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In an era where consumers are bombarded with information, well-crafted email campaigns cut through the noise, ensuring that your message is seen and acted upon.
Since it is cost-effective and can be easily tailored to target specific audience segments, email marketing can provide a high return on investment. By analyzing open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates, businesses can gain valuable insights into customer behavior and preferences, enabling them to refine their marketing strategies for better results. Additionally, email marketing supports other digital marketing efforts by driving traffic to websites, promoting social media channels, and nurturing leads through sales funnels.
Email marketing offers a direct line of communication to customers, allowing businesses to deliver personalized messages, promotions, and updates straight to their inboxes. This direct approach helps build and maintain strong customer relationships, fostering brand loyalty and trust.
TL;DR
If you do not want to read the whole blog post, what we recommend here is to try VBOUT, a powerful marketing automation platform to launch your email campaigns in style.
If you prefer the longer version, please read on. Should you have queries, please feel free to contact us. We are happy to read from you and will respond at the soonest.
Email is not dead
There is much literature about newsletters. The problem is not all of it is accurate and so it creates a fair bit of confusion and might lead to a false start.
There are billions of email users worldwide and the number is growing. Email users may move between desktop, tablet, and phones but they are not stopping to use email apps. You may look up the internet and compare statistics found on different search engines, to rule out bias (say, numbers from Google). Here’s a resource to make things easy – https://www.emailisnotdead.com/ . So, the next time someone tells you email is no longer a thing, they are either getting an overdose of social media or may have suffered bad experiences.
For instance, if you are not careful while running email campaigns, your emails may find the spam folder (instead of the recipient’s inbox) and your IP addresses and/or your sending domain may get blacklisted. Lastly, you need partners who remain up to date with various laws to ensure legal compliance. To overcome such challenges, you need specialized infrastructure to handle bulk email traffic.
Growth of email marketing
Email marketing platforms are experiencing significant growth, driven by the increasing demand for efficient and effective digital marketing solutions. These platforms have evolved beyond simple email distribution tools, now offering comprehensive marketing suites. Besides advanced analytics and A/B testing, some of the features that have become standard are listed here.
Optin forms
Email marketing (e.g. templates, scheduling)
Marketing automation (e.g. drip campaigns)
Contacts management (e.g. list management)
Scheduling calendar (e.g. book an appointment)
Social media management (e.g. scheduling posts)
Landing pages
The rise of AI and machine learning has further enhanced these platforms, enabling chatbots, personalized content and predictive analytics to optimize campaigns. Additionally, the user-friendly interfaces and scalable pricing models cater to businesses of all sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. As more companies recognize the value of targeted, data-driven marketing, the adoption of sophisticated email marketing platforms continues to expand, solidifying their role as indispensable tools.
But, doesn’t all these features make newsletter services expensive?
The Norm: Limited contacts. Limited emails.
The traditional email service provider market is a crowded space. Large companies such as Mailchimps and others are extremely competitive in their pricing and feature sets. The many comparison-factors makes selection a complex process. Let us simplify it by limiting the decision criteria.
Annualized upgrade costs in dollar terms. Please refer to providers’ websites for the latest.
As you notice, there are sending limits in the free-tier and these may suffice for some businesses in the initial weeks and months. But, once you cross the free thresholds, running a newsletter or a marketing campaign can get expensive (see the upgrade line item in the table above). Few points to note.
Most of the traditional newsletter providers, like those listed above, charge you incrementally higher as the number of contacts increase.
The first upgrade cost for each of these platforms may conceal more than it reveals. For instance, when a Mailchimp free plan offers you 500 contacts or subscribers, the upgrade may not change that limit. In other words, instead of increasing the number of subscribers, the first upgrade level may offer extras such as landing pages, social media, etc. In other words, to increase the number of contacts, you have to pay more.
WordPress plugins for these platforms may offer a differing level of integration / automation features
Are there any email marketing companies that operate differently? Yes.
VBOUT: Unlimited contacts. Limited emails.
If you prefer unlimited contacts, consider VBOUT. We use it ourselves and, as an agency partner, are happy to recommend it.
VBOUT offers unlimited contacts and all standard features for a fixed cost per month or per annum. Moreover, if you signup to a VBOUT now, chances are we can offer you discounts (on the annual plan) when you choose to upgrade. The free-trial plan includes the following.
Please note that the simplified pricing includes unlimited contacts but limited email sends per month. In other words, a growing but passive database won’t cost you extra but sending more emails will.
VBOUT offers a few handy addons, such as extra email sends, a set of scheduling calendars, a custom SMTP provider, etc. So, you may bring your own SMTP provider to run your email campaigns. The convenient thing is that you can buy such addons right from your account dashboard.
VBOUT-WordPress Integration Methods
VBOUT offers multiple methods to integrate with your WordPress website. Each of these methods has its advantages and limitations.
Code Snippets: For each list, VBOUT offers you a JS code snippet, an HTML code snippet, and a direct API integration option. The advantage here is that you get to define the form fields, form behaviour, and to style them from inside the VBOUT dashboard. Just bring the code and insert it in a Gutenberg code block.
Schedule WP posts and pages to be sent to your social media channels
Mask your URL for tracking clicks and conversion through social media
Schedule posts to be sent as an email campaign to your subscribers on Vbout.com
Post now or schedule for future posting
Embed the Vbout.com tracking code on your site without touching the code
Choose your Vbout settings defaults for even quicker publishing
Webhook: If you are using a WordPress form plugin not officially supported by VBOUT, you can use webhooks and an automation tool to achieve the integration. We use and recommend Albato as the automation platform. While this approach seems effort intensive, it can offer some flexibility as compared with other two options above.
Conclusion
Email marketing stands as a cornerstone of effective marketing strategy, offering unparalleled opportunities for personalized communication, customer engagement, and high return on investment. By crafting targeted and relevant content, leveraging automation tools, and analyzing performance metrics, companies can build lasting relationships with their customers and drive meaningful engagement.
Email marketing not only complements other marketing efforts but also serves as a powerful tool for nurturing leads, promoting products or services, and maintaining brand loyalty. With the right approach, email marketing can significantly contribute to your business’s growth and success in the ever-evolving digital landscape. Get started today.
About Us
Cloudkriti is in business since 2019. We design, develop, host, and maintain your websites. We are a fully managed cloud host, a hybrid service that combines managed cloud and managed WordPress for a seamless experience. If you are looking for a truly dynamic, easy-to-use, high-performance, and a secure website, we are here to help.