Email for businesses has been pronounced dead more times than Morgan Freeman (There are posts on Facebook that pop up every few weeks announcing the ultimate demise of the award-winning actor—much to his surprise). But just like Mr. Freeman, business emails just keep plugging along and doing their jobs.
Why is that?
The infographic at the left gives you an idea of why email won’t die (you can see a larger version here). The short summary of why it won’t die, is that it works!
Even marketers committed to the latest and greatest tools find themselves talking about it. At a recent major social media marketing conference, the topic that kept coming up was how to get more subscribers for email lists1. If that causes you to raise your eyebrows, here’s something that may really surprise you.
In an interview with Justin Wise, Dan Zarella (an analyst who gathers data about online behaviors) shared that unsubscribe rates go down significantly when companies email more. That seems contrary to everything we’ve heard about using email over the past few years. But Zarella explains that, “When I look at email frequency, I find that the data rests squarely on the side of ‘more email.’ It sounds weird, but response and unsubscribe rates are such that the more email you send to your contacts, the better . . . obviously that email needs to be relevant, targeted and wanted.”
And therein lies the key: You have to do it right. If you go blasting out a bunch of unwanted and unsolicited emails to people who don’t want them—you’re not going to get good results. Successful email campaigns should be part of a well-planned and executed marketing strategy.
When it comes to marketing strategy, don’t let what’s hip, or cool, or new drive your decisions. And remember that your marketing strategy should never be a one-trick pony. Got with what works, but always make sure your content (whether it’s your website, your tweets, your blogs, or your emails) should be focused on the right audience and should help them answer their questions and solve their problems.
