Email Newsletters - Do they still work?

12th Dec. 2015

Email newsletters were once considered to be 'the next big thing', but email marketing is now largely thought of as being a dying trend. 'Reader fatigue', as it's called, is leading to low open rates, and with many businesses jumping on the social media bandwagon, more and more resources are being placed into marketing via these platforms. There's less focus on the more traditional forms of digital brand promotion which begs the question - Do you really need email newsletters in this day and age?

The answer may surprise you. Although social media is believed to be the 'sexy', streamlined way for businesses to communicate today, there are situations when nothing works quite as well as a tried and tested email. At a time when more consumers are becoming wary over whom they share their information with online, the average buyer is seeking out companies they already have a relationship with when it comes to making a purchase. Reports suggest that 42 percent of consumers are more likely to purchase from a company whose newsletter they subscribe to, than a new business that they have no prior association to.

Emails are also widely believed to be an effective marketing technique for targeting specific demographics, particularly high level B2B contacts. More than half of all business execs cite email newsletters as one of the first three news sources they check out in the morning, with these emails being given priority over social media and traditional news source websites.

It appears that email newsletters can still hold their own, so why is email marketing often thought of as being a dying trend? A common reason is due to the uptake in social media marketing, but consider this - how is it that networks such as Facebook and Twitter keep users coming back for more? Through email. 'See Tweets popular in your network'; 'Follow these people you may know'; 'See top suggested Google+ pages for you' and so on. Even social media platforms are using email as a way of promoting their businesses! Email works because it's a familiar friend that you trust, it's not a passing trend and its future can pretty much be guaranteed.

Email newsletters are currently enjoying a comeback - they've gone full circle. It's estimated that for every one person that opts to receive company information via Facebook, 9 people choose to receive email newsletters, demonstrating just how important email marketing still is when it comes to digital brand promotion.