Is Email Marketing Worth It? How Email Marketing Can Generate ROI For Your Business

February 1, 2023

We had a call with a client recently who asked us if email marketing was worth it. They asked this because another agency recently told them they shouldn't pursue email marketing since it's a "waste of money."

WHAT?! Um, no!

Sorry, not sorry. Email is alive and well, and should be part of your marketing plan. Email marketing works for B2B and B2C when it’s done correctly. In fact, 8 in 10 prospects prefer talking to sales reps through email.

We get it. Everyone gets a lot of emails, including SPAM, which may leave you thinking, “How can email actually work?”. The key to effective email marketing that cuts through the noise is a relevant message to the right contact.

Is Email Marketing Worth the Investment for B2B?

Yes. When marketing to other businesses, especially if you sell equipment, professional services or perhaps uniform rental programs, you could have a longer sales or buying cycle.

Chances are, your prospects have an incumbent provider.
They likely have contracts or agreements in place.
You need to show your value to prospects through lead nurturing.

Email is one of the best practices for lead nurturing. These email campaigns for nurturing leads enable you to develop a connection with your potential customers, bringing them through the buyer's journey until they are ready to make a purchase.

Does Email Marketing Provide ROI?

Email is actually one of the lowest cost, highest ROI channels that you have. This is true when you’re using email marketing the right way. The right way, you ask? That means sending emails to lists that are segmented and targeted, so you provide email contact that is more meaningful to the recipient.

Also, if you’re using an email platform like MailChimp, Constant Contact, or larger solutions like HubSpot, the actual cost of email marketing isn’t that high.

Time should be invested in cleaning email lists, segmenting your target audiences, and writing attention-grabbing, relevant emails. This is where your marketing agency can help you.

How Can Email Marketing Help Your Business?

Ah, let us count the ways...

For Customers: It Supports Retention, Up-Sell/Cross Sell & More

Email marketing is a powerful tool for customer retention when you provide relevant and targeted communication that keeps current customers engaged and coming back for more. By combining retention and up-sell strategies, email marketing can effectively drive revenue and growth for a business.

Here’s what you can do:

Stay in front of customers with tips on how to use your products and services, and insights that can improve their business
Showcase complementary products and services, upgraded versions, and new products and services that lead to increased customer lifetime value.
Share announcements and reminders of why they chose your company in the first place.
Thank them for their business
Inform them of new staff, company growth and improvements that will better serve your customers in the future.

For Prospects: It Supports Lead Nurturing & Sales

Salespeople cannot call on or meet with every single prospect every single month. For one, that would be annoying in a longer sales cycle environment. And two, they’re human.

By providing valuable and relevant content, email marketing helps to educate and build trust with leads, moving them closer to a buying decision.

Additionally, through targeted email campaigns, businesses can prioritize and reach out to the most promising leads at the right time, supporting the sales effort and increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Here’s what you can do:

Provide meaningful content that helps them see a solution to their problem in a new light.
Highlight key capabilities or solutions your equipment or services provided to people in the same industry.
Establish a segmented database with thorough data about prospects. Include information like contract end dates, competitors, and their industry(s), so you send them specific, relevant messages.
Share recent articles or tips you’ve written about their industry or the problems your company can solve. Perhaps a case study?
Segment your database by sales rep to send personalized emails to prospects from that person. Email doesn’t have to look like it’s a “mass email blast”.

Parting Email Marketing Tips

We know—this can be information overload. However, if nothing else, take with you these following tips.

Segmentation is important.
It's important to have clean data in your customer relationship management (CRM) system.
Yes, it takes time to develop segments and content to ensure relevant messages.
Testing subject lines or calls to action (A/B testing) will give you more data to use.
We usually do not recommend buying an email list as those can be a waste of money. It'll take longer to cultivate and build your own list, but it'll also be much more relevant.
All of the items above will help improve open rates, click-through rates and overall response rates.
If someone tells you email marketing is dead, turn around and walk away because email marketing is worth it.

Think You’re Ready to Improve Your Email Marketing?

If you’re struggling to build an email list, segment contacts properly, or create consistent, relevant messages, let us know. We’d be happy to brainstorm a few ideas with you and even see if our team could assist.

P.S. Don't just take our word for it—here are a few articles from other professionals that we found in just a few minutes. It’s about doing email marketing the right way for ROI.