Benefits of Email Marketing 📧🪄—12 Secrets for Every Small Business Revealed
At Pair of Ducks, we ❤︎ email. As constant cheerleaders of this uniquely powerful marketing channel, we often encounter small businesses that don’t use, underuse, or are skeptical about the value of a good email newsletter and making email a strong part of their marketing strategy.
If you’re an amazing, busy, but email-averse business owner, we can guess what you might be thinking:
“Why not just focus on social media—do people even read marketing emails?”
“I don’t even have any subscribers yet? Won’t it be expensive and time-consuming to get started?”
“How can I keep up with trends and best practices without being an expert?”
“My business isn’t retail-based, so email probably won’t benefit my bottom line.”
“Compliance, spam filters, designing, and sending all sounds confusing and scary—is it really worth all the work?”
Well, our short answers are: Yes they do, no it’s not, POD can help with that, not true, and YES × 1,000,000!
Today we’re on a mission to answer your questions and ease your worries about all things email. We'll dive into the many advantages of email marketing, including not just what email marketing can do for your business, but why email outshines other digital marketing channels, providing unmatched benefits for your biz.
Ready, send, here we grow! 📧 🤓
6 Things Email Marketing Can Do for Your Biz
01. Increase Site Traffic
Email marketing is great for driving website traffic, and factors including subject lines, content, and calls to action can have a significant impact on the traffic each email generates. With compelling content and strategically placed call-to-action buttons, you can lead your email recipients directly to your website, increasing your online presence.
Plus, email doesn’t boost just any traffic, this is highly-engaged traffic!
Since your email campaigns go to people who are genuinely interested in your content already—clearly that’s why they signed up—these visitors are likely to spend more time on your website. More engaged time on your site sends Google a strong signal that your website is a good resource. Google will recognize your site’s authority and increase your ranking. Cha-ching!
factors that impact campaign performance + traffic
Email List Quality
A smaller list of subscribers that are genuinely interested in your products or content will always outperform a big list of lukewarm addresses.PRO TIP: Never add anyone to your subscriber list who hasn’t opted in to receive emails from you. Not only is it the law … it keeps engagement metrics high like ya want ‘em!
Industry + Niche
Some industries have a more receptive audience to email campaigns than others, and every industry is different, so understanding your target audience and their preferences is important.
Email Click-through Rates by Industry
The average click-through rate across all industries is around 2.9%.
Source: Mailchimp
Frequency
The frequency of your email campaigns can impact overall engagement and thus traffic to your site over time: Send too often and risk subscriber fatigue (plus more unsubscribes); not often enough and your brand won’t be top-of-mind.
Email Send Frequency
33% of marketers send weekly emails, while 26% send emails multiple times per month, and 13% send daily.
Source: Hubspot
PRO TIP: If you’re not sure where to start, try monthly emails, increase to weekly as time and energy allows, and pay attention to your numbers to monitor if and when engagement starts to fall off.
Content + Offers
While promotions and discounts almost always outperform other types of sends, generally, the more valuable, relevant, and personalized your emails are, the more your readers will be encouraged to click through to your website.Segmentation
Segmenting your email list and sending targeted emails to specific groups of subscribers can increase engagement and drive more relevant traffic. Like we mentioned above, personalization and relevance are heavy hitters when it comes to email success.Timing
Both the day of the week and the time of day can impact open rates and click-through rates for your campaigns.A good EMS tool may have predictive analytic functions to help you narrow in on best send times for your audience. If yours doesn't, most sources cite midweek as a good window.
Best Days to Send Marketing Emails
In a survey by Databox and SeventhSense, Tuesday was the best send day by far for positive email engagement, according to 75 companies’ EMS data. Also worth noting: Everyone agreed that send days were an important performance factor, and Sunday was an absolute dud.
Source: Databox
Tracking + Analytics
Use web analytics tools and email marketing software to track the sources of your website traffic. This will help you understand how much traffic is coming from email marketing efforts specifically.
A/B Testing
Experiment with different email marketing strategies, subject lines, content formats, and CTAs to optimize your campaigns for better traffic results. The right EMS tools make A/B testing super easy.Other Channels
Keep in mind that website traffic can come from various sources, including search engines, social media, direct visits, referrals, and more. Email marketing is just one piece of the puzzle.
02. Strengthen Customer Relationships
Email marketing ticks so many boxes when it comes to building and nurturing customer relationships—and that’s really what’s at the heart of every successful business.
Connecting with your target audience in a personal way. 🙌 ✅
Providing valuable relevant content that’s timely and helpful. 🙌 ✅
Sending only the best offers that fit how and when they actually shop. 🙌 ✅
More than double points, discounts, and flashy promos, when it comes to longterm loving a brand, most people value being part of a community, feeling seen, heard, and understood, and getting value back in exchange for their loyalty. If that’s what your fans care about (and what you want to deliver), then trust us, email has you covered!
03. Build Brand Awareness
Brand awareness is all about being memorable, and that takes consistency and repetition, repetition, repetition in your marketing efforts. Since email offers the ability reach interested customers regularly and directly, it’s perfect for building the repeat exposure you need to stay top-of-mind.
Another key way to build longterm brand awareness is by creating value beyond your product. Think about all the ways you might inform, educate, or entertain your customers. Odds are, email is just the easy, cost-effective, manageable solution to help you deliver!
6 Brand-Boosting Email Tips We Swear By
Always use a consistent brand voice + personality.
Create reusable email templates that look like your brand.
Include compelling, branded photos + imagery.
Send emails on an even, regular schedule.
No continuous sales pitches—remember: inform, educate, entertain—value beyond your product!
Segment + personalize your content whenever possible.
04. Boost social media engagement
Email and social media can work in harmony to amplify your online presence. By including social media links and shareable content in your emails, you can (and should) encourage subscribers to engage with your brand across various platforms.
05. Get instant feedback from customers
“The best predictor of top-line growth can usually be captured in a single survey question: Would you recommend this company to a friend?”
Harvard Business Journal, The One Number You Need to Grow
Feedback is crucial for business growth. By including surveys, feedback forms, or simply encouraging replies, you can gather valuable insights directly from your customers, and show them that you are a business that listens and cares about their experience.
Sure, not everybody is willing to spend time on reviews or surveys, but a lot of people do want to give feedback and appreciate the opportunity to do so. In our research (across multiple sources), email surveys have an average response rate of 30%. That means more than one in four people will fill out a feedback survey sent through email!
06. Automate critical communications
For busy business owners and marketing teams looking to save time and streamline their efforts (Um, yes please!), email marketing platforms allow you to automate important messages that can be scheduled in advance or triggered whenever a customer meets the right criteria or takes a specific action.
Automations, sometimes called trigger emails, are setup using a “flow” or “workflow”. They can include just one or even a series of emails timed according to your needs. Automations not only save time, but ensure consistent and timely interactions with your audience.
Some High-Value automations that Every Business should consider sending:
Welcome Emails
The moment when someone subscribes to your list is when they’re most ready to engage with your brand. Don’t miss out. In our experience, a full welcome series works best, but even a single, simple email is a good place to start.
PRO TIP: Welcome emails are so much more than obligatory discounts. Be sure to include:
(1) an overview of your email program
(2) the types and frequency of emails subscribers can expect from you
(3) a bit about your brand and products
(4) how things work
(5) links to connect on socialAbandon Cart Reminders
Sometimes shoppers add items to a cart without completing a purchase. An abandoned cart flow is a gentle prompt to re-engage them to complete checkout And, yes, abandon cart emails make big money! In a three-month analysis by Klaviyo, e-commerce brands made more than $60 million in sales directly from their abandoned cart emails.
PRO TIP: A three-email AC series is our go-to. We love including pictures of what’s in the cart so shoppers remember what caught their eye.Cross-Sell Flow
Cross-selling is a great tool to keep your brand in customers' minds after they’ve made their first purchase.
PRO TIP: For best timing, wait about a month after someone’s first purchase, then trigger an email with related products they might like.Product Review Automation
Product reviews make great social proof and user-generated content. All you have to do is ask for them (with good timing, of course).
PRO TIP: These are best segmented by in-person and online transactions. By using a time delay, you can ensure a product has had time to ship and be opened and enjoyed by a customer before you ask for feedback.Special Event Automations
By automating emails for special occasions, you can make your subscribers feel truly special. Leveraging data and customer insights, you can tailor annual communications to align with significant events in their lives.
PRO TIP: Some of our fave events include:
(1) Birthdays
(2) Subscribe-a-versaries
(3) Anniversary of their first purchase
(4) School start- or end-of-year
(5) Year-in-reviews
Why Email Does It Better Than Other Digital Marketing Channels
01. Email Is Cost-Effective
When it comes to budget-friendly marketing solutions, email leads the way. Email costs significantly less per conversion compared to other advertising channels, but, how much does it actually cost?
Most EMS providers offer freemium pricing models to make getting started easy and affordable. Generally, you should expect to spend anywhere from FREE to $100 for up to 5K email contacts per month. The price increases with the size of your email list: With more than 50K subscribers, expect to pay around $200-300 monthly.
02. Email Marketing Has a High ROI
The return on investment (ROI) from email marketing is impressive across every industry and niche. On average, for every $1 marketers spend on email marketing, they receive $36 in return. Let’s take a closer look:
Email Marketing ROI By Industry
Source: Litmus
Email’s median ROI is higher than direct mail (41%), paid search (50%), online display advertising (20%) and social media (50%) according to ANA/DMA Response Rate Reports. While social media channels like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram have massive reach (as in billions of monthly active users across multiple platforms massive) they’re better suited to build brand awareness and engagement rather than drive sales directly.
03. Email Marketing Is Personalized, Targeted + Relevant
Personalization is a cornerstone of successful marketing. Email allows you to send tailored messages to segmented audiences based on their preferences and behaviors. This personalized approach makes email uniquely powerful and leads to higher open and conversion rates compared to generic advertising.
According to Adobe's 2021 Consumer Email Survey, 40% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase if they receive personalized recommendations through email.
If personalization is email’s big superpower, think of “targeted” and “relevant” as two indisputable qualities left in the wake of this true marketing hero. The same data and technology that allow your emails to be personalized for each user also allow you to deliver relevant, tailored content at the right time. After 10 years working in email marketing, here are some ways we’ve used personalization to deliver email magic:
Conversational, One-on-One Messaging
Use first names, job roles, favorite colors, or other details you collect to make communication as personal and meaningful as possible.Best-Matched Offers
Send tailored promotional discounts to fit each user's location, shopping preferences, or purchase history. (Ex. Free shipping versus in-store discount depending on proximity to a retail location)Birthday Emails
You can send special messages, freebies, discounts, even custom horoscopes (Yup, we’ve done that!) to make birthdays more fun.Reorder Reminders
Time retail emails to subscribers' purchase frequency to give them a helpful nudge to order right when they need it.Product Recommendations
Beef up your e-commerce newsletters with shoppable products based on subscribers’ purchase history or preferences to make recommendations more relevant.Curated Blog Content
You don’t have to give the same articles and news to everyone! Try versioning content based on individual hobbies and interests or click history to make your emails more on point..
04. You Own Your Email Contact Lists + Data
Unlike social media platforms and search engines, where algorithms can change and impact your visibility, you own your email contact lists and data forever. Every willing subscriber can receive and enjoy your content in a more direct, unadulterated experience that is governed by you and not the whims of a social media empire.
05. Email Offers Direct, 1:1 Communication
With email, your customers are yours to engage with directly, and communication feels one-on-one, but with the power of scale. This is something no other marketing channel can really offer. Thanks to great EMS tools, you can collect information about your subscribers and get to know them naturally over time. This is such a huge email advantage, and it’s a great way for businesses of any size to build stronger relationships and longterm loyalty with their fans.
06. Email Makes Organic + Paid Social Stronger
Email marketing and social media can complement each other seamlessly. By integrating email with your social media strategy, you can reinforce your brand's message, grow your fanbase faster, drive traffic, and improve conversion rates.
PRO TIP: Plan your social and email campaigns in one calendar to help keep them in lock step. This will also encourage you to repurpose visuals and keep promotions consistent and in-focus everywhere your brand is present.
IDEAS to use email + social together:
Build your email list using social media
Encourage your followers on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter (sigh, X), and Pinterest to sign up for your email list by offering exclusive content, discounts, or other incentives.
Share your email content on social media
Creating social posts, stories, and videos to re-share email content across your social channels can increase reach and drive traffic back to your website.
Encourage social media engagement in your emails
Adding social media links in the footer of every email you send is a good way to remind your subscribers that they can (and should) connect with you in your other channels.
PRO TIP: We also recommend making social media awareness a part of your email welcome series. By prominently reminding new subscribers all the places they can find your brand, you can boost followers, shares, and engagement all around.
Leverage email contacts in paid social campaigns
Yes, you can retarget existing email subscribers with relevant ads in social channels! And, depending on what EMS you use, it’s easy to export your email list data to create look-alike audiences for more targeted social media advertising. If that sounds overwhelming, just know that it’s essentially being able to direct your ads towards (and conserve your ad budget for) new customers that actually fit your target audience and are likely to love your biz.
You made it to the end!
First off, congratulations—you made it to the finish line on this post! The race writing was long, the competition content was fierce, you managed to get through it without breaking a sweat, and you emerged emailed victorious!
All jokes aside, we certainly hope you leave this post feeling more confident, more inspired, and more empowered than ever to use email to promote your business. Across all industries, for all types of businesses, and on almost any budget, email marketing is a sure fire solution that’s worth every penny.
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