Email list benefits and why you should build—never buy—a marketing email list.
Should you start collecting emails?
Email list building and then providing subscribers with high-quality content on a regular basis is a huge commitment. Admittedly, it’s also quite a bit of work.
First, you have to persuade your audience to share their contact data with you. No easy feat but that’s where list-building strategies come in. Second, you have to produce valuable content—email campaigns people actually want to read.
This added workload may have you asking, is it even worth starting an email list? Will email marketing truly benefit my brand?
Long story short, yes it is and yes it will. Keep reading to find out why!
9 irrefutable advantages of email marketing
1. The email list is yours (it’s clean)
When you build an email list from scratch, i.e. through opt-ins where interested persons sign up to receive your marketing emails, then that email subscriber list belongs to you.
In other words, your email marketing campaigns are not dependent on other business entities and their decisions—or specific terms and conditions agreed upon to acquire that mailing list. That aside, you can be sure that every name on your list wants to be there.
2. Subscribers have asked to hear from you (they want your content)
This is so important: The people on your marketing contact list have chosen to be contacted by you. That means they’re more likely to open your emails, read its contents, and eventually take action. Compare that to individuals on a purchased mailing list. They have no idea who you are or why you’re emailing them—they’ll quickly hit the delete button and report you for spam!
Did you know? Email marketing drives more conversions than any other marketing channel. And compared to tweets, email marketing is 6 times more likely to get higher click through rates.
3. We’re all still using email (and have no choice but to check it daily)
Social media platforms’ popularity may wax and wane but email is here to stay. Case in point: We use email at work, for work, and in our personal lives. Wherever we go, we check our emails—even while on vacation. That is to say, email list building for marketing campaigns is really one of the best ways to communicate directly with customers. And as long as you write a stellar email subject line, there’s a high probability your message will be both noticed and read.
Did you know? 61% of consumers prefer brands to contact them by email.
4. Emails keep your brand top of mind (you’ll be hard to forget)
Emails are the perfect way to get your brand, products and services, as well as special promotions in front of an interested audience on a regular (and consistent) basis. In short, your brand stays fresh in the subscriber’s memory.
Did you know? Email marketing is 40 times more effective than Facebook or Twitter at acquiring new customers.
5. Successful email campaigns drive traffic to your website (and inspire people to do something)
Subscribers, having personally opted in to receive your messages, are clearly interested in what you have to say. Equally, they want first dibs on special offers. Emails with important updates, riveting content, relevant promotions, and tempting discounts naturally drive readers to your website—and move them to take action.
Did you know? 53% of marketers found that consistent, personalized communication with existing customers results in moderate to significant revenue impact. In fact, 4.24% of visitors derived from email marketing go on to buy something compared to only 2.49% of visitors via search engines and 0.59% from social media.
6. They’re easy to share (so you can grow awareness)
The beautiful thing about emails is that they’re so easy to forward to individuals within a subscriber’s sphere of influence: Family, friends, colleagues or even close acquaintances. Either way, these are people that trust your original subscriber, so they’ll be willing to open the email knowing that its contents are likely to be of interest (or relevant) to them.
Did you know? A large percentage of commercial emails tend to generate some kind of forwarding behavior from recipients.
7. It’s personal (in a good way)
Unlike other communication platforms, you can segment subscribers and personalize emails to a relatively high degree.
What do we mean by personalize? For one, you can address recipients by name. You may send birthday greetings (and offers); commemorate milestones (like a one-year subscription anniversary); and notify customers of similar products they might like based on purchase history.
But that’s not all. The right questions during the opt-in process helps to fine-tune your email list, so that readers get the information they want, when they want it. For example: You can ask subscribers what type of content they wish to receive and how often they want to hear from you – daily, weekly, monthly? – as part of the sign-up process.
8. Emails give you audience-specific insight (so you get to know your customers better)
What makes email campaigns so attractive is that you can track performance. You’ll see which emails get opened, what type of content gets more clicks, which ones result in more sales, what prospects are generally interested in, and so much more. That allows you to refine your messaging or segment your list even further for even better results in the future.
9. Marketing emails are budget-friendly (spoiler: you can build an email list for free)
Email list building costs virtually nothing these days. Email marketing tools like the one provided by MailChimp make managing opt-ins, designing emails, and sending campaigns super easy – and affordable – with free plans to get you started.