A report looking at digital marketing trends in Ireland, by Wolfgang Digital, revealed that email is still the most effective means of communication to nurture and convert leads. The report further stated that email results in as much website traffic as every other social media platform combined.
If leveraged properly, and some simple email marketing mistakes are avoided, marketers can propagate a generous amount of leads and sales resulting in massive profits. It clearly proves that email marketing is still the best way to generate leads and eventually sales.
“Tell me more, I’m still not convinced”, you might say. Well, here are the reasons that ensure why email marketing is still the king of lead generation.
Email marketing helps achieve high ROI
ROI (Return on Investment) is the most vital part when it comes to measuring profits. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing brings approximately a 4.3% return on investment. What’s the best part? Email marketing takes up minimal resources, money, and time.
Less input and more output. Isn’t that what every enterprise yearns for?
If you are going to continue or start an email marketing campaign, make sure to integrate it with other digital marketing strategies like social media marketing as well. Furthermore, make sure that the right content reaches the right audience. Follow some guidelines and create an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to avoid wasting time and resources on unproductive leads and not-so-ideal leads.
Quick transition from cold lead to warm lead
Make sure that you are sending customized emails to your leads, as per their preferences, and according to what they are looking for.
All you need to do is to categorize them and add them to a customized and automated email chain. Now that they are added to your sales funnel, they’ll start receiving your customized emails including newsletters, offers, and incentives et al.
Now, you just sit back and wait for the leads to change from cold to warm. Once your leads receive relevant and customized emails, they are likely to warm up to your brand. Include a testimonial or a sale offer or coupon to add value and credibility to your email. All this will move the lead closer to the sale resulting in accelerated sales and lead generation.
More information
We have already settled on the fact that a customized email that includes everything from engaging visuals to testimonials and attractive offers to newsletters is likely to turn a cold lead into a warm lead. But can you imagine including all this at any other platform, and all at once?
Say, for example, you are using Twitter to market your product. Juxtaposed to emails, Twitter has its limitations. You cannot provide everything at once. However, email can be as long or as short as you need it.
You can highlight your events, offers, and testimonials as per your wish without worrying about space or lack thereof.
Furthermore, targeted emails are not only useful to send a generous amount of information at once, but it also ensures that the right information is sent to the right place and to the right lead.
Email is smartphone savvy
No one can deny the fact that emails are absolutely mobile-friendly. 91% of people are known to check their emails on smartphones ‘at least’ once a day. (Take note, the emphasis is on at least). While considerably fewer people prefer to buy the product through their smartphones, a lot more people prefer to do their research on their smartphones.
Email marketing is inexpensive
Inexpensive ways to market your product are always welcome, especially when it comes to most startups and small businesses. Email marketing is a cost-effective way to reach your target audience without any hassle or acquiring special skills. It allows small businesses to get more for their small marketing investment.
If you do not have in-house resources to build your email marketing campaigns, then there is no lack of freelance help available. Email marketing saves you a lot of money in the long run so that you can actually use your funds on core business tasks.
Who are we kidding? we all like getting emails
Notwithstanding the fact that you groan every time your inbox is flooded with emails, we all like getting emails.
You must think that I’ve lost my mind. These “spammy” emails are often met with an acrimonious one-way trip to the trash or recycle bin. But here’s the thing: It’s the spammy-sales emails that everyone hates. We don’t necessarily hate useful and productive emails - the emails that provide relevant information that can be of some help to the lead or can effectively compel the lead to approach you. Moreover, such emails succeed in driving the lead towards further CTA (Calls To Action), and ultimately the lead is likely to transform into a permanent customer.
The aforementioned clearly proves that email is still at the forefront of deriving tangible leads and sales.
Email Marketing is still the most incredible option. It ensures that your message is actually seen by your lead, even if it’s just the subject line. An engaging subject line, aesthetically visual images and concise, helpful content, and let’s not forget integrated social media links, can pave an easy path to the email marketing success. Building the right strategy coupled with great content will make your emails compelling and will attract and nurture leads into permanent customers.