Today in 2022, attention has become a prime time commodity. With the rapid advancement of technology over the last decade, information has become free-flowing (overflowing for some), and screen time has increased exponentially. While this has certainly made it easier for marketers to increase their penetration into their customers' daily lives, it has also significantly ramped up the competition for said attention. From banner ads to chatbots and marketing automation, customers are in a constant state of migration from one sales funnel to the next, often without even realizing it.
These advancements have led to a breakdown in the degree of separation between a marketer and their customer. Thus, providing a unique targeted ad experience for the customer but also creating a heightened awareness of information privacy. Which can ultimately result in a customer feeling overwhelmed by marketers and their targeted ads.
So how do marketers avoid overwhelming their customers and maintain an open line of communication? This is where the trusty old pal email comes into play. Many people have a knee-jerk reaction to the idea of marketing via email; “Doesn’t it just go to spam?”, “No one reads emails anymore.”, or my favorite, “I always delete marketing emails; I don't even open them.”
Well, as a matter of fact, email is one of the most widely used and trusted forms of communication. “In fact, 92% of online adults use email, with 61% using it on an average day.” Additionally, “99% of email users check their email every day, some as much as 20 times a day!” (optinmonster). One of the best facets of email communication is the fact that it is a passive activity. Many people check their email multiple times a day while at the gym, while watching a movie, and oftentimes while they are on vacation or out of the office. This gives marketers a leg up on traditional digital marketing as the customer willingly receives the messaging rather than feeling forced to digest the information via an ad or pop-up.
Remember the conversation about the rapid advancement of technology? Well, naturally, email was no exception, with mobile browsing and email making up for at least 50% of all read emails. (emailmonday). In fact, mobile devices as becoming increasingly popular with the younger generation, with 40% of people 18 years old and under will always open their email on their mobile devices first. (campaignmonitor).
So it has been established that current customers, as well as potential customers, are heavily reliant on their email on a daily basis, but what is the efficacy of email marketing messages? According to QuickSprout.com, 4.24% of visitors from email marketing purchase a product or service and are 3.9 times more likely to share your content on social media. Comparatively, only 2.49% of search engine visitors and 0.59% of social media visitors end up purchasing a product or service.
Fun fact, there is a 4,400% return on investment (ROI) when it comes to email marketing. For every $1 spent on email marketing, there are $44 made in return, according to Campaign Monitors' study on email marketing campaigns.
If that doesn’t solidify email marketing’s place in the wide world of marketing, here are some additional juicy email marketing stats from our friends over at OptinMonster.com:
In conclusion, email marketing is a widely used marketing tool, but many businesses are wasting the potential of their email marketing campaigns and simply underutilizing email as a communication channel. When done right, email marketing can bring loads of ROI with a minimal investment of time and money. Stay tuned for the next installment of our Marketing 101 series where we will explore how to create and compose effective email marketing campaigns.
Not sure where to start? Give Art’s Cube a call today for your free content audit, and we will take stock of your current email materials and provide you with our recommendations to get you tapped into the river of ROI that is email marketing.