Originally published by the fantastic people at Point To Point
LinkedIn, Facebook, Pinterest, Vine, Instagram, Periscope—and the list goes on and on. With all these ways to connect, it looks like email is on it’s way out, right?
Wrong.
In fact, more people use email today than ever before. Which is great for building products brands that need to connect with their audience. According to a recent report, more than 3.8 billion people have email accounts.
Whatever the channel, each digital connection still depends on great content and context. Remember what we said here? If the email is not tailored or educational, it will have hard time breaking through no matter what stage the buyer is in. And the only way to ensure the content is tailored is to always, always, know your audience and approach email marketing as a part of an overall Inbound Marketing strategy.
Here are five more reasons why email still matters to the building products industry:
It’s a 1-on-1 relationship.
Email is a direct connection to builders, contractors and consumers. No matter where they’re at, on the road or the jobsite, they have access to email.
Refresh, refresh, refresh.
If you’re like everyone else in the world, you check email multiple times everyday. And contractors regularly catch up on email during lunch hours. That gives companies an opportunity to hit them with content consistently.
Email has a long shelf life.
Unlike banner ads or mailers, email has the opportunity to stay in an inbox for a long time. That works especially for hard-working suppliers, builders and buyers.
95% of online buyers use email.
Whatever a builder or contractor chooses to buy online from bulk products to small supplies, chances are they have an email account. And from it comes notification, reminders, shipping dates and so forth.
More people prefer email over other forms of marketing.
Email is an easy way for builders and contractors to control their brand experiences on their terms. If the content isn’t relevant, they simply trash it and move along. Otherwise they can keep it in their inbox and decide later when to read it.
Any way you look at it, there’s one thing clear about building product brands. They’re all about information. Whether it’s the latest specs, newest products or simply an easier way to do something, email is the key for dispersing that info to your time-driven audience. It is a lifeline that still in it’s old age has yet to become last year’s marketing technique.