How effective is email marketing?

Do you ever feel as though your inbox is drowning in marketing messages? Same here. Which begs the question, why do so many companies send out marketing emails? Allow us to shed some light.

We’ve worked with many clients over the years to create bespoke email marketing campaigns, so we’re confident we can provide a detailed and unbiased overview to help you determine if email is the right path for you.

We’ll look at the benefits and drawbacks of email marketing, from return on investment (ROI) to potential legal repercussions, to help you make an informed decision.

Email marketing allows you to target specific segments within your audience. You can categorise subscribers on your mailing list through factors such as location, age, seniority, role, industry and many more. You can gather this data by wither asking your audience for it when they sign up for your mailing list, or by purchasing a pre-populated list.

This is done by adding additional fields to your mailing list sign-up. You can ask for as much information as you want, but having to give out too much information may end up putting people off.

Having this information allows you to send out tailored content, designed to engage that particular segment. For example, you may choose to include location-specific information, or you might change the pain points mentioned depending on the job role.

This content is likely to be more engaging for your audience, and you’ll probably end up seeing a higher conversion rate as a result. This only works if you commit to growing and maintaining your mailing list though, by keeping it up to date with the latest information about your audience.

As well as tailoring the content, you can also tailor the email and make it more personalised, for example by addressing it directly to the reader. Personalisation has been shown to increase open rate by 139% and lead to a better relationship with your mailing list.

If you want to learn more on how you can optimise your emails have a look at the guide on our Learning Hub and grow your email campaigns.

Email marketing offers an opportunity to build and nurture relationships with your audience.

You can send your audience valuable and informative content, such as product updates, educational resources, or industry insights.

By sending this content, you can establish trust and credibility as a helpful source of information. This will lead to increased brand loyalty and customer retention, which benefits your bottom line.

Building trust with your audience can be tricky, but it’s a core principle of marketing, if this is something that you want to work on have a look at our Content marketing article.

If you’re worried about your marketing budget and want a strategy that won’t break the bank, email marketing offers a cost-effective option.

Email eliminates printing and postage costs associated with traditional direct mail campaigns and doesn’t require the same level of hands-on work as other channels. Instead, your costs would be reduced to your email platform fee and design fees (if working with an agency), which can be very economical once initial templates are developed.

Previous studies have shown that email marketing offers highly positive ROI, with an average of $36 made for every dollar spent. Ecommerce companies are likely to have driven that average up, but even medical device companies can see a pretty good return for relatively small investment.

Email is a great way to remind your audience that you’re there.

It’s rare for users to convert the first time they visit a website, possibly because they don’t need that product/service at that particular time, or because they need time to consider. Whatever the reason, you need to ensure they recall your brand when they’re ready.

That’s why emails are so handy, because they act as little reminders that you exist, putting your brand front and centre or their mind. The more times you get in front of them, the more you become cemented in their head so that they think of you when they’re ready to convert.

You also make it easier for them to find you again, rather than having to search for you, they can just press a link in an email to go straight to your website.

With email marketing, you’re opened to the world of GDPR and all the rules that come along with it. GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is an EU regulation that safeguards the privacy and personal data of EU citizens.

These rules for collecting, storing, and transmitting personal and sensitive information through email can be complex, but if you fail to comply there can be serious legal damage to your company and reputation.

The main take way with GDPR is that you must have explicit consent for commercial emails to be sent to the people on your mailing list. These emails must include an unsubscribe option and the data you collect shouldn’t be used for any other purpose other than email.

If this is something you’re worried about or would simply like to learn more, we have a guide to GDPR which talks you through all the dos and don’ts.

You have little control over your audience’s email settings, but when they sign-up you can encourage them to go to their settings and check under their filters and blocked contacts that they don’t have marketing emails blocked. For more information on how to do this, HubSpot have published a guide.

The medical device industry is full of extremely busy people who received a significant volume of emails each day. They receive so many in fact, that yours could easily get lost in the noise, so your time and effort might not end up being worth if they don’t open it.

So, one of the biggest challenges with email marketing is making sure you stand out so that your email is seen by as many people as possible. Crafting compelling subject lines, relevant content, and clear CTA (calls-to-action) can help to increase your open rates.

Another way to make your emails stand out is by including personal videos in your emails, which statistically leads to a 4x higher click-through rate than emails without video. This is increased even further when you add the word ‘video’ into your subject line.

Recipients must be able to opt-out of email marketing, so you may find that you lose subscribers from time to time, so your reach and engagement levels shrink. If a significant number of recipients choose to unsubscribe, it may limit your ability to stay connected with potential customers and build long-term relationships.

Unfortunately, you only have so much control over your audience’s actions. Sending out relevant, engaging information is the best way to keep them interested, but ultimately if they decide to leave you have to let them.

Podymos is a healthcare marketing agency, specialising in downstream Medical Device marketing.

We’re more expensive than non-specialised agencies and freelance teams because we only work in the Medical Device space so we have specialist knowledge and experience that other agencies may not be able to offer you.

If you want high-quality, compliant campaigns that help achieve your business goals, we’d love to hear from you. Simply leave us your contact details below and we’ll get back to you very soon for a no-obligation chat.