Does Email Marketing Really Work?

Email marketing is one of the most powerful tools in any online marketing arsenal.

Conversely, it's also one of the most under-utilized tools in that arsenal as well.

Because social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter have become insanely popular with consumers in recent years, a large percentage of online marketers have switched their focus to these social platforms as a way of reaching their target audience.

Social media marketing can be effective to a certain extent, but not always. With millions of messages being exchanged through social media each and every day, it's very easy for a brand's voice to become lost in the fray.  This is because social media marketing is lacking one crucial element required to establish trust among consumers.

Personalization.

A study by Experian found that personalized emails had a 29% higher unique open rates and a 49% higher unique click through rate than unpersonalized messages. According to HubSpot, the click through rates were even higher on emails that addressed the recipient by their first name.

Seven out of ten people report that they always open emails from their preferred brands, according to a report by ExactTarget. Because of this, email conversion rates are three times higher than social media conversion rates, according to data in the same report.

Increased conversion rates means the emails are doing their job by turning those clicks into clients. Nearly 45% of consumers who received a promotional offer via email made a purchase within the past year.

Besides generating leads and securing new clients, email marketing also provides a substantial return on investment (ROI) –making it an extremely cost-effective method of advertising. A report from ExactTarget estimates that for every dollar spend on email marketing campaigns, $44.25 is generated in revenue.

So the short – and long – answer to the question, “Does email marketing really work? - is absolutely.

Not only does it work, 77% of consumers actually prefer email marketing over social media  and other marketing tactics.

Now, here's a question for you.

Don't you think it's time you got started on your brand's email marketing campaign?