How To Make Sales With Email Marketing in the Age of AI

If you’re not using email marketing campaigns to promote what you sell, you’re leaving money on the table.

Want some proof?

Last year, email marketing’s ROI ranged from $26 to $44 per $1 spent, which beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

So why are you ignoring your email marketing?

What’s that?

There are better ways to market in this post-COVID world of 2023?

Such as?

Lookey here, with the privacy/tracking changes Apple has made and Google has confirmed they will make soon, you would be hard-pressed to find a marketing medium with the ROI of email marketing, even in this Web 3 age of SMS, TikTok, etc.

The good thing about email marketing is that it is a known entity that does have new features and uses if you just use a little creativity, which may mean you bring in a fresh set of eyes to help make that happen.

Another benefit of email marketing is that it’s affordable, and everyone you would want to reach has at least one email address they check regularly.

Can the same be said for Snapchat or even Facebook?

Since the 2016 and 2020 elections, big social media platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube have come under fire for their “fact-checkers” and activism.

This has led to a proliferation of new platforms being launched and a lot of people vowing never to use social media platforms for personal reasons, including what they perceive to be a crisis of conscience.

How can you leverage this as a professional salesperson, sales manager, business owner, and entrepreneur?

How can you get the word out to your ideal prospects via email marketing in 2023 and beyond?

Remember, successful email marketing means more than simply sending an email.

Your emails must reach the inbox vs. the spam box or trash.

Then your emails must get opened.

Then your emails must get clicked.

Then your prospects must take the desired action once they follow that click, i.e., book an appointment, download an additional report, or even buy from you.

How can you make that happen?

Read on…

First Things First

How does Google make money?

This is not a trick question.

When I ask this in my live sales training, I get various answers that come close, but the detailed answer is that Google makes money by delivering relevant content at the moment of relevance.

What I mean by that is that when you do a search for iPhone cases, you aren’t shown ads for hair extensions or organic dog food or how to get your private pilot’s license.

Google delivers relevant ads, i.e., iPhone cases, maybe iPhone chargers, and maybe Samsung phones if Samsung wants to run some tests on getting iPhone users to switch, at the moment you search for iPhone cases.

In the world of email marketing, this means list segmentation.

For example, my home remodeling client here in Lake Elsinore, CA, has a list of prospects who inquired about kitchen remodels. They are different from those interested in flooring, bathroom remodeling, closets, and window coverings.

Those lists can also be broken down into:

• New customers

• Past customers, i.e., those who had work done more than 12 months ago

• Prospects

  • Qualified

  • Unqualified

  • New

  • Hot

  • Lost/old/cold

• Referrals provided

• Primary residence work done

• Rental unit work done

Segmentation and personalization are the names of the game in email marketing, and most marketing, really.

When you’re smart and focused on doing email marketing correctly, you can make this happen, which means you can make big profits happen.

Then you can take things a step further and begin collecting and leveraging additional information on your prospects and clients, such as:

• Age

• Education

• Gender

• Income

• Etc.

You can turn almost any data into actionable information to create profitable email marketing campaigns when you focus on it.

When you throw AI and machine learning into the mix, watch out.

There are AI tools out there now that can find patterns so small that your email segmentation will be nearly 1-1, thereby giving you the ability to create segments so small that you can do what is known as hyper-personalization with your emails.

This will not only save your data analysts time and effort, but it will also improve your email marketing ROI.

Now let’s move on to the actual trends now.

The Email Marketing Trends-to-Staples You Need to Know Everything About

Trends come and go, so let’s look at the foundational components of email marketing that are becoming essential to your email marketing success.

Shedding The Light On Dark Mode

Dark mode is how I view Reddit, Twitter, and Facebook on all of my screens, from my iPhone to my iPad to my MacBook Pro to my iMac.

Most apps offer this display feature because it’s better for our eyes.

So how good are you at optimizing your email marketing for mobile?

(Source)

The graph above shows the email opens by device in the US.

As you can see, focusing your email marketing on the desktop first is a losing strategy.

It also follows that as email opens increase on mobile devices, purchases on mobile devices follow, especially since a prospect’s impulsive behavior is deeply rooted in email marketing strategies.

In first place, with a 4.29% conversion rate, sales emails opened and clicked on mobile, translated into $1 billion in sales.

Email conversion rates on mobile outperformed other channels in a study of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales on Shopify. This result isn’t surprising since subscriber lists consist of users who are already customers or primed prospects that already have greater conversion capability. (Smart Insights)

So, mobile optimization for your email marketing is no longer a choice, which means you need to consider how to create sales emails that look great in dark mode.

Apart from being better for the eyes, dark mode is also a power-saver when it comes to your device’s battery life, so your emails will be something a prospect can open and keep open with less concern about draining their batteries.

Here’s an example of an email optimized for “dark mode”:

While I’m a big fan of the written word (need some copywriting assistance?), a good image/graphic can bump up interactions.

For dark mode email images, reverse the colors and create a black background that is minimal, sophisticated, and, more importantly, easier on the eyes of your prospects.

Any decent email platform/CRM should give you the ability to preview your emails on various screen sizes.

I use both Keap and HubSpot as a partner of both platforms, and they both have this feature.

Be Concise & Pithy Because Attention Spans Are Short

Various studies show that email recipients don’t really pay attention to what they’re reading nowadays (because most copywriting sent by you and your competitors is bad, but I digress…) (need some copywriting assistance?).

Therefore, images tend to be more engaging and enticing than boring, me-too-written content, and they can also go viral and be shared easier. (But don’t create images thinking you can go viral. That’s a recipe for disaster.)

The main thing to keep in mind here with your email marketing strategy is that we are trying to get the attention of the prospect so they will take our desired action.

Including an interactive visual element in your email marketing will help make that happen.

Your prospects are busy…either at work or at avoiding work…or partying…or numbing themselves with pot, porn, and playoffs…so make it easy and obvious in the email what actions you want them to take because…

This is my own design that drives readers to take my interactive CRM selection quiz.

The skimmers, the know-it-alls, and the impatient ones that will not concentrate on a long quiz that forces them to think too much engage with both the imagery and the quiz.

Be brave enough to have fun with your prospects.

We live in the world of “edutainment” today.

You must educate while you inform while you entertain your prospects with everything you do, especially email marketing.

Show your prospects how your products are used and how they can change the lives of your prospects because we don’t shop for products anymore. We shop for something that can make us better, more efficient, taller, thinner, stronger, sexier, and do it all with less effort.

So showcase how your stuff will do exactly that, and watch the sales roll in.

Serve Through The Sale

Well done.

You got the sale.

Do you pack your bags and get out of town…or do you stick around to ensure the sale sticks?

Professional salespeople and entrepreneurs know that what happens AFTER the prospect gives you their money makes all the difference in the profitability and sustainability of your business.

A sale is not the end of the conversation.

On the contrary, it’s an invitation for more engagement and interaction, as well as more education and entertainment.

If you’re selling something that can be combined with another product or service, now is your chance to call, text, email, and send direct mail to your new customer asking for feedback, questions, concerns, and other needs so you can fill their needs directly, or make an introduction to an affiliate of yours who can help them and pay you for the referral.

(See related article on affiliate marketing or become an affiliate of The Sales Whisperer® and earn while you learn.)

An email like the one above can help your prospects love you even more.

It shows that you care enough to ask if everything was alright.

And with the right coaxing and incentive, you can actually give them a reason to spread that love.

Be Minimal

Remember, more people are reading your emails on their phones or tablets than on their laptops or desktops, so less is more.

Minimalist design is the way to go for four reasons:

1. It’s easy on the eyes.

2. It won’t confuse the reader with too many design elements or colors.

3. It’s s more accessible.

4. it will load properly.

(Source)

Casper’s email is just that. Clean, minimalistic, with a relevant image and little to no copy in the email.

Going minimal in your emails has the added benefit of enabling you to appeal to a wider audience.

Not too many details means not too many things for the recipient to focus on, which is a win.

Just keep in mind that minimal doesn’t mean plain or dumbed down.

You need clean, bold lines and design that makes sense without needing the reader to think too much about what to do next.

Lots of clean space to help the eyes rest, simple, bold typography, and CTA buttons with colors that contrast and, eventually, draw attention to themselves are precisely what you need.

Be Genuine

This is not a fad.

Sure, some companies pay lip service to this as they try to stress how “authentic” and “transparent” they are, but the real thing never goes out of style.

People don’t connect with your brand name or your logo.

There has to be something true, something authentic behind those, to make your prospects interested.

Strive for an actual, serious connection with your audience and communicate with them.

The only way to do that is through very strong brand storytelling.

You’ll need a mission statement, and you’ll need to incorporate important parts of your history into your emails.

And being genuine with brand storytelling is, in fact, one of the best marketing strategies, seeing as it helps people remember details.

It’s not straight-up numbers and facts, it’s more like an origin story like the ones we all know and love.

Since your audience can link details, numbers, and everything your brand is objectively composed of to a great story and values that are genuine, speak to their heart, and can be replicated through User Generated Content, then you’re good to go.

In Conclusion

Email marketing has come a long way since its beginning, with spam emails and plain text or images that wouldn’t load for the life of them.

Now people long for something that speaks to them and only them, be it a fantastic story or an aesthetic that matches their own.

So, go ahead, A/B test your options (always!) and put your new knowledge to the test.

Today, marketers put a lot of emphasis on webinars, video campaigns, and other new opportunities to reach their customers.

But your contemporary communication methods shouldn’t distract you from one of the oldest and yet most effective messaging channels — email.

You might be wondering if email is still a worthwhile marketing strategy. Well, it is.

In fact, email generates $42 for every $1 spent, which is an astounding ROI, making it one of the most effective options available.

If you’re still hesitant, keep reading — we’ve cultivated a list of email marketing statistics for 2023 to demonstrate just how powerful email can be.

Email Marketing Stats (Highlights)

1. There are 4 billion daily email users.

2. More than 40% of marketers saw budget cuts to email since the pandemic.

3. 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers.

4. Nearly 1 in 5 email campaigns is not optimized for mobile devices.

5. Marketers who use segmented campaigns noted as much as a 760% increase in revenue.

6. 35% of marketers send their customers 3-5 emails per week.

7. 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months.

8. 4 out of 5 marketers said they’d rather give up social media than email marketing.

9. 20% of retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods and services companies are personalizing emails based on gender, race, and ethnicity.

10. 74% of Baby Boomers think email is the most personal channel to communicate with brands.

General Email Marketing Statistics and Best Practices

• The global e-mail marketing market was valued at $7.5 billion in 2020 and is projected to increase to $17.9 billion by 2027. (Statista, 2021)

• There are nearly 4.26 billion email users. This number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025. (Statista, 2021)

• More than 306 billion emails are sent and received each day. (Statista, 2021)

• Active email accounts surpassed 5.6 billion in 2019. (Statista, 2019)

• 64% of small businesses use email marketing to reach customers. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)

• More than 40% of marketers saw budget cuts to email since the pandemic. (Litmus, 2020)

• Across all industries, the average email open rate is 19.8%, the click-through rate is 11.3%, and the bounce rate is 9.4%. (Constant Contact, 2021)

• Marketers who use segmented campaigns note as much as a 760% increase in revenue. (Campaign Monitor, 2019)

• 4 out of 5 marketers said they’d rather give up social media than email marketing. (Litmus, 2020)

• 35% of marketers send their customers 3-5 emails per week. (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)

• 78% of marketers in 2020 said email is important to overall company success, compared to 71% in 2019. (Litmus, 2020)

• 78% of marketers have seen an increase in email engagement over the last 12 months (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)

• 31% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)

• The U.S. spent over 350 million dollars on email advertising in 2019. (Statista, 2019)

• Brands that always include an A/B test in their emails generate an ROI of 48:1. (Litmus, 2019)

• Globally, Fridays see the highest email open rates (nearly 19%), compared to the lowest open rates (17%) on Saturdays. (Campaign Monitor, 2021)

• 66% of marketers believe artificial intelligence is a way to optimize email send times. (Statista, 2019)

• 23% of brands have already experimented with interactive elements in email, an additional 32% are planning on trying it soon. (Not Another State of Marketing, 2020)

B2B Email Marketing Statistics

• 81% of B2B marketers say their most used form of content marketing is email newsletters. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)

• 16% of all emails never make it into the inbox. (Email Tool Tester, 2019)

• On average, B2B companies send one email marketing campaign every 25 days. (SuperOffice, 2020)

• 31% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)

• 87% of B2B marketers say email is one of their top free organic distribution channels. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)

• 90% of content marketers say email engagement is the top metric they track to measure content performance. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)

• 89% of all B2B email campaigns are sent from a company name. (SuperOffice, 2020)

• The second-most common technology B2B organizations use to assist with content marketing is mail marketing software. Roughly 85% of marketers say they work with these tools. (Content Marketing Institute, 2020)

Mobile Marketing Statistics

• Nearly 55% of global website traffic is generated from mobile devices, excluding tablets. (Statista, 2021)

• Apple iPhone’s native email app has the highest market share, followed by Gmail. (Litmus Labs, 2021)

• Nearly 1 in 5 email campaigns is not optimized for mobile devices. (SuperOffice, 2020)

• Launching a mobile-responsive email design can increase unique mobile clicks by 15%. (MailChimp, 2019)

• Mobile-friendly email is the second most-used tactic email marketers to improve their performance. (HubSpot, 2020)

• 9.3% of email clicks come from tablets, rather than smartphones or computers. (MailChimp, 2019)

• Although people primarily check email on iPhone devices, Gmail is still the most-used email service, with more than 1.5 billion users (CNBC, 2019)

B2C Email Marketing Statistics

• Your audience will reward you with higher open and click rates if you don’t send more than five newsletters a week. (GetResponse, 2020)

• 60% of retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods and services companies are personalizing emails based on past purchases, versus 38% in 2019. (Litmus, 2020)

• More than 8 out of 10 people will open a welcome email, generating 4x as many opens and 10x as many clicks as other email types. (GetResponse, 2020)

• The single message autoresponder email had an astonishing 98% open rate and a 37% click-through rate. (GetResponse, 2020)

• Nearly 22% of all email campaigns are opened within the first hour of sending. (GetResponse, 2020)

• 45% of internet users avoid opening emails from unknown addresses. (Statista, 2019)

Email Marketing Demographics 2021

• 99% of email users check their inbox every day, with some checking 20 times a day. Of those people, 58% of consumers check their email first thing in the morning. (OptinMonster, 2020)

• 40% of consumers say they have at least 50 unread emails in their inbox. (HubSpot, 2020)

• Emails sent by independent artists, writers, and performers have the highest open rate at 34.4%, followed by education (34.1%) and travel and tourism (32.6%). (Constant Contact, 2021)

• On average, the highest email click-through rate goes to the Consulting services industry at 25%, with Administrative and Business Support services in second at 20%, and Home and Building services in third at nearly 19%. (Constant Contact, 2021)

• 26% of retail emails bounce, putting it well above the 9% average bounce rate for all industries. (Constant Contact, 2021)

• 20% of retail, e-commerce, and consumer goods and services companies are personalizing emails based on gender, race, ethnicity, versus 11% in 2019. (Litmus, 2020)

• 59% of Millennials primarily use their smartphone to check email, while 67% of Generation Z scans their inbox on mobile. (Bluecore,2021)

• 74% of Baby Boomers think email is the most personal channel to receive communications from brands, followed by 72% of Gen X, 64% of Millennials, and 60% of Gen Z. (Bluecore,2021)

• 91% of women in the US use email, compared to 89% of men. (Statista, 2019)

• Asian Americans are the most popular email users in the US (92%), followed by white users (91%), African American users (88%), Hispanic users (85%), and American Indian or Alaskan Native users (83%). (Statista, 2019)

Market like you mean it.Now go sell something.