*Updated May 2020: stats and graphs changed to reflect new numbers in 2019 and 2020.*
A quick google search for ‘email marketing is dead’ now turns up a mere 239,00,000 results. With so many other ways to target your audience, there are many marketers out wondering; are emails still effective?
The graph below shows the activities people in the UK use the internet for. The results outline that sending/catching up with emails and finding information on goods and services were the top two activities carried out.
If you’re on the side of not being sure about using emails for business, then you’ve come to the right place. In this blog, we’ll be going through the reasons and facts to show why emails should be an integral part of your marketing plan.
Email is still the most popular content channel
In regard to email sends per day worldwide, we know that about 269 billion emails were sent and received each day in 2017.
Last year, in 2019, 293.6 billion emails were sent every day which shows that email is showing no signs of slowing down. That figure is expected to grow to almost 320 billion daily emails in 2021, according to Statista.
Email is perfect for mobile
As of March 2020, 52.03 percent of the overall web traffic comes through mobile phones.The convenience of working from your mobile device instead of being tied up at work on the computer is very appealing. The graph below shows how mobile phone website traffic has risen.
What's more is that mobile is responsible for at least 50% of all email open rates.
Email automation is still ahead of every other channel
Automation allows marketers to set repetitive tasks, freeing up time to focus on other jobs. Email marketing still has the highest ROI (return on investment) than any other marketing channel, compared to other marketing channels.
73% of marketers rated the ROI of email to be 'Good' or 'Excellent'. So by personalising emails, and adding in more segmentation and targeted emails, you’ll see an increase in your ROI.
People would actually prefer to be contacted by email
For business to customer communications, not only is email not dying, but consumers actually prefer it. Using email for business purposes, a mind-blowing 77 per cent of customers prefer marketing communications to come through email, while only 5 per cent choose text messaging and 6 per cent select social media.
More than 60 per cent of your customers would prefer to be contacted by brands via email, which is shown in the data below:
Final thoughts
Contrary to popular belief, email marketing is NOT dead. If you’re not using email marketing in your business, then you’re missing out on an extremely valuable opportunity to market your business. For a marketer to think otherwise, could mean you’re missing out on a massive chance to communicate with your customers.
Update: GDPR launched May 2018 changing the way we acquire and store customer data. To make sure you website and emails are always up to date and adhere to the new rules of personal data and consent. See our articles, including this checklist to get your business ready.
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If you have any questions or comments about this post, please fill in the comment box below. Or send me an email: shale@bonline.com.
