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E-mail branding creates top-of-mind exposure

In the current economy, budgets are being slashed and marketing is usually the first on the list. However, using e-mail branding to create awareness remains a cost-effective option.

Johannesburg, 11 May 2021
Pravir Rai, head of Sales at SYNAQ.
Pravir Rai, head of Sales at SYNAQ.

During times of economic crises, marketing budgets are among the first to be slashed, and few would argue that the COVID pandemic is the biggest crisis we have faced in a generation. It is clear that this has had a negative impact on the global economy, and as such, has severely impacted corporate budgets.

According to Pravir Rai, head of Sales at SYNAQ, when companies are looking to reduce costs as much as possible, the typical first port of call is to reduce spend via a reduction in adverts, the cancellation of certain contracts or a reduction in the department head count.

“What gets forgotten in the cost-cutting exercise is that constant top-of-mind exposure to clients, or potential clients, is required – even, and maybe especially, during the toughest economic hardships,” says Rai.

“For organisations to gain traction in a market when they have little money to spend on marketing and branding, the most common theme in IT is to ‘sweat the assets’, and one means of doing so is via e-mail branding. Every e-mail sent is a potential marketing message to the recipient, but it is rarely used to market effectively.”

Although social media is a popular and inexpensive marketing tool, e-mails are not direct competition to this – rather, e-mail branding acts as an enabler to a client’s ability to market. Rai points out that this can be achieved through banner campaigns, where each mail sent out during the course of business acts as a marketing opportunity, designed to further encourage potential customers to visit a company’s latest social media posts.

“The use of bulk e-mail is undergoing some scrutiny due to the enforcement of the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). Despite this, bulk e-mail remains an efficient way to communicate to authorised subscribers and a useful tool to reach a mass audience at a very cost-effective price.

“While bulk e-mail remains relevant, the message has to be designed intelligently to engage the reader. The same logic can be applied to banner campaign management. While it is not affected by POPIA legislation, it is still a very relevant and widely used tool that utilises e-mail as the vehicle and enabler, and affects communication on an ongoing basis.”

Digital transformation has created the concept of an ‘always-connected’ client; one who expects relevant content in relation to what they’re doing anytime, anywhere and in the format and on the device of their choosing. This, adds Rai, has resulted in businesses shifting their focus from more traditional, offline marketing strategies to digital strategies that will assist in delivering an improved client experience.

With this emphasis on reaching clients in a digital world, e-mail marketing has become more effective in a number of ways.

“To begin with, e-mail marketing tends to reward focused effort, rather than large marketing budgets. This means that small and mid-size businesses in local markets can now compete for their share of consumers.”

“Secondly, data collection and analysis of things such as client segmentation is now key to success in marketing. As such, e-mail marketing allows clients to control their campaigns and utilise data-driven results to amend campaigns and test their campaign messaging/options,” he says.

Lastly, e-mail has become more accessible through the digital journey, becoming ingrained and integrated with core company technology and other marketing mediums and online tools. As such, Rai says e-mail marketing integrates and maximises the value of other digital marketing options, like social media and any online content, or at least provide clients with the means to navigate there through hyperlinked branding banners.

“There is no doubt that e-mail marketing is growing in value, evidenced by the fact that the volume of e-mails is predicted to grow to 4.48 billion users by 2024 – clearly, e-mail is still considered to be one of the most trusted communication channels.

“Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, business reliance on e-mail and e-mail marketing saw some 80% of marketers witnessing an increase in e-mail engagement in 2020. This is set to grow further in 2021. Ultimately, this means that we can expect several new trends to emerge in the coming months on how to maximise ROI using e-mail for marketing – trends which the savvy business should be sure to take note of,” he concludes. 

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