Who Said Email Marketing Was Dead? Stop saying RIP to EDM.
Is [insert medium] dead?
It’s a common talking point in the marketing industry. People love to question whether advancements in digital media, from social networks to AI, are causing traditional mediums to become irrelevant. Of particular interest is email (EDM) marketing.
While people are embracing new online communication tools, studies prove that consumers are still engaging with email marketing — and in a big way. In fact, there are more people using email than using social media and four in five consumers prefer email over any form of communication.
According to recent studies:
99% of email users are checking their email daily
59% of people say that email marketing affects purchasing decisions
Professional marketers have found a 760% increase in revenue from building email lists and using email campaigns
4 out of 5 marketers said they’d rather give up social media than email marketing
The Data & Marketing Association (DMA) also reports that for every $1 spent on email marketing, the average Return on Investment (ROI) is a staggering $42. That outperforms any other digital marketing channel.
So the figures speak for themselves: email is alive and well. Here’s why.
The power of segmentation
People don’t give email enough credit — it’s far smarter now than it used to be. There was a time when you could only send mass emails to entire mailing lists. Now with the help of AI and email marketing software, it’s possible to divide your audience into smaller, targeted groups based on demographics, behaviours, and preferences. Studies show that personalised, targeted messaging is keeping email relevant and having a measurable impact on ROI and revenue — 5.7 times better than non-personalised emails, in fact.
People like EDM more than social media
Email is 40 times more effective for acquiring new customers than either Facebook or Twitter.
According to Campaign Monitor, this could be because a brand is six times more likely to get click-throughs from an email campaign than you are from a tweet. Or maybe it’s because a message is five times more likely to be seen in an email than in a Facebook post. Or, it could be because 72% of consumers (as surveyed by MarketingSherpa) prefer to receive promotional content through email compared to only 17% who prefer social media. The list goes on.
When it comes to sales, there are reports that email marketing drives more conversions (66%) than any other channel, including social media, search engines, and direct (snail) mail.
Email is a cultural icon
Intuit Mailchimp, one of the most popular email marketing platforms, addressed chatter about the downfall of email marketing head on with a recent exhibition at the Design Museum in London. Titled Email Is Dead, the interactive exhibit served as a life-sized reminder of how ubiquitous and indispensable email is to our culture, relationships, and economies. In this showcase, email became an icon. It was celebrated as one of the greatest inventions of the digital era — and left room for wild imaginings of the medium’s future.
So, there will be no funeral. Far from being dead, email marketing is thriving. As we navigate the future of marketing, it's clear that emails play a huge role in the digital ecosystem. The next time someone insists that email marketing is out, remind them that the studies tell a different story — one of enduring relevance.
Need someone to run and manage your email marketing campaigns? Get in touch with Lure.