Sometimes you need to go back to the basics after writing about something for years (16 years to be exact) and look at the current state of email basics as things change over time. Over the next several posts I’ll cover a rage of topics that will start with an introduction to email marketing, the basics of email marketing and over time evolve into more complicated ideas and strategies you can look to implement in your day to day activities in your email program.

To that end lets look at the core idea of why email is such a powerful solution for your marketing needs.

What are the basics of email marketing and why would you want to do it for your company?

  • Cost-Effectiveness: Compared to traditional marketing methods, email marketing is a cost-effective strategy. It eliminates the need for print materials and postage fees, making it an affordable option for businesses of all sizes.
  • Targeted Communication: With email marketing, businesses can segment their audience based on demographics, interests, and behavior. This enables targeted and relevant communication, leading to higher engagement and conversion rates.
  • Measurable Results: Email marketing provides detailed metrics and analytics to track the performance of campaigns. Marketers can measure open rates, click-through rates, conversion rates, and more, allowing them to analyze and optimize their strategies for better results.
  • Increased Reach and Engagement: Email marketing allows businesses to reach a wide audience, including both existing customers and potential leads. It provides a direct and personalized channel to engage with individuals who have expressed interest in the brand or products.
  • Relationship Building and Customer Loyalty: Email marketing fosters ongoing communication with customers, allowing businesses to build and nurture relationships. It provides a platform to share valuable content, exclusive offers, and personalized recommendations, fostering customer loyalty and repeat business.
  • Channel ownership: Email marketing allows for a brand to have full ownership of the client details and experience. This makes your email program somewhat mobile as you evolve from a beginner to an advanced user that requires a rich suite of products, services and integrations. Other channels like social, print, radio, and television all control the environment and the gatekeep access to the consumers of your messaging.

There are several other reasons that email is a powerful solution for your brand but this list is a good collection of the key elements within email marketing. It’s an affordable, self managed, direct to customer solution with access to KPIs that provide immediate reporting and metrics that drive your business forward. Depending on who you ask the return on investment for email floats between 36:1 and 42:1, even higher for automation campaigns that are specifically targeting elements like cart abandonment and product refill/replacement solutions.

If you’re new to email it’s important to remember that email is a two way technology, so while building your email program consider and build solutions to manage your customers inevitable reply asking for more information or details one your products and services. But we will cover more of that later.