Does Email Marketing Still Work?

In the world of marketing, it can be easy to get trapped in the mindset of hunting for the “next big thing”. This leaves stalwart marketing strategies on the cutting room floor when they should be front and center. Email marketing remains one of the most effective marketing tools today. Despite the emergence of interactive media, more advanced social media features, and much more, email marketing offers a high return on investment and massive potential reach.

Today, we will strive to answer the question: does email marketing still work? by briefly defining email marketing, why email marketing is so effective, compare email marketing to other modern marketing strategies, and finally review some simple tips for email campaigns.

Email Marketing 101

Email marketing is a subset of digital marketing that focuses on sending emails to current and potential customers. Despite what your neighbor might tell you, email marketing campaigns are not spam, nor should they be overbearing or unsolicited. At its best, email marketing provides direct communication between consumers and their favorite brands. In fact, a number of other digital marketing and traditional marketing practices are aimed at building a solid email list.

Email marketing itself is a way to do all of the following:

• Inform consumers about sales and promotions
• Inform consumers about new products, services, etc.
• Ask consumers for feedback about recent purchases or their overall user experience
• A platform through which brands can promote their branding materials

What Makes Email Marketing Effective

So in the digital age of nearly infinite marketing opportunities, why do email marketing campaigns remain relevant? There are a number of reasons why even the most high tech companies on earth continue to rely on email campaigns, including:

1. Many customers prefer email communication. In a sense, sending a personalized email to consumers is the modern-day equivalent of coming into the living room to sell vacuums. In other words, you are speaking to them on their terms.
2. Email lists help ensure that your audience is captive. While this isn’t perfect, the concept of email lists should mean that those receiving your marketing emails are at least somewhat interested. 
3. Email marketing is cheap and adaptable. Major marketing campaigns often require massive upfront investments. While creating email marketing campaigns take time and effort, the actual costs of sending emails are peanuts compared to traditional marketing or paid digital marketing.
4. Email marketing ROI is sky-high. Last but not least, due to the relatively low costs and high effectiveness, email marketing campaigns frequently deliver unparalleled returns on investment. 

Email Marketing vs. Social Media vs. Other Modern Marketing Strategies

Many readers might be sold on the concept of email marketing, but not as convinced that emails remain as powerful compared to social media digital marketing and more. At the end of the day, most major brands will opt for both. We believe that despite the prevalence of modern marketing options, email marketing should always remain a priority.

A major advantage of social media marketing is that all of the materials are 100% public and available for any interested parties. Email marketing campaigns rely on email lists. Social media marketing can be seen by anyone on the platform. Of course, this can also be a detriment as many potential consumers might not be on social media, the specific type of social media, or follow/subscribe to your brand.

Social media marketing is also more interactive by nature. Email marketing has a more captive audience. Again, we believe in using email marketing and social media marketing strategies synergistically to achieve the best possible results. 

How to Optimize Email Marketing Campaigns

Finally, let’s take a look at how successful brands optimize email marketing campaigns. 

• Develop highly curated email lists: casting a wide net is not always optimal. This is particularly true in the email landscape full of spam, unwanted messages, and overstuffed inboxes.
• Personalize emails: as a continuation of that thought, it is critical for marketing emails to stand out from the crowd. Personalization and enticing offers are a must. 
• Avoid sending too many emails: the average working professional receives over 100 emails every single day. If your consumers end up deleting an email from your company every day, that might not be a great look in the long run.
• Use the consumer feedback loop to your advantage: email marketing campaigns are not an exact science. The best campaigns evolve to consumer feedback over time. 

Clock Tower Insight Offers Cutting Edge Marketing Results

Clock Tower Insight is proud to work with a wide range of B2C and B2B industries, including retail, CPG, food service, and advertising organizations. We believe in using powerful, cutting edge research to offer brand-specific insights. With this insight, we work with brands to turn the data into actionable information, and eventually into business growth. Our services include brand positioning, customer experience management, and much more.

Learn more about how Clock Tower Insight can help your business today.