Email marketing offers unique benefits to small businesses because despite being a “cheap” marketing tool, it has a higher ROI than PPC and social media.
Recent statistics show that there are around four billion global email users–or half of the world’s population. For this reason, any business that wants to succeed amidst this cutthroat competition must treat email marketing as a crucial part of its digital marketing strategy.
For small businesses, which typically have a limited marketing budget, email provides a unique opportunity: Despite being one of the cheapest ways to do online marketing, it generally results in higher sales compared to social media and pay-per-click (PPC).
- For every $1 spent on email marketing, businesses, on average, earn $44 vs. $2 for every $1 invested in PPC. (Campaign Monitor, 2016)
- Email marketing is 40 times more effective at reaching the target audience than social media. (McKinsey & Company)
These are the other notable benefits of email marketing for small businesses:
Email marketing has the greatest reach
Email is accessible to all age groups and other market segments, including the least digitally savvy consumers. In fact, a recent survey has shown that around 98% of US adults check their email every day.
Aside from the widespread use of email, this marketing tool’s potent reach is also attributed to the lack of an algorithm that dictates what users see based on their online activities (just like in search engines and social media). Simply put, marketers have more “control” when it comes to audience reach.
It is easy to measure the results of email marketing
While digital marketing strategies like PPC and social media have analytics tools that measure your campaign’s performance, email marketing’s metrics are far more accurate, allowing you to know exactly who opened your emails and their subsequent actions (e.g., click on your links, purchase a product on your website, etc.).
Because the analytics tools are notably accurate, it’s easier to make adjustments and improvements. Simply put, email marketing leaves no room for guesswork.
Email marketing contributes to high customer retention rates
Studies have shown that a high percentage of “happy customers” don’t turn into “repeat business” because the companies fail to engage and nurture the relationship–e.g., send them emails about their latest promotions, new products, discounts, coupons, etc.
All too often, companies focus more on acquiring new customers than retaining their current and past clients, a costly mistake according to a report released by Econsultancy, which has shown that 82% of businesses said that customer retention is significantly cheaper than acquisition.
When your audience, particularly those who have already bought a product/service, feel that your business communicates and engages with them regularly (and not in an intrusive way), they are more likely to become repeat customers.
Additionally, a 2018 Emarsys study showed that 81% of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) relied on email as their primary customer retention channel.
Email marketing brings in the money
Email marketing has the highest return on investment for SMEs compared to other marketing tools such as event marketing, social media, and PPC. According to a 2019 survey conducted by Campaign Monitor, 59% of marketers said email is their biggest source of ROI, with those who used segmented campaigns claiming to enjoy up to 760% increase in revenue.
A separate study conducted by Emarsys, meanwhile, showed that around 81% of SMEs relied on email as their primary customer acquisition platform.
Email can drive your website traffic
Email newsletters and promotional emails can increase your website traffic. In some cases, the increase may not be as drastic as those generated by PPC and SEO. But compared to other digital marketing tools, email marketing has a particular advantage: You are targeting people who already know your business, and thus they have a higher purchase intent compared to an “average website visitor.”
Email allows you to conduct timely campaigns
Whether it’s summer, Christmas, or a long holiday weekend, email marketing allows small businesses to conduct timely campaigns that their target audience will also see in a timely manner.
Email is intrinsically personal
In general, people find it easier to skip their social feed than email because they see the latter as a more personal and more private communication tool, with a recent survey showing that on average, people check their emails about 15 times per day, compared to 10 times daily in terms of social media usage.
To make your email marketing campaign feel more “personal,” stick to these best practices:
- Talk to your audience with their name.
- Reach out at the right time. One way to do this is to send promotional emails based on their online activities–e.g., they purchased a product from your eCommerce store, they just visited your site, etc.
- Suggest relevant products based on their online activities.
- Segment email lists. However, you can only do these if you have relevant data, which will dictate your content and “how you sell yourself.”
The recipients are highly receptive to your “sales pitch”
In general, the email recipients are more receptive to your sales pitch compared to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter followers because they are already familiar with your business or they have willingly given their email (usually in exchange for an ebook, free consultation, and other freebies).
By contrast, a “like” or “follow” on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms is perceived to have a “lesser degree of commitment.” This is one of the reasons why email marketing has remarkably high open rates and ROI.
Email allows you to conduct surveys
By collecting data, especially regarding customer experience and satisfaction, you can improve your service and product and personalize your communications with existing clients, allowing you to align your sales pitch to the right person.
Email marketing is one of the cheapest marketing tools
Email marketing is not a capital-intensive marketing; you only need an excellent copywriter and a graphic artist. And with the proliferation of stock images, you can even skimp on having a professional graphic designer.
Additionally, you can conduct an email marketing campaign, from start to finish, in just one day.
Did you enjoy this article? You may also want to read our blog post, How Do I Build a Successful Email Marketing Campaign? or contact us at (916) 303-4080.
At LOJO Marketing, we help small- and medium-sized businesses reach their target audience and boost their sales through email marketing, SEO, PPC, and other digital marketing tools.
