I caught the foraging bug several years ago following a press trip to the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. 

Read more about Jon’s organised foraging trips and make sure you get involved! 

It seems that email marketing has been around for ever – well, for over two decades at least.  

The way it is used and the associated technology may have evolved but the important question for marketeers is does email marketing still work?

Let’s take a look at the basics.

Email marketing VS Social media – key stats Credit: Optinmonster

There are well over 3 billion people using email so we can determine that its popularity isn’t in decline, quite the reverse.

Email marketing as a tactic still outperforms other marketing tools such as social media, SEO and PPC advertising and this is why research has shown that around 30% of marketeers say email marketing is their best tool for generating ROI.  (The estimated ROI for email marketing is £44 for every £1 spent).

One of the factors contributing to the growth of email marketing is the evolution in mobile phones. Over two thirds of emails are opened on a smartphone or tablet and emails that are responsive have a 40% open rate – it’s important to factor responsiveness in at the design stage of the mailer.  

Measuring success

How does your email marketing stack up? Credit: Campaign Monitor

The success of email marketing can be measured in many ways including open rates, engagement, and lead generation etc.

But, there are other ways of assessing its value. It could be argued that with face- to-face meetings off limits during lockdown,  email marketing has become more important than ever. Although an email can never replace the impact of a live meeting, it can help keep the conversation flowing with prospects and customers until current restrictions are lifted. 

In practical terms

Sceptics may say, and I’ve heard this several times, ‘email marketing doesn’t work for my business.’ But what they forget to take into account is the type of content being used or the quality of the creative.  Often businesses will send prospects a constant stream of sales pitches and that is probably one of the quickest ways to sour the relationship.

When used properly, email marketing can help impart critical information, generate new customers and help in their retention. Email marketing is also an essential element in sales funnel management – see here to find out more on this. 

But, businesses need to ‘add value’ with useful, interesting and relevant content that prospects and customers gain a real benefit from. Adding an element of personalization increases open rates and motivating people with a ‘call to action’ increases responses. 

Plus, of course, email marketing has few costs. A Send in Blue account, for example, allows up to 300 emails to be sent a day for free. The Lite plan costs $25 per month and permits up to 10k emails monthly with some advanced features thrown in which can include marketing automation, transactional emails, sophisticated forms, CRM elements and even landing pages (on higher plans). 

Email marketing is definitely alive and kicking and here to stay for some time yet. 

If you’d like to find out how we can help you manage your email marketing, from campaign planning and content creation to distribution and analytics, contact Jane Newick on 07907 566773 for details.

Tesco scored a lot of brownie points when it ran the following advert across multiple national newspapers on 12 April – the date that pubs opened up after lockdown.

The retail giant used the advertising to champion smaller, local businesses, rather than promoting its own brands and this was welcomed by the hospitality industry, arguably the hardest hit by the pandemic.

Community relations (also known as giving back, CSR or corporate social responsibility), whether that’s actively supporting charities and not for profit organisations or, as in the Tesco example, other local businesses, adds value to most brands and should be a must have in any company-wide PR strategy.

Companies work hard to develop effective CSR programmes as they are a powerful way to build reputation and awareness whilst adding personality to the brand. Plus, they show the business cares about the local community.  

Typical CSR tactics might include fundraising for local charities; working with local schools; sponsoring a community sports team or club; supporting employees with their community projects; donating a percentage of sales to a local good cause – these are just a few examples.

Tesco has enjoyed positive feedback from its actions including a significant uptick in print and broadcast media coverage and a surge in online conversations on numerous social media channels. Then there is the unquantifiable ‘feel good’ vibes that the community relations act has generated around the brand.

OK, CSR may not drive an immediate uplift in sales, but it has enormous brand-building potential and is rightly an essential part of the PR toolbox. If you’d like to find out how CSR can help build your brand then please contact Jane Newick on 07907 566773, jane@thewordbox.com.