“Your email marketing campaigns should be part of a holistic approach to educate your contacts”

                                                                 -  Magdalene Georgieva, Hubspot

Over the years Email Marketing has proven to be a channel that creates marketing impact. These days, more and more organizations are looking to connect email data to other channels and systems.

Email Marketing refers to establishing direct communication with the potential consumer to either educate or for promotional purposes. The potential of using email has revolutionized how companies perceive long-form communication with consumers. Let’s take a look at the history of Email Marketing.

  Source: History of Email Marketing (adapted from Brafton)

Emails are mostly sent keeping three objectives in mind –

1. To increase business by enhancing consumer loyalty through frequent communication.
2. Encouraging service subscription or product purchases by advertising new offers and promos.
3. To introduce new consumers to the scope of the brand’s offerings.

With about 78% people actively using their smartphones to sift through emails, even famous service providers like Gmail have enabled the bifurcation of emails into a promotional category. With such acceptance, it seems raffish not to include email marketing in a brand’s holistic MarTech plan.

Email Marketing for manufacturers when coupled with these 7 digital marketing strategies, allows one to build a holistic marketing strategy. About 2,735 companies were asked to contribute to the MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Benchmark. They enlisted the following points vital to the overall email marketing plan

 Source: An Introduction to Email Marketing by Georgieva Magdalena

There are a number of advantages to email as a marketing channel and its importance. 

Sizeable ROI

Most marketers and brands have been struggling to convert their investments into profits. It doesn’t always happen on other social media platforms wherein the interaction of consumer and brand is. A single photo appearing on Instagram or Facebook feed can be scrolled without substantial engagement unless the content is supremely impactful or interesting.

Also, different social media channels come with various distractions. Combine the same with the degree of control users enjoy over what appears on their feed, and your content’s organic growth decreases even further. However, emails are still considered to be a serious form of communication. Any user accesses their emails keeping in mind that the intent of this conversation holds certain gravity. Hence, it is seen that email marketing always generates an action by the consumer.

The Direct Marketing Association has stated that email marketing is able to garner 92% of the investment made which far exceeds any other marketing channel. Hence, it is advisable for all manufacturers to implement an email marketing strategy. It can be used to introduce consumers to new products. Also, emails are an effective medium to share your updated catalog as well as inform consumers about any offers running.

Conveys meaningful information

It is impertinent for a manufacturer to make sense to their consumers. Once you are able to drill down your point effectually, the consumers’ reaction would also be more meaningful as well as direct. Email Marketing for manufacturers provides the awesome opportunity to convey the entire information.

The products and the brand itself are perceived as more than just a bundle of catchphrases. Possibly the best part, the consumer isn’t redirected to some other page to find information. Every essential detail is present right in the content of the mail making it more likely for the consumer to click on the CTA and perform the desirable action.

Also, the email curator can easily customize the content and add additional details regarding offers and discounts to attract the reader. Essentially, the consumer gains a meaningful perspective of the brand hence one should continue to send relevant emails to the targeted audiences periodically. Steering clear of spam emails with gimmicky content can work wonders for the campaign as well.

Also Read: Top Industry 4.0 trends in manufacturing industry

Efficient method

With respect to marketing, an opportune timing could contribute to the brand in more ways than one. Email Marketing for manufacturers provides the option to time the email in an optimized way. A simple CTA at the bottom of the email informing about an ongoing promotion can directly lead to huge share of earnings for the brand. The crisp and concise method of making a point across and providing a simple way to facilitate an action makes it possible to add to the brand’s earnings in a substantial way. With social media, it is difficult to ensure a direct customer and convert clicks into sales this quickly.

Easy measurability

It is extremely easy to measure the emails sent as well as the ones that have been opened. The number of emails sent can be carefully monitored and optimized. This helps devise a better strategy for the future to make sure that the campaign leads to a desirable result. The overall campaign can be measured easily and effectually. Amplifying the campaign also becomes easier.

Adaptable & inexpensive 

Email Marketing is one of the few marketing strategies that can be easily adapted and implemented irrespective of the objective of the business. It is easy to incorporate any marketing plan into emails without any extra cost. Lately, this trend has taken quite the forefront wherein a number of emails are sent on different topics as the cost required to send an email is next to nothing. Thus, emails prove to be a hassle-free indirect earning source for manufacturers.

Global reach

An email can reach any part of the world. With digital disruption, it has become possible for a brand based out of Japan to reach a potential audience all the way to Hawaii or Spain. Email Marketing for manufacturers can bypass the limitation of geography-based marketing techniques and bring the entire world to a singular platform. At the same time, manufacturers hold in their hands the capability to customize the email as per the locale. Hence, tapping into the potential market becomes easier.

Manufacturers can opt for email marketing as it is a targeted marketing method with lesser requirement of investments and a higher volume of positive results. This point can be best understood via a comparison between various marketing channels and platforms.

Reference: Permission to Pester by Rettie Ruth

Email Marketing also boosts of a higher response rate as per statistics and the returns are $44.25 for every $1 spent. 

To ensure a proper email marketing strategy is in place, take a look at the below:

1. Define a goal that needs to be focused on via the marketing effort. The strategy needs to have a proper outline of the expected results as well as a flow chart of the topics that shall be included at various points of the campaign.
   
   
2. Collate an ethically sourced database of consumers interested in receiving mail. One trusted way for the same would be to request the website visitors to subscribe to periodic newsletters and emails. Also, it must be stated that the subscribers would also be receiving tips and updates on a regular basis thus preparing them for the content that shall be available to them.
   
   
3. Project the content in a subtle and organized way making sure the tone doesn’t come off to be as a hard sell. The subject line must also be able to deliver the gist of the content without being too long. Including catalogs and updates about sales, new products, and exclusive packages would make it easy to redirect potential customers to the website and make sure a purchase happens. 
   
   The content of the emails can be spun to narrate a story. However, it shouldn’t be too long and must have an attractive layout. This can be done by adding easily loading graphics and images to the email. Not to forget, adding a Call-to-Action shall make it easier for potential customers to make up their minds.
   
   
4. After hitting the “Send” button, the emails must also be tracked to understand the direction in which the campaign is going. Ideally, the email marketing campaign should have a scope of change in course to make sure it still keeps being organic while also attracting consumers.

Must Read: Anatomy of Successful Email Nurture Campaign 

There are also a number of platforms available for Small and Medium Enterprises to implement a campaign successfully, Constant Contact, Drip, HubSpot, and Quest Back to name a few. They work on the given simple process and thus provide affordable services.

Source: Email Marketing SuccessFactors by Rettie Ruth and Chittenden Lisa

Conclusion 

Email Marketing for manufacturers is, undoubtedly, a highly impactful method of reaching out and creating an identity for the brand. Being cost-effective, it doesn’t burn a hole in the pockets of the campaigner. After having put efforts into researching a product, developing it, and making it available, it is essential to create a buzz in the market as well. And Email Marketing is a competent way to achieve the same.

As an award-winning digital marketing agency, Fractional CMO can be your trusted partner to implement email marketing and generate more leads for your organization.