According to the Radicati Group, Inc., over 90 trillion emails were sent in 2009.
B2B spending on email marketing is estimated to have grown by 2.4% to $206 million in 2010, according to Metrics 2.0.
B2B marketing efforts everywhere have joined the email surge making it the number 2 marketing tool (just a tick behind SEO – according to The Ad effectiveness Survey by Forbes Media in February/March 2009).
However, email marketing isn’t always an easy channel to conquer with its unique resource requirements including those dedicated to content creation, landing page creation, distribution and measurement.
The answer to easing email marketing headaches is to move to the next level and implement email marketing software. Automating your email campaigns will keep you competitive, streamline the process and improve results.
Consider these advantages of email software:
• Drive ROI faster
Immediate notification as to when prospects open your email gives you a jump on response.
Compatibility with Outlook and Salesforce CRM mean sales people don’t have to learn any new tools while they speed up their response time.
Jumping faster on qualified leads equals higher conversion rates.
• Increase segmentation options
Automated software allows for easier segmentation of messages to different audiences within your list.
When you can segment the list and offer content that appeals to their hot buttons, improvements in open rates and inquiries can be experienced.
• Track and optimize
Email automation takes the guesswork out of tracking and measuring results.
Immediate updates on prospects’ click behavior let marketers tweak messages and distribution, providing the best opportunity for targeted email marketing.
• Improve communication
75% of daily social media users said email is the best way for companies to communicate with them compared to 65% of all email users according to a study by MarketingSherpa (2010).
Automation makes your communication with prospects timely and relevant.
In-house Communication is enhanced as well, because automated reports keep both sales and marketing updated on latest email results. This encourages alignment between both departments and refines language and definitions of qualified leads so that there are no barriers in the lead management process.
According to the Email Experience Council, utilizing professional tools can help increase response rates up to as much as 87%. When you combine this with the ease and speed of automation you have a better chance of not becoming part of a deleted folder.
