Why Is Email Marketing Important to Your Brand? Top 10 Reasons

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Email marketing is an integral part of any marketing strategy. It may not seem like the most revolutionary or exciting channel, but it shouldn’t be underestimated! If done correctly it can be one of the most powerful and personal ways to speak to your customers.

This article will walk you through everything you need to know about email marketing. Read on to understand the different types of email marketing and how they can be of benefit to your brand.

And why should you trust our advice? Our articles are based upon thorough research and years of industry experience. We’re here to break things down into simple terms and demystify the world of email marketing.

What is Email Marketing?

Put simply, email marketing is any kind of email sent from a business to a current or potential consumer. The messages may be informational or promotional, with the overall objectives of keeping your consumers up-to-date, educated, and entertained.

Email marketing is a popular tool in any marketer’s toolbox because it’s relatively simple to implement, can be highly personalized and, perhaps most importantly, it’s easy to monitor and measure its effectiveness. Plus… it’s also one of the most cost-effective marketing channels!

Different Types of Email Marketing

The Guardian email marketing
News website The Guardian asks its members to specify which emails they want to receive.

Email marketing comes in many different shapes and sizes. Some of the most common types of emails are those designed to build a relationship with the consumer, and encourage them to keep using your products or services. These might include:

  • Newsletters
  • Anniversary or birthday messages
  • Themed emails (e.g. for Thanksgiving or Halloween)

You’ll also be accustomed to receiving more direct sales and promotion-led emails, such as:

  • Special seasonal offers
  • Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales
  • Alerts to highlight new product ranges, or items back in stock

Plus, marketing emails may be sent for more technical, transactional, or informative reasons, such as:

  • Order, shipping, delivery, or returns confirmations
  • Abandoned cart emails, reminding customers to keep shopping
  • Updates to terms and conditions

Advice from the Experts

Top Tip: Not sure what type of emails to send your customers? Ask them! Many of the most successful businesses ask customers which types of emails they’d like to receive. This helps to improve engagement and ensures the customer feels in control.

Benefits of Email Marketing for Your Brand

But, why is email marketing important to your brand? Let’s delve into the wide range of benefits email marketing can bring.

#1. Build Relationships With Your Audience

Email marketing is ultimately a highly personal channel. You can appear in a customer’s inbox first thing in the morning, address them by their name, and write a message in a personable tone of voice. Brands with the most successful email marketing strategies are those who send regular and relevant emails which their customers look forward to reading, helping to build a positive business-to-consumer relationship.

#2. Affordable

Email marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to market to your audience, with an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent. The actual cost of an email marketing strategy depends on which platform you use, whether you get a free business email, whether you implement it yourself or use an agency, and factors such as design costs and establishing or purchasing an email marketing list.

Generally, it’s regarded as a hardworking and efficient channel that will bring in revenue easily. Find out more about the best email marketing services here.

#3. Everyone Uses Email

The fact that (practically) everyone uses email means that it’s a highly reliable method for reaching your target audience. For an ecommerce business, email is an essential way for customers to register and place an order. And, providing you collect the correct consent information, this enables you to continue to communicate with them. As a trend, the number of email users globally continues to grow rapidly, so it’s not a channel to ignore any time soon.

#4. Encourages Customers to Take Action

Graze email marketing
Online food company Graze uses clear CTAs in its email marketing.

One reason why email marketing is important is the ability to add clear call-to-actions (or CTAs) which encourage your customers to act. The purpose of a call to action is to drive engagement, traffic, and ultimately a purchase decision. Use embedded links throughout your emails, plus a clearly labeled button at the end of emails to encourage your readers to “Find out more”, “Discover the full range”, or “See more products”.

You can see examples of Calls To Action for Emails, plus tips for using them effectively, in our dedicated guide.

#5. Targeted Messaging

The most effective email marketers don’t send the same cut-and-paste message to all customers. Instead, they use data and customer insight to tailor messaging: delivering the right message, to the right person, at the right time. A nice example of this is an online flower delivery service. One year you might have sent a bunch of flowers to a friend, so the following year they’ll be sure to follow up to see if you’d like to send another bunch of flowers – and a box of chocolates. Smart! You can read more tips about targeting and the best time to send a marketing email here.

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#6. Increase Brand Awareness

The importance of email marketing shouldn’t be overlooked – it’s not simply a tool to drive traffic or sales. There are many brand-building benefits to be had, such as the ability to establish your brand personality and tone of voice. We know building a brand online can seem overwhelming, but email marketing helps to drive affinity and positive feelings toward your business by emailing your audience genuinely useful tips, articles, and updates.

Learn more about how to increase brand awareness here.

#7. Measurable

A brilliant aspect of email marketing is the rich source of data and insights that come with it. For any email marketing campaign, you can monitor open rates and click-through rates, and ultimately track how many sends led to conversions. This measurability also gives you the ability to test and learn. For example, you can test different subject lines, CTAs, or imagery, to make sure your future email sends are as effective as possible.

#8. Scalable

This is all dependent on the size of your email mailing list. In theory, email marketing is limitless in its scalability. With the right lead generation strategy in place, and with a growing portfolio of customers, you can rapidly grow your database – the sky’s the limit!

#9. Easy to Adjust

Email marketing is an easy channel because most platforms are highly intuitive, and you don’t need to be a professional graphic designer or copywriter to create an effective email. Be sure to check out our article for 11 email marketing best practices to help get started. If you deal with B2B products or services, see our guide to B2B email marketing.

#10. You Own the Data

Our final point is a significant one. Other marketing channels such as social media, audio, or TV, don’t give you as much control over the data. When it comes to email marketing, you have full control over your mailing list, the information you hold about your customers, and how you can best analyze and understand it. Just be sure to collect, process, and manage your data in a way that is fully safe and compliant.

Summary

So, why is email marketing important to your brand? Remember, email marketing is not simply a tool for driving sales; it can also be used to build a positive, long-lasting relationship between your customers and your brand. As a channel, it’s highly cost-effective, customizable, and can provide rich customer insights to take your brand from strength to strength.

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FAQs

Any communication via email between a business and an existing or potential customer. Email marketing serves various purposes, including transactional, promotional, or seasonal messages.
The main benefits of email marketing are that it’s cost-effective, measurable, and can be highly personalized and targeted. Combined, these benefits make it an attractive channel for any marketing professional or business owner.
There are lots of factors to consider when choosing an email marketing platform. We’d recommend Sendinblue for a small business, or Mailchimp for a business that’s growing quickly.
Email is the most universally used communication method, and continues to grow fast. This means practically any type of business should consider email marketing as part of its overall marketing strategy.
Written by:
I’m a freelance content writer for Website Builder Guide, and I’ve written about everything from design tips to digital marketing techniques. My knowledge in this space comes through being a marketer by trade, with 10 years’ experience spanning B2B and B2C brands. Copywriting is a passion of mine, and I love the challenge of taking a complex topic and distilling it down into an easy-to-understand article (that’s hopefully entertaining to read, too!)

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