Email Marketing is Still the Most Effective Way to Reach Qualified Leads

Email still trumps social media for customer acquisition—nearly 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined, according to McKinsey & Co. Meanwhile, Forrester Research states that for every dollar spent on email marketing, the average return is over $44. The return is measurable but email is also the most abused medium by marketers.

In this webinar, Andrea McEwen Henderson, hosts Nicolette Jackson-Pownall, National Account Managers for College Recruiter. Discuss the relevance of email marketing and how effective it is in reaching qualified candidates.

Topics Discussed:

1. How relevant to today’s digital marketing is the practice of email engagement with prospective customers?

• Email engagement is extremely relevant. Every dollar spent on email marketing has an average return of over 44 dollars. We know first hand, that when done right, email campaigns can be a very powerful tool for marketers.

2. So how do marketers know a good contact list when they see one?

• If you haven’t built your own database of contacts then you won’t come across a good email list for purchases.
• The best list to purchase is the double opt in, which means that the marketer has requested to receive the info from the list owner directly, not just once but twice.

3. What are some of the elements of a successful email campaign?

• The most successful element is a responsive design. Marketers need a crafty content that is easily relevant no matter what device they are using.

4. What about the subject line, is that important when distinguishing what might be construed as spam or not?

• Absolutely, short and sweet is best for subject lines. Do not use capitals or exclamations. Make your subjects as individually relevant as they possibly can be by targeting the right audience.

5. We hear the word segmentation a lot, what does that mean?

• Segmentation means reaching our core audience in a granular way. Knowing and only emailing your ideal customers. These strategies hypo target your possible buyers.

6. Isn’t timing a fundamental factor when trying to do effective planning for a campaign?

• Timing is a very important factor. Focus on their schedule, the season, and the time of day. Then make a conscience choice to fit with whom you are engaging. If you don’t have access to their information or are running short on time, the Tuesday and Wednesday midday blasts are always very effective.

7. How do you measure the success of an email campaign?

• We measure the success by being able to track your email marketing efforts, prove targeting and marketing, and sending out a test to two different groups and see which is more effective. Then focus your campaign accordingly. Consider call to action, which directs a click giving you the information of responsiveness, or try an offline tracking method such as a promo code. Another new way of measuring the successfulness is by having a separate landing page from the email than just searching for the website. Those relate specifically to the email blasts and supply greater accountability.

8. Nicolette then mentions:

• The medium that is email campaigning is so granular and users actions can be so minutely traced. Its expectation that the lead to conversion ratio should be much higher compared to other advertising mediums is falsely assumed. What I think marketers forget is that at its essence it’s simply a very powerful regeneration tool. For example, even if you could precisely measure when a specific type of driver looks at a billboard, can you guarantee an immediate correlated response? No. The same thing with emails, someone might view an email and then a week later go to the site, but not through the email. Therefore, it’s hard to pinpoint the journey that your lead is going to take to go from product or promotion awareness to the actual buying process. As with all advertising, repetition is key, keep emphasizing your message, and name what you have to offer so that you will build momentum and establish your brand.