DIGITAL MARKETING
SPECIAL DELIVERY Why Email Is The Number One Business Marketing Tool by Shea Bennett, Head of Digital Marketing at Identity
A
s a business leader and decision maker, you know that it’s important to be kept informed about the latest trends
channel that provided the best ROI, beating paid search, content marketing, mobile marketing and social media.
Email Marketing Best Practices As with any digital marketing tool to get optimal results from an email newsletter
in digital marketing. By positioning yourself
campaign there are a series of best practices,
right on the edge of the information curve
rules and guidelines that should be followed.
you’re always up-to-date on the top platforms
1. It Started With A List
and tools, staying one step ahead of your competitors. So here’s a simple question: which digital marketing tool consistently delivers the best return on investment (ROI)?
“79% of agencies and 66% of companies rated email as the marketing channel that provided the best ROI”
Your website? It’s a fantastic resource for
fantastic for raising awareness of your business, building an audience and generating engagement, but they aren’t as effective as
messages from you and have been kept highly engaged and informed in all of your
email addresses, catch-all email addresses
found that two-thirds of consumers had gone
(the “info@” variety) or acquired email
on to make a purchase online as a direct result
addresses – either purchased from a third
of an email marketing message, and their 2015 study found that more than seven in ten
conversion rates.
consumers say that email is their preferred
campaigns can generate a fantastic sales
have opted into receiving marketing
The worst email lists are made up of old A 2013 Direct Marketing Association report
this (seemingly old-fashioned) medium for Paid search? Used intelligently, paid search
best email list is made up of people who
from you – they’re looking forward to it.
and of itself it probably won’t generate new Social media? Facebook and Twitter are
the list of people it is being sent to. The
marketing. They are not only happy to hear
promoting your products and services, but in business without a lot of help.
Any email campaign is only as good as
method of communication with brands. Snapchat is cooler. Facebook is dominating
party or “borrowed” from somebody else. Finally, when you initiate your campaigns, unless you’re losing huge numbers of people with every send, don’t concern yourself too much with unsubscribers. It’s far better (not to mention more economical)
return, but there’s another marketing stalwart
the world. And Google makes billions of dollars
to have a small or medium-sized email
that has got them beat.
from search. But when it comes to generating
list with high engagement rates than a
new business – and specifically getting a
huge list where nobody really cares. So
So who’s the king? Email. A 2015 eMarketer study revealed that 79% of agencies and 66%
prospect to sign on the digital dotted line –
of companies rated email as the marketing
none of these are as effective as email.
(unless you’re being really obnoxious) anytime somebody unsubscribes from your email database you should think of it as a positive, as it is actually purifying your list. 2. Invest In An Email Marketing Platform The emails you send at work are all managed by a software client, such as Microsoft Outlook. These are perfect for everyday use, but to send campaigns you need to invest in a dedicated online email marketing solution. Not only will these services allow you to send huge numbers of emails with a single click, they offer design templates, list management, reporting and analytics. At Identity, we like and recommend MailChimp, which is a great starting point for any business, but other platforms are available. 3. A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words The best email campaigns are designed
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