Website design By BotEap.comThe death of email marketing has been greatly exaggerated.

Website design By BotEap.comI’m sure you’ve heard the discussions about the impending decline of email and the rise of social media. But independent marketing studies suggest that is not the case. Let’s see what the data tells us.

Website design By BotEap.com· 2012 Exact Targets Survey – 66% prefer email as the #1 marketing communication channel.

Website design By BotEap.com· Email Vision Study 2012 – 89.2% of marketing managers say that email is still as important or more important to their overall marketing strategy compared to two years ago.

Website design By BotEap.com· A study of Merkle – 74% of online adults prefer to receive corporate communications via email rather than social media, direct mail, text or phone.

Website design By BotEap.comActually, the email marketing perspective, with a twist, is stronger and more popular than ever. Integration is the turn. In a Survey of Strong Email Marketing Trends, 68% of business leaders intend to integrate email marketing with social media. And marketing spend for email marketing (60%) and social media (55%) shows that business leaders intend to follow an integrated approach.

Website design By BotEap.comThe new email marketing strategy

Website design By BotEap.comLeveraging email by integrating it with social media, search, and content marketing results in smarter email marketing. Because email covers all parts of the buying cycle and promotes authorization marketing, it’s powerful and effective. With its subscription feature, emails go to a target audience willing to receive them. On its own, email encourages interactivity. But combined with social media, search, and content marketing, email marketing optimizes results.

Website design By BotEap.comIntegration of email marketing with social networks

Website design By BotEap.comSocial networks connect prospects, customers and companies. Once this is done, relationships are developed offline via email or phone. Email remains the preferred method because it is fast, effective, and efficient. With the integration, both channels reinforce each other as social media informs email marketing. Respond to prospects’ questions on social networking sites in a personal, engaging, and focused way. This deepens and broadens your social network. And take care of your brand. Include links in your email to your social networking sites to increase your following. Also, gently suggest customers recommend your business by sharing your email. Integrating email with social media improves efficiency more than using each channel independently.

Website design By BotEap.comIntegrating email marketing with search

Website design By BotEap.comThe superiority of email lies in its ability to address every part of the buying cycle. And it encompasses permission marketing, which has replaced interruption marketing. Integrating with search gives you several benefits. Newsletters or eZines are a great way to expand reach and build awareness. Adding relevant keywords to your emails increases the likelihood that prospects will find your newsletters. You can also attract more search engine prospects to your website by posting newsletters on your site. Keyword-rich emails also help increase the chances of your emails going viral. Combining email with search gives customers the marketing they want. As Jay Baer would say, email has “Youtility” on it. This helps improve your leads and grow your business.

Website design By BotEap.comIntegration of email marketing with content marketing

Website design By BotEap.comThis is a no-brainer. You can use email as content, as a content delivery tool, and as a way to drive conversions. Let’s take email as content first. Do not write about your products and services. Instead, focus on solving customer problems or discuss breaking industry news and trends that affect your customers. Email builds trust by posting relevant information. Email also serves as an effective delivery tool. You can attach value-added content like product brochures, case studies, and videos. Finally, email can drive prospects and customers to landing pages. This improves conversions. Integrating email with content makes it easy for prospects and customers to access, digest, and act on the information you’ve posted.

Website design By BotEap.comEmail marketing insights

Website design By BotEap.comDue to the huge growth of mobile devices, email marketing may reach a tipping point in 2015. Today, email has many benefits, but its future lies in integration with other marketing channels. As business leaders pursue the integration of email marketing with other channels, it’s suggested that email is here to stay. Clearly, your competitors think so, judging by where they’re spending their money.

Website design By BotEap.comQuestions for the marketer

Website design By BotEap.comDoes your marketing plan take a holistic approach? Are you integrating email best practices into your marketing efforts? Are you increasing your leads and growing your business as efficiently as possible? If you don’t have an unlimited budget, consider integrating smarter email marketing with your other marketing channels. If your lead generation needs a reset, email can be a good place to start.