Is Email Marketing Still Relevant to My Business?

Blogs and social media have led to many business owners wondering whether or not email marketing is still necessary. It’s likely that not all businesses still need to use email marketing.

However, before you decide if it’s right for your business, weigh the pros and cons:

Pro – Emails Don’t Require Customers to do the Work

One of the best things about email marketing is that it proactively reaches out to your audience.

Instead of having to wait for potential customers to read your blog or view your social media sites, you can send the information directly to their inbox.

Pro- Inexpensive

Even if you use an email marketing service, it will be far less expensive than other marketing efforts.

You can cut a lot of costs by transitioning from postal mail to email.

Pro- Can be Automated

Emails can be almost completely automated so there isn’t much work involved.

You can create email marketing messages ahead of time and schedule the days and times when you would like the messages sent.

With just a few clicks of the keyboard and you can reach your target audience instantly. You also don’t need to do much to keep track of the customers who have chosen to sign up for your newsletters. The computer will do it for you.

Pro- Analytics

Many traditional marketing efforts don’t really allow you to directly see how much activity and interest you’re creating.

For example, a radio message, billboard or postal mailing may create some buzz but you’ll never really be able to know how much of your business came directly from each one of those sources.

However, email marketing messages can offer you very helpful feedback about your marketing efforts.

You can see how many customers clicked on your email links, visited your website and even purchased your products or services as a direct result of your email.

Email marketing has the potential to provide you with valuable data about your customers. For example, you may see that people in a certain geographic range tend to be responding better to your email marketing efforts.

These detailed analytics can help you improve your marketing efforts over time as you gain knowledge about which marketing efforts work best.   

Pro- Personalized Messages

You don’t have to send out impersonal form letters to your entire audience. Instead, you can personalize your email messages.

For example, if you have a national following and you want to talk about seasonal changes, you can ensure your audience in Alaska receives a different email message from your Hawaiian customers.

You can even send different messages to customers based on their sales.

For example, if last November a customer purchased a new sweater from your website, you can send a message highlighting this fall’s sweater sales.

Con- Spam Filters

One main problem with email marketing is that spam filters may send your message straight to the trash can.

A customer’s spam filter isn’t going to know if the customer requested your email newsletters or not so it’s possible that a lot of your emails won’t be seen by the customer.

Con- Formatting Issues

Another potential problem with email marketing is that you never know what type of device your customer will be using to read the email.

What looks good on a large desktop screen might not translate well to a smartphone. It’s quite possible that you’ll have some formatting issues as a result.

Despite the potential downside to email marketing, there are plenty of positive aspects to it that make it a viable marketing tool for many businesses.