Is Email Marketing Dead?

So I get asked a lot about email marketing because I am often responsible for most of my clients email strategy and content. The most common question I get asked is, “is email marketing dead?” First let me start by saying, if someone told you email marketing is dead please consider the source and whether or not this person is trying to sell you something.

Email marketing is absolutely 100% NOT DEAD! In fact, email marketing is still considered to be one of the most successful forms of marketing out there. Email is currently being used by 3.9 billion people and is rising everyday. In case you didn’t know (I know I didn’t) that amounts to half of the world’s population! Here is a tip, if your customer is using email in their daily life then you should be using it to speak to them.

I can understand why people might think email marketing is dead though. I mean billions of emails are sent out everyday and depending on how interested your subscribers are, they might just be deleting unnecessary content from their inbox just to keep from going insane. Email marketing has significant challenges, I’ll be honest with you, you can’t just promote constantly, half-ass your content, or give zero thought as to your overall strategy. Just like all forms of marketing you need to really commit to catching the attention of your audience and provide them with a ton of value. 

The number one reason I hear people talking about email being a dead marketing tool is because of declining open rates or click-through rates. Let me be real with you for a moment, people aren’t opening your email because the subject line isn’t catching their attention. If they do open your email, they aren’t clicking through because you aren’t offering something valuable to them, it’s that simple! 

So how do we fix this? Well first, come up with a consistent outreach schedule and stick to it. I don’t open emails from people I don’t know and your audience doesn’t either! Next, use welcome emails and customization to help your audience bond with you a bit. This might sound silly but welcome emails have an average open rate of 82% and emails with customized subject lines get opened 50% more often. Finally, use the interactive tools at your disposal. Adding things like a video or GIF can increase your click rates by 300%!!!! 

Email marketing is a tool I use for clients all the time to do course launches, create brand trust, and establish them as an authority in their space. This method is alive and well and I assure you that if you just give it a bit of thought and effort you can capitalize on this booming (and cheap!) tool to grow your business!