Thrive with email – the best performing online marketing channel

For those who know some email marketing people it would seem funny that we are so enthusiastic about email. It’s our job, we earn a living with it, we thrive with email but this cheerleading? Why would we? Simply because it is the best performing online marketing channel around. No other channel gets such a high ROI compared to email. The DMA has put the ROI of email marketing on just over $40 this year – big win!
Still there are people in online marketing who feel email marketing is not sexy and not something to be enthusiastic about. They are all over this new thing called social media (while email has already been the social channel for decades – remember the forward option in every single email client on the planet? Yeah.) or are very busy with Google SEO stuff.
Don’t get me wrong: there’s nothing wrong with social media or SEO as marketing channels but email wins on so many levels it’s not funny anymore: it’s dead serious. Think of analytics and reports all the way. Think of dynamic content and personalization all the way. Think of automated campaigns with separate steps for target groups all the way. Think of perfectly timed messages in the inbox all the way. Think of the biggest conversions you have seen from any channel, ever.
Is there a catch? Is it really easy? Yes, there’s a catch, and no it will not be easy. The catch is that you have to do it right to succeed (as with any marketing channel, hah!), and because of that it won’t be easy. But it will be worth doing right. Over $40 in return of every dollar spenth worth.
If you’re not thriving with email yet, be sure to get the basics right and work from there. Also, you are very welcome in the email marketing community: we love what we do and we’re not too shabby to share knowledge and insights.
So go forth and thrive with email: I know you can do it! If you want to tweet about this, use #thrivewithemail.

PS if you or your boss are still not convinced about email as the best online marketing channel, read this.
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