The Use of Email Marketing
Email is one of the emerging trends of the social revolution. Perhaps it would be more correct to say that in present form rather than continuous: using electronic mail as a form of communication has emerged as one of the most popular trends today. Gone are the days of telegrams, telegrams and hand written letters; the previous chosen method of exchanging information, be it a personal or professional correspondence. The outreach of email has grown tremendously and is used by all corporations to some extent.
The extent, to which it is used, varies according to their needs. Certain professional spaces, such as a newsroom, may use email to correspond with each other as well as for contacting external sources. A company that offers a service, however, may use email as a form of online marketing in order to increase their outreach to their customers.
However, while email has become of utmost importance, not a lot of people are aware of how significant its existence is in the exchange of massive volumes of information that takes place every second on the World Wide Web. In 2012, 144.8 billion emails were sent every day. These emails of course, range from corporate, personal, spam and so on and so forth.
Furthermore, increasingly new means of gaining access to our email inboxes are becoming available to an increasing number of people. The smartphone is no longer owned simply by business savvy people who need to be connected and on the go; the average smartphone user is now the average person. Of course, this does not mean that all of these emails are opened and read every day.
The power of choice lies in an email recipient, as the person can choose whether to open an email that’s lying in their inbox, whether or not to read and then whether or not to respond to it. Because of the increasing amount of connectivity the world is experiencing with the internet, a lot of emails are left un-opened and left to lie unread in people’s inboxes. However, with the right tactic, email marketing can be extremely resourceful.
It’s Cheap but not exactly.
The use of email is intrinsically cheap as all it requires is a computer and a working internet connection. However, any well aware productive person will take into account the opportunity cost of sending and responding to emails. This includes the amount of time and effort put into it. One of the perhaps overlooked forms of email marketing is the use of newsletters, the beauty of which is that often a user chooses to subscribe to it so chances are, the user will want to read what the weekly, bi-weekly or monthly newsletter that is delivered upon request to their inboxes.
This is the perfect example that best demonstrates the opportunity cost of using such a method. Factors such as time, design and choice of words are used in a newsletter in order to gain an optimized interest from a user who views the newsletter. It’s important to be consistent with information that keeps the audience interested because if they feel that they are repeatedly being sent email which is of no interest to them, they may opt to unsubscribe. That being said, while on the surface, sending an email is cost effective in the direct sense of the word, how often it is used and in what way can have both negative and positive effects in terms of marketing.
The customer-service aspect.
It’s a fact that most people, when they see a new email pop up in their inbox, they are happy. This is because they feel that they are receiving special attention. While most marketing emails are often sent to more than one person, and people who receive such emails are fully aware of that, the subliminal context of it says that “yes, we are available for you and whatever information you may want from us. Here we are making an effort” This creates an extremely valuable relationship between the potential customer and the business, whatever that business may be.
The Content.
Sometimes even if it is a mass email marketing scheme, something about its content may appeal to the reader. Once again, this is where the choice of words becomes an extremely important aspect of email marketing. Language can sell, depending on how you use it.
For example, the word ‘cheap’ in the subject line for anyone who is on the receiving end of spam, which is the majority of people who use email, will jump to the assumption that it is a spam email and will be automatically disinterested in it. Cheap has a negative connotation when one is looking for quality over quantity. The use of another word such as ‘affordable’ or ‘discounted’ would be more apt when attempting to engage with the audience.
Timing
Timing is a tricky part when it comes to email marketing. How often should one send out an email? At what time of the day? How often do you send another update? There is no fixed answer to these questions because it varies. Market research comes in handy over here, as it is important to know your audience. If you are contacting offices with standard office hours, keep in mind that Mondays are a drag and no one wants to read any more email than they have to.
Keep in mind that not many people choose to respond or even check their work emails out of office hours. Keep in mind that before 5 pm they are trying to get things done so that they can start their commute home. When sending another update, ask yourself if you’d like to be on the receiving end having read the previous email. Updates can be useful provided that they actually contain new information rather than recycled information. The one thing that remains a fixed answer to great email marketing no matter what is to always follow up with your prospects.
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