Most people have a typical morning routine.
Shower, comb your hair, brush your teeth, eat a quick breakfast and, before taking off for work, check your email accounts.
Checking your email doesn't stop in the morning, though.
People are constantly checking their emails throughout the day whether it's on their laptops, tablets or phones.
Email is now an intricate part of today's society and its power can be used to reach a large number of people with just a click of a mouse.
Email marketing benefits from this greatly.
A lot has changed since the 1980's when emails were primitive and could only be sent between the same email systems.
Hotmail changed the face of email for good in 1996 when they established an email system that could be accessed from anywhere.
Gmail and Yahoo would follow shortly after and suddenly emails become the standard line of communication.
In the 2000's, more and more households had computers and, according to a study by Forrester Research, over 420 billion commercial emails were sent in 2000 alone.
Also in 2000 the touchscreen Ericcson $380 was released and it was marketed as the first "smartphone.
" The device was the first of its kind to incorporate an open operation system.
It was essentially a mobile phone combined with a personal digital assistant.
Receiving, reading and sending emails could now easily be done anywhere with just your phone.
Today many people have smartphones and use them to check their emails frequently.
Mobile email will account for 10 to 35% of email opens, depending on your target audience, product and email type.
Email continues to gain momentum and is an integral part of most people's social and professional lives.
But does email marketing still work today? Think of all the emails you get in a day.
Sure, a good chunk of them are going to be personal from friends and loved ones, but another good chunk of them are from businesses.
They are advertisements, announcements of sales, or even special giveaways for only those who subscribe to a particular online newsletter.
These emails are read and can be forwarded to others for even more exposure for the business.
Just sending the emails is the easy part, but the trick is to get people to open your emails.
According to MailChimp, an open rate of 20% to 30% is average.
At first, though, your open rate might be anywhere from 50% to 70%, but will change.
To keep your open rate that high, you can experiment with a number of things: 1.
Change your subject line.
Make it longer or shorter.
Experiment to see which draws the most attention.
2.
Watch for which days get the most opens.
Are weekdays better than weekends? Mondays vs.
Fridays? 3.
Also watch for the time of day in which you send your emails.
Are more people likely to open up your email in the morning, or perhaps in the evening when they come home from work? Paying attention to the open rate is crucial in figuring out the best way to get your message across to the most amount of people.
Once the emails have been opened, what's important next is that they click on the link you've provided in the email.
Whether it's just a general link to your site, or if it's a link to a special offer on your site, that link is a crucial step to getting people to your site.
When adding links to your emails, pay attention to the click rate.
Which emails produce the most clicks? Did they click on product links or research links? Did you see a rise in appointments or phone calls to your dental practice because of the link? Once you again, you can experiment with the links to see which ones are more likely to get people to your site.
1.
Try adding product pictures to your links.
2.
Change up the wording of your link.
3.
Send out links that are more relevant to what your email is concerning.
Last year, $1.
51 billion was spent on email marketing in the United States.
Email marketing works and is one of the most cost effective online marketing strategies currently available.
Plus a recent study has shown that 74% of adults prefer emails as their primary form of commercial communication.
Email marketing is an easy way to spread your message, but following your open and click rates will be what keeps your message out there.