Since the launch of Enudge in 2006, email marketing has continued to be the single most cost effective digital marketing opportunity there is, bar none. It achieves the highest engagement, at the lowest cost per send.

Of course you can’t use email marketing alone because it relies on you having your own list of consenting subscribers in order to comply with Spam Act legislation, and therefore you need an alternate way to reach prospects and acquire leads. However, it is a well-known fact that it is a lot easier to inspire your existing customers to buy from you again, than it is to convince a new customer to try you. So for your existing clients, email marketing is of paramount importance.

The level of email marketing since the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic has grown significantly. Some email service providers are reporting increases in email volumes during March of 20% over normal levels, and anecdotally the level of communications has been obvious in our inbox.

The level of engagement with emails has also increased significantly, as people are highly motivated to understand the impact of the virus on their customers and suppliers, and to keep up to date on the latest news.

In March I wrote to our Enudge subscribers, providing tips on how to communicate during this difficult time.

As our governments start to move on bringing us back to some form of normality, we expect to see another shift in the use of email marketing by organisations as they:

• Start to revert to business as usual, and encourage pre-virus behaviours to return. We expect to see special incentives to be included in the messaging to help spark activity again. Rather than focused on just surviving, we anticipate incentives around getting ready to capitalise on the return of activity, and getting ahead of the game.
• Want to make sure that customers remember them first, as the economy turns around, and not get lost in the sea of communication that is present when everyone is doing well. However, care will need to be taken to remain empathetic, as for many the impact of the virus on infected loved ones, or the economic slowdown, will have long term effects.
• Announce what they have been working on to help customers return to [the new] normal. Rather than stand down staff, some organisations are using this time to finally get around to the projects they were wanting to create to help better serve their customers.
• Continue the goodwill that has been generated through the care shown to others during the pandemic. Of course, this needs to be genuine – any sign of profiteering will backfire!

We expect there will be a renewed flurry of email marketing actvity, as the wind back of restrictions takes effect, followed by a gradual reduction back to pre-virus levels of email marketing.

Have you planned your communications during the pathway out of the pandemic? We’re here to help, even if it’s just to toss some ideas around. Of course, if you have not yet wrestled your email database and regular email activities into submission, we can definitely help.