A discussion about the effectiveness of email marketing vs other forms of marketing based on ROI
We all know marketing is a core element to success in any business, but sometimes you have to know which channels will work best for your own company. Here’s a rundown of how email marketing compares to other forms of marketing channels…
First of all, it is important to emphasise the scale of email usage – Up to 4 billion people have an active email account, although this might include the same people who hold accounts across multiple email clients. Either way, it is still a BIG figure.
Email marketing, when used effectively, is said to return between £30 – £40 per £1 invested. When comparing this to other forms of marketing, it is a bit of a touch-and-go thing to explain. Why do you ask?
Well, some forms of marketing can’t be measured to find the overall ROI, simply because there aren’t the tools in place to calculate an accurate ratio.
Online PPC advertisements and Google ads generally return £2 for every £1 invested. Obviously, this is very small as opposed to email marketing. Google ads are generally a one-time thing that you can rinse and repeat, without much need to experiment what you show in your advert previews.
When looking at social media marketing, it can be hard to measure (Like we said a moment ago). There isn’t a tool available to see how many people clicked your link, and there isn’t a way to locate where the sale originated. This is why MailChimp is great for email marketing, as you are told if a sale came from the email you sent the customer.
In the area of ROI, email marketing is likely to be the best way to deliver high-level performances on investments, with over 80 per cent of SMBs (Small to medium-sized businesses) stating that email is their main marketing channel for both customer acquiring, as well as client retention.
ROI is crucial to maintaining successful marketing, no matter how short or long term. Many businesses use email over other forms of marketing, as there is a higher scope of customers you can contact.
With a social media account, you might reach 1 in 10 people who normally buy from you, but if you have them sign up or subscribe to your emails, they have a much higher chance of seeing your content – Mainly because they are much more likely to receive a notification for an email as opposed to a post from a business’s Facebook or Twitter page.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is a big step to take for marketing your products – Optimising your website for local customers is sometimes more a lot more crucial than your think, especially if you sell in-demand products at your store.
Around 3 in 4 people who search for a product nearby on their phone go on to visit a particular store within the next 1-2 days. If you can optimise your website and blogs to cater towards your locality i.e. local village, city, town, county, you can safely assume it will appear close to, or on the first page of results.
SEO can provide great returns on investment, however, it isn’t the easiest strategy to execute, it requires in-depth knowledge of search engine algorithms and knowing which words are less saturated in relation to your offering.
Almost 80% of all Google searches never make it past the first page – This further emphasises the importance of learning the techniques of SEO in full, before you start investing in a marketing channel you might not know how to execute.
Obviously email and SEO can both be utilised as marketing channels by hiring experts in the field, but SEO is usually a lot more costly, with monthly audits for web presence often running far above £1,000.
Email marketing, on the other hand, is better for saving on investment, and overall makes better returns on investment. A monthly email marketing service can usually cost between £100 – £1,000, obviously, this takes into account the scope of size in businesses. SMBs (Small to medium-sized businesses) with four-figure databases can probably expect average fees to range from £300 – £750.
Now there are a number of other channels of marketing you can use, if you’re a B2B seller, here are a few suggestions you can use alongside email marketing:
- Conferencing
- Face to face meetings with prospective clients
- Outbound or cold-calling
Being B2B (business to business), means you need to probably reach out more directly to prospective clients, so email marketing is obviously very effective
If you are a B2C seller, there is a lot more scope as to what you can utilise, here are some examples:
- PPC (Pay per click) advertisements
- Affiliate marketing
- Face to face promotion – Using word of mouth in public areas like high streets can be useful depending on your industry
On the general consensus, email marketing seems like the best route for maximising ROI – A survey by Econsultancy showed more than 70 per cent of companies asked had rated email marketing as an excellent or good marketing channel to use – Social media marketing, on the other hand, stood at just 40% for the same criteria.
Our advice? Always utilise as many marketing channels as possible, as ROI doesn’t have to be about sales directly, it can be more on gaining a following, gaining subscribers, and improving your positioning in the search results.
Either way, please use email marketing! It works, and it is universally available – As we said earlier, you have up to 4 billion users having email accounts, that’s a big total to take a segment from!
