The first ever email was sent in 1971. Since then email has evolved from a communication tool for researchers to a convenient way for friends, family and businesses to correspond with each other. Over the last decade email has also developed into a primary marketing channel. Recently, the growth in social media marketing has presented a challenge to email marketing. However, email remains one of the most effective methods of customer communication.

According to a recent U.K. survey, 73% of marketers believe email marketing is core to their business. In fact, 60% of marketers in this 2015 survey said that email is a critical enabler of products and services compared to 42% of marketers in 2014. Email's growing importance coincides with the increased popularity of smartphones, which offer consumers a constant inbox in their pocket.

So, why is email still an important part of your digital strategy?

  1. Usage: Email is still a primary source of communication and gets a lot of attention. This is despite competition from social media sites and mobile messaging. In fact, research shows that there are 3 times more email accounts than Twitter and Facebook accounts combined. A recent survey found that U.S. adults were twice as likely to sign up for emails to stay in touch with a brand than to interact with that brand on Facebook. Therefore, 'if you have to choose between adding a subscriber to your email list or gaining a new Facebook fan, go for email every time.'
  2. Flexibility: Email marketing allows you to deliver relevant and personalised communications for maximum success. It also has great flexibility in that it allows you to embed images, attach documents or embed links to your Youtube videos - all of which will add to the richness of your message.
  3. Delivery: Email marketing allows you to pin-point your audience and your email goes directly to a place where people expect to receive messages. Furthermore, an email is permanent (unlike social feeds which come and go) and will be seen whenever a user checks their inbox.
  4. Read Rate: A recent report which investigated UK SME email marketing campaigns for 2014 found an open rate of 24.45% (an increase from 22.87% in 2013). By comparison, on a social media channel such as Facebook, an average post can have a read rate of only 6%. This is mainly due to the mass volume of posts on such channels. That number can of course vary, based on the end user and the number of friends or pages they are following and interacting with on a daily basis.
  5. Tracking: Email marketing tools such as Campaign Monitor allow you to track who received your message, who opened it, who clicked on your links within the email etc. This valuable data can then be used to optimise your marketing efforts.
  6. Conversion: Email can offer a greater level of ROI than many other forms of direct marketing. Research has shown that you are six times more likely to get a click-through from an email campaign than you are from a tweet. Furthermore, one survey showed email to be 40 times more successful at acquiring new clients than either Facebook or Twitter.

In summary, e-mail marketing can be a powerful, targeted and cost-effective tool for reaching your intended audience. It is also worth remembering that newsletters are a great way to maintain and grow relationships, even during times when people aren't actively making purchasing decisions. According to a recent U.K. survey, 59% of marketers plan on increasing their email marketing budgets in 2015, hoping to give subscribers more email content and a better experience on their mobile devices.

We have helped clients to deliver effective, impactful and measurable email marketing strategies that get results. For further advice on the importance of email to your digital content strategy, contact us today.