There are several communication channels available to modern manufacturing companies. While some are ideal for certain situations, one channel has proven to have more universal relevance than all others: email. Even with the array of messaging options that is increasing each year, email remains the most popular channel for people of all ages.
To quantify that popularity, consider the fact that about 360 billion emails are sent every day. That’s more than 40 emails a day for each human on earth. There simply isn’t another channel that more consistently connects you with contacts around the globe.
Email marketing is the art of sending targeted messages that are designed to prompt specific actions from the recipient. You might be sharing a product launch, newsletter, brand messaging, helpful tips, customer survey, or contest. The common theme is that you’re delivering messages to customers that highlight your brand and help drive business results.
As all manufacturers know, there are multiple stakeholders involved in most purchased decisions. Because the process of reviewing and approving a manufacturer can drag on for months, it’s important to have an ongoing connection with the right people.
Email serves this role, enabling you to build relationships and share timely messages highlighting your differentiators. Consistency is a key factor in many business decisions, so it’s a big advantage to have an effective email marketing plan in place.
Let’s review some of the key benefits offered by email marketing for manufacturers. We’ve already covered the ubiquity of email and how it enables you to build relationships. But what are some of the other ways that it elevates your business?
Using emails in your marketing costs pennies on the dollar compared to other channels like television spots or PPC ads. For small operations, email marketing can actually have no cost at all. So if you’re looking to reduce your expenses in order to invest in other areas of your business, emails are an effective way to go.
Even when you spend money on your email marketing, the investment pays off in a big way. The average ROI is $36, which is virtually unparalleled in the marketing world. It’s important to remember this factor as you build your email program and begin to put more money into its performance. There aren’t many investments in this world safer than email marketing.
Getting stakeholders to visit your website can be like pulling teeth, but it’s important for them to see your offerings and get a better understanding of what sets you apart from other manufacturers. Emails are an ideal way to drive website traffic because you already have the reader’s attention and a simple click accomplishes the task (rather than a print ad where they’d need to manually type your URL into a browser).
The ease with which email creates customer touchpoints allows you to build strong awareness for your brand. Even when the content isn’t sales-focused, benefits abound because you’re creating familiarity that can lead to conversions down the road.
While brand awareness strategies are part of playing the long game, email marketing also brings a bevy of short-term results. Messages hit inboxes, recipients open them, and then conversions occur. You aren’t forced to wait through the nebulous timeframes that come with social media, digital, and PPC advertising.
Modern customers don’t just prefer personalized messaging… they almost demand it. Think of the last time that you received a generic-looking email from a brand. You probably deleted it immediately. But if the message called you by name and referred specifically to something you’re interested in, you’d be more likely to check it out.
One of the keystones of the importance of email marketing for manufacturers is that it allows you to speak to individual customers on a personal level and address their motivations, pain points, fears, and hopes.
Because your emails will only be sent to people who opt in to receive them, you can trust in the quality of the audience. These are individuals who find relevance in what you offer and are interested in staying connected. Few marketing channels offer such direct access to qualified leads.
Email marketing is undeniably awesome, but it’s just one of many tools in your kit. Thanks to the high engagement and fast responses spurred by effective campaigns, it’ll help you strengthen your other channels. Showcase a popular blog post, link to a social media contest, or announce a future live event. Your emails won’t just complement your other marketing efforts–they can boost their performance in substantial ways.
With marketing channels such as display and PPC, you never know exactly who will be seeing your content. Even social media limits your control, as a platform has the ability to hide your content or even close your account.
Emails are different. As long as someone gives you a valid email address and opts in, you can consistently reach their inbox. Rather than wasting time guessing about your audience, you can focus on creating strong messages for the people you already know.
You’ve got enough on your plate running all your manufacturing processes. Partnering with an email marketing platform gives you access to drag-and-drop templates that enable you to create messages in a matter of minutes, not days.
Once your content is ready, simply set up the schedule and technology will take care of the rest. You’ll save time and money, while avoiding the headaches of manual marketing functions.
So much of marketing is outbound. But email is a two-way connection that empowers you to gather feedback from your audience. Seeking input on a new product you’re developing? Have a satisfaction survey you want to share? Send them in an email and let the insights roll in.
These are just a handful of the most common benefits from email marketing. As you optimize your own program, you’ll undoubtedly experience other unique benefits that elevate your manufacturing business.
The importance of email marketing for manufacturers is high enough that you should make it a top priority to develop your strategy. The faster you can put it into action, the faster you’ll start reaping the benefits.
Follow these four basic steps to get up and running:
You can only send emails to those who have opted in to receive them. To build this list of qualified individuals, use a lead magnet that provides real value. It might be a whitepaper or tutorial. Or perhaps you share an exclusive offer. Whatever the lead magnet looks like, make sure that it feels relevant and worthwhile enough that people are willing to give you their contact information.
Gathering a bunch of email addresses is nice. But segmenting those contacts into categories of shared interests, motivations, demographics, and geographical locations will enable you to communicate with them on a much higher level.
And don’t forget to purge the obsolete, erroneous, and duplicate email addresses from your list. Healthier lists make your campaigns more effective and also ensure better deliverability, which keeps your business in the good graces of email providers like Outlook and Gmail.
This is the fun part, as you get to put together quality emails that reflect your unique brand and provide value to your audience. Thanks to your segmented lists, you’ll be able to send personalized messages to the right people at the right time.
Every email campaign needs an objective. Then lay out all the key metrics that will support that objective long before you get ready to send anything to your audience.
Make sure that you have the technology in place to track your campaign’s performance in real time. Modern email platforms provide user-friendly systems that handle all this for you, eliminating the need for your team to spend time manually tracking these metrics.
Just as your manufacturing processes benefit from continual refinement, pay attention to areas of improvement for your email marketing program. Some improvements, such as the use of imagery and videos in your emails, might appeal to your entire audience. Other elements will only be beneficial to specific segments.
Our user-friendly platform helps your email marketing become a well-oiled machine. You’ll get professional-grade templates, automation tools, and real-time tracking, as well as access to our award-winning support team.
Ready to take your marketing strategies to the next level? Create a free account today (no credit card required) and see just how impactful the right email tools can be for your business.
