Email isn’t dead.

And by email, we mean email marketing. Its demise has been predicted over and over again and with the panic about GDPR the phrase “email marketing is dead” is back in vogue.

However, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The truth is email is too much a part of our personal and professional lives to ever go away.

Here are 7 reasons why email is still one of the best ways to get people to your website.

1. Everyone uses it

Let’s throw out some big numbers.

According to the Radicati Group in 2017, there were over 6.32 billion email accounts, an extremely large number that is expected to grow by more than 22% by 2021.

This made up of 3.7 billion individuals who exchange approximately 269 billion emails per day.

If you’re interested, check out the appropriately named emailisnotdead.com for a whole bunch of eye-popping stats which show that, instead of declining, email use actually is increasing.

2. Everyone is used to it

It’s true that too much of a good thing is not a good thing. However, despite the billions of emails flying around every day, email is still the favoured way we want to receive information.

Adobe’s US Report on email use in 2017 found that email was by far the most preferred channel for people to be contacted by brands.

In general, customers find most other types of contact from companies too intrusive, like SMS messages or phone calls. Direct mail normally goes straight in the bin, and other channels like chatbots are so new people aren’t used to them yet.

So, it’s a bit of a myth that consumers are over email. If you’re a brand they like, and you are providing them interesting information in your emails, then, of course, they want to hear from you.

3. Your recipients already know you

Since you shouldn’t be emailing people who don’t know you (that’s spam!), everyone on your email mailing list already has some sort of relationship to your business.

That means, if they’re not already, they’re partway to using your services.

A warm lead who is already familiar or has had some experience with your brand is much easier to convert into a paying customer than a cold lead.

And an existing or past customer is even easier to turn into a repeat customer.

Email is the ideal platform to reach and connect with these people.

4. It’s easy to see if it’s working

Email is measurable. In fact, it’s one of the easiest marketing channels to measure.

If you’re using a good email marketing software to manage and send your email campaigns (we love MailChimp), you’ll be able to track a wealth of information about how the people you’ve sent your email to are interacting with its content.

This includes information such as:

• Open rates – including who opened your email and how many times they did
• Click rates – including what links were clicked on in the email and who clicked on them
• Bounce rates – how many emails didn’t reach their intended destination
• Complaints – if anyone reported your emails as spam

Also, many of the links you’ve included in your email will be from your website. Most email marketing software integrates with Google Analytics, allowing you to track not just the results of your email but how the traffic it sent to your website behaved.

What pages did they land on? How long did they spend on your website? Did they buy a product, send a message from a contact form, or click on your phone number and give you a call?

All invaluable information to see how well your email marketing is working and where you can improve it.

5. It’s flexible

You can (and should) segment your mailing list into different categories and send tailored information that relates to each category. An email targeted at people who signed up at a trade show and are interested in finding more about your products or services will be different to one targeting current customers.

You can also use clever bits of code in your emails called merge fields which, when you send the email, will be replaced by specific information that relates to the recipient.

The person’s name is probably the most common merge field used. For example, if I’m receiving an email the merge field, “Hi *|First_Name|*” becomes, “Hi Phil” when you hit send.

This is a great way to personalise and make your emails more relevant.

Most email marketing software also allows you to schedule emails or set them up to be triggered by a certain event.

6. It’s great value for money

Email marketing is generally considered to have one of the best returns on investment compared to other marketing channels.

It’s been estimated that for every $1 invested in email marketing your return will be almost $40.

That’s very impressive! And, as mentioned in point number 4 above, because email is so measurable, it’s pretty easy to work out the ROI for your own email marketing efforts.

7. It’s yours

Email, like your website, is one of the few marketing channels or tools that you completely own.

With social media channels, you’re “renting” space on someone else’s platform. If they shut down or adversely change the rules you may have lost all the hard work you put in to build up that channel.

The same goes for SEO if Google changes their search algorithm.

That’s not to say you shouldn’t use these platforms because, if utilised correctly, they can be very effective ways to send traffic to your website. The difference is your mailing list is yours and you have full control over how you use it.

Of course, you do need to look after your mailing list and provide relevant, interesting information to your subscribers. And there are consequences if you don’t adhere to the various anti-spam regulations!

Conclusion

Email, and by extension email marketing, is not dead.

It’s an extremely popular and flexible way to send and receive information and, if done well, will provide a very good return on the marketing dollars you spend on it.

However, like any marketing channel, it’s no silver bullet. You can’t just load a bunch of email addresses into some email marketing software, blast out emails and expect to get results.

Consumers are smart and if you get overzealous you’re likely to have your emails reported as spam.

If you’d like to start using email marketing to send more traffic to your website or would like to find out how you can improve what you’re already doing, have a chat to our sister company, HitSend.