Intro
The world of marketing can be a confusing place for many. With shifting rules and flexible strategies, finding solace in uncertainty is indeed difficult. However, I wouldn\’t shy away from declaring its shuffling block a learning curve.
While it is true to an extent there lies no true answer and every plan, strategy and goal should be adjusted with data in mind. You have to agree there have been instances where an agreement had been reached.
What you might be wondering?
Well, two words spring to mind:
- Email Marketing
- Inbound Marketing
For those who are alienated from the concept of Email Marketing. You should check out our comprehensive study on Email Marketing. And for those who aren\’t familiar with Inbound Marketing.
Well, keep reading…
Significance
In order to better understand the two sparring entities, and how they form a cohesive relationship for the betterment of each other. It is vital to understand the significance they hold in the marketing landscape.
Hence below is a brief overview of two ideas that have been in use by marketers for decades now.
Email Marketing
Email Marketing is a content-driven channel used to implement the foundational ground for establishing bonds with customers. It relies on the different sets of techniques that can be utilized to leverage a one-to-one conversation with the client. Techniques that can be interpreted as products of intent.
- Interest
- Awareness
- Promotional
- Retention
Unlike the other marketing channels that rely on the compounding effect Email Marketing is free from the grasp of time. With the right list and dedicated customer base, it doesn\’t take months to bring results.
Although, you might have to work extra hard to have the organic list in the first place. It is an undesirable act to buy your way toward it. Nonetheless, improved validation and encryption methods have made sure you wouldn\’t be able to survive on those for very long anyway.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound Marketing is a classification of Marketing itself. It is not a channel. It is not a method or technique. But a type that focuses on pulling the users. In hindsight, it can be said to be an ideology with a special emphasis on creating helpful content.
Confused? That\’s okay. Think about it.
Have you ever found yourself with a question that you had to Google to find the answer? If you have then you would\’ve found a website or a blog with what you wanted: an answer.
That right there is Inbound Marketing by that website, brand, or blog, however, you would like to classify it.
Inbound Marketing is a type of marketing that relies on creating content that pulls the user towards you. It stands the opposite of Outbound Marketing, where you have to reach out to a potential client.
If you are still having a problem understanding the concept think of it as Magnet. It pulls.
Inbound Marketing is Magnet (not literally).
Inbound Marketing With Email Marketing: Reaping Benefits
Now that you have a basic understanding of Inbound Marketing and Email Marketing. It is time to address the question you came looking for: How Email Marketing Can Help Your Inbound Campaigns?
But before we present to you the answer how, I would like you to remember one thing: Inbound Marketing is a classification of Marketing. Email Marketing is a channel of Marketing.
It\’s easy, right? Let\’s go…
Boost Content Marketing Efforts
As a marketer, it is your job to put your brand in front of others. It doesn\’t matter if you are a small business or a huge organization you need visibility. Otherwise, it doesn\’t matter what you have to offer, if no one is going to hear about it, no one is going to buy it.
And there is no better option to increase brand awareness than by putting out the content.
But how? How can you do that? Well, would you believe me if I\’ll tell you almost 80% of B2B and B2C companies uses Email Marketing as one of their primary channels to distribute content?
Anytime you sent an Email you have the option to attach links to blogs, websites, white papers, store pages, and digital products.
For sure you have to work on the flows, draw up automation paths, craft content, work on different parts of the Email body, design the message, and make sure it is encrypted. Once it is out there, you are bound to see an increase in conversions. The content that you would\’ve made is going to be seen by customers.
\”But you said Inbound Marketing relies on pulling users and not reaching them out?\”
Yes, I did, and it is true, but you have to realize the Emails we are going to send the users are those who opted for them willingly.
According to one famous study it has been noticed for every $1 dollar that you spent on Email Marketing there is an ROI of $40.
I don\’t think I need to tell you how insane that is!!!
Creates A Lasting Impression on Customers
In order to stay ahead of the competition it is vital you are the first choice of your customers. But unless you are Apple or Google I don\’t think anyone would do the honors and remember some random brand.
No matter how excellent its products or services can be…
However, you can change that, and you can change that with Email Marketing. Because it is what Inbound Marketing is all about. Making sure your business remains rent-free in the minds of your customers.
And can anyone object to it?
People you are reaching out to have signed up to hear back from you or they are customers with loyalty towards your brand. Either way there is no doubt Email Marketing is a perfect tool to retain and promote services and users as such.
Increase Retention
It is an unspoken fact in the marketing world that you are more likely to spend five times more to acquire a new customer than retain the one that has already dealt with you.
And it does make sense, in order to generate leads, you have to make sure the user follows the complete marketing funnel, which could be both time-consuming and financially deprecating. Whereas if your strategy relies more on retaining, a simple Email can do the job.
And why am I saying that?
Because it does, Email Marking is used by 65% of organizations to retain customers. Since it is both cost-effective and efficient, there is not much to lose.
Depending on the nature of your business model, you can send discount codes, incentives loyalty bonuses, offer referral bonuses, and promote new services and products.
Everything and anything is possible here!
Prevent Cart Abandonment
Let\’s be honest all of us have added PlayStation 5 to our carts and then dropped the idea at the last second. If you haven\’t congratulations you have made it in life.
Either way when we do that – abandon the purchase – it is referred to by the term \’cart abandonment.\’ In layman\’s terms and under the pretext of this text it is the result of a customer action who had reached the final phase of the funnel but for some reason decided not to proceed.
Since Inbound Marketing is used heavily to drive the user through the cycle. It is not okay to leave it as it is and a strategy has to be deployed to complete the conversion.
And that strategy can be Email Marketing.
With insanely high potential for high ROI and the option to personalize the message, Email Marketing provides the perfect solution to contact a customer. And it is not like it doesn\’t work, it does. Almost 1/3 of attempts result in continued conversions.
I don\’t think I need to paint a picture here. Everything is already illuminated enough.
Creates A Defined Flow
Last but certainly not least Email Marketing helps in setting up different channels. As mentioned above when you add links to your website or blogs it helps your SEO efforts.
Using it you have the option to promote Social platforms too. It is even considered good practice to include handles of your Social accounts in the Email footer.
Then there are PPC campaigns that can be benefitted from your Email Campaigns. You can add links to store pages of digital products. Or run promotional campaigns for the upcoming paid entry seminars.
In hindsight, there are just no limits to what could be achieved with the right strategy and goals…
Email Marketing For Inbound Marketing: Integration Strategy
Okay, now that we know the answer to how Email Marketing can help to give a boost to Inbound campaigns. It is time to see the ways you can utilize to leverage the channel for your business.
Although it is suggestible to keep in mind, every Industry has different standards. You can\’t compare a tech niche with apparel. It is not wise nor strategical to think like it.
Segment Target Audience
Identifying your target audience is a crucial component of inbound marketing. The inbound strategy concentrates on a certain demographic that is interested in your business, as opposed to outbound marketing, which targets a broad spectrum of consumers.
So how can you pinpoint the specific group of people your email marketing should be aimed at? Those who read your email but choose not to respond.
Many potential clients and customers will open your emails but decide not to respond.
To let your email marketing stop there would be a grave error. Marketers with experience don\’t give up easily. They look for strategies to influence
Delight Inactive Subscribers
You shouldn\’t be shocked that we advise you to target subscribers who haven\’t made any progress in the buyer\’s journey.
Many inactive subscribers are simply waiting for someone to prod them into committing to a purchase.
Reactivating inactive subscribers and getting them to make new commitments is a clever use of email marketing.
Light Up Loyalties
Customers who have been regular with their purchases and memberships deserve special consideration.
Your client retention rate and sales will rise if you send these customers emails.
Making devoted consumers feel appreciated through email marketing will encourage them to keep doing business with you and even recommend you to others.
Work On Abandoned Carts
Approximately 70% of internet shoppers reportedly leave their shopping carts empty for a variety of reasons. Customers who abruptly removed items from their shopping cart may want clarifications to complete the transaction.
Many companies have employed email marketing techniques to persuade some customers who abandoned their carts to change their minds.
Invest In Generating Leads
Another crucial element of the inbound strategy is lead generation. It is challenging to convert anyone into a paying customer without lead nurturing.
Lead nurturing can boost the number of leads who are ready to buy by 50% and save costs overall by 33%.
According to studies, email marketing is still the most common way for companies to create leads.
Leads are prospects in email marketing who have provided you with some of their personal information, such as names, email addresses, occupations, ages, and locations.
In order to generate leads for email marketing, opt-in forms must be used to gather personal data from your prospects and clients.
Several methods for generating email leads include:
- Offer a lead magnet
- Draw interest with catchy headlines.
- Engage in referral campaigns
- Automate your email marketing by optimizing your email content.
Increase Website Traffic
Inbound marketing aims to position your brand so that people who are considering your goods and services can see it.
Businesses can use emails to send customized communications to their audience informing them of deals that will benefit them.
Emails that inform your audience of pertinent content will boost the frequency of their visits to your site.
Here are some email marketing strategy recommendations that you may employ to drive traffic.
- Increasing your email list
- Partition your list.
- Customize your emails
- Use inducements
- Emails should be mobile-friendly.
- Embrace high-quality content and social media
- The quantity of website visitors drawn to your website by a link in an email you sent is known as email-generated traffic.
Because it comes from your present leads and customers, email marketing traffic is highly valued in the eyes of many search engine optimization professionals.
Growing website traffic from emails implies that your words are reaching your audience and having the desired impact.
EYE on ROI
Before the advent of inbound marketing, companies disseminated information about their goods and services to the public through a variety of outbound tactics, including cold calling, trade shows, seminars, billboards, cold emailing, and radio, TV, and print advertising.
Outbound marketing strategies are expensive and can have an impact on a company\’s profitability and return on investment.
On the other hand, inbound marketing is highly economical. According to numerous reports, inbound marketing is 61% more expensive than traditional marketing tactics.
By concentrating on a target demographic and increasing ROI, email is a crucial part of inbound marketing. This lowers the cost of lead creation.
The more profitable a business is, the more likely it is to expand and invest in new projects.
Providing Better Customer Engagement
Another area where inbound marketing varies from more conventional forms of marketing is in the area of customer engagement.
The main objective of inbound marketing is to establish a deep relationship with your prospects and clients.
The capacity to establish a deep relationship with prospects and customers is essential for commercial success.
Email has been a key tool for many organizations in building trusting relationships with their clients.
According to research, many consumers believe email to be the finest communication tool. Businesses should use emails to interact with their customers for a number of reasons:
- Everywhere people can receive emails.
- It only targets those who are interested.
- Emails are practical.
- Emails work on all devices.
- It is simple to customize.
- It can be tracked
- Businesses have a great potential to build strong ties with their customers through email. People are losing out who don\’t use it.
The emails with the highest open rates…
- Use the appropriate greeting.
- Are brief.
- Are written well.
- Include a call to action (CTA).
Why Email Marketing Should Be Implemented For Inbound Campaigns
So there you have it…
You have the understanding to implement the Email Marketing channel within your Inbound Marketing strategy. Yes, it requires work and effort on your part but the potential return and risk-free assessment have to be put forward.
Not many marketers are able to pull it off – Inbound Campaigns. They are tardy and take time and investment to be considered successful. But I do know that you can and you will.
Because you have what others might not: knowledge of Email Marketing.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
- What is the benefit of using Email as an Inbound Marketing Strategy?
For starters, it gives you the option to put your strongest foot ahead and that is making sure your content can be curtailed with the need of users. Secondly, it is cost-effective and risk-free, and the ROI it can bring is high enough to convince anyone it\’s a good alternative to pursue.
- How can Email Marketing improve Customer Engagement?
Since Email Marketing is a channel that helps to improve visibility in the mind of a customer and can be personalized with regard to segmentation. It opens a new door of possibility for users to interact with businesses in a manner that is alienating to other channels of marketing.
- How do I authenticate Email with DKIM?
You don\’t authenticate. It is the Mailbox Service Providers who will use the digital signature DKIM added to Email Header to authenticate the source. What you have to do is enable the DKIM authentication so that each Email sent has a way to prove its authenticity.
- What does it mean to create an Inbound Email Marketing Strategy?
That you are going to use Email Marketing as a distribution channel for content marketing as well as to engage in retention and promotional purposes.
- What are the most successful strategies for Email Campaigns?
To follow the best practice of Email Marketing. Create content that is actually helpful to users. Segment the customer with defined metrics. Manage automation paths to ensure smooth friction for Customer Engagement.