Social media marketing gets a lot of attention these days, and with good reason. There is all kinds of potential there for small businesses. But that doesn’t mean business owners should forfeit other online marketing strategies that have been working effectively for years – like email marketing.

I conducted a little Q&A with Steve Adams, VP of Marketing with email marketing company Campaigner, who has supplied us with numerous tips in the medium in the past. The following is that conversation:

Chris Crum: Do you think email marketing is getting overshadowed by social media marketing these days?

Steve Adams: No – although social media marketing is becoming more and more popular, recent studies are finding that people still like and want to receive emails. For example a study by Epsilon and ROI Research entitled “Beyond the Click: The Indirect Value of Email” found that 84 percent of recipients liked receiving email from companies with whom they’ve subscribed to their e-newsletters. Another stat to note is from an Aberdeen report which states that email marketing is ranked the number one recessionary marketing tool. Although there are other marketing techniques gaining popularity, email marketing is here to stay, especially for small businesses.

Many businesses today are beginning to integrate their online communications, including email, Twitter, podcasts and blogs.  We expect to see this trend continue.  A strategic approach like this can get great results.  The good news for small businesses is that many of these tools are low cost or even free. 

Chris Crum: Research has shown that social networks are becoming more popular than email. Should email marketers worry about social media taking over online communication?

Steve Adams: Email marketers should not worry about social media taking over online communications; in fact, it’s great news for businesses of all sizes.   Small businesses, especially, benefit from having more channels for communicating their messages directly to targeted audiences.   The key is to integrate your online marketing, and email marketing should play a central role.   Email’s cost effectiveness and ROI can’t be beat, and it’s one of the best ways for businesses to stay in touch with customers and build long-lasting and profitable relationships. Social media tools like blogs and Twitter can also play an important role in a business’s marketing strategies.  There is no reason for any business to have to choose one over the other. The most effective marketing programs use an integrated approach and provide customers with choices.

Chris Crum: Do you think email marketing is going to shift toward a more social experience as inboxes (like yahoo/gmail) start incorporating more socialfeatures?

Steve Adams: Yes, as social media becomes more integrated into the lives of consumers, you will see email marketing services building more types of features and functionality into their offerings, enhancing users’ interactivity and social experiences. It’s likely that you will see the integration of email with other social media communications on the rise – giving subscribers the option to receive email marketing promotions via RSS, updates from Twitter or to their actual email inbox.  Many businesses have already been integrating video and podcasts into their email marketing campaigns. It’s an exciting time for small businesses and marketers to reach out to their audiences with a mix of online tools and services at a very low cost.

Chris Crum: What are some other barriers small business owners face in implementing email marketing?

Steve Adams: Small business owners wear many hats.  In many cases, the entrepreneur is in charge of every aspect of running the business, including sales, marketing, business development and overall operations.  Many small business owners rightly believe they don’t’ have the time, energy or even the finances to put into email marketing.  The unfortunate result is that they miss out on opportunities to grow their businesses with email marketing at a very low cost.

In order to increase sales, small businesses want to keep existing customers while creating more sales ops - email helps small businesses doing that. If you find time to market and sell your products and services through other methods such as direct postal mail or advertising in the Yellow Pages and your local print media, it only makes sense to find time to make email marketing part of your overall sales and marketing strategy. Getting started with email marketing definitely requires time and attention, but the proven ROI makes it worth it.

There are also a number of excellent email marketing services to choose from that are designed specifically for helping small businesses quickly and easily conduct their own email marketing campaigns. Many of these services offer free trials – some even offer start up services such as free template tailoring to help you match the look and feel of your email marketing campaigns with your brand and logo.  Beginning with a free trial and start up services are a great way to test a provider to make sure it’s the right fit for your business before you commit to the sale.  You’ll also want to find an email marketing provider that provides customer support around the clock in addition to free tips, education and training to help you constantly improve the performance and ROI of your email marketing campaigns.   

Once you make your selection, you can launch an ongoing email marketing program for as little as $10 per month and reach out to hundreds of your customer and prospects.   

If done properly, email marketing is a great way to grow your businesses by helping you strengthen customer relationships, engage with prospects and increase sales.  If you’re one of the many small business owners out there who has yet to use any type of online marketing, getting started with email marketing is one of the best and easiest ways to begin.

Article Originally Posted On Small Business News