The value of email marketing

The question

You don't see much media buzz around email marketing. Instead, people prefer to talk about even newer technologies, like Facebook, Twitter and social media.
Such is the lack of attention, you might be forgiven for thinking email has fallen into disuse as a marketing tool. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Email marketing's reliability as a way to build sales and customer relationships means it's simply become part of the online furniture: there's nothing much to debate.

The facts

If you're unsure how email marketing can help a business in a dynamic online world, here some facts and stats proving its value:

• The USA's Direct Marketing Association conducts an annual review of the ROI (Return on Investment) delivered by all forms of direct marketing. Email marketing is a consistent chart topper. For 2009, they predict an ROI for email of US$43.52. That's over $43 returned for each dollar invested in email marketing.
• Email marketing costs are famously low compared to most alternatives. A shop.org survey in 2008, for example, discovered that retailers incurred a typical cost per order of US$6.85 using email, almost the lowest of any form of online marketing.

This performance explains why marketers regularly mention email marketing when asked about their favourite tactics. In fact, even search marketing specialists surveyed by MarketingSherpa gave "email marketing to a house list" the most votes when asked about their strongest tactic.

Indeed, investment in email marketing is growing, even while marketing budgets in general are being cut.

For example, BtoB Magazine's "2009 Marketing Priorities and Plans" survey found that over two-thirds of marketers were planning to spend more on email marketing in 2009.

The results

So why is email marketing successful?

• People respond to email. They buy advertised products, register for events, download information, view website articles etc., all as a result of an email they received.
• When email delivers valuable content to subscribers, it helps build customer relationships, trust and loyalty. In particular, it keeps your organization top of mind for when people are ready to buy.
• Email marketing technology allows you to send targeted email, customized to the needs and characteristics of your subscribers. And you get a lot of useful statistics back after each email goes out. For example, you can see which (and how many) people clicked on each link in an email, revealing subscriber interests which can be addressed in future emails.
• Email can also help all your other sales and marketing efforts, for example you could alert people about an event in your store or even warn them about a catalogue in the post.

Of course, this kind of success doesn't happen automatically. A successful email marketing endeavour depends on building a list of people who have asked to hear from you, compelling and valuable emails, and the technical infrastructure to ensure your emails get sent out and delivered reliably.

Get these basics right, and you will reap the rewards.