5 benefits of investing in an email marketing strategy:

1. It has a larger reach

People tend to forget how big of a reach you can get through email. Sure, Facebook has over 2 billion active users, and Twitter has over 330 million, but what they don’t realise is
the fact that there are 3x more email accounts than there are Facebook & Twitter accounts combined. It makes sense, considering email has been around for a long time – way before social media was even a thing. Anybody who is online is sure to have an active email address – making it a hugely effective way to reach larger audiences.

2. Connect with your audience

Emails are a great way to stay connected with your audience on a regular basis. It may be through weekly newsletters, or monthly digests – whatever works for your business.
Keeping in touch with your audience helps them remember who you are and get to know what your business is all about. It helps in keeping your business in mind for whenever
they may need your product or service.

3. Increases brand recognition

Remember – your emails are an extension of your brand. So try to keep them consistent in terms of brand name, logo, tagline, and other elements that help people associate with
your brand. It helps in building brand awareness and recognition – even if they may just scan the email – it can do wonders for when they really need you.

4. Increases Credibility

When your emails contain quality content that is relevant, engaging and valuable all at the same time – it gives your business a sense of credibility and trust that makes it easier for people to buy from you in the future.

5. Keeps your existing customers in the loop

Weekly or monthly emails really helps in keeping your existing customers up to date with what’s happening in your business. Whether it may be new product lines, or a new sale
you have going on – keep your customers in the know. It works in getting them to buy from you again, creating a cycle of recurring customers.

Taking your emails to the next level

Email offers the best return on investment, beating other digital marketing channels such as social media, and paid search. The problem is, most businesses have realised the
power of email marketing and are all competing for attention in that inbox. People scroll through their inboxes and generally decide within 2 seconds whether they’re going to open your email or ignore it like their other 150 unread emails – we’re all guilty of it.

Entrepreneur suggests that businesses should embrace three emerging trends in the email marketing industry to gain a competitive advantage:

1. Automation
2. Artificial Intelligence
3. Personalisation

Automation = Easy Action

Automation is the best way to drive action from your subscribers. Automated welcome emails, for example, targets new subscribers at the exact moment they’re highly engaged
with your business. Targeting the right way at the right time is essential in converting those leads.
Gourmet coffee retailer Door Country Coffee &  Tea Co. engages their first-time customers with a welcome email containing a discount coupon, driving sales right from the get-go. Just like anything automated, it makes life a whole lot easier. Consider forgoing pen and paper sign ups to tablet apps or ‘text-to- join’ options to add new subscribers to your email lists immediately. Even better are triggered emails, that are effective follow-ups based on your customers actions and behaviours. Think of automation like a personal assistant who can do all the dirty work so you don’t have to.

Artificial Intelligence is the next best thing

Everybody wants to feel special right? So nothing’s worse than subscribers receiving emails that have absolutely nothing to do with them. With the rise in digital, there has also been a rise in expectations for business. We’re all about having experiences that are perfectly tailored to our personal interests. This causes a bit of a dilemma in email marketing when all you’ve got is a name and an email address.
That’s where Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes in. It helps in gaining a fuller picture of your subscribers and the best ways to reach them. Now that we have data available across
multiple devices and marketing channels, AI helps us unlock information such as which products a subscriber has looked at or is interested in. Then this ties in with automation –
allowing you to follow up with a targeted email that can help push the subscriber to make that purchase.

It’s all about personalisation

A Salesforce Survey found that more than half of consumers surveyed were likely to switch brands if a company didn’t make an effort to personalise its communications to
them. The challenge lies in making emails feel personal and conversational rather than a marketing promotion. To personalise your emails means to continue getting to know your audience, asking thoughtful questions and showing them that their opinions matter.
Sheena McDeavitt, marketing director for the Hajoca Corporation, does a great job with personalisation by adding quick one-question polls to her emails to gather feedback. When planning events, she takes the time to ask her subscribers what time is best for them. And she also regularly asks them if her emails are engaging and relevant to their interests.
Just by adding polls and making her company’s emails more interactive has boosted their click-through rates to a whopping 30 percent.

All three trends – automation, AI and personalisation are methods that are accessible to any business, whether you’re a small start-up or a big corporation. The best thing is that,
each of them can help in giving your business’ emails a better chance of being opened and actioned by your subscribers. Now it’s your turn, test and play with each trend to figure out what works for your subscribers!