Email newsletter on screen

The ongoing power of email marketing

Many individuals have long predicted the fall of email as a marketing channel, but email marketing continues to be an important component of any marketing strategy.

A well-executed email campaign can be very effective at helping you achieve your business and marketing objectives. Here are three ways to optimize this important channel and achieve the measurable performance you’re looking for.   

Strategy first

Email marketing drives customer acquisition and retention, delivering an impressive return on investment (ROI) of US$36 for every $1 spent. To achieve that level of ROI, however, companies need to have a strategy in place to maximize any investment they make in this channel. Organizations need to consider relevance, experience, messaging, benefits and customer needs.

The bottom line is that having a tool is not enough. The most sophisticated strategies will fall flat without a well-planned content marketing plan to feed them. If you have answers to the 5 questions below, you are well on your way to building your strategy:

  • How well do you know your customers?
  • Do you have a good understanding of their needs and pain points?
  • How well do you know your organization’s brand promise?
  • Do you know what you want to say and how you want to say it?
  • Have you determined what success means to your organization?


The next step is to focus your content strategy in a credible and meaningful way. Only at this point, are you equipped to partner with your email platform and data colleagues. They will thank you for the guidance and insight and be more motivated and engaged to help you execute strategic and effective email communications.

Relevance is king

“Relevance is king” can be a useful adaptation of the traditional mantra “content is king” to level up your use of the email channel. One of the most common quandaries organizations face is how many emails to send. Often, companies are surprised when research suggests customers want to hear more from them, not less.

The secret to answering this question is relevance. Customers’ perception of an email as spam is highly correlated with relevance, meaning a hard-and-fast number will not suffice. Customers who receive few emails with very little relevance will have low engagement compared to those who receive frequent and relevant communications.

Find your target

Relevancy is achieved by segmenting your audience based on their client profile. Whether you are at the crawl, walk, or run stage of your use of the email channel, you should always aim for maximum personalization. An email recipient is 50 percent more likely to click on a link in a segmented email.

For many, this means targeting your email distribution using, at a minimum, basic segmentation based on a foundational data strategy. No more mass messaging with information relevant to only a small section of the distribution list. This old batch-and-blast approach is well past its expiration date.

For others, this means more advanced behavioral-based and customized segments. This requires a true understanding of the customer experience and profile to provide the right content at the right time under the right circumstance.

Email marketing should always start with developing your strategy to set your goals and find the best way to achieve them. Once you have your strategy in place, support it with relevant messages that target audiences that want to receive them. Do that and you can watch your customers’ engagement grow!

Looking for help developing an effective email marketing strategy? Ext. has the expertise you need. Contact us today at 1.844.243.1830 or info@ext-marketing.com