This article will provide a brief overview of two research reports on email marketing, highlighting the most relevant information for readers. The reports offer different perspectives on the current state of email marketing and where it is headed, without contradicting each other.
What is interesting about this mash-up is that one is based on a lot of data from the past, and the other is based on predictions from experts. Do the data from the past support the predictions for the future?
We really like Litmus and the things they do, but we’re not just saying that because we’re trying to get you to use their services. They really do provide some great, essential services to email marketers. So it’s no wonder that their report is packed with lots of great info, technological changes across all email platforms, marketing trends, and (naturally) calls to action inviting people to learn more and get involved with their company. Here are eight of the most important things we got from the report.
8 Takeaways and Predictions from the Latest Email Marketing Research
1. More modern consumers are going digital.
The modern consumer is constantly moving towards a more digitized experience when it comes to both researching and making purchases. Search engines, such as Google, remain the most popular channel for consumers to research a product. No matter what stage of the customer journey they are in, often times consumers will use search engines in order to find the information needed to make an informed purchasing decision. With that being said, it is essential that a company’s work is visible during these digital searches, so they have the opportunity to engage with the customer and potentially influence their purchasing decisions by providing useful information.
A study from Blue Nile Research has shown that a vast majority of consumers use search engines, brand websites, and customer reviews to perform research before making a purchase. A small but significant minority of people also use social media, mobile applications, and blogs for this purpose. All of these digital marketing channels work together to provide potential customers with information about products and services that they might be interested in. If your brand is not present across all of these channels, you could be missing out on valuable opportunities to reach your target audience.
2. Digital marketing strategies are affordable.
Big companies with large marketing budgets still need to be careful with how they spend their money. Digital marketing is affordable and effective, meaning businesses can use email, social media, and content marketing driven by SEO for a fraction of the price it would take to use print advertising, radio ads, or television ads.
Content marketing is more affordable than many traditional marketing strategies, and often provides a better return on investment. For example, content marketing costs 3 times less than some traditional marketing tactics, but businesses who consistently publish relevant and valuable blog content are 13 times more likely to experience a positive return on investment. Other affordable digital marketing tactics that offer an excellent return on investment include email marketing, social media marketing, and search engine optimization.
By investing in digital marketing tactics that are more affordable and have a positive ROI, business owners and marketers can save money while still being able to allocate funds to campaigns that may require more expensive, traditional marketing materials. In the end, these affordable and effective digital marketing strategies help businesses get the most out of their marketing budget.
3. It is easy to track and monitor your digital campaigns.
It is imperative that marketers have a way to track the success of their marketing campaigns. This allows brands to see which marketing tactics are working, and which ones aren’t. With this information, companies can not only more accurately measure their return on investment, but they can also identify areas of improvement and work to create more successful campaigns based on the findings. Digital marketing makes these tasks easier than ever by removing the guesswork from tracking and monitoring marketing campaign success.
Digital marketing has the advantage of providing campaign data that can be easily accessed by marketers and business owners. With digital marketing analytics tools and software, business owners and marketers can test different ad content to see what is most effective with their target audience. Traditional marketing methods require you to wait until the campaign is finished to review what worked and what did not work. However, digital marketing analytics tools allow you to see how your campaigns are performing in real-time and make adjustments to your campaigns as needed.
Overall, digital marketing campaigns that can be tracked and monitored closely allow brands to get more out of their marketing budget. Having access to real-time analytics allows you to make changes to improve campaigns before you waste any more money on ineffective tactics. Reviewing these analytics periodically also allows you to optimize your marketing budget by allocating more of your budget to the tactics that provide the best results.
4. Your brand can provide a more interactive experience through digital marketing channels.
Digital marketing channels make it possible for companies to create a more personalized experience for their consumers. This is done through interactive video ads as well as tailored product recommendations. Online video has become increasingly popular and is predicted to continue growing. This provides a great opportunity for businesses to advertise and reach their target audience. Online video allows businesses to capture the attention of their consumers, and provide them with information, entertainment, and engagement.
Personalization is key to encouraging repeat sales, cross-sells, and up-sells to current customers. In fact, 56% of consumers are more likely to buy from a brand that gives them a personalized shopping experience. Businesses can use the data gathered from digital marketing to provide personalized recommendations based on user behavior. By targeting current customers through email and social ads, businesses can give recommendations based on past purchases or browsing behavior.
Additionally, digital marketing provides an opportunity to reach individuals who have visited your site, added items to their shopping cart, but then left without making a purchase. By implementing remarketing ads on social media platforms, you can boost sales by displaying items that the customer left behind or reminding them of your brand’s positive attributes. By constantly serving personalized ad content to customers who have not completed a purchase, you can remain at the forefront of their mind and encourage them to make a purchase in the future.
5. Digital marketing channels allow you to be a part of the conversation about your company.
This text discuss social media marketing and how it can be used by companies to be part of online conversations about their brand. It cites statistics about the number of Americans with social media profiles and how this offers opportunities for companies to reach their target market.
93 percent of shoppers’ buying decisions are influenced by social media, according to Ironpaper. This indicates the significant impact that social media can have on consumer purchasing decisions. Social media engagement can play a role in determining a consumer’s ultimate purchasing decision, whether they are looking at reviews on Facebook or asking their friends and family for advice.
Businesses can use social media marketing to improve their relationship with current customers and reach potential leads. By answering questions and concerns on social media, businesses can also improve their customer service processes.
6. With digital marketing, you can respond to trends in real-time.
Digital marketing allows you to instantly respond to popular trends and news. You can use this to your advantage by staying ahead of current events, technology, and topics that are popular with consumers. This way, you can make sure your brand is using the latest techniques to reach out, as well as being involved in conversations about trending topics. Additionally, targeting ads using popular platforms will help you reach more customers.
No matter what type of product or service your business offers, there are always going to be trends in your industry that come and go. You can use digital marketing channels like social media and blogs to deliver relevant and useful content on these trends as they happen. This way, you can participate in the conversation in real-time and show your target consumers that you’re always up-to-date on the latest concerns in the industry. Doing this can help build brand loyalty and establish your business as a leader in your industry.
Digital marketing is designed to be quick and allow you to respond to trends rapidly. In contrast, it takes longer to develop, produce, and distribute traditional marketing materials. For example, if you need to quickly communicate something to your customers or leads, you can develop and publish blog or social media content within an hour or use SMS marketing to deliver the message right away.
7. Email Marketing Is Way More Technical Now
The knowledge of how to code emails so that they can be read on a variety of devices is crucial to creating engagement. The responsibility for this knowledge lies with your email service provider – but it is up to you to check.It is a good idea to use a tool like Litmus to make sure your emails will be seen the way you want them to be, on many different types of devices.
8. The Rules of Compliance Have Changed
Data security, privacy, and transparency are issues that are important to consumers, businesses, and governments. There have been a number of high-profile breaches, and there are now laws that affect marketers worldwide. This goes beyond GDPR to include changes related to Canada’s Anti-Spam Law (CASL), the FTC review of the 14-year-old CAN-SPAM laws, Net Neutrality, and data breaches.
General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Highlights
- GDPR will affect every company that uses personal data from EU citizens. If you collect email addresses from and send email to subscribers in the EU, you must comply with GDPR no matter where you’re based.
- GDPR has stricter regulations around consent and the use of personal data. It also carries higher-than-ever penalties for businesses that don’t play by the rules. Non-compliance can lead to fines of up to €20 million or four percent of a brand’s total global revenue—whichever is higher.
- Marketers who want to send email to EU citizens must review their email processes. Two options are creating separate sign-up processes for EU and non-EU subscribers and changing all opt-in practices to comply with GDPR.
It’s time for you to audit your own internal data, privacy policies, and practices. Make any updates to your policies and take any corrective action right away. (You’re sure to find some areas that need improvement.)
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