Email marketing continues to evolve as a popular and dynamic digital marketing tool. However, as I continue my time in the marketing space, I’ve noticed that although many clients have invested in email marketing, in most cases they are only scratching the surface when it comes to maximizing the potential. That got me thinking… maybe they don’t understand the full benefits of email marketing? If they did, it would surely be moved to the top of their To-Dos. Right?

If you find yourself simply slapping together an email newsletter, sending it, and then checking off the box for email marketing on your To-Do list, read on. I’ve compiled a short list of tips and benefits of email marketing to get you ‘jazzed’ (a term that is used daily around our office) about your digital marketing efforts.

Benefits of Email Marketing:

 

Cost Effective: We’ll start with the most important question… how much will it cost? That’s the beauty of email marketing. Not much. Email marketing platforms are very inexpensive and extremely user friendly. Need I say more?

 

 

 

Content Planning: This is perhaps my biggest piece of advice, always start with an editorial calendar. The beauty of many email marketing tools is that once you have your editorial calendar created, you have the ability to schedule sends. A phenomenal tool when time is of the essence.

 

 

Test – Revise – Re-Use:  It takes precious time to create GREAT content (emphasis on great because good content just won’t do). The good news is that with direct email reporting, you can test with small groups and see how the content is received. Not received well? Revise – Re-Use – Re-Send.

 

 

Expand Your Reach: You might be thinking… I’m blogging, tweeting… what more do you want from me? The benefit of email marketing tools is that they can be integrated with your CRM. Distribute that GREAT content to your database of leads!

 

 

Real Time Reporting and Tracking: My favorite benefit of email marketing is the reports! With real-time reports at your fingertips, you know exactly how your email campaign performed. Most importantly, you know which customers clicked for more information.

 

 

Act on The Reports: This is a big key in taking your email marketing to the next level. Your reports tell you exactly who is interested. And you can keep them interested by following up directly or with more in-depth content.

 

 

Visuals: It is important to start with a clean, branded template to work with. In addition to brand recognition, a template makes it very easy to add content and visuals specific to each message or newsletter. Ease… now that’s a benefit I like.

 

 

ROI: If I haven’t gotten you ‘jazzed’ up yet to spend a little more time on your email marketing campaigns, I’m confident my last benefit will get your attention: ROI. There’s a term we know and love. Email marketing continues to lead the digital marketing space for return on investment. And if that isn’t enough, not to worry, you have detailed reporting of every campaign to give you the hard numbers. 

 

Employ these practices with regularity and consistency and your email marketing initiatives will provide those awesome returns that you are looking for.