There was a great recent piece of research done by Econsultancy in partnership with Adestra that said that investment is continuing to fall in email marketing despite the fact that it is rated the second most effective marketing channel in terms of return on investment by the companies using it. Only organic search is rated higher.
We’re in a world where there is ceaseless pressure on marketing budgets, so why is everyone moving away from a channel that can produce cost effective returns?
We think there are a few reasons.
Everyone’s had it with email. It’s relentless. They just keep coming and they’re stopping you from doing your job (which you’ve forgotten how to do anyway as all you do now is deal with emails!)
We know that emails work best when you segment your market and target properly. This is a tough thing to do and needs real clarity of thinking and focus.
The problem with email is that if you don’t get your segmentation and targeting right, you send an irrelevant message to someone who plainly doesn’t want it and we know that they’ve already had 12 of those today! This is why people are fed up of emails, most just aren’t relevant to them.
Sometimes it feels as if marketers are sending them randomly on the off chance that a recipient may just open it and click through. Fingers crossed!
To make the most of email marketing, a great database, sharp segmentation and intelligent targeting is the key. Make your emails relevant and engaging to the recipient. If it’s not, resist the urge to send it! Integrate your emails with the rest of your activity and you’re good to go. It really is a great option if done well.