A few years ago, email marketing received a death threat.
You may remember the “email is dead” messages that some marketers were throwing around.
But lucky for all of us, they had no foundation in truth. No matter how many social channels open up or what new gadget people carry in their pockets, there’s no substitute for email when it comes to connecting with and building relationship with your customers.
That’s why marketing automation, and specifically email marketing, is becoming a must-do for modern marketers. But the question remains: does it work?
Emma, an email marketing software and service provider, has amassed 21 stats that point to the power of email marketing automation. They were kind enough to share a few of their findings with us.
Honestly, the results may surprise you. Let’s take a look.
Automated emails get more clickthrough
At a time when marketing is becoming more complicated and time consuming, this is great news. But it’s important to get automation right.
Craft messages that sound so timely and relevant, it doesn’t cross people’s minds that you didn’t sit down and write it just that moment. And be sure to respond to people’s replies, so they know you’re still there.
As this stat indicates, it’s about catching people at the right time. Test your send times to figure out what works best for your audience. But even when you think you know the best times, send emails at random times to keep things fresh.
They also yield higher conversions
Most people view their email just before or after arriving at work, at lunch, and again before or after ending their workday. This becomes a challenge if your email list includes people from around the world. You’ll need to test what works for your brand, but in many cases, it helps to send at a time that’s optimized for the US Eastern or Central time zones.
And increase revenue
The concept of customer value optimization is core to this finding. Email is one of the most effective ways to drive sales, to follow up with relevant customer-satisfaction content, and for driving up-sells or cross-sells.
Once someone has shown interest in your products, why wouldn’t you show them other offers while they’re still in the honeymoon phase?
Automation helps you “plan” relevance
Architecting your automation forces you to evaluate which messages are important to your customers, and when. As a result, you’re more likely to tie in major promotions, content publication, social media posts, and email marketing. This integrated approach is one of the reasons you can seem more relevant. (And yes, it does pay off!)
And it brings in more revenue
In general, broadcast email is best for timely events or news. But product promotions—especially if they’re evergreen in nature—are ripe for automation. And by automating the process, you’re more likely to send it to the exact segment that’s interested in the topic, at the precise time they need to see it. Is it any wonder it drives 18 times the revenue?
Personalization is one of the reasons
Personalization isn’t the technological wonder it was several years ago. People aren’t surprised when they see their name in the saluation of your email. But that shouldn’t stop you from using it. And you can personalize much more than their name. Consider the recipient’s geo-location, job title, product purchases, and the timing of your email as well.
Tip: Be sure to include transactional emails
A big thanks to the folks at Emma for their research. You can see all 21 stats they collected here. If you’re looking for an affordable option for automated email marketing, you should definitely check them out.
What’s the biggest benefit you’ve found in automating your email marketing?
