You must be tired of hearing again and again that email marketing has become obsolete or is dead. This myth needs to be busted now because an overall estimate indicates that there are almost 4.1 billion email users. So how effective is email marketing? Email marketing might look like a waste of time because of your own experiences, using outdated techniques and tactics, and so much more. However, it is still a convenient way for many businesses to generate leads and revenue. Companies are putting in their best to curate emails that you look forward to. These emails do not really get lost within your inbox, and you tend to open them and engage with them. So without a doubt, it supersedes other marketing channels while helping you get better conversions, more value, and long-term relationships with your customers.
Yes, there are customers who just make one purchase but there are also customers who would like to hear more from you and engage with your email campaigns. In this article, we will discuss the main purpose of email marketing in the SaaS business and how to do it the right way and gain success. The software industry usually witnesses an email open rate of 21.29% and a click-through rate of only 2.45% on average but that doesn’t limit them to these numbers. There is scope for higher numbers if the right email marketing strategies are used.
What is email marketing, and how can you use email marketing for your SaaS business?
Email marketing in the SaaS business plays a vital role where you send personalized emails to a list of contacts that can be your potential leads. These emails can be used to communicate certain information to them, drive sales, and build a community that prefers your brand. Mostly, such emails focus on segmentation, consent, and customization. They might sound time-consuming but they are not. And, did I tell you that email marketing offers 44% ROI on every dollar spent? That is why email marketing is important and is unarguably the best digital marketing strategy.
1) Creating an engaging experience for both potential and past customers-
Chances are high that your typical call-to-actions might have become less active for your target audience. Hence, you either need to change the positioning of the CTA in your emails or start creating brand awareness more seriously. If in case the user has clicked on the CTA but has abandoned their cart in the process, send a proactive follow-up email to remind them about the same. You can also provide them with further assistance in completing their buying journey. If a new customer subscribes to your newsletter, help them understand what differentiates your brand from others and how it will benefit them.
2) Creating better and meaningful relationships-
Personalizing marketing emails paves the way for smoother business engagements. It increases the return on investment (ROI) and engages the customers in a more meaningful way. It also helps you become more agile in adopting marketing strategies. Personalized emails have proven to influence 71% of consumers to open and read them. Creating a one-to-one experience is a great practice and lets you take things one step further by being more intentional with your marketing efforts.
3) Engaging the contacts in a simple and cost-effective manner-
If there are budget constraints, nothing can be better than sending emails to spread your word. For small businesses or start-ups, this tactic has been highly favored. You can rightly aid your cost and increase the conversion rates through well-written emails.
4) Gaining valuable insights into the marketing efforts-
Running an email marketing campaign without A/B testing it is an incomplete venture. Testing is important to get valuable insights into how your audience will respond to your emails. Analyze the favorable outputs and improvise your strategies accordingly to achieve results.
Why email marketing is essential for SaaS business:
Here are basic reasons why email marketing is essential for SaaS business
1) Email marketing is cost-effective and the easiest way to generate leads-
Cost is a significant factor why email marketing is preferred over other forms of marketing. Unlike other marketing methods, you don’t have to pay the print or postage charges in email marketing. Also, you don’t need to pay any fees to billboards, magazines, or television channels to maximize your reach. There might be a focused investment in good software specialized to automate the entire campaign. And, this cost is extremely lower than other marketing methods. So without any big investment, email marketing assures you sure shot results only if you use the right techniques and tactics.
2) Email marketing is better in terms of engagement with customers for SaaS business-
Email marketing has been one of those methods which the consumers have asked for. They are mostly sent to people who have signed up for the business’s newsletters and have helped to gain much higher conversion as compared to other methods. Converting leads to customers is easy with email marketing. But there is also a possibility of sending emails to individuals who have not asked for it in the first place. It might work in some areas but usually, it damages the brand image as it is most likely to leave the customers annoyed and irritated. In such circumstances, it is best not to buy email lists and depend only on organically-acquired potential customers.
3) Through email marketing, we target a specific relevant audience-
Most marketing professionals prefer to spend their marketing budget only on the individuals who are already interested in their brand. This saves a lot of money, time as well as effort. Email marketers do the same thing but they send the emails only to the subscribers who meet certain criteria. This is known as email segmentation, and it works fantastically for brands who want to gain added information about their subscribers. Using this tactic has often led to great results with higher and improved engagement rates. The new methods of customization and sending highly targeted emails have greatly added to the success of email campaigns today.
4) Email marketing can be done with mobile phones-
For over 40 years, emails have been successful in driving communication. It has become an important mode of sending and receiving information with more advancement. It is easy to interact with the emails and complete the purchase journey at the earliest. Lately, businesses have also realized the true importance of emails and how they can be helpful in driving consumers to their websites. There were times when approaching your potential customers was difficult as they might not want to respond to your calls or might not take any other action. Today, reaching consumers on their mobile devices and ensuring you send mobile-optimized emails is essential. The success of your email marketing services will depend on how good the mobile experience has been for the customer. So email marketing through mobile is an incredibly powerful channel that offers better accessibility, leading to better conversions.
5) You can boost your revenue with email marketing as it targets a larger audience-
Reports have revealed that email alone generates about £29bn retail sales annually. It makes it clear why email marketing is important. It is not the platform that allows the customers to view all the existing offers and make a purchase based on that. It is beyond that. Marketing emails come with a catchy call to action and a direct checkout link, which makes customers’ buying journeys a lot easier. Even email newsletters have been able to drive sales crazily like no other platform. So boosting revenue is easy with email marketing, provided you use the right resources. For, email marketing is more about successfully using psychology and improving results.
6) Almost everyone uses email in today's world-
About 91% of the consumers use emails today, which clearly indicates the importance of email marketing for SaaS businesses. Emails have constantly been presenting incredible opportunities to businesses to reach out to more customers. You can share every important information through emails like discounts, new products, offers, and others. And, good email content will always encourage the customers to share it further.
According to statistics, 92% of the SaaS companies fail within the first three years of their start despite good funding and growth. If any of them survives, more than 50% of them still have a chance of going out of business. You can choose to be out of that list by switching to newer methods and adapting the latest tactics. Email marketing is a powerful weapon. Use it in the right way to become one of the most successful SaaS companies. Harness its power for streamlined onboarding, converting, and retaining the existing customers.
It is now time to start identifying your business KPIs, segment the customers ideally, and understand how your sales funnel works. Combine this study and understanding with lucrative email templates that are personalized and targeted. This will serve as the ladder to your long-term growth and lead conversion ability.