10 Reasons Why Email Marketing is Important

1. More immediate reach to subscribers

If you decide to post on social media or even place a phone call, there are going to be some people you’ll be able to reach and others you cannot. With email, many people get smartphone notifications and there is a growing number of ways to integrate email with other software and communication channels.

Added to the integrations, email doesn’t have reach percentages like social media. When you send an email, it goes to the list you’ve selected (unless you’ve been marked as spam).

 If you have 2,000 email subscribers, 2,000 Facebook fans and 2,000 followers on Twitter – this is what you will get:

– 435 people will open your email

120 Facebook fans will see your message

40 Twitter followers will see your message

MailMunch

2. Longer shelf-life for Content

With the phone, you make the call, and if it was missed, the shelf life is absorbed. The recipient can call you back or they can choose to move on with life. Email is similar, but since it’s a written communication tool, it can sit in the inbox and reach the person at a more opportune time.

Some people may read your email instantly when you send it. Others may wait until they’re finished with the top priorities and check emails later. Either way, email has a longer “shelf-life” to reach your subscribers than other communication methods.

The mean half life of a link on Twitter is 2.8 hours.

The mean half life of a link on Facebook is 3.2 hours.

The mean half life of a link via ‘direct’ sources such as email or instant messaging clients is 3.4 hours.

The mean half life of a link on YouTube is 7.4 hours.

Hubspot

3. Subscribers can Engage with the Content when it’s convenient for them

Many people know that phone calls and notifications can be extremely distracting if you’re trying to get things done. As a result, they silence their phones or use apps that help them to eliminate notifications while they’re trying to be productive.

Unlike many other communication methods, with email, the message can sit and wait until they’re free to take a look.

4. More people use email than Social media

Social media is definitely growing in the number of users, but surprisingly, email is still used more. People may browse social media, post, and engage a bit, but they’re not likely to use social media for high-priority communication. With email, they’re checking several times a day and relying it for very important communication: bill payment, bill reminders, work coordination, etc.

91 percent of all US consumers still use e-mail daily, and the rate at which e-mails prompt purchases is not only estimated to be at least three times that of social media, but the average order value is also 17 percent higher.

McKinsey

5. Email is inexpensive

Organic social media marketing has lost it’s reach. Even people with large audiences aren’t experiencing the same effectiveness with social media unless they buy ads.

Ad budgets can range, but they typically start at hundreds per month and go up from there. You can spend hundreds of thousands per month for reach with social media ads.

Some email marketing plans start for free and they go up from there. Many plans enable you to reach hundreds of thousands of people for less than $1000/mo–this would be unheard of in social media or other forms of marketing.

6. Email helps build trust

Many small businesses use email marketing to show their expertise, to get to know their subscribers better, and to build trust. People don’t buy without taking a risk and trusting the business. Sending emails that introduce yourself, give value, and explain how you can benefit your subscribers helps to build the relationship.

7. Email helps stay top-of-mind

One key to getting customers in business is to get attention. Unfortunately, many business get attention, but lose attention early on in the buying relationship.

I remember doing speaking engagements where I caught the attention of an audience, I gave value, and they were intrigued. At the end of the engagement, very interested people would come and make conversation with me, but without something like an email list, we’d each walk away and move onto the next thing.

With an email list, I can take the relationships built from an event (like a speaking engagement) and follow up, add more value, and potentially even make sales.

8. Email marketing Statistics show Businesses of All Sizes Getting Sales, Retention, and More Engagement as a Result of Email

You don’t need stats to see that big companies like Walmart, Target, or even presidential campaigns use email marketing. Small businesses are using email too. It’s a great way to let people know about what you do, what updates are taking place in your business, and how you can serve them better.

9. Email can help Nurture Relationships

There are some emails I consistently delete or pass by, and there are others that I always look forward to. The difference in the emails I engage with versus emails I delete are:

• Some email marketers have intentions of adding value via email
• Some email marketers intend to promote for sales via email
• Some emails are like ads most of the time
• Some emails are a mix of information and ads

I prefer to follow email marketers who add value and promote as a minority.

10. Email can help inform potential customers of promotions

Even though I prefer to read from email marketers that monopolize their content with information and nurturing emails, I still don’t mind promotions every now and again. In fact, I’ve bought products and services as a result of promotional emails, and stats show I’m not the only one.

91 percent of US adults like to receive promotional emails from companies they do business with

Marketing Sherpa