It’s clear that messaging apps like WhatsApp, Slack, Discord, and others have greatly changed how people talk. I’m sure there’ll be more changes as newer technologies improve. Rather than completely replacing email, these apps have modified the manner and frequency in which people use email.
Email Still has the Highest ROI in Digital Marketing. According to Litmus (2023), email marketing generates an average ROI of $36 for every $1 spent, outperforming social media and paid ads. HubSpot (2023) found that email is the preferred communication channel for 73% of consumers when receiving marketing messages.
In contrast to social media, where the visibility of content is determined by constantly changing algorithms, email provides direct access to the recipient's inbox. Learn more here
Lessons
- Leverage WhatsApp and Messaging Apps: If your audience is shifting, adapt by integrating messaging into your marketing mix. WhatsApp Business, SMS campaigns, and chatbot automation can supplement email efforts.
- Optimize for Engagement: Personalization, interactive content, and AI-driven segmentation can make emails more relevant and engaging.
- Omnichannel Strategy – Instead of relying solely on email, coordinate across multiple platforms to reach audiences where they’re most active.
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@user133424 In addition to the great comments @Chris-S shared above, I have to strongly disagree that email is less relevant than it used to be. Of course the landscape of digital marketing has shifted and changed over the past 10 years, and direct messaging, text marketing, and apps like WhatsApp (which is really just text marketing when you break it down) are all very powerful and have their own shine, but email still continues to be not only relevant, but the actual all-star.
-Websites and apps are critical - but we need context for what caused that traffic to qualify it
-Social Media is amazing for awareness and engagement - but the algorithm is out of our control and many small businesses and nonprofits find it incredibly frustrating when they try to "hang their hat" on social.
-Text Marketing (including WhatsApp) has the instant gratification and the high visibility in it's corner, but to market legally you need to have them opt-in to text marketing and message apps. We find that most consumer are actually not as open to subscribing to text or DM apps as it can feel invasive to have messages popping to Lock Screen from a brand they may like, but are not ready to get texts from regularly.
-Email is the "direct connect" all-star - most consumer do have email, do check it early in the day and often throughout (mostly on mobile devices). A trusted platform like Constant Contact provides 95%+ deliverability rate. With a great subject line you are positioned perfectly to be seen on the day the email is sent and engaged immediately. And with great content you build rapport and that sets apart your future emails and increases the chance they get opened and engaged. With amazing automation options like "Automatic Resend to Non-openers" Constant Contact can even send the email a second time on a pre-set schedule later to anyone who didn't open it the first time. This has popped client open rates up big time with no extra effort.
The above is based on 10+ years of experience not only executing and managing marketing for clients, but also hundreds of consults to small businesses and nonprofits of all shapes and sizes.
Aaron Wesley Means ACTIVATE Business Solutions Help others find this post by giving it kudos. Note: I am not a Constant Contact employee. |  |
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