By Sarah Lamb, James Madison University
The number of e-mails I get from various companies throughout the day that try to entice me to buy something from their website is insane!
Does this type of marketing even work anymore? This question lead to me to an article on Forbes.com that states that e-mail is the number one activity that people do on their smart phones. Obviously there is something to be said for the companies that send you an email or even multiple emails a day. Something must be working, right?
E-mail is a marketing tool that is solely permission based, so in order for someone to receive your emails they must opt in. This is an example of Karma Marketing, which is a term that describes marketing to only individuals that are in your target market and who also actively engage your e-mail, website, and products. According to Launchbit.com this is the new trend in email marketing. Companies must create email messages that are relevant to their target market, which in turn will decrease the money being spent on people who haven’t checked their email in a long time or people who are not really interested in what your company has to offer. Targeting email messages create a base of people who use the company’s product or at least have some interest in the company. Segmenting the emails to target certain audiences also increases the chance that the e-mail you send will interest the recipient.
Because e-mail is so frequently checked on cellphones, companies must create emails that are compatible with the cellphone restrictions, and this can be as simple as an update of the HTML code that allows for a mobile friendly font size that allows you to not have to zoom in or out to properly read the email. Making an email mobile-friendly allows a person to open the email and see it similarly as if they were seeing it on a computer.
In order for an e-mail to be effective it must present the reader with a deal that is enticing enough to get them to click through to your webpage. Companies that do e-mail marketing well include retail clothing stores such as Express and American Eagle Outfitters, who send out frequent e-mails featuring their current styles as well as an offer for a percentage off of your next visit.
Now, how do companies acquire email addresses? The most effective way for a company to grow their email list is to offer an incentive for giving out their personal information, such as a discount off of their next purchase. This increases the database of e-mail addresses for the company and gives the customer instant savings! I know for a fact that many companies have gotten my email address just from giving me a percentage off of my next purchase and now I am a loyal customer to their products and take advantage of the offers that are sent to me via e-mail.
E-mail marketing works.
Sources:
Devaney, Tim, and Tom Stein. “Why Email Is Still More Effective Than Social Media Marketing.” Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 01 Oct. 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2013.
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Sarah Lamb is a Junior at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, VA. She is a Marketing major with a minor in Human Resource Development. Currently interning on the campus of JMU with Aramark as a marketing intern for dining services and has also completed an internship with The Campus Special LLC. during the Summer of 2013.