Economics of Email Marketing
by Audrey Howes
The economic climate today might lead you to wonder if email marketing is truly still worth the time and expense. We’ve been doing a little research and have some insight for you on the economics of email marketing.
1. Opportunity Cost
The Direct Marketing Association shows an ROI of $40.56 for every $1 invested in 2011. They project that the figure will drop to $39.40 this year, when email will account for $67.8 billion in sales (source). Email marketing proves itself year after year with incredible returns on investment. If email marketing has been on the chopping block for your organization, we suggest you rethink your budget allocation or risk missing out on your cut of this year’s $67.8 billion pie. If you need some help calculating your ROI, check out this ROI calculator from Bplans.
2. Law of Demand
Email is the preferred method of commercial communication by 74 percent of all online adults according to a study done by Merkle (source). A survey conducted by Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council and Lithium discovered that 65 percent of consumers send an email when they want to communicate with a brand (source). This fell above website forms and customer service calls. Your customers want to hear from you via email and they want to talk to you via email. In study after study, consumers reveal that basic fact. If they want email, give them email.
3. Law of Supply
68% of small businesses surveyed in mid-2011 by Pitney Bowes listed email as their preferred marketing channel (source). 60 percent of business leaders plan to increase their email marketing budget this year according to a survey conducted by StrongMail and Zoomerang (source). Your competitors have listened to the people, are increasing their email marketing budgets, and are delivering emails to their inboxes. Now is not the time to abandon the email marketing ship.
4. Long Term Economic Growth
Email marketing is experiencing a tremendous amount of growth. A recent report from Epsilon found that email volumes increased 41 percent in the last quarter of 2011. Some of this can be attributed to holiday mailing, but the growth was still quite significant
(source). In their 2010 Digital Marketing Fact Book, MarketingProfs reported that email has been used by nearly 90 percent of consumers since 2005 (source). Email is the main channel of communication for a majority of consumers therefore we should be using email to reach our customer bases.
5. Investment Return Potential
Other marketing mediums such as direct mail simply can’t become part of our mobile and social world. When was the last time you carried a postcard with you to work, took a picture of it, and shared it with your social networks? Email marketing easily breaks the traditional marketing barriers and goes far beyond the walls of an inbox. By using Social Sharing within email campaigns, emails can quickly become part of social network conversations. Recipients can check their emails on the go with their mobile devices. In fact, 27% of all emails being opened on mobile devices according to Knotice (source). Email marketing is central to current and future marketing efforts as social and mobile marketing continue their steady climb.
The state of the email marketing economy is excellent. The bottom line is email marketing works. It has been proven time and again and will continue to be proven effective. Email Marketing Reports says email marketing works because:
- It allows targeting
- It is data driven
- It drives direct sales
- It builds relationships, loyalty and trust
- It supports sales through other channels
(source)
Now is not the time to pull out of the email marketing economy. Now is the time to invest and invest big.
