Updated May 2023
The importance of email marketing has skyrocketed in the past few years, and it’s only going to continue growing in the coming years. With this increased importance, though, comes increased competition.
That’s why it’s important to make sure you’re putting in your best efforts with your email marketing campaigns now in order to stay ahead of the curve in 2023 and beyond.
We’ll go over all this and more to help you understand the value of email marketing in 2023 and which marketing tools you need to use to make it work for you.
People Still Use Email
Although many people have been led to believe that email is dead, those who understand email marketing know that it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. What’s more, 83% of global consumers prefer email when receiving communications from businesses.
So why is email marketing so important? Because it works!
There’s no need to reinvent your strategy or rely on gimmicks if what you’re already doing is effective. To truly succeed in email marketing, however, you need to keep an eye toward future trends and implement strategies that will ensure success in 2023 and beyond.
By 2023, Radicati estimates that on average, 4.25 billion email users will maintain 1.86 email accounts. As of 2019, 4.33 billion people have internet access worldwide, and 3.93 billion use email.
Email is “Easy” to Design and Implement
You can build and deploy an email marketing strategy in a few hours. That’s not to say it’s easy, but it is relatively simple compared to other digital marketing options. And considering how much business email will be worth by 2023 (close to $200 billion), there’s plenty of opportunity for success if you learn how to grow your audience and use your emails effectively.
This means that an investment in learning about email marketing now will pay off big time later—which makes it an especially good idea if you’re starting a company on a shoestring budget or without outside funding since you won’t have to worry about finding outside investors or spending unnecessary cash on advertising before you’ve proven out your model.
Email Marketing vs. Other Marketing Methods
In terms of ROI, email marketing is king. Targeted emails yield a massive ROI, which means you’ll make a lot more money from your email marketing campaigns than if you were to spend that time and energy trying something else. This is especially true if you leverage capturing emails with chatbots. As we turn to email marketing more and more heading into 2023, it’s important to understand which type of campaigns work best in different situations.
For example, you might have a specific goal when promoting a product or service through email, such as selling a particular product or gaining subscribers for a newsletter. In that case, a well-timed discount could effectively motivate buyers to take action.
Alternatively, if you’re using your emails to build loyalty and brand recognition—instead of trying to push people towards transactions—you’ll want to send messages with valuable content that encourages readership.
Email Marketing vs Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing has become one of the fastest-growing marketing channels since its rise in popularity in 2007. According to eMarketer, nearly $40 billion was spent on social media advertising in 2020. While that’s a huge chunk of change, it pales in comparison to what was spent on email marketing during 2017: $72 billion!
One issue with spending so much money exclusively on social media advertising is that some reports suggest that only 1% of consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies actually report success with their ad campaigns.
Email Marketing vs Webinar Marketing
As a marketer, you need to consider your target audience and your goals. For example, do you want to increase brand awareness or drive conversions? Do you have access to a list of email addresses or do you have to build one from scratch? How big is your budget? In-person webinars are often beneficial in terms of attendance and developing brand trust but unless your webinar can be made free (or very inexpensive), it will cost money and that may cause friction with new audiences.
If you have a small budget and an already established email list, then using that email list as a way to invite people in through an email link might be a great option for you. If your budget is larger and/or building an email list isn’t a concern, then having live presentations is going to be key in driving growth.
Email Marketing vs Events Marketing
Live events are great, and you may get leads from them and leads are exactly what your business needs. However, if you are doing event marketing, you can’t afford to pass up email marketing follow-ups. While it’s often viewed as antiquated, email is still one of your most effective ways to grow your business and reach out to new customers on a regular basis.
It’s no wonder that big companies like Facebook and Google have created apps that encourage people to share what they’re doing on a daily basis via emails with their family and friends.
Stay Up-To-Date on Email Automation and Technology
Did you know that 63% of emails are opened on mobile devices? Technology is constantly changing, and if you’re not keeping up, you’re going to be way behind your competition.
If you want to succeed in email marketing in 2023, it’s imperative that you stay up-to-date on email automation and technology. To do so, focus on sharing quality content with your audience frequently.
Gain Your Subscriber’s Trust By Encouraging Them to Take Control of Their Email Inbox
A cornerstone of email marketing is trust. The more your subscribers trust you and believe that you’re offering valuable content, advice, and resources in exchange for their time, money and effort (which is essentially what subscriptions are about), then they’ll be more likely to engage with your emails.
To gain their trust, though, it’s imperative that you let them take control of their inbox.
Whether that means letting them decide how often they want to receive your emails or just helping them identify and prevent spam and potential malware from entering their inboxes—gaining subscribers’ trust will go a long way toward ensuring that future email marketing campaigns perform as expected.
Conclusion
As technology advances, new communication and marketing forms will be introduced. Despite what many naysayers claim, email will remain valuable in any business’s marketing mix in 2023.
It is our responsibility as digital marketers to keep an eye on technological changes and apply that knowledge to our daily workflow. Don’t get distracted by shiny objects: Keep your eyes on your email and reap its benefits!
Ensure your business has a robust (and up-to-date) email marketing plan in place—and be ready to dive into it!
