What once was popular will be again—older names are coming back, past fashion is returning, and record players have become hip once more. Another part of history that is repeating itself is certain marketing trends. Before social media, email was one of the only forms of instant and direct communication. In the late 90s, email marketing became an excellent resource for businesses to effectively communicate with customers, as well as other businesses. It booted direct mail out the door by showing a number of benefits, and it even created its own industry. Once social media was a viable resource for businesses, email marketing was put on the back burner with rumors of extinction.
Now that the affinity for social media is shifting, businesses have come to rely on email marketing as an important piece of their marketing plans. According to a study by SalesForce, 73% of businesses stated that email marketing was very important to their business. One reason businesses have turned heavily toward email marketing is because of the visible return on investment. 53% of marketers said email marketing produced some sort of ROI—something that is harder to track on social media.
The survey also suggested the resurgence of email marketing was linked to the increasing popularity of smartphones. One-third of the marketers surveyed stated that subscribers opened emails on mobile devices at least 50% of the time. A majority of marketers plan on increasing their email marketing budgets, delivering more emails and creating a better experience for subscribers on mobile devices. So the resurgence of this tried-and-true tactic is possibly just the beginning.
Is your business using email marketing as a marketing or sales tactic? If you are looking to reinstate an email marketing plan, give us a call! Robertson & Markowitz and Robmark Web both have experience developing and implementing email marketing strategies for a variety of clients, and we want to help you succeed!