What is email marketing?
Email marketing is one technique of internet marketing, which deals with sending details of products and services to customers/clients via emails, websites, social media, blogs, etc.
The idea of email marketing is same as the direct mail except that instead of sending mail through the postal service, messages are sent electronically via email.
Why Email Marketing?
Well, to promote products and/or services we use email as a marketing medium. In a nutshell, it is the use email marketing meaning in telugu of email to create, maintain relationships with potential customers and clients. Many of the spam email we all get stating as 'deals' on that and that is a good example of email marketing at its worst; the mindless email barrage.
We can judge the Percentage of Responses made by Customer/Client by comparing the bars in above graph. (Source: MarketingSherpa)
It's agreeable: With access to email right on their smartphone, most consumers find this type of communication very convenient. Not only can consumers stay connected with their favourite brands wherever they are, but they can easily redeem any coupon codes or other special offers right from their phone.
It's more one-to-one: Today's consumer is bombarded with marketing messages, and they tend to respond best to those that are personalized and relevant. With email marketing, you can personalize your messages and content based on the subscribers' preferences and buying patterns. Email segmentation (Primary, Promotional & Social; in the case of Gmail) makes it easy to deliver the most relevant offers and content to the consumer.
It's quick: Customers/Clients like the ability to get information about exclusive offers and last minute deals. Email marketing allows your small business to quickly and directly get the word out about these sales and promotions so that your Customers/Clients can take advantage of the opportunity to save.
How Email Marketing Works?
The overall design of the email (layout/images/colour). Specifically by asking suggestions from customers/clients for how they would like to receive mails either in text or HTML as there is often a great preference for one over the other. To raise the rate of response one must target the audience to make your emails relevant and personalised to each recipient.
ROI when Emails are used as Marketing Medium. (Source:lyfemarketing)
Types of Email Marketing:
(Some of many are listed below)
1) Event Invitation:
Email can be a great medium for promoting an upcoming event your customers/clients are hosting. But if you want to invite your other contacts to an event and motivate them to subscribe, it is important to precisely summarize it in email for why that event is worth their attendance.
2) Dedicated Send:
Every now and then, you may want to send a specialized email to a certain contacts. Let's assume, if you are hosting a conference, you might want to send a specialized email just to registrants to alert them of any new event updates they should be aware of .
3) Co-marketing Email:
Co-marketing is when two or more companies collaborate together for some mutually beneficial task, event and promotion. The deal of co-marketing is to engage the contacts of another company to increase your reach.
4) Lead Nurturing Email:
Depending on the specific action a contact attempts, you may want to register them in a lead nurturing campaign. These emails consist of a tightly connected series of emails containing specially targeted content.
Some Best Email Marketing Tools:
1. Litmus
Free 7-day trial, while the premium version is for $399 a month.
2. Mail Chimp
Free subscription for 2000 subscribers or 12,000 emails/ month. Paying $10 gives subscription.
3. Reach Mail
Plan starts from range between $10 per month to $70/month.
4. Target Hero
Free plan covers upto 1,000 contacts with unlimited emails.
5. CakeMail
The free Starter plan allows 500 contacts along with 500 emails. The basic package starts from $8 per month.
When choosing between email marketing and direct mail marketing, it is clear using emails has more pros compared to using direct mail. The advantages of emails over direct mails in marketing are: Low Costs Emails are cheaper compared to direct mails. This is because there are no costs on such things as stamps and envelopes. Printing and the creative process are also expensive. High Speed Emails are faster compared to direct mails. This is because: The production time is minimal since you can send bulk emails It only takes the click of a button for the email to reach the recipient Once the recipients receive the email, they can respond immediately. It takes weeks for direct mails to reach the intended audience and there is a risk that mail might get lost. Testing You can use emails as a testing medium. Since you get instant responses, you can tell how well your campaign is doing. You can use an email software program to determine how well the campaign is going and you can use such programs to determine email delivery. Environmentally Friendly Emails are environmentally friendly. This is because there is no paper trail. With direct mails, papers are used and this means many trees have to be felled. Emails are also environmentally friendly in that it lowers the carbon footprint since there is no transportation required. Wide Reach Emails have a wider reach than direct mails. This is because the internet has no boarders, meaning you can reach those in regions and countries outside your own. According to recent statistics: 72% of Americans have access to the internet 28% of the global population has access to the internet The average American spends 14 hours each week online Online marketing is 'recession proof' Feedback With emails, it is easier to get feedback from the recipients and the judge the success of your email campaign. This is important because you will be able to develop your product in such a way that it reflects the wishes of the clients/customers. It is very difficult for recipients of direct mail to reply, even if you attach a self-addressed envelop.