In today’s life, email is a crucial part. For a minor to significant need, we use it as mean to send or receive official messages within or outside of an organisation/company. With time, it has evolved a lot. Now, businesses use it as a marketing tool to promote their products or services.
What is Email Marketing?
Different people have defined it differently. However, as per its usage for marketing, Email Marketing is an effective and direct medium to connect with prospective customers. It is a tool to promote or advertise your products/services, acknowledge your customers about what is going on, and send good wishes to customers after joining with you.
A Brief History of Email
Ray Tomlinson, a computer engineer, sent the very first email in 1971. The message sent by him contained only a string of letters and numbers. However, it was the inception of a new age of communication. It was Ray Tomlinson who used the symbol of the @ in an email address.
Gary Thuerk, a marketing manager at Digital Equipment Corp, used this communication method to send the first commercial email in 1978. The email was meant to introduce a new product to people.
By the end of 1990s, the internet became available to common men. The communication way between one person to another saw a dramatical change. Marketers found that they could use email as an effective way to promote products/services or businesses. And gradually, a need to regulate this communication mean felt. As a result, the UK’s Data Protection Act, for instance, came into light and made an opt out option for all marketing emails. This opt out option we see today as unsubscribe.
Types of Email Marketing
As you search for types of email marketing, you can come across several different types of it. And every one of them has a unique purpose and follows a unique way to engage with your customers/audience. Here are some significant email marketing types:
- Welcome emails – A company representative sends such an email to welcome customers and encourage them to know more about products/services. In such emails, the company offers a trial or bonuses. The company use such type of email marketing to introduce its business to potential customers.
- Newsletter emails – Newsletter emails are common and contain details about new products/services. They could have blogs, articles, or customer reviews and a Call to Action (CTA) button. The button could relate to checking a new product/service or a new blog post.
- Lead nurturing emails – This type of email marketing is a series of emails to target a particular audience with a hope of converting them into users/customers. It focuses on a specific group of people with an interest in a particular product/service. Further, it aims to push customers to take an action, product/service purchase.
- Confirmation emails – Company representatives send such emails to people who have signed up for newsletters or bought a product online for the first time. It makes sure that the company has received all the requisite information for the order placed online or signup was successful.
- Dedicated emails – A dedicated email refers to your attempt to reach a portion of your email list. The list is usually based on specific criteria such as new members, recent purchases, and inactive clients.
- Invite emails – Such an email typically includes the announcement of new product/service launches, upcoming events, and seminars. Companies use such emails to notify their stake holders and customers that something important is going to happen and request them to attend the event.
- Promotional emails – Such emails are generic and target audiences in a large number. Companies, especially ecommerce businesses, use such emails to maintain awareness among their existing customers on current discounts, sales, and offers.
- Survey Emails – Companies seek feedback from their customers so that they can improve their products or services. And for this, they send emails to customers to know their opinion and experience about the products or services they have bought/availed. Companies can request customers to produce advices on how to make a product/service better through such emails.
- Seasonal marketing emails – Many companies try to take full benefits of social events or holiday season by reaching out to existing as well as potential customers. For this, they send emails that contain information on upcoming sales/promotions on a social event or holiday. Such emails are usually used before Christmas, New Year, Holi, Id, Diwali, Valentine’s Day, and Father’s Day.
Importance of Email Marketing
Some of you ask why you should use email marketing or what the importance of email marketing is. We tend to have such a query before using a product, service, or technique. You can comprehend the importance of email marketing by having a look at the following reasons:
- Connect you with your audience
- Help you reach customers in real-time
- Easy to measure
- Inexpensive marketing tool
- Help you send targeted messages in bulk
- Increase your brand awareness
- Most people use emails
Conclusion
First used in 1971 by Ray Tomlinson, email is an effective communication mean. As per its purposes, it is of several different types and highly beneficial for businesses. Its usage as a marketing tool can help you make a brand for your business and stay connected with your customers.
