Advantages and Disadvantages of Email Marketing

 Marketing is easy. They use email to advertise products or services. Additionally, email marketing is a digital marketing strategy to build relationships with existing customers and reach out to potential customers.

How effective is email marketing?

According to a 2018 Statista report, there were 3.7 billion email users in 2017. It is estimated that by 2022 it will be 4.3 billion. In other words, email marketing has the potential to reach half of the world's population.

Some might think that email marketing is ancient compared to more modern marketing methods like SEO and social media marketing. However, the 269 billion emails sent/received daily in 2017 are expected to grow to 333 billion by 2020. Additionally, for every $1 spent on email marketing, an average return of $32 can be expected, according to the UK Data and Marketing Association 2018 Marketer Email Tracker report.

Who Uses Email Marketing?

Most businesses use email marketing in one form or another simply because it helps grow the business. Especially small and medium-sized companies use it in 80-81% of cases as the most important tool to keep customers and win new ones. From fundraising specialists to therapeutic spas, from pet rescuers to gyms and fitness centers, from real estate agents to event coordinators, and for everyone else, email marketing remains highly effective.

Email Marketing Statistics and Trends

Research shows that email marketing still comes out on top when it comes to retaining customers and attracting new ones when compared to organic search, paid search, or social media. In a 2017 GetResponse.com benchmark, the average open rate for a welcome email is 82%, a very high rate and a great opportunity. Still, people have become more cautious about opening emails for security reasons, and this can impact email marketing.

Benefits of Email Marketing

Here are some of the benefits email marketing can bring to your business:

1. Brand Awareness

If you're consistent in your email marketing efforts, as well as in design, tone, and content, your audience can begin to recognize your brand. You can remember and even distinguish it from other brands. When your brand is already recognizable and memorable, people can feel connected to it and remember it when they are already making the decision to buy.

2. Industry expertise

Email marketing allows you to easily share industry information with a large number of audiences in a short amount of time. This is a way to establish and promote yourself as a thought leader in your specific business area. A company that is considered an industry expert automatically gets high brand credibility and reputation. It becomes a reliable source of information, products or services recognized as effective solutions.

3. Fast and inexpensive

Compared to other marketing strategies and campaigns, conducting email marketing does not require a lot of time and resources. Email is comparatively cheaper than paid ads. Auto-responder software can cost around $15 per month, and some simple ones are even offered for free. In the UK the average cost for a small business can be around £50 a month. And sending emails can take just seconds that reach the audience directly. In addition, you can plan what to send to whom and by when.

4. Regularly reviewed by the audience

Email marketing is an effective way to keep in touch with your customers. About 2 out of 3 people check their email accounts several times a day. Therefore, you can be sure that your audience will see your email in their inbox within a day. There's an even greater likelihood that recipients will open and read it on their cell phone once they receive a notification.

5. Traceability and Reporting

Most email management and auto-responder programs have tracking and reporting capabilities. This allows you to get both statistics and insights into the success of your campaign. Some of the data you can analyze includes the number of emails successfully sent, how many were opened, how many were clicked, and how many resulted in sales. In addition, you can get valuable information about your market to know who the target audience is that is responding to you. As a result, you can even refine and enhance your brand identity to fit your audience exactly.

Disadvantages of email marketing

Along with advantages come disadvantages, and here are some of them:

1. Fierce competition

It can be difficult to stand out from the competition with just email marketing. Most likely, they also do their own email marketing. This is how your email competes with other emails from legitimate competitors, as well as spam and junk email. People who don't use spam filters or segregate emails are unlikely to ever open commercial emails.

2. Delivery problems

Over time, some of the email addresses in your list may become inactive. You may not be sending email to anyone. Unmanaged inboxes will be populated and it will reject any new email sent to it. And for those who use spam filters, your email subject can appear as spam and be intercepted without being seen by the recipient.

3. Design issues

Nowadays, people use multiple devices with different screen sizes. You should take care to compose your email in such a way that it appears readable regardless of the device or screen size used. Emails with images can cause inconsistencies on smaller screens. They can also be larger and therefore download slower. On the other hand, some may find text-only emails monotonous and boring.

4. Building mailing lists

If you're new to email marketing, you might not have a mailing list yet. Building a list means gaining subscribers, and that takes time. You may need to set up your website, create signup forms and attract enough visitors to sign up. Time and resources are required to build your email address database.

5. Resources and Capabilities

Email marketing can be effective, but it has to be done right. It's easier when you have experience and expertise in your industry and market. If not, you may need to outsource email marketing to have the right list, design, copy, or content. Basic knowledge of legal aspects such as data protection laws, data protection regulations and other information as well as security regulations are also essential.

Conclusion

While email marketing stats are impressive compared to other digital marketing methods, it's important to remember that it's still one option among many to build brand awareness, retain existing customers, and attract potential customers. Knowing the pros and cons can help you make an informed decision about how to reap the benefits of email marketing while avoiding the potential pitfalls that come with it.