Email Marketing is a communication channel for delivering advertisements, offers, and other marketing content directly to the user’s email box. This is a type of internet marketing that is often interacts with other marketing channels. Read more to find out what is email marketing and how to use it in multichannel campaign.
In this article you will also learn how to use e-mail in marketing activities and what tools can be used. You will also learn about the legal regulations regarding the use of this marketing communication channel. At the beginning, however, I encourage you to read a few statistics on the use of e-mail in internet marketing.
Table of Contents
Participation of e-mail marketing in promotional campaigns
The use of e-mail by both individuals and companies is constantly growing. Recent studies show that about 80% of companies use e-mail marketing. This applies equally to companies operating in the B2B system, i.e. serving business clients, as well as companies offering their products or services mainly to individual customers, i.e. B2C.
The popularity of mobile devices is constantly growing. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that about 53% of all e-mails are opened on mobile devices. Interestingly, 33% of all e-mail messages are read on iPhones.
Contrary to the prognosis of many Internet marketing specialists, e-mail is still doing well, and so far nothing indicates its imminent end. The form of using e-mail, previously used mainly as an outbound marketing channel, has changed somewhat. Email marketing has become part of the multi-channel marketing strategy, and is very effective especially in inbound marketing. This was partly due to the legal regulations I write about later in this article.
What is email marketing for multi-channel campaigns
Cross-channel activities mean the interweaving of e-mail with social media, advertising on websites, SMS messages or even traditional mail. Additionally, using mobile applications with active geolocation, it is possible to “track” the user in the online store or on any website.
Properly applied cross-channel integration creates great opportunities. For example, by using a company profile on social media, we may gain new subscribers to the newsletter. On the other hand, placing a link to a social profile in every e-mail sent, will increase the number of social media followers.
In marketing activities, can be used the so-called retargeting. It consists in reaching people who have already interacted with the content presented, sent or shared by us once. Such persons are identified by a special HTML code, e.g. placed in an e-mail or on a website. Reaching people who were interested, for example, in our profile or website with ads, is very effective and contributes to increased conversion.
Email marketing can also be integrated with SMS text messages. Sending messages directly to the mobile phone allows for quick delivery of information about new products or current special offers. In this case, it is also possible to track user behavior in a specific advertising campaign.
Mobile devices in multi-channel campaigns
The analysis of user behavior on mobile devices brings good results. Appropriate e-mails are sent based on the actions taken. Sometimes traditional mail is also used. However, remember to keep the same graphic form. This will allow you to build your brand.
In retail, advanced POS (point of sale) systems are increasingly used. The system, mainly associated with a cash register and payment terminal, may have many additional functions. Advertising campaigns can be automatically launched when the customer approaches a specific store or point of sale. This is done by using the previously mentioned geolocation of the mobile devices, or bluetooth wireless communication.
The POS system can also collect information about served customers. If the store assistant have ever asked you to call your zip code or place of residence, this information was probably collected for marketing purposes. It also happens when sellers ask you for an e-mail address in order to send an electronic receipt. In this case, your address may not be legally used for any other purpose, e.g. for sending an additional offer.
However, it should be considered that both, the regulations of the of personal data protection, and the technical possibilities described above have been functioning for a short time. Not every seller or marketer comply with the applicable regulations yet. However, the above-described technical solutions are not so widely used too.
What is email marketing, types of messages
It is worth remembering that there are several types of e-mail, depending on the situation. Usually, the same type of message is not sent to all newsletter recipients, it is because they are at different levels in your marketing funnel
That is why we treat each person individually, and we select an e-mail message tailored to a individual person and the situation in which they currently are.
Depending on the type of message sent, there are several types of e-mail.
Announcement, when you inform users, e.g. about the next webinar about a new product.
Product update informs user about new features of your service.
Newsletter, i.e. a summary of the current activity or information about new blog entries.
Updating social media, information about new activity on social media.
Nobody likes spam, so you cannot overdo it with the number of messages. On the other hand, however, you should not go from one extreme to the other. There is nothing wrong with asking your followers on social media to rate a product or service. Emails can also be used to inform employees about what is currently happening in the company.
What is email marketing automation
E-mail has been with us for several decades, and messages were usually sent manually. However, the real revolution in the field of e-mail marketing was the introduction of automatic, repetitive messages. Today you can program the email automation systems, so that they automatically send a message, every time a user performs a certain activity on your domain. Depending on the type of interaction, it may be the following e-mails.
Welcome email, sent e.g. after the first user registration on your mailing list.
Introduction messages, often following welcome messages, include tips on how to use your website or a trial version of your software.
A confirmation e-mail is sent to the user who registers for a meeting, event or webinar organized by you.
Cart Abandoned, the message is sent to customers who added a product or service to the cart, but did not complete the purchase for various reasons.
Subscriber’s lists and legal regulations
The list of subscribers contains contact information of all people who have provided their e-mail address and have agreed to receive the messages. They just imply put their email address is the list of recipients of our emails.
Please note that you cannot just send messages to anyone. The recipient of the message must first agree to receive it. In practice, you can only send messages to people who have subscribed to your mailing list, or have otherwise agreed to receive messages from you.
There are two types of consent to receive messages, single or double. The law do not regulate exactly what specific acceptance method should be used. The choice is yours. However, it is worth paying attention to the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.
With a single opt-in, the user enters his or her e-mail address in the contact form on your website, thereby immediately subscribing to the mailing list.
Double opt-in also begins with entering an e-mail address in the form on the website, however, to fully agree to receive the message, it is still necessary to click on the link sent to the e-mail address of the new subscriber.
As mentioned before, both methods have advantages and disadvantages. Giving single opt-in is very easy for both, the subscriber and the owner of the mailing list. This solution is very fast and efficient. However, using double opt-in allows you to create a higher quality list. People who undergo two-step registration are more committed and have a genuine desire to contact you. However, finding a sufficiently large group of such people can be a real challenge in today’s world.
Read this article in Polish: Co to jest e-mail marketing.
