In the world of modern business, some consider email marketing a fossil.
And it’s true in a way. By today’s standards, email marketing is old. But then even the internet itself is getting on a bit.
The momentum of new technology production conditions us to believe anything old is outdated and unfit for purpose. And even if you think email marketing is still important, is it worth putting time or money into it if other people don’t?
What’s the point if we’re all hooked on the next new thing? Email isn’t sparkly and new like TikTok and Instagram.
Well, I’ll tell you.
Email isn’t sat in a graveyard like AOL, or Tiscali (remember them?). It’s here to stay, and any business worth its salt should be adopting email marketing as part of its marketing strategy because it’s one of the best ways to make sales.
Here are five myths bust wide open to explain why.
Myth 1 - Email Marketing Is Dead
The idea that anything old-fashioned is worthless is simply not true.
Take The Beatles, for instance.
Email marketing is still a living, breathing, brilliant part of successful marketing strategy, because email is the number one communication tool in business.
Email marketing is:
- Cost effective, bringing in £36 for every £1 spent
- Affordable, costing as little as £10 a month (do your research on software, more on that below)
- Easy to do
What’s more, as all the magpies flock to using shiny Facebook Ads and TikTok accounts, fewer businesses are using email marketing.
The big noisy market just got smaller. There’s an increased opportunity to get your voice heard.
Myth 2 - Email Only Works For Some Businesses
The scope of email marketing is vast. Different strategies will suit different companies, but it works because everyone reads emails.
- Looking for ways to connect with your leads?
- Want to build a relationship with your client base?
- Use email as a form of communication, internally and externally?
Then you should be using email marketing.
Coaches and speakers in particular can benefit massively from it because a substantial part of what we do is nurture and educate our client bases. It’s that simple.
Myth 3 - People Hate Email Marketing
Not quite true.
We hate being bombarded, and we hate being constantly sold to. If all you ever do is pitch your new thing and ask them to buy it, you’ll be rejected.
Good email marketing should nurture your client base and provide value to them. If the content you pump out to your list is interesting and engaging to the reader, it will be embraced.
Myth 4 - Email Marketing Is Expensive
There is no need to go beyond your means. Successful email marketing can be achieved very cheaply.
Functional email marketing software ranges from completely free to hundreds of pounds per month. I’ve written about it in more depth here. Ask yourself:
- What do you need your software to do?
- What do you want to spend?
- How easy does it need to be to use?
And remember, outsourcing can be surprisingly affordable. (I can help with that too…)
Myth 5 - Unsubscribes Are Bad
Ouch. It can feel pretty awful, can’t it?
It can be gutting to see your list numbers go down, but try not to take it personally.
Those people were never going to become clients.
You want the people you’re contacting to be engaged and interested. If they aren’t, they’re not going to buy from you.
A steady trickle of unsubscribes is normal, and a self-cleaning list is both healthy and less work for you!
That said, a spike in people opting out is not, and more investigation might be necessary. See if you can map it to any big changes you’ve made recently and edit appropriately.
Email isn't buried yet.
And it’s not going anywhere fast.
Email is still a key part of the way we communicate in both our personal and business lives. Using email in marketing is a highly profitable, highly converting strategy and you should be using it in your business.
There will always be a new trend, a new programme or a new platform, and that’s exciting. But email marketing is steady and reliable because everyone is using it on a daily basis.
It does the job and it does it well.
Want to improve your marketing efforts and boost your sales? Book a call with Nathan, he can help.
