Here is an interesting infograph detailing data from email marketing campaigns compared to search and twitter. Although this data was collected a couple of years ago I believe that we can still draw some conclusions from it.

In addition, an article written more recently about the effectiveness of email marketing proves that email is still the preferred means of marketing.

The reason why I personally prefer and teach email marketing is because it enables (I believe) a more personal interaction with my subscribers. I can communicate personally with them and reply to any questions they might have. My reply and the reading of it can be done without any of the distractions you would get on Facebook, for example.

Let me just add a comment about twitter, there is still a place for twitter in your marketing efforts but use it more as a way to update people rather than a tool for relationship building.

Take a look at the infograph below and see what you think. There are also some great suggestions on how to improve your own conversions through email.

Monetate Marketing Infographics

Email Segmentation

Most autoreponders allow you to segment your subscriber list. GetResponse, which I use, has a few great features to segment your subscribers depending on actions they might take.

The thing about segmenting your list is to take it slowly and not get too carried away! Aim for no more than 10 different lists or you will become overwhelmed and find it difficult to manage them!

The 2 most obvious types are a buyers list and a non buyers list. You need to be able to treat your buyers differently from your non buyers – since they are customers they should be rewarded in some way and it is easy to do this by segmenting your list.

Another way is to create some type of a loyalty program or discount structure for your buyers.

Consistency

Being consistent throughout your business is a must. One way you can do this is to use similar graphics in your email and on your sales pages.

If you don’t use images in email then use similar words that appear on your sales page within your email when talking about an offer. Remember, your email is not for you to promote your offer, just to mention it. The sales page does the promotion work for you.

However, if you use similar language and phrases then your subscribers will feel a better connection when reading your sales page. This makes for a more comfortable and trustworthy connection.

Reading Email

Many people now read email on their mobile devices. Therefore you must have an autoresponder account that automatically creates a mobile version of your email. I am sure most services provide this – certainly GetRespone does.

Your own subscriber list will use different devices than the results shown above so it is worth checking to see what devices are most common for your own list.

As always it is best to check and analyze your own results as your campaign will be unique to you and your business. However, it is useful to gain insights from data like this as it gives you a base line to compare your own data with.