The Importance of Building a Strong Email List
No, email marketing is not dead.
No, Slack has not killed email.
Yes, email marketing is still one of the most profitable marketing channels in the world today.
In fact, according to the Direct Marketing Association, email yields an average 4,400% ROI for businesses in the U.S. — higher than any other distribution method.
However, there is a common misconception when it comes to email marketing: the money is in the size of the list.
People like to think, “Let’s grow our list as big as possible — perhaps we’ll purchase some emails if we need.” This is most definitely the wrong way to view an email list, and we hope to correct these common misconceptions right here, right now.
When used appropriately, email can be one of the most valuable assets for your business — yes, a tangible asset.
These are six of the reasons why building a strong list is important for your business.
1. Return on Investment (ROI).
The first reason to build a strong email list is a blatant one: email can deliver the highest return on your marketing investment.
We’ve already mentioned the statistic of a 4,400% ROI — this is trusted by several of the leading authorities in digital marketing. Of course, you will likely see several other numbers floating around, as this stat varies by industry.
But the principle remains — for every dollar you put into email marketing, you are more than likely going to see that dollar multiply several times.
2. Email Is a Personal Touchpoint.
The reason we see such a high ROI in email marketing is because email is highly personal.
Every time you willingly hand over your email address to someone, you trust that someone will be contacting you directly.
This differs from many other marketing avenues. For example, a billboard or television ad is mass-communicated to the world. You do not feel as though someone has contacted you personally.
It’s almost a bit of an invasive feeling when someone enters your inbox — this message was sent specifically to you.
Thus, as effective email marketers, we must be responsible and respectful of our entire contact database.
We can’t stress this enough: if you don’t have something valuable to say, don’t say anything at all.
3. Flexibility.
With most other marketing channels, you are at the liberty of the distributor — e.g., the network or platform delivering your ad.
Not so with email. Whenever you deem the appropriate time for your audience to receive your message, you are capable of sending said message.
We know that between 88% and 92% of American adults check email at least daily.
Let’s say you have a flash sale that you are eager to run for the next 24 hours. Unfortunately, many of your distribution options are eliminated due to the short timeframe.
But if you have a strong, engaged list of email contacts, you have the perfect opportunity to leverage your sale.
4. Diversity.
There are far more types of emails available for distribution than most business owners realize.
In most cases, the first (and only) type of email that comes to mind is the promotional email.
Constantly spamming people with product promotions will eventually lead to an unhealthy, unengaged list. This unhealthy list will in turn lead to difficulty delivering emails to their inbox, which destroys any future hopes of capitalizing on this channel without changing your domain name.
Therefore, it’s important to bring value and diversity to your audience. If you gain a new subscriber, indoctrinate them into your brand with a “Welcome” email or two.
If you’re able to track someone’s interest via the content they consume on your site, send them more of that type of content!
Of course, it gets much more granular than this, which is why it’s important to have a team of experts on your side.
But know that email is incredibly diverse, which plays to your advantage as a business owner.
5. An Email List Is an Asset.
We’ve already touched on this idea, but let’s explore it further.
Every business owns assets of some sort. Perhaps they are physical structures, such as a building or machine. Or perhaps they are intangible, such as a patent or a brand.
An email list falls somewhere between those two. It is both a marketing channel that you can leverage in your business, but also an asset that has concrete value in the event that you sell your business.
In marketing, it’s difficult to place physical value on things. Arguments can be made for building a large following on social media, although even that asset is still at the mercy of the platform.
An example: Several years ago, we built a five-figure following on Facebook for a client. As soon as Facebook decided to shrink their organic reach for businesses, this “asset” subsequently lost some of its value.
An email list, contrarily, is as valuable as you are able to make it — no strings attached.
6. A Strong Email List Is Not Necessarily the Size of the List.
This last point is key to effective email marketing.
Too often, businesses believe they have a strong email list because they have access to 60,000 emails, or 100,000, or what have you.
Well, here’s the deal — email service providers (ESPs, e.g. Yahoo, Google, AOL, etc.) have the final say on whether your email gets delivered to the inbox, and they are guarding against spammers more than ever.
They look to see, 1) that your contacts are valid and, 2) that your audience enjoys receiving emails from you (among others).
This means that purchased lists, lists with high bounce rates, unengaged lists, spam content, and more are all causing significant, irreparable damage to your sender reputation.
There are dozens and dozens of factors that lead to reaching the inbox, and it’s part of what we do best at Fisheye.
The first step as a business owner or marketer is to be aware of these potential pitfalls and avoid them at all costs.
These six reasons should hopefully tell you that email marketing is a powerful tool for your business, and one you should be leveraging if you aren’t already.
Build a strong, engaged list and your business will reap the rewards.
And remember: don’t spam!
