From the course: OMCA™ Certification for Digital Marketers Test Prep

Rethinking the basics of email marketing

From the course: OMCA™ Certification for Digital Marketers Test Prep

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Rethinking the basics of email marketing

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- In this discipline of email marketing, we're covering for the OMCA exam. Some of you may find it strange that email holds such a prominent emphasis in the marketing mix. I'm going to show you how email has transformed and why it is now one of the most successful and reliable marketing channels. First, email consistently delivers incredible return on investment. And many companies claim it is the workhorse of their marketing mix. It shouldn't be any wonder. As a recent survey found that more than 70% of people prefer to receive brand communications by email. That is because email is our primary communications channel. With the growth of smartphones came a resurgence of email. In fact, most email is read on smartphones. Years ago, we wouldn't have thought email would've lasted long. Email gave birth to our association of unwanted and undesirable marketing with spam. Many people have proclaimed email dead. Perhaps no other channel has had to deal with such assorted past, but spam filters and email service providers have enabled a better email experience. And its credibility has dramatically increased. Here are the factors that have transformed the comeback of email. First, it isn't owned by a single entity. Unlike social media or search engines, no one owns email. Because of that, you don't have a company trying to make money with it, or changing the interface, or content policies. It's basically the same as it was decades ago. Second, mobile devices have made email completely transportable. So we have constant access to business and personal messages. Email allows people to keep messages and come back to them later. While important messages through social media can be missed or never seen. Third, automation has allowed messages to become personalized. Responding to what you just viewed, purchased, downloaded or registered for, emails are sent immediately. Many of the messages, offers, and follow-up emails you receive every day are planned, developed, and automated to be sent on a schedule, all based on your actions. Finally, customer relationship management software, like Salesforce use email as the primary method for developing sales leads into customers. By measuring interactions and engagement with email messages, CRM systems can determine levels of interest and automate follow-up or even trigger a sales call. If you've noticed that email marketing has increased its quality over the past few years, don't be surprised. That's because marketers have also noticed how effective email is. And they're stepping up their efforts.

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