Despite rumors that email marketing is on its way out in the face of the social media boom, the numbers say otherwise. A recent report from Econsultancy, the UK media experts, shows that email marketing has actually grown by 15% in 2009 and is presently worth 336 million pounds – roughly 58.08 million U.S. dollars or 57.27 Australian dollars.
Why is email marketing growing? The answer is simple enough, according to Econsultancy’s Email Marketing Platform Buyer’s Guide 2010: it’s powerful, it’s inexpensive, and it’s easy to measure. Unlike traditional marketing, which can be costly and difficult to track, email marketing provides interpretable statistics on readership, click-throughs, and conversions at a very moderate price. Best of all, in a world where everyone uses email, it’s easy to connect with your subscriber list and keep people interested and involved in your business, at an extremely low cost.
A big reason for the recent email marketing boom is due to the ease with which it integrates with other online marketing tools, like social media and direct sales websites. Econsultancy reports that, contrary to expectations, social media has actually boosted the effectiveness of email marketing.
There is also evidence that the maturity of email marketing (and the strength of the monitoring tools and statistics offered by current e-marketing services) accounts for a large part of the growth in 2009 and the likelihood of continued future growth.
Their predictions for 2010 include:
- More strategic email marketing
- Increased opportunities as tie-ins with social media outlets
- Greater tools for email personalization
- Greater demand for training and education
- Targeted channels for information to reduce volume of mass mailings in consumer inboxes
Interested in learning more about how your business can leverage email marketing opportunities? Ask us about our e-marketing and newsletter services today.