I’ve long banged on about how email marketing is not dead, it is still growing and it is still going to be a winner in terms of acquisition & conversion and especially the long term retention of existing customers. The below Infographic is important because it highlights not only the new and old important aspects of email marketing for businesses;

  • the growth in email views on iPad (74%) and mobile devices (34%)
  • as well as the simple fact that email converts at a higher rate (4.16%) than search engine marketing at 2.64% (I assume they’re referencing natural search rather than paid search) and social media in general, despite twitter being the icon used.

 

Email marketing drives stronger conversion rates for online businesses than search and social marketingAnother element of this email marketing infographic that supports my own past email rants is the need to segment your database. The data here clearly shows that when segmenting your email database to send more targeted messages you are likely to get a 30% better open rate and a 50% better click through rate (CTR%). What business is crazy enough not to invest in database cleansing and segmentation?

 

And if you are tracking your digital marketing initiatives properly you will be able to gain many insights from the analytics that is gathered. If your website analytics (usually Google Analytics which is free) has been reviewed prior to planning email campaigns, you can specifically retarget users and customers who have visited your website prior. If your tracking allows, you can tell what pages or products visitors have viewed, whether or not they added something to their cart and abandoned it. By sending an email to a user who abandoned a shopping cart in the hours or days prior, and suggesting that they can still buy – many of them will. Amazon has proven that following up on abandoned shopping carts can increase sales dramatically.

 

But what I like about this infographic on email marketing most is it’s focus on the simple practicalities of quality control. Yes, you need to make sure that your product, pricing, messaging and images are consistent throughout the shopping process – from the email or website homepage to the product page and the checkout basket. The simple and sometimes considered “old school” principles of retail business are often lost in a world of instant-ness. Customer service, quality control, pride in ones own work are sometimes a lost art in the less personal world of digital and I love that Monetate have focused on the need for consistency in your email and digital communications. So simple, so true.

 

Anyway, that’s my rant for today. And if the message wasn’t clear – it is, don’t disregard email marketing.