Is Email Marketing Over?

How many emails would you say you get a day? How often do you spend deleting or unsubscribing from emails you used to welcome?

Not including this one, of course. That would be awkward… but we get it. We ALL get it. B2B and B2C marketing is hard. And you, like us, are trying to stand out among the crowded inboxes. So, what to do?

You Need To Get Your Message Out There

It’s a game we have to play if we want to stay top of mind for both clients and consumers. After all, if you’re not handing out flyers, holding conferences, throwing up billboards, producing commercials, or getting that sweet, sweet word of mouth (which you should do), then it’s your best bet.

Sms Marketing – Also Known as Text Messages

With the majority of consumers okay with receiving SMS messages from brands (post-opt-in), text messaging is a fast-moving way of directly engaging with users. Let’s be honest; you can’t really ask for a more captive audience. Not to mention – according to the same stat collection by TechJury – text messages have a near 100% open rate AND are read within 3 minutes.

So, how do you leverage these kinds of metrics? How do you ensure these numbers are the same for any outreach you perform?

First, we hope you asked your customers to opt-in to SMS messages. You know, the ones with the “carrier data rates and message fees will still apply” notice. This is pretty essential if you want to reach your audience where they’re already spending 90% of their time – their phones.

If you haven’t asked to send texts to your audience, now’s as good a time as any to send them an email asking for their permission to do so. Just make sure there’s an incentive for them. An exclusive offer for text users, 5% off their next purchase with a unique code, etc.

Oh, and make sure you don’t send them too much – and say as much to them. Let them know they won’t have to deal with business marketing via text every day. When in doubt, think about how you’d handle a daily text from a company trying to sell you on something.

Don’t worry, there are PLENTY of marketing tools out there designed to assist SMS efforts.

If you’re a small to medium-sized business, there are options to reach users via SMS while also contacting the same group via email, voice, and more. Others work by charging per text message sent. So, you’ll really want to get your budget in order and decide whether the cost per message doesn’t outweigh the potential sale or top-of-mind announcement. Because, while texts are opened at a high rate, sometimes that’s simply to text STOP and opt-out.

Much of the SMS marketing software out there is designed for large outreach; we’re talking millions of messages simultaneously. Plus, many utilize automated messaging so there never needs to be a live human on the other end… saving you some staff hours and headaches.

Direct Mail – Also Known As The Last Physical Marketing Stronghold 

Find creative ways to use direct mail. Someone still has to pick up the mail and it will probably be someone with direct access to a decision-maker. 

Make it Stand Out.

That classic stack of white or manila envelopes just won’t cut it. Neither will those fake warning stamps that always try to get us to extend our non-existent auto warranties. So, you’ll need to get inventive.

Bright colors, unique die-cuts, textured fonts, and paper, etc. Mix it up. Make sure that your mailer can’t get slid between the latest bill and cell phone flyer. Getting the receiver to simply acknowledge the words on your parcel is half the battle, so make it count.

Yes, Emails – Also Known as a Necessary Evil

This brings us back to the crux of this content here. Is email marketing overkill these days? The short answer is no. Of course not. But it’s worth investigating how best to stand out amongst EVERY SINGLE BUSINESS emailing outreach in quantities beyond reasonable consumption.

Don’t Just Sell Us on What You’ve Always Done.

If you’re not offering actual change, then it’s going to be crystal clear to your consumers. Plus, we already get these emails from you, so dressing it up as some sort of important announcement just comes off as false – let alone a bit of a bait and switch.

At The Very Least, Acknowledge How You Can Help.

There’s nothing wrong with reminding your subscribers about all the ways in which you can serve them with your product throughout their normal day-to-day. But make it resonate.

Have a running shoe? Great, people need to go exercising.

Sell financial software? Perfect, finances are always important.

Need to move some hats? Fine, people are showing up on video clips all over TikTok and the like. And odds are, they’re probably not dressing up and combing their hair to hang around the house, so throwing on a hat for their viewers is quite important.

See? Just get creative and let your product do what it does best.

Know When to Pivot.

These days, everyone has a gimmick. And that’s not a bad thing. National parks offer virtual tours of their parks so people can see the world outside their front windows. They then supplement this with educational offers, pre-sales for next year’s visits, discounts on books about their parks, and more.

Bands are running fundraisers via live streams and focus efforts on merchandise sales. YouTube allows you to monetize your videos and this is a great way for anyone to do so.

It seems like every food establishment now offers pickup and delivery. You, like us, have probably already utilized this new business model a time or two or three this week.

No matter how you choose to pivot, there is no silver bullet. It’s just a matter of finding the avenue that your audience is most keen on using. This will happen via A/B testing, consistent outreach, unique messaging, and out-of-the-box ideas. However, SMS and email are still your best bet for quick engagement, while direct mail is a bit of a dark horse should you have the capacity.