A reader shared an interesting observation with me.
She told me she had “found out the hard way that email marketing doesn’t work“.
She asked me for my thoughts on why email is so ineffective. I said I’d share them here, as I’m sure some of you will find it useful.
Email marketing works
Email marketing works. In fact, email marketing works extremely well.
Just ask any business owner who’s using it correctly. Whether it’s used for newsletters or promotions, the return on investment is off the charts.
Email marketing also works more predictably than just about any other form of marketing. And the tiny financial investment required for email marketing makes it the most cost effective form of marketing out there.
When email marketing doesn’t work
What doesn’t work is ineffective email marketing. Just ask anyone who’s doing it incorrectly. Here’s the thing: ineffective email marketing can’t work.
Here are just a few, very common examples of how small business owners get email marketing wrong.
- A poorly written email won’t work. It will fail to motivate the reader to take action; to call you, email you, visit your website, make a purchase from you, whatever.
- A professionally written email, sent to the wrong people, won’t work. It will fail to reach those with a want or need for your services.
- A well written email, sent to the right people, with a dull subject line, won’t work. That’s because no one will open it. The subject line has to be compelling or no matter what your message is, it will literally be ignored.
- A well written email, sent to the right people, with a compelling subject line, offering a generic product or service, won’t work. No one wants to switch to a service that’s no better then their current service.
You get the idea.
In short, before you reject any form of marketing as ineffective, make sure you’re using it correctly. Email marketing does work. And it will work for you and your business when you do it correctly