Is email marketing an effective marketing method?

I have read many times in the past that email marketing is the best way to attract Internet users to your site, in order for them to become your customers, buy your products and services, support your cause, further boost your online image and profile, etc.

Research conducted by online marketing experts has shown that email marketing has the potential to achieve the highest click-through and conversion rate among all types of online marketing, such as social media marketing, content marketing, and search engine marketing. As a result, email marketing campaigns can lead to high engagement levels, before and/or after the purchase of a product or service.

When email marketing can fail

Personally, I would like to slightly disagree with this view, or to be more precise, modify it a bit. Because, no matter what type of online marketing a marketer may use, I believe that it is not the technique or method itself that produces the results.

Although a specific marketing method could offer an innovative way to approach and entice consumers, once the surprise and innovation element wears off, the effectiveness of the method diminishes in the long run, and marketers have to look for new methods.

Therefore, other aspects should also be taken into account, when trying to determine the factors that either “make or break it”, when it comes to online marketing techniques and methods.

These factors could (and should) be based on the adoption and implementation of a personal, human-oriented approach, and this approach should permeate the marketing message.

Every call to action should be written with humans in mind, rather than automated processes and procedures, techniques, methods, and statistical data, and as a result, the language used should be carefully chosen, in order to reflect the reader’s actual interests, and most importantly, be as honest as possible.

The role of an honest approach in successful email marketing (and in any type of marketing)

Honesty can never be boring. Whether marketing takes place online or offline, it should not be limited to posting the “same old” phrases that rarely match up with reality, which will inevitably lead to disappointed, and finally, indifferent, readers.

In this way, no matter how colorful the call-to-action offer is – which you send through an email message – it will be a total waste of time.

In my view, the technique itself that is used in the implementation of a particular online or offline marketing method plays a role only in the first few years that this method is applied. After that, in order for a marketing approach (in this case, email marketing) to be successful in the long run, more subjective and human-oriented factors should be taken into consideration, which generally pertain to human nature and behavior.

Caring for your niche market through email marketing

One such factor could be to try to focus on a niche market. A niche market, even a small one, can make you a living in the long run, and with much less competition to deal with. However, you need to take good care of that niche market, and this can be done by making yourself a priority to serve the individual needs of the small group of consumers and prospective customers that comprise it.

In other words, don’t try to fool customers by making false promises to them, so that you can become rich overnight. Instead, try to build a steady customer base in the long run.

In this way, although you won’t get rich quick, you will increase your chances of enjoying a safe and hassle-free financial future, without having to maximize your effort, but rather by working at a regular pace over time.

Sources and further reading:

Survey emails: How to grab your customer’s attention

Email marketing strategy and tips for successful campaigns

A beginner’s guide to successful email marketing

Email Marketing: Still The Most Powerful Tool To Take Your Business To The Next Level

Is Email Marketing Still an Effective Strategy?