While Instagram and Facebook are great for connecting with potential customers, I'd like to give a little shout out today to email marketing. This is such a powerful tool but lots of people aren't aware of how great it is, so I'm here to be email marketing's cheerleader and share why you should be using it.
Since the rise of social media over the past 15 years there's been lots of chatter about email marketing being dead, but this is so far from the truth. In fact, as many people start to turn away from social media (citing concerns about time sucking, privacy, etc), email marketing is actually becoming even more powerful.
There are lots of reasons why email marketing is amazing, and why you should definitely be using it for your wedding or creative business. As a content writer for the wedding industry, I use it for myself and for lots of other clients, and have seen first hand how powerful it is.
So let's start with some facts.
The statistics behind email marketing
According to the Direct Marketing Association in 2023, the return on investment for email marketing is £42 for every £1 spent. That's 4,200%, compared with around 250% for social media marketing.
According to a Royal Mail poll, 47% of UK customers had made a purchase as a consequence of a marketing email they received.
According to an Adestra poll, 78% of UK marketers say email marketing is critical to their business strategy.
According to a GetResponse survey, the average open rate for email marketing in the UK is 21.8%.
The first statistic clearly show that email is the clear winner when it comes to generating income. For dvery £1 spent, you're getting £42 back, which is insanely high and making email marketing incredibly cost effective.
The high open rate is also interesting. In this time of decreasing engagement rates on platforms such as Instagram, it's really good to know that an email can still generate a consistent open rate, which is one step closer to people buying a service or product from you. And as the statistic highlights, you could be generating sales from half of your mailing list.
So while it does take a little time and energy to set up your email list and then create emails to send out, it's totally worth it.
Email marketing versus social media for wedding and creative businesses
Another big win for email marketing is that once you have your own email list, you own it. You're totally removed from the whims and machinations of Zuckerberg, Musk et al. If social media platforms disappeared tomorrow, you'll still have contacts of people who actively signed up to hear from you. Which, aside from the marketing potential, is always a lovely feeling! I'm always thrilled when someone signs up to my email list as it means they're choosing to have me share my words on a regular basis.
And, crucially, email marketing isn't algorithm dependent as social media marketing is. The email is there in the person's inbox, and then it's just a question of them deciding whether to open it. (Hint: a catchy subject line can really help here. And emojis. And personalising it – according to a recent Adestra survey, personalised emails had a higher open rate of 29.3% in the UK than non-personalised emails, which have an open rate of 23.9%.)
So am I advocating for getting rid of your social media accounts? Not at all. I think there are huge positives to have a presence on platforms such as Instagram, especially for wedding and creative businesses that are a lot about aesthetics. But I don't advocate pouring all your effort and money into it. So if you're not already doing email marketing, it's time to set up that list.
Getting started on wedding industry email marketing
In order to start email marketing, you need to have a list of people who want to hear from you, and then you need to have high quality content to share with them.
A simple way to get people to sign up to your mailing list is to offer a lead magnet – a freebie they can download in return for sharing their contact details. This can be anything you feel would be of value to your audience – an ebook, a podcast, a video, a short course.
You can also promote your list on social media and ask people to sign up, on the basis that if they already follow you on there they may find email comms from you helpful as well.
It's important to note that ehenever you're getting hold of people's data, you need to make sure you're complying with GDPR rules. People must have an option to unsubscribe at any time, and you also need a privacy policy on your website that details how you're handling private data. This is a great short guide to GDPR, and you'll find more info on privacy policies on the Independent Commissioner Office's website, including a free template to use. (I sorted my own privacy policy in about half an hour, so it's not too onerous a task.)
Once you've started to build your list, then you can start sending your emails. Some people like to frame theirs as a weekly/monthly/quarterly newsletter. Some businesses have an email sequence, so a series of emails are sent out as soon as someone signs up. You can use your email list to send out special offers, details on new courses, or simply share great content to help keep your business front and centre of people's minds. However you decide to use it, enjoy this chance to talk directly to people who really want to hear from you!
Want to start email marketing but are a bit lost as to where to begin? I love writing this type of content so give me a shout if you want to talk more about harnessing the power of email!
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