No matter how long you’ve been sending marketing emails, the overall process has remained more or less the same: You acquire leads. You create an email marketing campaign. You launch the campaign. You monitor the performance and tweak the future campaign. But, have you ever considered the actual potential OF email marketing when done well?

Email is where prospects, customers and leads are raising their hand to hear from you.

Congrats, you’ve survived the unsubscribe! If you’re in someone’s inbox, you were invited. This person signed up to hear from you. Yes, it was probably because they had to hand over their email for something free but if you’re still getting to the inbox then that person has digitally said, “yes, I want to hear from you.”

And once they’ve clicked open your email, you’ve got their attention. That is, if you are doing it correctly.

Email gets you into bed with your audience. (um, be professional)

58% of adults check email in bed (source). They check it first thing in the morning and just before I go to sleep. Your message is literally between the sheets….

And, that’s not the only place it goes… 🚽

According to a 2015 statistic, 42% of adults check email on the toilet. Let’s not ask why, but that is some world class access that you have got someone’s undivided attention.

(ahem, I would wager that number is WAY higher than reported. I seriously think if you say you don’t check it on the crapper…you may be full of it.)

Email is the middle finger to social media algorithms.

How often have you posted something on social media and heard crickets? It’s not because your post is in the crapper (I had to), it’s because no one is seeing it. Organic reach on Facebook and other platforms has changed. If people don’t engage with your posts, no one (well, at least not the right people) see it. Email doesn’t torture you like this.

In fact:

Email reaches more than half of the people you send it to.

We can vouch for this. When we post a new blog link on our Facebook page, we get pretty low engagement. It’s disheartening, even though I know it’s because people don’t see it. That’s why we always follow up a blog post with an email.

Email can be customized.

Want to send your email about wine to wine lovers, your email about bidets to the toilet readers, and your email about how awesome email marketing is to actual business owners?
Well, email segmentation let’s you accommodate people who have specific interests that align with your other service and product offerings.

Speaking of segmenting. You get a lot of info about subscribers without being a total creep. For instance, you see who clicked on what. Who didn’t open the email. And then you can send them something else (or send the email again). Segmenting is powerful.

Email let’s you be human.

So many businesses, big and small, still believe they have to be buttoned-up and businessy to be professional. The truth is, a bit of personality and even humor is wayyyyy more compelling. Look, you’ve read this far haven’t you?

Of course, it’s not ALL email that wins.

Okay, so now you know that email is intimate. But, it is also distraction-free. In an era of short attention spans, email has no dings, comments, typing bubbles, or squirrels. It’s your subscriber looking at your email.

However, most email can and does end up in the vast dumpster fire of unopens, deletes, and unsubscribe. Not only do we all get a crazy ton of emails per day but a lot of email is boring. Dry. A pitch-slap. It’s totally delete-worthy. (or are the young kids now calling this cancel qualified?) Anyways, when you write email to the old school notions of “this I what email is supposed to be,” it becomes still and not human. Is that your brand?

The takeaway.

Email marketing has a ton of opportunity for businesses. Whether you’re a B2B or B2C organization, crafting an effective email marketing strategy is essential for maintaining and growing relationships with your contacts. Ask us how we can take your email marketing to the next level.