Should I Use Email Marketing? #FAQuesday

Email. Beloved email. When first introduced, email was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Marketers learned very quickly that email marketing was an excellent way to reach consumers. Of course, like all other things that are useful, people began to take advantage of the system. I’m still waiting on my ROI from that $5,000 I sent to a Nigerian prince.

Jokes aside, you might be wondering if email is still useful and effective. Isn’t it all just spam that recipients instantly delete? Surprisingly, no. Email is still a wonderful tool for marketers and consumers alike. Here at The Web Guys, we feel that you should certainly be using email marketing.

Here are three reasons you should still be executing your email marketing strategy:

1. The World Is Mobile

Everyone carries a cell phone nowadays. Google recently announced that over half of its search inquiries come from mobile devices. That’s a hefty number. More and more people are utilizing mobile devices over desktop computers and even laptops. Pew Research Center performed a study that found 52 percent of cell phone users use them to check email.

How does this fit in with email marketing? Simple: You can reach most of the people you are targeting at nearly any time of the day. Email works on practically every mobile device. Not only that, it also costs consumers less to receive an email than it does, say, a text message.

Forrester Research released a study showing that 42 percent of retailers’ email messages were opened on a mobile device. Another 17 percent were opened on tablets. Those are substantial numbers and shouldn’t be ignored.

2. The Cost Is Minimal

Business success has always required a close eye on the bottom line. To stay competitive, you have to find a way to achieve the greatest results with the lowest cost. With many competing email services out there these days, reaching your audience through email is cheaper than ever. Smaller businesses may find it difficult to afford new-age methods of marketing such as stand-alone mobile apps, but they can reach tens of thousands of people by email with a very tight marketing budget.

3. The Reach Is Massive

Everyone has a Facebook account these days, right? Seems like it, anyway. And if they’re “too cool” for Facebook, they certainly have a Twitter account at least. But guess what? The number of people who have an email account is three times larger than the number of Facebook and Twitter users combined. That’s right. According to Radicati, in 2013 there were 3.9 billion email and accounts, a number that’s projected to hit 4.9 billion by 2017.

Now, obviously you won’t be sending an email to all of those 4.9 billion people, but the point is that the reach of email is larger and more powerful than any online media effort to date. So why in the world would you NOT be taking advantage of it?

Email is a staple of digital marketing efforts and should most certainly be a part of your business model. If you have questions or need help with marketing strategies, contact The Web Guys today at (317) 805-4933 and let us help!