email marketing remains a powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. Email is still the #1 communication tool online, and when someone has opted into your list, they expect to hear from you. This means that they are probably interested in your product or service. It's critical that you establish your credibility, make a good impression, and provide them with information that they find valuable. This is where most businesses leverage the power of email marketing to put their product or service in front of the consumer with great potential to make sales and grow revenue. However, it's just as crucial to avoid common pitfalls that hurt email marketing efforts. We will examine these later.
Types
Email marketing is a type of digital marketing strategy in which the marketer uses email to send messages to potential or current customers. In a broader sense, email marketing can be divided into two types:
1) Outbound email marketing: This type of email marketing is used to generate new leads and promote products or services.
2) Inbound email marketing: This type of email marketing is used to nurture leads and encourage them to buy more products or services.
Email marketing can be used to build relationships with customers, promote sales or special offers, or simply keep customers informed about your company or organization. In a more specific classification, there are several different types of email marketing, each with its advantages and disadvantages. The most common types of email marketing are bulk email, transactional email, and triggered email.
Bulk or promotional email is the most basic type of email marketing. Bulk email involves sending a single message to a large group of recipients. Bulk email is typically used for promotional purposes, such as announcing a sale, sending a newsletter, or simply promoting products or services to those who sign up for your email list on your website or social media page.
Transactional emails are messages that are sent to customers in response to an action they’ve taken, such as making a purchase, e.g. order confirmation email.
Triggered emails are messages sent to customers based on their behavior, such as abandoned cart emails or welcome emails for newly signed customers, signing up for a newsletter after reading a blog post, or requesting customer service.
Each of these types of email marketing categories has its place in the business flow, and all serve to provide your users with a good experience with your brand and promote more sales, increasing your ROI.
Differences Between Email Marketing and Cold Emailing
Email marketing and cold emailing are two different strategies often used to reach potential customers. Though they both involve using email to contact people, there are key differences between the two that you should be aware of before deciding which strategy is right for your business.
First, email marketing is typically less personal than cold emailing. Email marketing is a more general strategy that involves sending out mass emails to a list of subscribers to promote a product or service. Cold emailing, on the other hand, is a more targeted approach that involves sending personalized emails to specific individuals or businesses in an attempt to build a relationship and eventually generate leads and/or sell a product/service.
Secondly, as we already know, email marketing is a type of marketing that uses email messages to send advertisements and informational messages to a list of people who have given their permission to receive the emails. On the other hand, cold emailing is the process of sending an unsolicited email message or letter to a person or business you do not quite know.
Email marketing is best for reaching people with whom you already have some kind of relationship. It can be used to share information about products, services, and offers and build customer relationships. Cold emailing is the same as sending an email to somebody who has not asked for it. Cold emails are usually sent by marketers who want to sell their products or services by exploring a new niche.
Email Marketing Best Practices and Strategies (Do's and Dont's)
Email marketing is a versatile and powerful tool that, when used correctly, can be very effective in driving sales, cultivating relationships and customer engagement, and building brand loyalty. It’s the easiest, most cost-effective way to reach customers on their own turf. And because email is so easy to track and measure, it’s an ideal way for businesses to stay in touch with customers. However, as with any marketing tool, there are inevitable common mistakes to avoid and specific best practices and strategies that should be followed in order to get the most out of your email marketing campaigns.
Here are some email marketing tips and strategies:
1. Keep your list clean and up-to-date. Ensure you only send to people who have opted in to receive your emails. This will help ensure high deliverability rates and avoid any potential spam complaints. This also ensures high open and click-through rates.
2. One excellent practice is segmenting your list of email addresses into different categories according to essential criteria in your business or stages of your leads in the acquisition funnel, personalizing your messages, providing value according to your client categories, and ensuring your emails are readable on mobile devices.
3. Make sure your subject lines are clear and concise. Keep them under 50 characters if possible.
4. Write compelling email copy that engages your reader and inspires them to take action.
5. Use images sparingly. Too many images may make your email long and take much time to load, not forgetting that most mail providers suppress images in emails or send them to the newsletter tab or, worst, spam folders.
6. It's important to consider the timing and frequency of your emails, as well as your overall goals for each campaign. Sending a series of emails too often may appear intrusive, and sending emails late may not achieve the desired results. Some companies go as far as researching the time of the day that their customers are most likely to open emails if they received them.
By following these best practices, you can ensure that your email marketing campaigns are highly effective and deliver the results you're looking for.
Email Personalization
The best email marketing strategies are those that are tailored and personalized for each individual customer. This could be by using personalization technology that allows marketers to create unique messages for each recipient or by sending targeted messages based on the recipient’s online behavior or purchase history. Email marketing is the most popular form of digital communication, with billions of emails sent every year.
To be most effective, email marketing must be targeted. The best email marketing practice is personalizing the messages, based on the recipient's online behavior or purchase history. Personalized communications will allow you to achieve higher customer engagement and conversion rates. It is important that your subject line which serves as a clickable call-to-action directs prospects in such a way that they are more likely to open your message and read it thoroughly before concluding their visit to your website or doing anything with your purchase. Some examples of successful subject lines are "Save on Bulk Orders" or "See How to Earn Higher Commissions."
Frequency and Automation
Email marketing campaigns should be sent out regularly so that you can stay top-of-mind with your audience and continue building relationships. Sending emails at least once a week or every few weeks is an accepted practice, but it may vary greatly depending on the type of product you are selling and your audience demographics. This section provides some general guidelines for successful email marketing campaigns' frequency.
For example, if you sell a diet-related product, you might email your audience every week or two. If you're selling a more general type of product, monthly emails may be more appropriate depending on demand and other factors. Most email marketing software send out email campaigns automatically on a regular schedule. If you are unable to set up your campaign with the auto-responder feature in your system, check in with your provider for assistance. Your provider may be able to work with you to set up a scheduled campaign. Alternatively, there are many specialized paid marketing automation software out there that can do the job at little cost.
To learn more about campaigns frequency, please read: How Often Should You Reach Out to Your Prospects?
How to Create a Successful Email Campaign
Whether it's sending cold emails or email marketing, email campaign is the perfect way to get in touch with your audience and offer them something of value. Creating a successful email campaign requires more than sending a mass email blast. A successful email campaign requires a well-planned strategy that includes an effective subject line, compelling content, and a call to action. Here are some tips to help you create an effective email campaign:
1. Define your goals: What do you want to accomplish with your email campaign? Do you want to increase brand awareness, generate leads, or drive sales? Once you have defined your goals, you can create a more targeted and effective email campaign.
2. Identify your target audience. Whom do you want to reach with your email campaign? What are their needs and interests? Creating targeted email lists will help you reach your audience more effectively.
3. Ensure your email list is up to date and that you have a good mix of subscribers. You don't want to spam people who are no longer interested in your product, so it's important to have a clean list.
4. Write a good email: Create a compelling subject line that will make people want to open your email. Be creative and try to stand out from the rest of the emails in their inbox. Make sure to include all the necessary information in your email. Include a clear call to action. Include links that will lead readers back to your website or landing page.
The content of your email should be well-written and engaging. Don't just promote your product but offer value to the reader.
If you are new to email campaigns, check out this write-up: Step-by-Step Guide to Launch Your First Email Campaign
Summary
The world is changing. The old and traditional ways of marketing are no longer the only ways to get your message out there. Email marketing is one of the most effective and efficient marketing channels available, yet many businesses fail to take advantage of it.
Sending cold emails has also proven to be one of the cheapest and most effective ways to acquire new clients and grow one's business. The ultimate goal is to close more sales and increase ROI; hence understanding the differences between email marketing and cold emailing can help you take the proper steps at the right time, thereby increasing the chances of success for your business.
Some email marketing tools include Mailchimp, Vbout, Hubspot, etc.