Isn’t email dead? Perhaps you’ve heard it is too. But it most certainly isn’t. In fact, the dollar return on email marketing investment is extraordinary, and it continues to deliver, even in an era of new social media!
Email still delivers a considerably higher ROI than other advertising channels. For every $1 spent in email marketing, $40 is returned in revenue compared with $17 for keyword ads and $2 for banner ads. Click through rates are also higher with 5% compared to 1.8% for banner ads and 0.14% for media rich ads.
Email marketing takes several forms, but is the undisputed stealth approach to generating leads. The effectiveness of this form of marketing shows no sign of diminishing, even though the methods themselves are evolving.
If you have not invested in email marketing your company should seriously consider the enormous benefits of this strategy. Or, perhaps you are missing some key elements in your email marketing approach. Below are just some of the key benefits that make email marketing a very appealing option for your green-tech product/service:
- Great ROI. Email marketing is very inexpensive to deliver and yet has high response rates- much higher rates than alternative marketing channels. Over 50% of consumers make purchases as a direct outcome of an email.
- Wide Capture. Not everyone is on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn….surprisingly! And the content that can be published to these networks can be limited. Email is almost without limitation and the number of emails sent far surpasses tweets and Facebook updates (246m versus 175m and 55m respectively). The number of email addresses continues to grow (to 3.56 billion in 2013). Plus, the preferred method of communication in the B2B world remains email. Over 90% of those email consumers access their email daily.
- Personalized. Emails can be easily personalized and tailored to individuals and demographic segments of your subscriber list. As knowledge of your customers grows, the more targeted and personalized your email marketing can become. This in turn leads to more effective marketing that produces better leads that are more likely to result in sales and repeat business.
- Develop Relationships and Repeat Business. As benefit #3 states, personalization and segmentation of an email subscriber list makes for more effective marketing. When your customers receive more relevant, valuable content, content that’s personalized for them based on their history, past purchases and click-throughs, you build relationship and trust, and that builds future sales, referrals and your network.
- Dripped Content: Stay Top of Mind. There is so much information floating around on the web that it can be crippling. That’s why the content of your email communications is key. It’s the content of your emailing that builds (or destroys) your reputation and authority. A key to ensuring that your content builds that trust rather than destroys it, is to ensure that your communications are strategically drip-fed. With each communication you add another level of targeted, valuable content with a singular purpose so the message does not become cloudy. Dripping content also serves to keep your brand/service/product top of mind.
- Measurable Performance. Success of your email marketing can easily be measured through a number of metrics. Alternative messages can be tested and future communications can be improved using results from previous campaigns. As a result, the performance of your email marketing can be continually improved to produce your desired outcome.
There are several forms of email marketing. I would suggest two forms that, in combination, will enhance your brand’s reputation, generate leads, strengthen relationships, and also provide a new level of automation in your communications:
- e-Newsletters. These are the stealthiest way to improve leads and reputation and stay top of mind. e-Newsletters are forwardable, linkable, measurable, archivable and wonderfully interactive. They can help you and your company position yourself as as an industry thought leader. They are also extremely cost-effective.
- Auto-Responders. As the name suggests, these are automated emails that are sent to customers in response to certain triggers. For example, if there is an inquiry, or a sale of a particular product, this can trigger a single or series of follow-up emails to the inquirer/purchaser to nurture the relationship and encourage further sales.
There are good ways and then there are better ways to implement email marketing strategies. Envirotech Marketing can help you see returns from implementing the better way! With training in email marketing best-practices, I can work with you and your goals to create the right content and strategy for your e-Newsletters and autoresponders…. from start to finish, whether you want content published weekly or monthly. The content that I provide will build your reputation, increase your subscriber list, nurture valuable relationships and boost those critical response rates to your communications, new releases and offers!
I can also review your existing email marketing and help you to identify gaps and opportunities in your efforts.
If you’re interested in seeing how effective emailing marketing can work for your greentech company, contact me today.