Everyone gets them. Lots of people profess to not like email ads, and say they’re an annoyance…lots of people just delete them right away. Still, email marketing, if handled properly, can be a very effective tool for marketers. Email marketing can be very cost-effective, and with recent advances in Web analytics, it can be targeted to the exact target market you are trying to reach. One report recently found that using analytics can bring nine times the revenue and eighteen times the profits of shotgun-style broadcast emails.

Along with the targeting that can be done with emails, email marketing also helps drive direct sales, it can build customer relationships and loyalty, and it supports sales through all of the company’s other channels. The right content in an email, put forward the right way, can bring in immediate action such as sales, downloads, registrations and inquiries. You can also send out a newsy, informative “newsletter” type emails to inform customers about upcoming events, new editions of catalogs, new products and services and any number of other things that help build awareness and strengthen your brand’s presence.

Here are some facts and figures:

• Email marketing generated a ROI of $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009 (Direct Marketing Association)
• Email and e-newsletter marketing are considered a second-most effective tool for conversions (just behind CEO) (Ad Effectiveness Survey, Forbes Media)
• 79% of Irish marketers rated email marketing as ‘important” or “very important” to an overall marketing strategy (summer 2009 survey)
• A 2009 survey of retailers found that “email is the most mentioned successful tactic overall” (Shop.org)
• In 2008, Marketing Sherpa did a survey of hundreds of marketers; pay-per-click ads ranked tops in ROI, with email marketing (to house lists) at a close second.
• A 2009 Marketing and Media survey had 80% of industry executives saying that email channels performed strongly for their company (Datran Media)
• Cost per order of $6.85 for email marketing, vs. $19.33 CPO for paid search (February/March 2008 survey, Shop.org)
• SIlverpop survey in December 2009 found that “four out of 10 marketers reported that their email budgets in 2010 would increase, while nearly half (47 percent) said their budgets would stay the same” despite the effects of the recession.
• Datran Media’s 2009 Annual Marketing and Media Survey had 58.5% of industry executives planning to increase their investment in email, while only 5.7% planned to cut back.
• An April 2009 survey of senior marketing executives revealed that 46% of respondents planned to invest more in email (European Interactive Advertising Association)
• Across the board, it’s estimated that expenditures in email went from $600 million in 2008 to $700 million in 2009.
• A 2008 survey showed that 95% of marketers surveyed were using email marketing, with 4% planning to get on board with it by year’s end (Forrester Research)

Even with all of this information, keep in mind that E-mail marketing requires an aggressive budget and a steady approach. Sending an email to 10 million users is not email marketing. It requires a well-planned strategy and an effective execution.

Contact us if you seek solid results with Email Marketing, we can help!