IN OUR WORLD of short attention spans, retail marketing is like buying shoes. Unless they’re meant to be your dog’s chew toy, remember: Go cheap and buy twice.
The allure of social media is in the cheap, easy win: Snap a photo, add a caption and check “marketing” off the to-do list. But how often do your posts actually drive sales? Crafting an email campaign takes more time, but if one email delivers more ROI than a month of social posts, isn’t it worth it? Let’s break it down.
Time VS. ROI
Social media is “free,” but your time isn’t — and time is money.
- A retailer spends three to five minutes creating a social post every day. Over a month, that’s about two hours, or longer for posting videos.
- If you spent that time on email, you could build and send four or more email campaigns, each tailored to drive sales, event signups or appointment bookings.
Unlike email campaigns, social returns are unpredictable and harder to track.
My suggestion? Schedule two hours before the end of the month to build and schedule email campaigns for next month, using pre-designed templates to save time.
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Emails Prompt Action
Social media platforms prioritize entertainment, and while your posts might garner engagement, they don’t always drive sales. One of my client’s Reels showcasing new products reached 1,800 people but led to no purchases or visits. In contrast, an email campaign we sent to 2,000 subscribers about the same products had a 41% open rate and drove 25 redemptions in one weekend — totaling $1,150 in sales.
That’s the power of email: Your loyal customers have chosen to hear from you by subscribing. On social media, you’re constantly battling ads, algorithms and distractions for fleeting attention.
For best results, use attention-grabbing subject lines and include a single, clear call-to-action (such as a discount code).
Email Taps Into Your “Market of One”
Email marketing allows for a level of personalization that social media can’t match. For a Customer Appreciation Day event, we helped a client send targeted emails featuring specific brand deals their customers had previously redeemed.
These highly personalized emails achieved a more than 50% open rate and drove a record-breaking sales day — something social media’s one-size-fits-all approach simply can’t replicate.
Pro Tip: The more specific your offer, the higher your open rates and sales will climb. A bigger audience is not always a better audience.
Drive ROI with Email
Here’s how to get started:
- Build audience: Standardize the habit of collecting customer information so you can help them save time or money.
- Start small: Begin with one campaign per month to promote events, highlight offers or share success stories.
- Segment audience: Upskill by personalizing the message and categorizing your subscribers by pet ownership, purchase history and loyalty points.
- Track metrics: Use tools like Astro Loyalty to measure open rates, clicks and sales. The more you work at it, the better you’ll get.
Likes may boost your ego, but email marketing boosts your revenue. My advice? Spend your time where it pays off because likes don’t pay the bills.
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