Digital Marketing Trends: Email Marketing

Now that we have our feet firmly planted in 2017, it’s time for us to take a peek at some of the Digital Marketing trends that we can expect for the year. This article looks at Email Marketing and argues that, for the year 2017, it will continue to hold its own, despite the onslaught that has been coming from Social Media Marketing. It also explains some of the strategies that you can use to effectively leverage you Email Marketing campaign to generate more leads.

What is Email Marketing?

Email Marketing refers to the sending and receiving of advertising material in one form or the other, through electronic mail.

The majority of people across the globe are familiar with electronic mail or email.

If you remember, it was the thing that spelled doom for postal services across the globe, by allowing people to send and instantly receive messages over the internet.

Email Marketing continues to hold its own

Remember a few years back that there were some who foresaw the death of Email Marketing, as more and more digital marketing executives shifted their focus towards the then trending Social Media Marketing?

Well, those predictions haven’t been realized yet and they are not likely to be realized any time soon. In fact, Email Marketing, instead of dwindling in the face of the onslaught, actually continues to grow and is likely to continue to do so in the year 2017.

Ask Marketing Experts, and they will tell you that Email Marketing remains even more effective than Social Media Marketing! The fact that this mode of lead generation is still effective means that you may wish to refine your strategies and reserve some of your time for this leading Digital Marketing tool during the course of the year.

Why Email Marketing Remains Effective

So, why does Email Marketing remain so effective despite the Social Media onslaught?

 1.    Email Marketing is Cost Effective

Email Marketing is, relatively speaking, one of the cheapest Digital Marketing tools that you can use to generate leads for your business.  In fact, research indicates that for every $1 that you invest in an Email Marketing campaign, you can expect about $44.25 in returns. This is mind blowing and reinforces the fact that, in the year 2017, you should, while pursuing other Digital Marketing strategies, renew your focus on Email Marketing. 

2.  You can easily measure the results

Email Marketing holds another clear advantage over other Digital Marketing tools, in that results are easily measurable. With the right software, you can easily retrieve data on your open, click-through and conversion rates.

There are a number of useful email analytics tools out there, which you can use to measure various metrics during the course of your campaign.

Get GetResponse

We have already mentioned that the one that we favor at Network Bees is GetResponse. GetResponse is an all-in-one online marketing platform that has been designed specifically to help your business achieve growth. It offers the following tools;

• Email Marketing
• Webinars
• Landing Pages
• Marketing Automation
• Autoresponders
• Advanced Analytics
• Forms
• Drag-and-drop Email Editor

You can get more on more on GetResponse by clicking n the banner that is below. This is a tool that we, at Network Bees, have used to grow our emailing list, and you can do the same by signing up;

3.   You can reach thousands of people in an instant

Another big email marketing plus is that it allows you to reach thousands of people in an instant. With more and more people adopting the ever improving communication technologies that have transformed the world over the past few years, reaching out to people through every means that is at your disposal will be important during the course of the current year.

4.  People take Emails Seriously

Another often unmentioned benefit that comes from running an Email Marketing campaign is that people take emails more seriously than they do Social Media. Just consider how seriously you take the things that you see on social media, and you will understand the point. With Email Marketing, there is something that’s traditional and serious that largely benefits your strategy.

5.  Email Marketing can be integrated with social media

So, you are one of those people who think Email Marketing has no chance against Social Media for the year 2017? Well, you couldn’t be far from the truth, as already mentioned. The best thing about pursuing an Email Marketing campaign is that it can be integrated into your Social Media Marketing Strategy!

In fact, there need not be conflict between Email and Social Media Marketing. Why not give the recipients of your emails the chance to like or join your Social Media page (such as your Facebook page)?

Strategies for your Email Marketing Campaign for the year 2017

There are a number of strategies that you can adopt in order to run an effective email marketing campaign during the course of the current year. It has to be pointed out here that most of these strategies have been around for quite a while;

Don’t get carried away

There is the temptation, while creating your emails to go overboard, when it comes to graphics, videos and text. However, what you need to remember is that your email is probably going to be opened (if it is opened at all) using a wide variety of gadgets, including desktops, tablets and Smartphones.

As such, you need to take into account the mobility of the current world and the limitations that are imposed on most people by mobile data limits. Use the above multimedia components, but be to the point.

Your prospects do not have the whole day to wait for you to get put your case across. Consider the fact that up to 55% of all emails are now being opened using mobile devices when drafting your marketing emails.

Personalize your emails

The advice to personalize your Marketing Emails, which has been around for a couple of years, remains in force for the year 2017. People are more likely to open your emails if you address them as individuals.

No one likes to talk to a computer and you should do everything in your power to make sure that your emails do not sound as if they came from some assembly line or the other.

What you need to remember is that you only have a few seconds in which to capture a person’s attention and one of the ways through which you can do so is through email personalisation.

Continuously test and refine your strategy

The great thing about Digital Marketing, in general, is that it allows for the easy testing and refinement of whatever the campaign that you are running. You can, as an example, carry out A/B Split testing during the course of your email marketing campaign in order to come up with the most effective format for your emails. (Split testing is another of the many features that you can take advantage of by signing up with GetResponse).

Conclusion

Contrary to what was thought a few years ago, Email Marketing is neither dead nor dying. In fact it remains a force to be reckoned with within the Digital Marketing sphere. It is, therefore, important for marketing executives across the world to continue to use this medium during the year 2017 to generate leads for their businesses.