Make Your Next Email Campaign - News

Make Your Next Email Campaign - News

If you want to impress your boss at your next social media management meeting, suggesting an email campaign may not go down well. Email campaigns have a ‘jaded’ stereotype, of being the worn out, overused old Grandma of the media marketing suite, but that image could not be further from the truth. For every $1 spent on email marketing the return is … $54. That’s no small feat. Image any other kind of media budget bringing back that kind of return…

Email campaigns work well, but may need a face lift to cut through the white noise that social media creates. To this end, Quartz have done some research that is not only interesting in its results, but for the business savvy marketing executive, opens up a whole new avenue for reaching the people that count. 

WHO?

Quartz survey was detailed to look at the habits of business executives and how they accessed their industry news; bear with me, this is all relevant. They chose to interview 940 business executives to see how they kept up with what was going on in their industry and what they looked for in gaining that information. JACKPOT! If that means nothing to you, go ask your boss…

For those of us who are in the marketing arena and strive to continue to be one step ahead of the competition, this survey lets us see what those men in the corner offices with panoramic views of the city, the decision makers of the industry, base the effectiveness of their business decisions on, so anyone that can get in right at the beginning, doing all the moving and shaking, has more than a distinct advantage. 

WHAT?

Business executives, despite having a myriad of media options open to them, chose to use email newsletters to keep ahead of industry news over any other type of delivery. 60% said that they opened and read their email industry newsletters as one of the first three sources they turned to in the mornings to catch up on the news. 56% of the executives said that email newsletters were their top source of finding out what was going on in the industry. 

Their appetite for email news continued when it came to sharing what they consumed with email soliciting 80% of executives sharing content within the industry, which topped Twitter at 43%, leaving Facebook and LinkedIn tied at 30% as their platform of choice. 

These are the types of figures that cannot be ignored. What are the decision makers of companies basing their decision on? It would appear that it’s the content of email newsletters. 

Jay Lauf, publisher for Quartz said, “The fact that they are willing to consume and share, that was a great validation that if we do provide interesting, relevant, useful content, even the most time-starved audience could use it.”

It would appear he’s right.

HOW?

The study covered the way that the email newsletter was consumed, which is great information for any marketing campaign. Mobile devices, especially phones, caught the biggest slice of the executive groups attention: 61% said they used a mobile device to receive the news. That broke down to 41% phones, 20% tablets.

Executives were also tested on digital marketing. They were asked to think of the last digital ad they could remember. The survey found that video ads are highly memorable to executives: 54% cited a video ad as the last digital ad they could recall. The second most remembered ad format to executives: sponsored content, with 28%. What about a regular banner ad? Only 12% cited them as the last advert they could remember.

With 75% of business executives spending at least 30 minutes or more on industry related news, maybe it’s time to consider your next email campaign. Presenting it as a newsletter may be just what you need to reach your audience. With an open rate of between 40-50% it may be just the vehicle you need to jump start your next evolution of digital media. 

It gets even better when you realise that 86% of executives told Quartz they are interested in seeing more branded content. 55% of respondents said they follow brands in their own industry on social media and would like to see industry relevant ones in email, and 47% said they would also follow brands outside of their line of work. Those numbers jump to 73% and 64%, respectively, for the media industry - it must be a common courtesy type of thing!

When it comes to the device used for adverts, 58% of executives said desktop ads were more memorable, while 42% said mobile ads are memorable, with that type of result you can’t really go wrong either way with adding branded adverts to a well written, industry focused, company newsletter. 

Email campaigns work well and by using the research Quartz has produces, you can match your email campaign to the needs of your target audience. With the information that has been provided you can craft content that is relevant, digestible and influential. That provides a document for success – and there may even be a promotion in there for you too.