Everyday, millions of consumers receive emails from companies, brands and businesses - having to then navigate their email in-boxes, with most consumers choosing to delete countless emails before ever even opening them. At the same time, these same consumers identify what emails they want to keep with the intent of opening immediately or in the near future. These emails, as it turns out, do more than just communicate to consumers... they identify if what you're sharing is worth being read, if your customer list is loyal to your brand and if your time investment in creating emails is paying off.
When done right, email drives customer engagement better than almost any other marketing tool. With email, you are reaching out to customers who have already expressed interest in hearing from you, and the results can be incredible. In fact, studies have shown that email returns more on investment than any other digital marketing channel," shares Ron Cates, Digital Marketing Education Director for Constant Contact (NASDAQ: CTCT).
To Cates point, econsultancy.com revealed that revenue from email has increased proportionately by 28% in one year, as identified in their Email Marketing Industry Census 2015 report sponsored by Adestra. With this in mind, the report also supports the idea that in order to capitalize on your emails, you should invest in an email service provider to help maximize your effort, investment and time.
Ranging from age to location, email service providers are able to help you create customized email campaigns and to speak to your different customer bases in a more personal fashion. This is all due to data, which you can collect when using an email service provider. Unfortunately, however, this data is very hard to come by on your own. By using a traditional email service for email marketing, you’re sending your emails into essentially a black hole, from which data rarely returns. But by using an email service provider, you get click-thrus, open rates, unsubscribe information, spam complaints and so much more - all of which can help you become an even better marketer going forward," Cates explains.
Want stronger ROI on your email marketing? (Photo credit: 401(K) 2013)
Becoming a better marketer is a good goal to have - especially considering worldwide email accounts continue to grow. There were over 4.1 billion accounts in 2014, with an estimation of over 5.2 billion accounts by the end of 2018 expected. To help strengthen your own efforts in email marketing, consider how an email service provider can streamline your process while maximizing your efforts.
1. Increase Contact Management Functionality
Small business owners are busy - that's no secret. So why waste time manually managing email addresses, bounced emails and other contact details? One of the major perks of using an email service provider is saving time due to the array of aspects that surround contact management functionalities.
2. Create Stronger ROI Opportunity
In a recent article from Forbes contributor Tom Taulli, Chief Marketing Officer Kraig Swensrud of Campaign Monitor stated that email marketing delivers a higher return than
3. Deliver Ease of Use & Support
One of the major benefits of using an email service provider is to gain from their expertise. As Cates from Constant Contact explains, "email service providers have intuitive templates and also offer personal coaching and support if you run into any issues. Plus, there's a tremendous amount of FAQ's to lean on and educational resources to guide you through your campaigns." Additionally, Cates points out that if you have questions or experience an obstacle if doing email marketing on your own, who are you going call? Have an email service provider that offers support is certainly an added benefit - often saving you time and money from dealing with issues on your own.
With thousands of emails landing in my own in-box every week, I can personally tell you that I'm attracted to quality emails that are polished and professional in design. Likewise, I pass judgement on companies or brands whose emails do not appear to match these expectations. Right or wrong, the reality is that email is a representation of your brand and business - therefore, the delivery, quality and overall experience of them should reflect this, as well.
