When I am asked which marketing channel is the most important, people are often surprised when I say that it?s email marketing. Why are they surprised? Because, as a communication channel, email has been around for a long time, and the negative feelings towards spam have left many with a bad feeling towards email in general.?

When you factor in the rise of social media and other aspects of digital marketing marketing, it can be easy to see how email marketing has become an afterthought for many.?

However, when you consider the following email marketing stats from Constant Contact, you will see why I believe email to be such a vital marketing of your marketing mix:

• In 2020, it is estimated that 3 billion people will use email
• For every $1 you spend on email marketing, you get back an average of $8
• 61% percent of consumers enjoy receiving weekly promotional email with 38% saying they would like to receive more.?

These stats tell me three things:

• There is an audience who wants to hear your message
• They are already using a marketing channel with a low barrier to entry
• There is a proven ROI for email marketing?

Email marketing is a valuable tool to help you stay connected with your audience and one that should be part of your marketing strategy in 2020 and beyond.?

Here are some ways you can make the most of your email marketing efforts.

Plan for Mobile

However you decide to promote your business in 2020, making your content fit for mobile should be a priority. 88% of adults say they use their smartphone to check their email at least once per day. This means that if you send a message via email, chances are it will be seen. Planning for mobile means that your content can be read easily on a smartphone or tablet. If not, then your audience will most likely move on. Worse, they may even ignore future messages from you.?

Automation Rules

I covered automation in marketing a few weeks ago here. There is probably no channel that benefits from automation in marketing more than email. You can automate the way you collect email addresses, initiate contact, send emails on a weekly/monthly basis, follow up on closed sales, or reconnect with customers who you have not seen in a period of time. To make automation work for you, map the journey your customer takes from discovery to purchase. Determine where you can install steps to help them along the funnel with the assistance of some form of automation.?

Engaging Content

This is probably the most important step of them all. If your marketing content is not engaging, if it does not directly address the needs and concerns of your target audience, then what is their incentive to listen? Before you begin any marketing campaign, make sure you know your audience and how to speak to them. This is the best way to get the ROI referenced above.?

Less is More

It is true that there is a fraction of your audience that would like to hear more from you?38% to be exact according to the above stats. That also means that there are plenty of people who are happy with the number of emails they are getting and maybe even some who would like less. This is an argument for quality over quantity. Make sure that you provide quality content on a consistent basis and your audience will reward you by staying engaged and acting on your content.?

Follow the Data

It is important to understand how effective, or possibly ineffective, your email marketing efforts are by analyzing the data. This means you need to look at key performance indicators (KPIs) like open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribes. This will tell you important things such as which subject lines work the best, the types of content that result in the most engagement, and what causes people to no longer want to hear from you. This is information you can use to improve how you use email to communicate with your audience.?

Email marketing should be an essential part of how you reach out to your audience. It is a medium that your audience uses on a daily basis and one proven to be effective in terms of generating interest and ROI. It does take some planning and time, but if done right, you can position yourself for success and growth in the upcoming year!