What is email marketing?
Email marketing is a very powerful tool of any marketing strategy, it allows you to target specific, highly engaged users with tailored communications. By using direct email marketing, you can improve customer acquisition, engagement, and retention, as well as achieve better results for business offers and marketing campaigns.
While the benefits are clear—as are the steps you need to take—the confusion around email marketing remains.
Email marketing is an umbrella term that covers many different types of customer communication, each with its own best practices and the right time to send. Here are three common approaches.
1) Email marketing automation
2) Email newsletters
3) Email blasts
Email Marketing Automation
Email marketing automation is a strategy that’s quickly becoming a requirement for both small businesses and major corporations. Email marketing automation works by allowing marketers to schedule emails to go out at certain times, based on customer behaviors (such as opening an email or visiting a website).
Email marketing automation software can be used in tandem with your existing CRM or e-commerce systems to set triggers, like “send this email if a predefined action occurs.” Email marketing automation is ideal for nurturing leads, promoting new products or features, and providing customer service.
Email Newsletters
Email newsletters are typically one-way information you send to your customers regularly, often featuring news about company announcements like product updates or changes to your website.
Email newsletters are not marketing campaigns, but rather periodic communication. Email newsletters are typically sent to larger audiences to keep customers engaged and informed while building brand awareness. Email newsletters can be sent on a schedule or in response to certain customer behaviours, like visiting specific pages on your site or requesting support from your team.
Email Blasts
Email blasts (or automated email blasts) are typically used for one-time campaigns to promote a specific customer or user event.
Email blasts can be sent simultaneously and broadcast to hundreds, thousands, or even millions of customers at once.
Email blasts are typically the most expensive type of email marketing as they reach such a large audience. Email blasts should be sent to limited segments of targeted customers. Email blasts should not be used for ongoing campaigns, but rather one-off events or offers. Email blasts are a great way to promote new product releases, announce webinars, discounts on services, and more.
Using direct email marketing is a simple way to get the attention of your target audience and increase your ROI. Email marketing automation software makes it possible to scale email campaigns, making them a low-cost way to engage with customers regularly. Email blasts make it easy to engage with large audiences at the right time, while always getting their attention with well-timed emails that speak directly to their needs or interests. Email newsletters keep your customers engaged and informed about upcoming offers and events, but also help you build brand awareness. Email marketing can be used in a variety of different ways to drive results for any organization.
