Is Email Marketing Really Dead?

These days, social media receives more buzz than any other marketing channel.

Ironically, marketers consistently report lower conversion rates, lower sales and revenues, and lower returns on investment from social media in spite of all the hype.

Without a doubt, social media has a role to play in the multi-channel marketing mix but smart marketers know that good old email is the secret to greater conversions, sales and return on investment.

Email is and continues to be alive and well, as these recent statistics prove:

Higher return on investment

Compared to SEO and social media marketing, email campaigns do not require large budgets; the investment risks are significantly low. It is no wonder that 59% of B2B marketers find email as being the most effective channel for revenue generation.

Interestingly, for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average ROI is $44.25.

The maths is simple: the less you spend on lead generation, acquisition and retention, the lower the risk of massive losses and the better the chances of higher returns on investment.

Higher sales compared to social media

Statistics show that customers who are marketed to through email spend 138% more than those who do not receive promotional emails.

While social media may seem more popular than email, only 7% of marketers prioritize social selling. At the heart of it, social media is more a “relationship building” than a selling platform.

On the other hand, email continues to be the primary channel through which marketers are able to nurture leads and convert them into long-term buyers.

Marketers who use email for lead nurturing receive 50% more leads who are ready to make a sale, and nurtured leads provide a 20% increase in sales opportunities compared to leads that are not nurtured.

Easily integrated with mobile

There’s no denying that mobile is a force to reckon with now and far into the future. Smart marketing cannot overlook the massive impact mobile has on consumption trends and purchase decisions.

In particular, consumers are predominantly using their mobile devices to open emails. In 2010, mobile email was nothing to write home about as it made up just 8% of email opens. Just six years later, there has been a 500% increase in mobile email opens.

As mobile penetration and usage grows, email will continue to be a primary channel of direct B2B and B2C communication.

Greater customer acquisition and conversion results

Year on year, email continues to be the largest channel for customer acquisition and conversion. Email marketing conversions are more than 3 percent when compared to search, which is less than 2 percent and social, which is 1 percent.  At the same time, 89% of marketers say email is their main channel for lead generation.

The opt-in capabilities of email and the targeted nature of email marketing makes it more effective at acquiring, nurturing and converting consumers into loyal customers, when compared to search or social marketing.

Most effective for relationship building

While most marketers value email for its ability to increase sales revenues, 90% state that email is even more valuable for creating brand awareness and relationship building compared to other inbound channels.

At the same time, marketers also cite email marketing as the most effective channel for customer retention.

Email is a favourable relationship-building tool due to its personal nature. When users opt-in to hear regularly from you, it becomes far much easier to form mutually beneficial and lasting relationships, than you would, using any other channel.

Customers prefer email communication

Throughout the day, customers use diverse channels to communicate including SMS, social media, chats, instant messaging, voice calls and email. Yet, when asked about their most preferred medium for receiving updates, 90% of consumers preferred email newsletters while only 10% preferred Facebook.

Social media and other channels may be great for initial engagement but consumers who are in their final phase of the purchase cycle, decision makers, influencers and sales-ready leads prefer email to other communication channels.

The truth is, having influencers, decision makers and sales-ready leads prefer your email newsletter to Facebook or Twitter is every marketer’s dream-come-true.

Email Marketing Works

When done strategically, email is undoubtedly the most effective digital marketing medium cutting across all customer segments. It is unsurprising that even social media or mobile marketing evangelists acknowledge and recommend email as an indispensible tool for lead nurturing, conversion and continued sales.