Is email marketing still effective in 2020?

By Fraser Gillies Published: 9 December, 2020 Last updated: February 17th, 2022 at 1:22 pm

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Email marketing continues to be the bedrock of digital communications for businesses.

3.9 billion of us read and respond to emails daily, causing U.S businesses alone to spend $350 million on email marketing last year. 

While some marketers place more emphasis on chatbots, influencers and digital ads, email remains the cheapest and most effective method for personalized communication with incredible returns.

If you’re worried that email marketing is a waste of time, therefore, read on to find out how it continues to bring effective results for businesses big and small at the close of 2020. 

Email marketing is targeted

Segmentation, segmentation, segmentation. 

The three most beautiful words to any data scientist worth their salt, quality email marketing segments prospects by different data sets. And this means makes sending personalised messages to their inboxes possible. It’s this kind of targeting that encourages someone to engage rather than ignore your marketing message. 

Unlike organic media, you can control who sees your email communications. This allows you to build stronger connections with content that’s tailored to address specific pain points for specific prospects.  

If you’re looking for a clear cut example of quality email targeting strategy, look no further than remarketing campaigns.

For example, users will drop off a website or ad for all kinds of reasons. They abandon purchases before checkout because they want to decide later, become distracted with a different page or simply lose interest. With their email address, you wield the power to reengage them with powerful and conversion-friendly email content.

And if you’re doubtful on the benefits of targeted email marketing, segmented campaigns are known to bring in 760% more revenue than generic campaigns.

Email marketing grows brand affiliation

In the life cycle of client-company relationships, connection leads to affiliation. And there’s no better way to build connections than through email.

With tailored communications that speak directly to a prospect’s wants or roadblocks, emails are the ideal vehicle for establishing a bond between business and consumer. This is true of both B2B and B2C companies, though nurturing their different audiences requires different approaches.

Personalized messaging via not only increases brand awareness, it also fosters brand advocacy. This is especially true when a company or product has just been launched, and a successful email campaign has created early adopters. These early product or brand adopters will spread the word through their own channels like social media, creating organic buzz around your brand.

Email marketing has a measurable impact

Brand affiliation, targeting, this all sounds good on the screen. 

But what about results?

Well, ROI is no clearer than with email marketing. Not only do email marketing platforms allow you to track performance and adjust to achieve your business goals, they show a direct correlation between the quality of your marketing communication and the revenue your company generates. 

Take, for instance, a seasonal promotion on a new service. The way your email is crafted, structured and when it’s sent are factors in converting users. If these users convert, either by signing up for a sales call or directly paying for the service, the success or failure of your campaign is there for all to see. When you consider that organic or earned media’s ROI is significantly harder to quantify, email marketing begins to look much more straightforward. 

And what about email marketing’s financial impact? To put a number on it, email can earn you up to $44 for every dollar you spend. Not too shabby.

Email marketing is affordable

Many misconceive paid media as the only way channel that targets and has a measurable impact. Now you know that email marketing does this, and does this for next to nothing.

Email marketing platforms like MailChimp charge as little as $9.99 a month, a very modest fee if you’re making a 4400% markup on each penny you’re putting into your emails. In fact, the most expensive aspect of email marketing is people’s salaries and expertise. To give you a head start on this, we’ve put together our own complete guide to email marketing so that you can wield the knowledge of an email guru for nothing.

Final Thought

Email marketing is still a central component of any comprehensive marketing strategy. It’s a cost-effective way to target your audience, grow brand affiliation and be a significant revenue stream for your business. 

When done right, the impact is not only measurable but visible to your marketing efforts, as it remains one of the best ways to connect with both inbound and outbound prospects. So gear up your email operations for 2021, and leverage one of digital communication’s most trusted allies to grow your business.

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Fraser Gillies

Fraser has been working in the digital communications space for four years. Currently the Head of Revenue at Publicize, he is leading a team of talented content creators to build powerful tech narratives that engage, educate and entertain audiences.