In the decade since the invention of the digital age, email marketing has undergone almost as much change as the internet itself. Once considered a “fringe” marketing practice, email marketing is now an essential part of any business’ digital strategy.

Traditional email marketing focuses on broadcast, blasting out marketing emails to thousands, sometimes millions, of people. While effective when deployed this way, this style of email marketing comes with its downsides. The vast majority of people now receive hundreds of email messages a day, and spending that much time reading and deleting spam is taking a toll on people’s attention spans.

According to IBM’s Digital Marketing Survey, only 12% of respondents say they can reliably remember specific details about a brand or product from an email marketing campaign. Less than 4% say they can remember details about a brand or product from an ad, and 11% say they remember details from a brand’s social media campaign. This trend of consumers tuning out of traditional marketing channels and instead focusing on digital marketing on their phones is affecting every marketer, no matter which channel they use.

To compete in today’s digital world, marketers must evolve their approach to email marketing. Instead of blasting out endless emails in a single session, online email marketers should be practicing a different form of email marketing called “co-creating content.” This means marketers will engage with their audience through multiple channels, such as email, social media and organic search, to make sure their content reaches as many people as possible. When done right, co-creating content through different channels can boost a business’ sales by as much as 30%.

Here, we’ll discuss why you should be taking the leap and practicing email marketing as a form of co-creation, rather than just sending out promotional emails.

It Builds Relationships

With social media, you’re often presented with hundreds of new faces every day, many of whom you’ll never meet or will meet only briefly. With email marketing, on the other hand, you’re often presented with the same handful of individuals you had relationships with in the past. In other words, with email marketing, you have the opportunity to build and nurture long-term relationships with your customers, driving future engagement and business growth.

If you want to succeed in today’s digital world, you need to be taking the time to develop and maintain strong relationships with your customers. That means you need to be engaging with your audience on a regular basis, not just during a specific campaign or acquisition phase.

It Provides Insight Into Audience Behavior

With social media, you’re often bombarded with hundreds of different content types and dozens of different platforms, making it hard to keep track of all the different signals and behaviors you’ll need to analyze to get a clear picture of your audience’s needs and interests. With email marketing, on the other hand, you have only one place to go for all the information you need: your email inbox.

The bad news is that just like with social media, the contents of your email inbox can sometimes be hard to parse through and organize. The good news is that, unlike with social media, you have plenty of opportunity to get super-specific with your data and use email marketing to its fullest potential, turning your insights into action.

It Gives You the Opportunity To Experiment

Experimentation is one of the key drivers of progress in science and in technology. We’re always hearing about new ways to do things better and more efficiently. In addition to experimentation coming in the form of a novel or an app, experimentation can also happen through the processes a company goes through to provide a product or service. In other words, companies can and often do experiment with various pricing structures, marketing campaigns, delivery methods, and more, all in the name of finding what works best for them.

With social media, you often don’t know what will work best for your audience until you try something new. This is why you see so many failed attempts at gaining traction on social media. While it’s impossible to know exactly what will work for your company, with email marketing, you have the opportunity to test out various approaches and determine what motivates your audience the most.

It Builds Word Of Mouth

The influencer and the brand they work for might get you a discount on a particular product or service. The influencer might recommend it, or talk about it in a video, or mention it in a tweet. In all those places, they’re telling their audience they promoted this product or service, and that audience might just like it enough to buy it themselves. This is how you get an entirely new customer that never would have bought from you before.

With social media, you don’t always know which marketing efforts will succeed and which will fail. You might get a few lucky shots in the arm from a campaign, but you’ll never know for sure if it was the campaign or a random event that led to the sales. With email marketing, on the other hand, you can measure each and every marketing channel you use to determine its success. To be more specific, you can analyze conversion rates, average order values, and more, all to determine the effectiveness of your various marketing campaigns and to figure out the best way to approach future customers.

Creative Bridesmaids Are Necessary

If you’re looking to grow your business as a wedding planner, it’s important to find a way to stand out from the crowd. One option is through the unique skills you have to offer. Another option is to make your business focus on a niche, finding a way to target and connect with couples in your area who are looking to plan their perfect day.

To succeed in business, you’ll need a mixture of people and skills. While you might not be a professional wedding planner, you most likely have a lot of friends and family who are. When it comes to finding the right mix of people, sometimes you need to look outside of your circle for inspiration. This is where you find creative bridesmaids – independent thinkers and doers who can bring a creative spark to your business.

The Rise Of The Influencer-Customer Relationship

Not too long ago, customers were considered “one and done,” meaning they would only buy from you once. Not anymore. In today’s digital society, customers are much more likely to become “influencers,” creating content and endorsing products they love, frequently tagging the brands they represent in their content.

As customers gain more power through their influence, the lines between endorser and customer blur. Even the most well-known brands use influencers to gain exposure and to connect with consumers. When this happens, the marketing strategies of the brand become less about “trick” marketing and more about developing a genuine relationship with the influencer audience. In other words, the goal isn’t to just get them to say something nice about your brand; it’s to engage with them as customers, and to establish a lasting connection.

The Growth Of Video In Email Marketing

The internet was once considered a web browser’s and a phone’s playground, but today it’s a hub for all manner of activity, including marketing. Video is becoming a more prominent part of every industry, including marketing, and it’s not hard to see why. Videos allow for more information to be crammed into a small space, displaying text in a highly informative and entertaining manner.

According to HubSpot Blogs research, 66% of consumers watch video content on their mobile phones. The trend of people watching video on their phones is taking over, and marketers should take note.

You might already be using video formats in other parts of your marketing mix, including your website and social media. The key is in making sure your strategy encompasses all forms of online marketing, including email. Once you do, you can truly maximize your marketing potential and make the most of this powerful tool.

Bottom Line

In the decade since the invention of the digital age, email marketing has undergone almost as much change as the internet itself. Once considered a “fringe” marketing practice, email marketing is now an essential part of any business’ digital strategy.

Traditional email marketing focuses on broadcast, blasting out promotional emails to thousands of people. While effective when deployed this way, this style of email marketing comes with its downsides. The vast majority of people now receive hundreds of email messages a day, and spending that much time reading and deleting spam is taking a toll on people’s attention spans.

The good news is that, unlike with social media, where you’re bombarded with content from dozens of different sources, with email marketing, you have only one place to go for all the information you need: your email inbox.