5 Business Markets That Benefit From Email Marketing

For years, people have assumed email marketing is on its way out. Yet, it continues to grow and be effective in most industries. Knowing if your business falls into a market that benefits from email marketing or not is the first step to creating effective lists and messages.

If you go into email marketing with a clear objective, you’ll see higher conversion rates than if you don’t have a plan. Depending on the market you’re in, email marketing might look a bit different for you than a business in another industry.

 

What Industries Use Email Marketing the Most?

Mailchimp released a study titled Email Marketing Benchmarks and Statistics by Industry. They looked at campaigns that went to 1,000 or more subscribers but checked out the email marketing behaviors of all size companies, from solopreneurs to Fortune 500 companies.

They found some industries have higher open rates than others. For example, media and publishing companies had a 22.15% open rate, while e-commerce had a 15.68% open rate. To really understand how email marketing works for your industry, you must also dig into the clickthrough rates and how frequently brands send emails to subscribers.

If your industry doesn’t have as high of rates, it’s simply a matter of figuring out what works for your audience, tweaking, testing and constantly improving your stats. We’ll look at some common market types and what you can do to ensure you get the most benefit possible from your email marketing efforts.

 

1. Education

Many types of businesses fall under the education category. Universities, small private lesson businesses, tutoring, educational products and even government-run schools. The great thing about email marketing for educational brands is that you already have a built-in audience interested in what you have to say.

For example, if you run a company selling textbooks and workbooks, you might have a couple of different types of customers. Homeschoolers and brick-and-mortar public and private schools may all purchase from you. You should segment your audience and send them marketing messages directly related to their needs.

 

2. Member-Based Business Organizations

Whether you run a non-profit organization or a for-profit niche group, your mailing list can be your lifeline. In years past, associations mailed out paper newsletters to stay in touch. In today’s highly mobile and digital world, an email newsletter fills the gap and makes communication even easier.

Business associations serve other business owners, and studies show email is the third most influential source of information for B2Bs. Something you can do to ramp up your effectiveness with your email marketing is to think through the goal of each piece of content you send.

Do you want your users to click on a link, sign up for an event, or donate to a cause? Consider what’s in it for them and why they’d be interested in the offer.

 

3. Manufacturing

You might wonder if email marketing is even something you should bother with as a manufacturer. After all, you likely have a steady base of clients who order from you regularly. The short answer is yes, email lists are almost always beneficial no matter what type of business you own.

How can the industry utilize email marketing to its advantage? Send out a note about exciting new developments at your facilities or things you’re doing to give back to the community. Highlight your top clients and how you’ve helped make their business run more smoothly.

Ask your subscribers to share what you do with others. Expanding your business often requires new clients. Where better to find them than through the associations of your current customers?

 

4. E-commerce

When you think of sending out marketing emails, e-commerce is likely the business market that comes to mind first. It just makes sense to send out updates on new product arrivals, special offers, and seasonal specials. Those who are on your list are ready to shop and already excited about what you offer.

You can make your emails more effective by segmenting your audience. Group them by the types of items they’re interested in, gender, age, demographics, or whatever works best for your business model.

Always send a welcome email when the person joins your list, perhaps offering a discount on a purchase or free shipping. Welcome emails have a high open rate of 91.43%, which far outstrips typical stats.

 

5. Travel

The travel industry took some hard hits during the COVID-19 pandemic. They’ve had to work hard to even start to recover. Email marketing may be the thing hotels, resorts and other support companies can use to set themselves apart.

For example, send out a note about the things you’re doing to keep people safe even today as the virus dwindles a bit. Putting people at ease may be all that’s needed for them to choose your place of business or location over another.

Email marketing can be informational or you can send special offers and discounts. You can also utilize your mailing list to survey your customers and find out what they most want to be ready to travel again.

 

All Businesses Benefit from Email Marketing

The five industries above commonly utilize email to promote to their customer bases. However, email marketing helps nearly any type of business. It keeps the lines of communication open between you and your customers. You can use it to reach people who otherwise might never hear of your brand or get updates. The best efforts combine both digital newsletters and social media along with paid advertising, content management and many other aspects.