The death knell for email marketing has been rung several times. But despite the gloomy predictions made by so-called online marketing experts, it still remains as one of the most important tools that a business owner must have in his marketing arsenal.
With the onset of social media marketing, many naysayers have said that email marketing has become irrelevant. And why not? As compared to its flashier counterparts, email marketing looks boring. But as with most things, looks can be deceiving. For example, in 2013, several companies that utilised email marketing, Northampton firms included, reported a noticeable spike in sales that can be attributed to the marketing tool. To top it all off, email marketing is the king when it comes to ROI.
That is not to say that email marketing cannot benefit with a few tweaks here and there. Listed here are some of the emerging trends that marketers need to be aware of if they want to get the most out of their email marketing campaigns.
Personalisation
The American author and self-help pioneer Dale Carnegie wrote “Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” For brands that really want their emails to be read and not be sent to the trash bins, one crucial point to consider is personalising their emails. Industry experts say that blast emails have lost their efficacy and that personalisation is the way to go.
A Focused Approach
One of the best features sites like Facebook and Twitter offer is the custom or tailored audience which allows marketers to focus their campaigns on a particular set of consumers, thus increasing the efficacy of a campaign. These typically include customers who follow an account or those who liked a fan page. The main benefit of this feature is that a brand’s message is sent to the people who count the most.
Experts predict that a business’s contact list can also be utilised in the same manner, giving it better value for its investments.
Cross-platform Integration
Industry experts are divided on how multiple online marketing platforms, including email marketing, can be seamlessly used in unison. Some predict the launch of a single platform while others see several obstacles that need to be overcome before this can be achieved. What is clear, though, is that tools like custom audience herald a trend toward integrating available tools.
Automation
Automation tools have been around for quite some time and yet very few businesses utilise it to their full advantage. This trend will more likely change with the growing awareness of cross-platform integration along with businesses finally recognising the convenience of using automated tools.
Follow
Connect with us