In the age of social media, do not overlook the power of email.

 

In 2019, the average ROI was $42 per dollar spent on email marketing (source: Litmus) – and with the right email marketing tool, some companies are seeing an even higher return. The future of digital marketing is undoubtedly here with AI, big data, chatbots, and video marketing taking the lead as today’s mega-trends. Yet, we still on average spend roughly 5 hours per day checking our inboxes. Surely, we don’t enjoy being inundated with spam and never-ending work threads. Regardless, the act of “checking and refreshing” has become a sort of unspoken social norm. While it might be an aimless tic or a social crutch for many, scrolling through our Gmail app during the AM commute, or at a party, or on the treadmill (don’t do that) – email is tethered into our life, proves to be useful even in 2021 and predictably, beyond.

 

Digital marketing has evolved… and so has email. Here’s how it continues to keep up.

 

1. 1. The world went mobile, so did email. Data now shows that 56% of email users prefer opening their email on their cell phones (source: Litmus). Email apps have seamlessly integrated into our mobile devices, with sleek UX design and ease of use. The notification banner is email’s answer to the incoming text message and proves to be highly effective in capturing attention.
   2. Email content has become more engaging and interactive as the digital landscape becomes more visual. Embed video, GIFs (3D VUE GIFs too), and compelling templates – today’s mobile operating systems have the bandwidth to deliver it all in your email body. Incorporating these visual features into your emails will improve CTR, especially if your company has a younger target audience.
   3. Marketing technology around email has evolved. When this technology is used for good, email campaigns feel less spammy and far more personalized. There is one marketing process that is paving the future of email interactions and that is AI-powered email automation. Automation enables email nurturing sequences using decision-based logic gathered from measurable actions.  In 2021, there are more automated campaigns circulating out in the digital landscape than ever before. This means users are engaging. Automation is a sure-fire way to generate leads and kickstart the first steps of the sales funnel.

The Takeaway:

 

Email marketing is still a stellar way to connect to your customer base as long as you’re following best practices in 2021. Personalization, automation, and engaging content will set your campaigns apart from the rest. Even though campaigns have gotten more complex and the technology is constantly evolving there are many marketing tools out there that make the process simple and user-friendly. If you’re in need of a platform that can do it all, Zoho Campaigns is worth taking a look at.

 

Zoho Campaigns is one of the most versatile business workflow and marketing tools that offers an advanced email marketing platform for the small and medium-sized business industry.  If you are already using Zoho for your CRM solution, integrating the campaign tool into your workflow will help to optimize sales, nurture leads, and give you real-time campaign analytics to help see what is working and who is connecting to your brand. Utilizing Zoho Campaigns is also an excellent way to organize and streamline all aspects of your marketing plan, cutting out the juggling act of using various subscription-based platforms to handle different components of your campaign. Imagine all of the features you need, analytics, email template creation, subscriber management, and automation configuration, even social media management located in one place, so you don’t have to feel all over the place.