Email is one of those classic marketing channels that commonly appears as one of the regular arrows in a digital marketers’ quiver. But as other platforms, such as Google Ads and social media, have developed over time, it feels like email has remained consistent.
Marketing influencers are regularly hyped about the latest algorithm updates, but you don’t hear much news on email marketing, and so it feels like it falls to the wayside in industry strategies.
Let’s take a look to see how relevant email marketing is in 2024.
Does Email Marketing Still Have the Reach?
Sources online are chomping at the bit to tell you just how much of an opportunity email marketing is, backed up by many positive stats – globally over 4 billion people use email, while over 90% of users checking their emails daily.
With potential reach like this, you’d be crazy not to invest your time. However, what can be difficult is getting your emails opened and read. Emails may not be everyone’s go-to for the latest deals and brand messaging, as the platform may be more commonly used for work and verifying online accounts.
Additionally, between 72% and 75% of each generation between Baby Boomer and Gen Z consider email to be a very personal form of communication to be contacted by brands.
To ensure that your emails are not considered ‘spam’ – leading your subscribers to potentially unsubscribe – your marketing emails must be relevant to your audience.
Struggling To Get Your Emails Clicked?
Email is a tricky subject for marketers. On the one hand, it can be an incredibly profitable source of marketing. Some marketing campaigns report seeing a €30 – €40 return for every €1 invested in email.
Other marketers, however, struggle to get their feet off the ground in that space. The issue being enticing your audience to open your emails in the first place. In an age where people are constantly bombarded with passive advertisements within our consumed media, how do you get someone to invest the time and effort to click and read your messaging?
This challenge is further compounded by two of the largest email providers, Google and Outlook, making efforts to segment marketing emails from the ‘general’ inbox into the ‘promotions’ or ‘other’ tabs.
What Can You Do?
Those who have signed-up to your emails are potentially very interested customers, so they’re far more likely to convert than the average user. So do whatever you can to increase your email database. For example, offer small discounts on your website for email sign-ups, or if you have a brick-and-mortar location, print a form that allows you to write their emails down in person. The larger the list of legitimately interested people in your company, the more successful your email marketing will be.
From there, classic marketing techniques will ensure the effectiveness of the list you’ve spent your time building. Build on brand loyalty by making sure you’re displaying what your audiences WANT to see, not what you want to sell.
As mentioned above, relevance matters – personalise your messaging by using the tools most email marketing platforms provide. Our ‘The Importance Of Personalisation’ guide can help you get on track – consider personalised subject lines, or segmenting your database to tailor content.
Struggling on where to get started? Read our How to create the perfect email marketing strategy blog for tips an tricks along with a handy 6-step checklist to follow for email marketing.
With some hard work and consistency, you can convert your email database into loyal, returning customers – making your regular marketing emails become regularly profitable!
Author Bio: Katie McGarr is one of the resident writers for SPRINT DIGITAL Agency Dublin, a firm offering an extensive range of digital marketing and website services to businesses across UK, Ireland, and Continental Europe. She enjoys sharing her insights about blogging, web design, SEO, and other forms of digital marketing.
