WHAT IS EMAIL MARKETING ?

Email marketing is the act of sending a commercial message, typically to a group of people, using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It usually involves using email to send advertisements, request business, or solicit sales or donations, and is meant to build loyalty, trust, or brand awareness. Marketing emails can be sent to a purchased lead list or a current customer database. The term usually refers to sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing a merchant's relationship with current or previous customers, encouraging customer loyalty and repeat business, acquiring new customers or convincing current

customers to purchase something immediately, and sharing third-party ads.

 

The incredible history of email marketing : -

In 1978when Gary Thuerk, a marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) sent out an email to 400 ARPANET users promoting some of DEC’s latest machines, he was hopeful about how his efforts would perform. When those emails resulted in $13,000,000 worth of equipment sales, however, presumably even he was taken at least a little by surprise.

    It is worth noting that Thuerk did receive several complaints from ARPANET users whowere none too impressed with his having used their precious network in this way.Throughout the 1970s and 80s,the potential for email marketing remained largelyuntapped, as widely available email platforms were not yet in existence.This all changed, however, in 1991 with the birth of the internet.

For the vast majority of early-1990s fledgling internet users, email was the most useful and practical tool that the internet had to offer, and functioned as an easy to use gateway into the wonders of the world wide webAs global email use quickly grew, the appeal of a medium on which to reach large number of consumers for almost no cost quickly became apparent. Direct B2C (business toconsumer) marketers, who had previously been required to focus their efforts on traditional mailandthetelephone (both of which were quite expensive in terms of materials, physical space, and man-hours), jumped in with both feet.And so began the age of spam.

Types of Effective Marketing Emails

There are two broad types of marketing emails that you’re going to send out: engagement emails and transactional. Simply put, engagement emails are more about storytelling, while transactional emails are directly related to making and closing a saleYou’ll quickly see from the examples that these two types aren’t mutually exclusive. In some cases, an engagement email might have a transactional element to it. Keep this in mind as you go through the different types of emails listed below 

Part 1. Engagement Emails

The goal of these emails is more for branding and storytelling, rather than directly making a sale. Their purpose is to keep subscribers interested and engaged with the brand, even when they aren’t in a buying mood. When they’re finally ready to buy or when your businesshas a special offer, subscribers will already have an active relationship with you even if they’ve never made a purchase before.You can be more creative with these emails. In some cases, adding extra visuals or embedding links to audio and video can work really well. These are the types of engagement emails you can use: 

1. Welcome Emails

Welcome emails are the first email your subscribers receive after they’veconfirmed theire mail address. Since this is their first interaction with your brand in their inbox, make it memorable and worth their while. After all, subscribers are highly likely to open and click welcome emails compared to other types of promotional emails, according to a study from Experian.

2. Tutorials and Tips Emails

You should also send instructive and educational emails that help subscribers in a way 

that’s relevant to your business. These usually come in the form of how-to tutorials and tips

. They can be simple or in-depth—depending on what your products do and what your subscriber needs.Instruction emails are a great way to familiarize your subscribers with your products or services. This can be especially useful when it’s unclear how your business can help them solve a problem or attain a goalTeaching them something new can also help them make quick positive changes in their lives that they can associate with your brand. For example, BeardBrand, which sells beard grooming products,sends a 5-day grooming tutorial to new subscribers. Each installment of the tutorial includes multiple videos. Some even include links and reviews to the products used in the video. In an example of mixing transactional elements to engagement emails, the 5-day tutorial ends with an offer of a free mustache comb to go with the subscriber’s first order.

3. Customer Stories

Customer stories are generated from interviewing or studying your customers. These stories could be about their success with your products or services, their personal stories, and tips to other customers like them. Their stories could also come in the form of pictures or video they’ve taken.Because these stories come from other customers, it builds a sense of community. Subscribers are able to identify with other buyers, sharing their interests and experiences. 

Udemy, an online learning marketplace, saw a 35-percent increase in content engagement when they started sharing customer stories on their blog. Apply this concept to your email campaigns, and subscribers will be looking forward to your future emails and keep opening them. An example of this is Huckberry’s “The Rundown” email series. Sent a few times a month, “The Rundown” includes customer or employee interviews, Huckberry’s latest products, and user-generated photos of the ou

4. Brand Stories

Unlike customer stories which talk about your brand from your customers’ perspective, brand stories comefrom you or your team. This works best if there’s a compelling personal story behind your brand. This will give your subscribers ways to identify with your brand. Your brand’s stories can have other positive effects as well. A study published in the Journal of Brand Management found that customers who are exposed to a brand’s stories were more likely to describe the brand positively and pay more for their products.Whipping Post, a leatherworks company, tells the origin story of their business in the welcome email.The founder writes about the first product he made and why, giving the reader an idea about the intent behind their products.

5. Re-engagement Emails

  

It’s possible that some of your subscribers will not be as engaged as others. This could be because their level of interest was low to begin with, it’s been a while since your last update, or they’re just not that interested in your emails. Whatever the reason, it’s important to encouragethem to reengage with your brand.A Return Path study of re-engagement campaigns found that around 12-percent of those receiving re-engagement emails read them. If these numbers seem small to you compared to the other types of emails on this list, consider that re-engagement campaigns are meant to win back customers that are inactive or uninterested. Getting 12-percent of these customers engaging with your brand again is no small feat.

10 benefits of email marketing 

1. Unrivalled return on investment

2. Instant impact

3. Reach a global audience

4. Easy to share

5. Easy to measure

6. Easy to get started

7. Drive revenue

8. Deliver targeted messages

9. Reach an already engaged audience

10. Low costs

 importance of email marketing

Email marketing is important for building relationships with prospects, leads, current customers, and even past customers because it gives you a chance to speak directly to them, in their inbox, at a time that is convenient for them. Be friendly and personable.