In today’s digital world, where social media dominates marketing strategies over traditional methods, many small business owners may wonder, is email marketing dead? Is it still relevant and worth the time or investment for small businesses?
Is email marketing dead?
A big question on the minds of many small business owners today is, “Is Email Marketing Dead?” No, email marketing is far from dead in 2024. For small businesses, it is still a very successful marketing tactic. Email is one of the most popular ways for customers to communicate with brands, according to 83% of consumers, and it consistently generates a higher return on investment (ROI) than virtually any other kind of advertising or marketing. (via emailisnotdead.com). Although social networks’ meteoric rise led many to believe that email would no longer be a viable marketing tool, that assumption has now been disproven.
Email is stronger and more in demand than ever. HubSpot found that email marketing is still essential for businesses:
- Segmented emails drive 30% more opens and 50% more click-throughs than unsegmented ones.
- 77% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months.
- Smartphone users prefer to receive brand communications via email.
- In 2020, the global e-mail marketing market was valued at 7.5 billion U.S. dollars. It is projected that the global e-mail marketing market will increase to 17.9 billion by 2027. (Statista, 2023)
- In 2023, the number of global e-mail users amounted to 4.37 billion and is set to grow to 4.89 billion users in 2027. (Statista, 2024)
Even Fortune 500 businesses and social media mega sites talk as much about building an email checklist as they do about obtaining Facebook likes. HubSpot also found that 64% of small businesses utilize email marketing to reach customers.
In addition, according to emailsnotdead.com, people prefer email for commercial communications where:
- 94% of consumers check their email every day. – DMA Consumer Tracker (2023)
- 81% of US online shoppers are more likely to make additional purchases, either online or in a store, due to emails based on previous shopping behaviors and preferences. – Harris Interactive
- 86% of professionals prefer to use email when communicating for business purposes. (Industry Select, 2024)
- Email is the most popular place to save important information from brands, and over half of consumers (56%) currently use their inbox in this way. DMA Consumer Tracker (2023)
What’s Different in Email Marketing Today?
Today’s customers are busy, tech-savvy, and don’t have time or interest in spam. This implies that your responsibility is to differentiate your company from the competition. Regardless of your industry or type of marketing, the appropriate approach and content should be able to tell the difference between mail that ends up in the trash and mail that gets converted into revenue.
How to make your email stand out and get noticed
- Know what type of information your customers are willing to share. When asking for a customer’s email, keep it simple and relevant to your industry or business. Most people are unwilling to share more than their name and email address unless it is relevant to your business and their needs.
- Personalize your emails to your customer’s interests, habits, and life events. Forbes found that 76% of buyers expect personalized email messaging, and 83% of customers are willing to share their data for a more personalized experience.
- Incite curiosity.
Option 1. Possibly the most overlooked home page opportunity in the universe…?
Option 2. Which home page kills it? A comparative analysis
The first subject line did 4.6 percent better than the second one. This means curiosity does boost your email open rates. (via Inc.com ) - Be explicit about the value consumers will receive when they share personal information. Providing offers and discounts in exchange for an email or mailing address can drive consumer action.
- Test and optimize your campaign. The A/B testing feature in email lets you send two slightly different emails to your audience to obtain information on which triggered the most engagement. Then, you can use the most effective email as a final email.
