Are you still wondering what all the fuss is about email marketing? Were you one of those who thought that spam would kill off email marketing?

Do you wonder if Web 2.0 and social networks will sound the death knell now? Or do you question if emails are outmoded?

The truth is email marketing is still flourishing because it works and here’s some statistics to support this:

  • According to research conducted by the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an ROI of $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009. The expected figure for 2010 is $42.08. As such, it outperforms all the other direct marketing channels examined.
  • The Ad Effectiveness Survey commissioned by Forbes Media in Feb/March 2009 revealed that email and e-newsletter marketing are considered the second-most effective tool for generating conversions, just behind SEO.
  • Shop.org's State of Retailing Online 2009 survey of retailers found that "E-mail is the most mentioned successful tactic overall".
  • In Datran Media's 2009 Annual Marketing & Media Survey, 80.4% of industry executives said the email channel performed strongly for their company.
  • A December 2009 survey of 300 email marketers by Silverpop found that their companies were feeling the effects of recession, but "four out of 10 marketers reported that their email budgets in 2010 would increase, and nearly half (47 percent) said their budgets would stay the same".
  • In August, 2009, Veronis Suhler Stevenson's annual Communications Industry Forecast suggested total spend for email will grow from $11.9 billion in 2008 to $27.8 billion by 2013.
  • An April 2009 survey of senior marketing executives by the European Interactive Advertising Association revealed that 46% of respondents plan to invest more in email.
  • In Datran Media's 2009 Annual Marketing & Media Survey, 58.5% of industry executives said they planned to increase investment in email. Only 5.7% planned to decrease it.
  • The CMO Council's Marketing Outlook 2009 Report reviewed the plans and opinions of 650 marketers. Email marketing was the top target area for investment in 2009.
  • A December 2008 survey of hundreds of marketers by MarketingSherpa saw pay-per-click search ads rank top for ROI, followed by email marketing to house lists in second place.
  • A February/March 2008 retailer survey by shop.org revealed that email marketing has the second lowest cost per order (CPO) of any online marketing tactic. The CPO of $6.85 compares favorably with, for example, paid search's CPO of $19.33.

There are many reasons why email marketing is alive and kicking. These include:

  • It is hard to find a person without an email address nowadays
  • It allows targeting/segmentation
  • It is fast and therefore more productive, yet still cost-effective
  • It has the ability to be timely – i.e. you can decide when your customers get your message
  • It is data driven
  • It drives direct sales
  • It builds relationships, loyalty and trust
  • It supports sales through other channels
  • It enables recipients to be proactive via a simple click of a mouse
  • It is traceable and measurable

Modern email marketing services and solutions support database integration, segmentation and various other tricks and techniques for improving the targeting of outgoing messages. Advanced methods generate on-the-fly emails customized down to an individual recipient basis.

And every email campaign you send out generates a heap of actionable data you can use to refine your approach and messages.

Email promotions and offers generate immediate action: sales, downloads, inquiries, registrations, etc. Informative email newsletters and other emails send people to offline stores and events, prepare the way for catalogs, build awareness, contribute to branding, strengthen relationships, encourage trust and cement loyalty.

Email messaging is also very cost-effective. Most forms of advertising or marketing require a big up-front investment before you see any results. E-mail marketing on the other hand, has very little up-front cost, allowing you to market effectively without having to stop your core business work for long periods to get it done.

So, although e-mail marketing has been around for some time now, it’s definitely not about to roll over and die. Combined with new forms of digital marketing like blogs, webinars, social media and mobile messaging/media, it is still one of the most effective techniques in a marketer’s arsenal. It gives marketers the convenience to be able to communicate with a broad range of subscribers via a single button and the luxury to be able to track every message. This is a powerful tool that any serious marketer can easily integrate to.

Plus, it has the ability to hold a huge audience. Done correctly, e-mail marketing allows you to be and remain visible to your customers and prospects with highly-targeted messages at a minimal cost. All while delivering outstanding, measurable results.

Email marketing is therefore still a key player in Internet marketing as it’s all about getting the word across to the right audience.

 

By Shanti Anne Morais