Why Your Business Needs Email Marketing in 2022 (plus 3 ways to win brand armies through emails)
By Deborah Olusegun
Let me tell you the story of how I bought my first paid online course.
It was a Friday; I was rounding up the day when I received the email. Expectant — because I gained a lot of value from that particular newsletter — I opened it.
This brand was advertising 12 percent off the course. Without wasting time, I clicked the link and bought it.
Other brands were advertising their version of the same course to me all over social media, maybe theirs were better, but I settled for the brand which communicated with me through email.
But what made me choose them?
For 6 months straight, the brand delivered value-filled emails to my inbox through their newsletters.
And this was time to get more value at a reduced price.
Call it what you will, but my story breaks down the effect of good email marketing.
Email is dubbed ‘The Internet’s Unkillable App’ for a reason.
This post will explain to you why it is important for your business and how you can make use of it.
- What you will find here:
- What email marketing is,
- A brief history of email marketing,
- 4 reasons why your business needs an email marketing campaign,
- Why email copywriting is important, and
- 3 methods to convert prospects into brand armies using email copywriting.
In the digital world, email is one of the oldest and effective forms of communication. This makes marketing through the medium an equally effective form of selling. And marketers swear by it!
But what exactly is email marketing?
Wikipedia defines email marketing as the sending of ‘mail messages to enhance ‘a merchant’s relationship with current or previous customers, encouraging customer loyalty and repeat business, acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately, and sharing third-party ads.’
If you think this is a mouthful, read one of Jason Falls’ definitions.
Jason, in his book, The Rebel’s Guide to Email Marketing co-authored by DJ Waldow wrote that email marketing is ‘a channel that allows individuals and companies to communicate en masse with their customers, prospects, fans, and subscribers.’
Here are my major takeaways from these definitions — that email marketing
- Attracts prospects,
- Builds relationships with them,
- Warms them up about your brand, the products, and services that you provide,
- Makes them buy these products, and
- Upsells other products and services.
Now, if you went back to my story, you will see how that brand used email marketing to achieve all these. This is how I purchased that course.
This is how I define email marketing —
Email marketing is using emails to connect with potential buyers and existing customers while building a relationship that benefits everybody involved.
As an advocate of inbound marketing strategies and a person who benefits from it, I look at email marketing as a strong contender in this genre.
Email marketing is a strong contender among inbound marketing techniques.
A Brief History of Email Marketing
Ray Tomlinson and Gary Thuerk.
These are two names you come across when you go down the rabbit hole of email marketing.
Let’s unpack.
Ray invented the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network (ARPANET) program that made it possible to be able to send emails en masse. People still argue about Ray inventing the email as a whole.
And Gary was the marketing genius who used one email to earn $13 million through sales. Gary sent this email to 400 people and boom!
Email marketing has come a long way since then and still has a long way to go.
4 reasons why your business needs an email marketing campaign
Here are some reasons why your business needs an email marketing campaign.
1. Marketers swear by emails
Here is how I know.
Litmus Resource Centre in a 2020 survey found that 4 out of 5 marketers said that they would rather give up social media (as a marketing channel) than email.
That is a strong vote of confidence given that social media has great benefits for a business too.
2. Your customers prefer emails to any other digital platform
A survey was conducted by Adobe Email Use about the preferred marketing channels of consumers in the United States in 2017. What they found is that 61 percent of internet users preferred brands communicating with them through emails.
3. You make $42 ROI on every $1 spent
The customer’s preference for emails as a mode of communication shows in the money made from it.
In 2021, Litmus found that for every $1 spent on an email marketing campaign, the company got a Return on Investment (ROI) of $42.
This is up from $40.56 ROI on every $1 spent reported by the Direct Marketers Association in 2011.
That’s not money you scoff at.
4. Small and medium business owners also swear by it
Before New York-based jeweler Jovana Djuric lost her Instagram account, she saw email marketing as a complement to her social media campaign.
Fast forward to December 2021, after she lost her account and became disillusioned with social media, her go-to became newsletters.
She told the New York Times that her newsletter was now the driving force behind sales and engagement on her social media page.
Why is email copywriting important?
The benefits of email marketing are exciting but the stakes are high.
It is very easy to get it wrong and ruin your chances with your customers. This is where copywriting comes in.
Email copywriting is to email marketing what an engine is to a train. When done right, it makes your email marketing campaign, when done wrong, it mars it.
May-May Ogoigbe, the Chief Marketing Officer of the Fifth Alley says, ‘Copywriting adds meaning and purpose to your marketing content. So, whether it’s a blog, website, or social media content, copywriting will set the tone and pace for the much-needed action.’
Going by May’s insight, copywriting (when done right) determines the success of your marketing campaign.
For email marketing to work, the copywriter needs to be on board.
The duties of the email copywriter include:
- Testing different email marketing best practices and methods to see which one subscribers engage the most with.
- Finding the perfect subject lines to increase open rates,
- Deciding what text words will fit with the Call to Action to increase click-through rates,
- Maintaining the brand tone, and
- Using clear and concise language to pass across the message.
3 methods to convert prospects into brand armies using email copywriting
One major benefit of email marketing for your business is the relationship you build with a prospect.
Asides from getting your prospect to buy what you are selling, they could become your brand’s staunch supporter.
When your prospect becomes your brand army it is easy for them to recommend your product, generate content for subsequent marketing campaigns and improve your general public image.
When email marketing is done right, you win hearts.
This is a win-win situation — your prospect is happy and you are happy too, so is the bank account.
But how do you achieve this?
Here are three methods you can use in converting prospects into brand armies
1. Adopt a strong email sequence and don’t undermine any part of it
Why collect the email address of your prospect when you don’t intend to use it well?
Doing this is being cruel to your business.
When it comes to email sequencing don’t ignore any part of it — from the welcome email to the hard sell and soft sell emails to those that don’t have any Call to Action at all.
They are all important. To put it simply, don’t let your prospect forget you (highlight this)
2. Send out a newsletter regularly
Look at popular brands who win through email, the common denominator is a newsletter that is shaped for their target audience, addresses their pain points, and builds a sense of community.
You might be thinking: ‘But there is already so much information out there and their inboxes are full.’
Think again.
Dave Pell in a report for The Atlantic about the newsletter said, “Rome fell. The newsletter didn’t.”
The newsletter is tenacious.
In an interview, designer and host of Design Matters, Debbie Millman, said that the brands which will rule the future were the ones who could create a sense of community.
Your customers will be glad that they are part of something bigger than just a product and the newsletter is a way to gift them this.
So, give it a go. It could be bi-weekly or bi-monthly. Find a method that works for you and stick to it.
3. Prune your email list
Tend to your email list like you will tend to a garden with rare flowers.
Pay attention to which content has a higher open rate. Ask your readers for feedback. And make every button is easy to find.
Make sure you do all that is possible for your prospects to look forward to reading your emails.
Conclusion
In summary, email marketing is a tried and tested marketing formula. It has passed most tests and will pass many more.
When launching your email marketing campaign leave no stone unturned, get an email copywriter when needed.
Build a relationship with your prospect and watch your coffers fill up.
