Email Marketing in 2023. The benefits and Drawbacks.

Moving into 2023, is email marketing still a viable option for a business? Many other advertising avenues have gained popularity over the last decade, due to the incredible data gathering capabilities of social media. Meanwhile, email marketing remains a viable and popular option for many businesses. Investing in this platform is a smart move. It is affordable, offers exceptional value for money, and can help you reach an extensive and segmented audience. Campaigns can also be run through automation services. As Melbourne email marketing specialists, we can offer some insight into whether this avenue of marketing is suitable for your business in 2023.

Know your audience

Usually if an individual has signed up to receive emails from your business, it means they have some interest in your product or service. They may be on your email list because they have responded to an existing advertising campaign, planning on purchasing a product, or they have previously purchased a product or service from your business. Engaging with prospects through email marketing allows for a more targeted approach than many other advertising formats. Markets can create an extensive clients’ list for future follow-up emails in upcoming campaigns. Thus giving prospective buyers multiple chances to make a conversion over time. Even if they don’t convert the first time, there may be many future opportunities to see a conversion.

Return on investment for email marketing services

Research suggests that for every $1 spent on an email marketing campaign, the company receives on average a $36 Return on Investment. The number of email users worldwide continues to grow, with an estimated 4.3 billion users in 2023. This is a significant potential reach. 50% of people buy from marketing emails at least once a month, so evidence suggests it is still an effective revenue source – especially given the low cost of implementation.

Building a more personal advertising relationship

Many users consider email to be a more personal form of advertising. You can generate relationships and loyalty with your email clients by offering exclusive perks, deals and discounts.  Alternatively, we suggest offering ‘personalised recommendations’ of products and services you believe a recipient may like based on data from their previous site purchases and activity. These tactics and perks incentivise users to join the list and provide more opportunities to advertise to customers.  Email can tie together all your promotional material from other avenues and provide a streamlined primary resource for business updates. Campaigns can promote and link to other outlets such as the company website and social media pages.

Is email marketing still viable in 2023? – the downsides.

Malicious actors use phishing attacks, spam and various other techniques to collect data and hack users via email. Techniques usually include impersonating a trustworthy source and require the user to click on a link. Subsequently, many users are developing an increased distrust of clicking links via email – as well as on social media. 15% of emails get caught in spam filters.

As email marketing specialists, one of the critiques we often hear is how people can easily unsubscribe. Generally, if a customer has unsubscribed from a campaign it suggests they are not interested in the products or services sold, and will be less likely to convert in the future. Ultimately, it is not a huge loss for the business. Social media and web marketing has similar equivalents with adblockers. However, this feature blocks potential customers before they getting to view the product, whilst unsubscribing is a conscious decision.

Research from 2021 has suggested “41.5% of brands say that email marketing is very critical to business success, compared to 78% in 2020.” Despite less brands considering it as critical, “37% of brands are increasing their email budget, and just 1.3% are making cuts.” Given the potential upside of email marketing and low upfront cost, there is less risk for businesses than many other digital marketing methods.

Email Demographics

99% of email users check their inbox every day, with recognition of the sender the most important factor in a user deciding whether to open the mail. Studies have shown that “emails by independent artists have the highest open rate at 34.4%, followed by education(34.1%) and travel/tourism (32.6%).” In any email marketing campaign, you should consider the design of the content you are sending, to ensure it appears clean and professional. Avoid spelling mistakes, broken links, or anything that would make the email appear dodgy.

People view their email on many formats – phone, tablet, desktop, laptop etc. It is important to format content in a way that is comfortable to view on all these device layouts.

Benchmarks

Data released in 2022 displays the average performance for an email marketing campaign. Across all Industries (Average) the open rate of an email was 33.86%. The click through rate of a delivered email 1.33%. The bounce rate was 10.16%. However, the average performance of an email marketing campaign varies widely depending on the industry.

Explore advertising strategies with our Melbourne email marketing team!

Collaborate with our Melbourne email marketing team and discover the most effective ways for your business to organise and release email marketing campaigns. Our team is experienced in creating tailor made campaigns and content to help your business increase leads, clicks and conversions. At AWD Digital, our holistic approach to digital marketing, web and branding makes us the one stop shop for not only your Melbourne email marketing services, but also for all of your web and digital needs.

Find out more about how we can grow your business into 2023!

Let’s grow together! Give us a call on 03 9001 6255, or fill out the form to book your free 30-minute workshop.