Is email marketing still worth it?
Whether you’re thick into creating and sending out emails to your database or just getting into it, you’re probably wondering if email marketing is still worth it.
Is spending your time strategising, creating, designing and publishing an email worth all the effort, or are you wasting your time?
The short answer is: yes.
The long answer is: yes, but it depends on a few things.
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Image shot & styled by Shout + Co. for Grove & Co.
SO HERE’S THE SHORT ANSWER
Email marketing is digital marketing space that you OWN: you aren’t at the mercy of the service provider’s algorithm to deliver your content. If you send your email to 5000 subscribers - bar a couple of bounces - your email will be sent to all the nominated email address in your database. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are RENTED digital marketing spaces in that the service provider determines who sees your content. They could send it to 7% of your database, or they could send it to more (or less) - but the point is that THEY determine how far and wide your content reaches. So just based off of this OWNED vs RENTED space concept, email marketing is a winner because you have almost complete control over the content you publish and who it’s seen by.
AND NOW FOR THE LONG ANSWER.
Over 87% of marketers use email marketing as part of their marketing mix, so clearly it’s an effective channel. But the efficacy of your email marketing is not a foregone conclusion: there are some basics that need to be in place if you want your emails convert.
Preview Text: does it have a good hook? 24% of recipients open an email based on the preview text. Here are some ways to give it an irresistible hook:
Add a first name merge tag so they see their name in the subject line
Keep it short and sweet
Ask a question or say something unexpected to create a “curiosity gap” that is used as a teaser
Well-placed jokes can do the trick too
Avoid spam words like: “Free” or “Buy Now”
Use a call to action like “join”, “watch”, “discover”
Throw in an emoji or two
Is it optimised for mobile? Nearly 50% of all emails are being accessed via mobile, so if it’s not mobile-ready, it will be deleted - and user behaviour suggests it’s within 3 seconds. While designing your emails, preview it on your mobile and tweak where necessary to enhance the recipient’s experience.
Is your content about you or your reader? Talking about your brand or business will bore your readers, so make sure you’re using your emails to help solve a customer’s problem, provide a respite from busy lives, or to educate and inform.
Are you selling benefits or features? Selling your content creation services for example isn't about telling them about all the fancy things you know about the industry, it’s about showcasing the very real benefits of buying your services, like: they won’t need to spend their precious time creating content, they won’t have to know about the latest algorithm changes, nor will they have to try create reels everyday all day.
Are you segmenting your audience? Are you sending the same emails out to everyone on your database or are you actively segmenting your audience and targeting each one with tailored content?
Don’t drown them in copy: easy-to-skim paragraphs are very much appreciated, as are pretty pictures that cut up chunks of text while telling your brand story.
Does it look good? Is your email cluttered and overloaded with features and buttons? Keep it simple and aesthetically pleasing. Less is more in the case of email marketing.
And of course, do you have clear call-to-actions? Are you making it easy for readers to SEE when it’s time for them to do something, like click / shop / discover / contact / follow? And are you removing barriers to entry to make those actions quick and easy to complete?
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Shot & styled by Shout + Co. for Grove & Co.
So in short, email marketing is incredibly effective, and one of the few marketing channels that you own rather than rent. But if you’re not taking care of the basics, you could be leaving a lot of money on the table.
Email marketing is a service that we offer here at Shout + Co., so if you’re never getting the time to do yours effectively, or you simply don't have the interest in doing it, book a FREE 30 minute Discovery Call with us. We will share with you our process and walk you through what type of email marketing strategy we recommend for your business and how we can take care of it for you so you don’t have to.
