WOW #027: Is Email Your Marketing MVP?

Quote of the Week:
“I see email being used, by and large, exactly the way I envisioned. In particular, it's not strictly a work tool or strictly a personal thing. Everybody uses it in different ways, but they use it in a way they find works for them.”
- Ray Tomlinson

After earning his Masters at MIT, Ray Tomlinson was employed at BBN Technologies when he invented and sent the first email. 

“Don’t tell anyone! This isn’t what we’re supposed to be working on.” he said to a colleague. 

It was 1971.

Today, billions of emails are sent everyday, and Ray likely had no idea what his side project/work distraction would ultimately become.

What are you trying to achieve with your current email marketing strategy?

• Lead nurturing?
• Brand awareness?
• Up selling and cross selling?
• Increased ROI?

In our binary world of “nice to haves” and “need to haves,” I’d say email marketing is a definite need to have:

It's cost-effective.
It's highly measurable.
It’s versatile and experimental.
It can achieve all the aforementioned goals (and more).

Whether it's a flash sale, a drip campaign, or a newsletter, the opportunity to connect with customers in a personalized, 1-to-1 format is priceless.

• 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers.*
• The average ROI is $36 in revenue for $1 spent.*
• Most shoppers (including Gen Z & Millennials) prefer communication through email vs. social media.

At 53, email is the golden-aged, senior citizen amongst the younger, whipper-snappers in your digital marketing toolkit.

Ignore it at your own peril. 

2 Takeaways:
1. Stay In Your Lane. The Marketing Highway is traffic-choked and getting worse. Your loyal subscribers opted in for a reason. 38% of Marketers use AI to write emails, (according to Hubspot)*. I’ve got no beef with AI, but the most engaging and powerful narrative, message, and sales will always come directly from you. Your subscribers are on a journey with you and value your content. They won't leave unless you veer off course or give them reasons to jump ship.

2. Email Subscribers > Followers, Fans, Likes. Social and Paid Media subject Marketers to ever-changing digital platforms, rules, and algorithms in ways that email doesn’t. Unless your CRM implodes or you accidentally delete all your contacts, you’ll always have actual prospects of real people with active emails.

1 Action:

A good Call-to-Action is your best friend in Email Marketing. Offering a short Video or Phone meeting with prospects can go a long way for future business.

While every business is different, (depending on what you’re selling): short, complimentary, discovery calls through ZCal or Cal.com is an easy way to get in front of prospects and test buying intent. Setting up a few open blocks on your calendar to do this is time well spent. 

Please share this issue with others and I’ll see you next week. Happy Valentine’s Day!

Hubert
*Statistics cited from Hubspot