Most of us know the situation: You want to check your emails and another one with the subject line about new holiday offers just enters your mailbox. Then there is the question: “To read or not to read?” Often we just delete it or mark it as junk mail but sometimes we feel like opening the mail and have a look at the offer. However is this “sometime opening“ of marketing emails really effective for companies?

In 2007, David W. Nickerson concluded in his academic report that the boost of email campaigns does not turn out and it is not effective. However it seems he was too quick in saying email marketing is dead because according to Pantea and Pop (2010) 80% of companies regularly use this strategy to create and maintain relationships with their customers. Furthermore according to Matt McGee (2012) 77% of consumers like to get marketing messages via email.

(Marketing Land, 2012)

Considering all industries in the UK the open rate of marketing emails was 24.79%, click-through rate at 4.19% and the unsubscription rate at 0.49% in 2017 (Chaffey, 2017). However these figures are not the only reason for why email marketing is still being used by so many companies but further advantages that come with this marketing tool. According to Fariborzi and Zahedifard (2012) these are namely:

• Personalisation: Companies can customise the email for different customers and can personalise them according to the customer’s needs.
• Return on investment: The Direct Marketing Association estimated in 2009, that for every £1 invested, a company makes a return of £40. This means that email marketing provides the highest return compared to other marketing methods (Jenkins, 2009).
• Measurability: Software’s’ allow to keep track on delivery rate open-rate, click-through rate.
• Easy to create: It is very easy to create a marketing message and send it via Email.
• Fast and Efficient: It offers any promotion through an email and with a clear all to action button this can have a great impact on sales.

However there are also some downsides of email marketing. According to Fariborzi and Zahedifard (2012) these are namely:

• Undelivered emails: Due to junk-mail filters often marketing emails are not being delivered meaning it is not guaranteed that the customers will actually receive the information on products.
• Email response decay: It is difficult to actively engage the customers in the long-term.
• Expenses: Even though the actual costs to carry out email marketing is low but the cost could wind up a lot higher if the customer judges these messages as junk and get annoyed by the emails.
• Spamming: Sending marketing emails to a bought email mailing list is likely to result in spamming reports which can then lead to the company’s email being blacklisted (Hudson, 2017).
• Reputation: If false or misleading information is presented in the email this can affect the company’s reputation (Hudson, 2017).

So considering the disadvantages, a company needs to know how to effectively carry out an email marketing campaign to limit the risks and to eventually receive the rewards. For an email campaign to be effective, a company has to fulfil a number of aspects (Hurley Hall, 2017) such as:

• Know your goal: Before creating a campaign, the company needs to know what they want to get out from it i.e. increase site traffic and brand awareness.
• Know your audience: A company needs to know who their customers are and how to increase their interest in new products.
• Plan the emails and follow-up: What should and should not be mentioned in the mail, how often to send emails, the action the company wants the reader to take and when to follow-up with the customer.

Examples of companies who effectively used email marketing:

Uber

Uber decided to keep its email marketing very simple. When the company has some new offers, customers receive emails like the one above. It is kept very brief, a clear call-to-action button and it is designed for people that often just skim the mail. A couple of days after this email was sent out, a follow-up email was sent to provide more explanation on details for the users who needed more detail. The goal of Uber’s emails is clear and the company understands its busy audience and therefore sends a very simplistic email campaign. They planned the emails well and followed up on the matter after a short time.

Dropbox

Dropbox decided to create a cute and also funny email by including emoticons and cartoons and it was kept quite short. This shows that the company does not want to interrupt the users but wanted to remind them about the company and their helpful products. The goal of the company is clear as they would like the recipient to use their products again. They know how to reach their audience and designed and planned their emails and strategy accordingly. However what is missing is the obvious call-to-action button with which the company could have direct the recipient to their website and back to their left account. Whether the email campaign increased the usage of Dropbox is unknown however it at least created brand awareness and reminded people of the company.

We can now conclude that email marketing campaigns are still very effective and it can result in a great return on investment. However to run a successful email campaign, the design of the mail and the strategy has to fulfil certain aspects. If this is achieved such as Uber and Dropbox did, then the campaign can be successful and risks can be limited.

 

References:

• Chaffey, D. (2017). Email marketing statistics 2017. [online]  Smartinsights. Available at: https://www.smartinsights.com/email-marketing/email-communications-strategy/statistics-sources-for-email-marketing/ [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].
• Fariborzi, E. and Zahedifard, M. (2012). E-mail Marketing: Advantages, Disadvantages and Improving Techniques.International Journal of e-Education, e-Business, e-Management and e-Learning, [online] 2(3), pp.232-235. Available at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.documents/38363813/116-CZ02024.pdf?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIWOWYYGZ2Y53UL3A&Expires=1516984482&Signature=v31fBBKDXxCQrI8E5ntq5BpMT2Q%3D&response-content-disposition=inline%3B%20filename%3DE-mail_Marketing_Advantages_Disadvantage.pdf [Accessed 26 Jan. 2018].
• Hudson, A. (2017) The Benefits and Risks to Email Marketing Selection for Small Businesses. [online] HostPapa. Available at: https://www.hostpapa.co.uk/blog/marketing/email-101-benefits-risks-email-marketing-selection-small-businesses/ [Accessed 6. Feb. 2018].
• Hurley Hall, S. (2017).How to Run a Successful Email Marketing Campaign (Step by Step). [online] OptinMonster. Available at: https://optinmonster.com/how-to-run-a-successful-email-marketing-campaign/ [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].
• Jenkins, S. (2009) “The Truth about Email Marketing”. USA: FT Press, pp 2-4, pp. 104-106
• Kolowich, L. (2017). 15 of the Best Email Marketing Campaign Examples You’ve ever seen. [online] Hubspot. Available at: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-examples-list [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].
• Marketing Land (2012).77 Percent Of Us Want To Get Marketing Messages Via Email & There’s No Close Second Place, Study Says. [online] Marketing Land. Available at: https://marketingland.com/77-percent-of-us-want-to-get-marketing-messages-via-email-theres-no-close-second-place-study-says-9420 [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].
• McGee, M. (2012).77 Percent Of Us Want To Get Marketing Messages Via Email & There’s No Close Second Place, Study Says. [online] Marketing Land. Available at: https://marketingland.com/77-percent-of-us-want-to-get-marketing-messages-via-email-theres-no-close-second-place-study-says-9420 [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].
• Nickerson, D. (2007). Does Email Boost Turnout?.Quarterly Journal of Political Science, 2(4), pp.369-379.
• Pantea, C. and Pop, N. (2010). EMAIL MARKETING CAMPAIGNS: THE EASIEST PATH FROM ORGANIZATIONS TO CONSUMERS.Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science, [online] 1(1), pp.737-742. Available at: http://anale.steconomiceuoradea.ro/volume/2010/n1/116.pdf [Accessed 20 Jan. 2018].