Why email marketing works [Statistics!]

It’s the No. 1 sharing channel in the world

4,300%.

That’s the average ROI on email marketing, according to the Direct Marketing Association. And that, says Inc., is a better return than for any other marketing channel.

It’s been more than 45 years since Ray Tomlinson sent the first email in 1971. It announced the existence of email and told readers how to use the @ symbol in email addresses.

“4,300%. That’s the average ROI on email marketing.”

— Direct Marketing Association

Since then, we’ve seen the emergence of social channels ranging from Facebook to Flickr, from Tumblr to Twitter, and from Yelp to YouTube.

But when it comes to moving the needle on the bottom line, email remains king.

“Email may well be your most productive marketing tool,” says Dan Zarrella. He should know. The HubSpot viral marketing scientist analyzed 9.5 billion MailChimp emails to find out.

Why email?

So why email? E-zines and email marketing are:

1. Popular

• Some 86% of U.S. professionals prefer to use email for business communications.
• More than 60% of working Americans consider email “very important” to their job. That makes email the top digital tool in the American workplace today.
• Sending or receiving email remains Americans’ No. 1 online activity; 85% of U.S. adults use it every day.

“Sending or receiving email remains Americans’ No. 1 online activity. Some 85% of U.S. adults use it every day.”

— Statistica.com

2. Viral

If your email readers like what they see, they forward the message to an average of 11 people, according to the Direct Marketing Association.

“Email is the No. 1 social channel for sharing.”

— Chadwick Martin Bailey

That makes email the No. 1 social channel for sharing, according to Chadwick Martin Bailey. Eighty-six percent of people surveyed use email for sharing; 62% use it most often.

3. Effective

Finally, email has a 66% conversion rate. That’s the highest of any channel, including social media, direct mail and more.

And let’s not forget that 4,300% ROI.

But remember: That return is an opportunity — not a promise. And taking advantage of that opportunity isn’t easy. Email has some built-in problems that make it easy to annoy, rather than convert, subscribers.

How can you overcome the obstacles to reaching readers via email?

How can you reach email recipients on mobile?

Two thirds of email recipients open your email on their smartphones, not their laptops. Some 7% read your email newsletters in the bathroom. (And the other 93% are lying.)

Problem is, reading your email newsletter on the small screen is like reading War and Peace through a keyhole. It’s not easy to get the word out on a 5.5” rectangle.

So how do you reach recipients via email newsletters and marketing promotions?

Find out at Think Inside the Inbox — our email-writing workshop, starting on Oct. 17.

You’ll leave with tricks, tips and techniques for writing emails that get opened, read, clicked and shared.

Save up to $100 with our group discounts.