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APRIL 2017
|
THINK
W
hile many businesses
today are guilty of chasing
the latest digital marketing craze,
good old email marketing still
wins hands down when it comes
to return on investment.
“Email is still the most direct
way to get to most buyers,
especially when it comes from
a known, trusted source,” says
Gene Geiger, MAS+, CEO at
distributor Geiger. “We use
a weekly ‘Click Marketing’
program, where our customers
get offers, and idea and trend
information from our sales
partners’ email addresses.
“We can see open rates and
resulting orders, allowing us
to get a good feel for ROI,” he
adds. “It is vital to have a social
media effort as well because
that is where so many people
live. But it serves a different
purpose, and the ROI is much
less measurable.”
Tiffany Price, vice president,
marketing at distributor
Boundless, says, “When it
comes to email, it is still one of
the strongest channels and can
be a great way to drive more
urgency and immediate benefit.
It can also serve more of a direct
sales role and push products
and promotions, which can
sometimes be frowned upon in
social channels where content
marketing is expected.”
Indeed, a 2016 study released
by marketing consulting
firm Clutch found that email
marketing still has the highest
ROI of any marketing channel.
Eighty-three percent of the
companies Clutch surveyed said
they are using e-newsletters to
make new sales, and more than
70 percent were using stand-
alone emails and follow-up
emails to nurture nibbles of
interest from customers.
A similar study released last
year by email marketing firm
Campaign Monitor found that
businesses can look forward to a
$38 return for every dollar they
invest in email marketing.
And Henry Hyder-Smith, CEO
at Adestra, an email marketing
service provider and consultancy,
confirmed the trend yet again in a
study his company conductedwith
Econsultancy.Those researchers
found that 73 percent of 1,100
marketers interviewed said email
was their No. 1marketing channel
in terms of ROI.
Hyder-Smith says the study
It’s still the killer
app to beat for
promotional
products
businesses.
by
Joe Dysart
Why Email
Marketing Outperforms