Email marketing is another helpful tool in website visibility. According to Noah Kagan of Facebook, it is even more important than social media marketing. Therefore, email marketing is an essential component in any marketing plan and should not be taken lightly.

Why does email marketing work?

Email marketing still works for many reasons. First of all, it is an excellent way to connect directly with your specific audience. One reason is because it is algorithm proof. With social media, your content may not show up in your target audience's feed. But with email, you decide who your target audience is. Secondly, email is an excellent platform to reach mobile customers. Almost everyone has email and most have access on his or her smart phone. According to Pew Research Center, 52 % of cellphone users in America access their emails on the go from their smartphones (Roesler, 2014). Thirdly, email marketing is an effective way to keep your customers informed. Marketing material can be sent directly to the target customer. Research has shown that email coupons have a major effect on in-store and online revenue. Americans love to receive coupons in an effort to save money. Finally, it is easy to personalize emails. Ways to do this include using the user's name in the email, a unique welcome message, etc. Consumers like this customized attention, which can increase interest and sales.

How is email marketing done

Now that we know why email marketing works, let's look at how it's done. There are several steps in developing a good marketing campaign. First, setting goals is essential to any marketing ploy. Make sure these campaign goals align with your overall marketing plan. Remember to always keep your marketing plan multi-faceted, including strategies in email, social media, etc. Secondly, build your email list. Sometimes, it may be beneficial to use a list of known contacts. This may be your choice if you want your campaign to target your current customer base. Other times, a new list is required. There are many effective strategies to develop a new email list. Some of these include an incentive if the user subscribes (ex: discount or free shipping), a call to action button in the header or in a slider, etc. Next, decide what type of campaign you would like to present. These include a newsletter, marketing offer, announcement, and event invitation. The path you take really depends on the goals that you set in the beginning. Next, create your campaign. There are many email tools out there with a drag-and-drop design to make things simple. Make the email easy to follow and easy to convert, whether it be a subscribe field, a link to your store, etc. The conversion method also depends on the goal of your marketing plan. Lastly, evaluate your marketing plan by measuring your results. Evaluation is often overlooked, but very important. This can be done through your email marketing tool or your website analytics tool.

Summary

Remember to use the results of your evaluation to continue to build and improve your marketing plan. Your email marketing plan should be a fluid portion of your overall marketing plan. With a revolving cycle of goal setting, planning, implementation, and evaluation, you new marketing plan should be an amazing success.

References

Fidelman, Mark (2017, Aug. 16). One of Facebook's first employees explains why email marketing is better than social media marketing. Retrieved from https://www.entrepreneur.com/video/298807 Roesler, Peter (2014, Sep 29). Top 5 reasons why email marketing still works. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/peter-roesler/top-5-reasons-why-email-marketing-is-still-works.html