An Unbiased Review: Is Email Marketing Right For You?

Throughout the years, marketing experts have boasted plenty of silver bullets. Something that could make all of your marketing problems go away. And email marketing is often one of them. 

But truth be told, it isn’t for everyone.

So, if you’re looking for an unbiased review of this highly effective, but highly demanding technique, you’re in the right place. 

Now, let’s answer the question: is email marketing right for you?

The Benefits Of Email Marketing

Starting off with the bright side. There are plenty of reasons why email marketing is regarded as one of the highest revenue-generating forms of marketing in the modern world. 

But is email marketing right for you? Let’s discuss…

Email Marketing Builds Trust

Think of your letterbox in your home. Have you ever filtered through the junk mail, prepared to recycle it (we’re responsible around here!), but then found one piece of advertising that actually struck you? 

Something that made you go: ‘Well, s***! That’s different. I’ll read this before I chuck it away.’

That’s what email marketing gives you the opportunity to do – over and over again. 

Having your name regularly appear in your prospects’ inboxes allows your presence to trickle into their everyday lives. They will start to recognise your name – after all, they must have signed up to your list at some point or another!

Email marketing turns business into something a lot more personal. 

You can let your personality spill into your copywriting, which in turn, will help differentiate your emails from the thousands of boring ones cluttering up your leads’ inboxes. Until, subconsciously, they look forward to opening your emails! Pretty cool, right?

Email Marketing Is A Great Education Tool

What are the main questions your sales team is answering over and over?

Email marketing could be the thing that keeps them from burning out. Nobody likes to be a robot, repeating the same information time and time again. Even if your sales team love what they do, ask yourself: could any of the questions customers might have be answered by a well-written email?

This could either be in a weekly format or in a predetermined evergreen campaign, which autoplays the moment a prospect clicks ‘Subscribe’. 

Email Marketing Helps People Overcome Objections

Did you know that the average buyer has already read 20 pages from your website before they decide to buy from you?

It means you have to find their objections to buying from you – and overcome them in the copy you write.

The same concept applies to email marketing. If you have a good strategy for drip-feeding information to your lists, you can overcome several people’s objections in real-time as your helpful advice lands in their inboxes. Seems simple enough, right?

If your quirky emails can debunk common myths associated with your product or service, your prospects will not only feel seen; they’ll also trust what you say when you work to overcome their objections. It’s a win-win.

Email Marketing Can Make You More Sales

In the age of remote and hybrid working environments, people spend A LOT of time reading emails. 

And it makes sense to generate revenue by marketing where your potential customers are spending most of their time, right?

Email marketing is a low-cost, high-return form of nurture that can take your prospects one step closer to becoming customers. Now, I’m not going to sit here with illusions of grandeur and guarantee results. But if you’re looking to create a loyal customer base who are familiar with you and how you represent the answers to their problems, look no further than a fabulous email marketing campaign. 

The Downsides Of Email Marketing

So, is email marketing right for you? The answer may not be so simple. You see, email marketing has some downsides that could make it a counter-intuitive move for your business. For example…

You’ve GOT To Be Consistent

Routine establishes trust, and lack thereof can have the opposite effect on your lists.

Remember I mentioned how people subconsciously look forward to your emails the more frequently they read your name? That doesn’t happen after one or two randomly scattered emails. It happens after months of weekly or fortnightly eyebrow-raising, knee-slapping, truly unforgettable messages. 

If you’re inconsistent with these emails, people will forget who you are very quickly. And then you’ll have to do the whole ‘getting people to subscribe to your list’ thing again.

Hey, nobody said it’d be easy…

There’s A Possibility You Will Piss People Off

Unsubscribes. Are. Inevitable. 

When you write marketing emails, you have to do so knowing that it’s a Marmite technique. Some people will love you. Some people won’t. And considering how much of ‘you’ goes into your emails, this can sting.

If you’re a people-pleasing person who shudders at the prospect of people associating your name with annoyance, stop right there. Close your laptop. Go for a walk. Then consider an alternative marketing strategy (or perhaps getting a job!), because email marketing just ain’t it.

It Takes Time To Do Email Marketing Well

Like planting a fruit tree, it can be a while before you reap the sweet rewards of email marketing.

To be fair, it takes time to do any marketing strategy well – but never has that been more true than with marketing via email. 

If you expect instant results from writing quirky emails, you will find yourself disappointed. You can’t fast-track your way to people’s trust or their patronage. In an age where we are already overloaded with information, expect your name to slip under people’s radars until you have established yourself as a unique, helpful and unstoppable force that won’t go away. 

And if you aren’t prepared to do that, then is email marketing right for you? 

You Need A Strategy

When it comes to email marketing, you can’t go in all guns blazing. You need to have a solid strategy based purely on customer experience.

What does that mean?

Imagine the headspace your potential customer might be in when they sign up to your list. They aren’t obsessed with you. Not yet. You have mildly piqued their interest – enough that they aren’t disgusted at the thought of hearing from you again in the future. Stay humble!

Take that headspace, combine it with their objections and BOOM! Your marketing team can help you come up with a strategy based on what your leads actually feel as they journey through your copy.

A scattergun approach is no good for this. So, if that tends to be your style, email marketing might not be your forte.

You Have To Build A List

Email marketing is all about creating a tribe of fans. People who subscribe to you and your content as if you were the latest magazine. 

And for this, you absolutely must build a readership. If you’re a new business just starting out, you have the extra challenge of attracting people to your services in the first place – let alone getting repeat customers via email!

Building a list takes time and dedication, with plenty of unsubscribes along the way. If that’s an emotional rollercoaster you aren’t ready for, then you may need to consider other options.

Is Email Marketing Right For You?

Provided you have the patience, the creative flair and solid expertise in your field, then yes. 

Email marketing has a high return on investment. Email scheduling software and potentially a copywriter are the only two expenses you need to pay – which, in a difficult economic time, appeals to many business owners. 

But it is equally important to note that email marketing is an investment; not an expense. It requires time-consuming strategic planning, as well as a lot of heart and soul. Especially if you write your own emails!

Email marketing works for most business models in this day and age, with a few exceptions. So realistically, is email marketing right for you? 

If you are willing to put the time of day into building trust with new and existing customers, then email marketing is absolutely a good call. 

If you find that you don’t have the time to give, don’t worry – you can still do email marketing if you pay for a content marketing specialist to plan and write your content for you! If this is a new and slightly daunting concept to you, why not check out our recent blog post: How Much Does Content Marketing Cost?

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