Email marketing is dead. The very words no email marketer ever wants to hear.
Especially when standing on stage, representing the email marketing industry in front of an audience of hundreds of business owners.
It was 2017 – pre-pandemic. Back when we could go to live events, with live audiences and host interactive Q&As. I’d been asked to take a seat on the panel as the email marketing expert.
The format for the day was pretty cool.
The audience were asked to write their questions on a post-it note throughout the day and stick it to a big whiteboard. When it came to Q&A time the event host would pluck a post-it off the board and give the question to the panel expert that seemed most suited to answer.
We were 5 or 6 questions in when the host picked a post-it with a simple sentence – ’email marketing is dead’.
While it’s not quite a question – more of an antagonistic statement – the host handed it over to me to address.
I took a breath and launched into my well-honed explanation of why email marketing is very much alive and kicking.
You see, this wasn’t the first time I’d heard that statement. As an email marketer, it’s actually one we hear pretty regularly. But the thing is, the people making these bold, blanket statements about email marketing being dead are never email marketers themselves…
Why not? Because email marketers know it’s a lie.
Email marketing is very much alive - and doing incredibly well.
Despite the rumours, social media and paid ads haven’t resulted in the death of email marketing – they’ve added another string to an email marketer’s list-building bow. Email marketing has continued to go from strength to strength – making millions for those who learn to master it fully.
In the last year alone, email marketing results have skyrocketed. Marketers are seeing more engagement and better conversions than ever before.
Recent research shows:
- Email marketing brings an average return of £35 for every £1 spent - that’s an incredible 3400% ROI.
- During the pandemic, most email marketers saw a 23% uplift in conversions from email marketing, compared to previous years.
- Email marketing is the most effective way to reach large volumes of people with minimal time input.
- Email is 40% better at converting sales than Facebook or Twitter.
In short, email marketing works.
So back to the post-it…
The man who wrote it – let’s call him Tom – was invited onto the stage and asked to expand on his question a little more. And what we discovered was quite brilliant.
It turned out that the statement “email marketing is dead” wasn’t a question Tom had plucked out of thin air. It was actually an email subject line that he’d seen from a company selling Facebook messenger bots.
How's that for irony?
The bot company was using email marketing to spread the message that email marketing is dead and pitch their bot. Hilarious!
Anyway, by the end of my well-rehearsed response, all was well in the world. The audience – and Tom – all understood the merits of email marketing and the huge benefits it still has to offer small businesses.
So, if you’re thinking of incorporating email marketing into your business – it’s well and truly alive and kicking.
Still not sold? Check out my previous blog post here to discover the hidden goldmine in your list – and what email marketing can do for your business.
