In an age of tweets, status updates and social shares – what space is there for the humble email message?  

Thankfully quite a lot if those cluttering up my Inbox can be taken as a guide.   Looking back on last week’s messages I see notes from Facebook, Linked In and even Google +.  Each with millions of dollars to spend in online marketing but still they choose to send me a humble email message.

So why is this?  And what can you learn from these online marketing Gorillas to apply to your modest aspirations online?

First off let’s look at how to grow your business via email – and what we can learn from these powerhouses here. Now we all know that sending unsolicited messages is against the law.  So thankfully this is not the angle Linked In chooses as they provide a great example of how to apply it correctly.

In their case, moving from a free product to spending upwards of $90 per month is a sizable jump in value prospects need to take.  Bridging this gap will need some serious selling.  And in their case they use great content and email messaging to achieve this goal.  Just look at what’s on offer here.  Beautifully crafted, well presented content.  All sitting behind a relatively detailed request form and delivered by great email marketing.

Sound like something you could apply to you as well?  Perhaps you sell a service that competes on how your team customises its application to each customer.  Think Graphic Designers, Accountants, Lawyers and the like.

In these cases offering content that clearly shows the gap between your expertise compared to the rest is a great plan.   Email marketing tools will deliver the messages, “listen” for those who are opening and clicking and notify you when a prospect drops into the “highly engaged” bucket ready for a phone call.

But what about customers?  How can email marketing help you retain and expand the revenue here?

Thankfully the problem that is solved via email is one that grows each year as your customers become even more busier.  It’s their ability to forget who you are and what you do.  Yep after all that great work you did on the last project.  If you don’t keep in touch on a regular basis – there’s a possibility that you may be passed over for the next engagement.

Email does a great job of solving this in the land of e-commerce.   These days, tools will monitor those who forgot to check out their shopping cart and fire them a short missive to bring them back to finish what they started.  Likewise if they purchased 6 month’s ago and should have been back by now but haven’t – then a voucher is sent their way to get them shopping again.

That’s why Facebook is emailing me – I haven’t been online for a week or so now so they are getting a bit jittery.

Let’s not forget the humble email newsletter.  Done properly it can build repeat revenue for nearly all business types.  Yes you need to pack it with good content (probably more important than a few years back – it’s that busy thing again) , write with some personality and keep it on a regular schedule.  Nevertheless do just these three points and you could well be ahead of your competition.

I predict that there’s many ways email marketing can claim some of the space in your online marketing plans.  And by their actions, the powerhouses of online marketing seem to think so to.  Why not take the time this month to squeeze some space for email in your business?

Previously published in the Marketing Online  Magazine – October 2015, subscribe for free here.