Sometimes it’s hard to keep up.

Consumer habits have changed in many ways over the past few years, forcing effective digital marketing strategies to change with them. Consumers are increasingly mobile. They’re on the Internet most of the day, but usually in tiny bursts and most often, it’s on their phones. To keep up, digital marketers have to constantly test and modify strategy and tactics.

Despite all the changes, one thing has stayed the same: email still is a critical and effective way to reach people.

One of the first uses of the Internet, email has remained popular both among consumer and B2B marketers. Here are a few reasons why:

Start your day by checking in: In an age of social media, people still regularly check their emails, often several accounts, several times a day. About 91% of consumers check their email every day. For many of us, it’s the first thing we do when we wake up and the last thing we check before going to bed.

It’s always around: We carry our smart phones — and our email — around with us all day. Most of us can’t help but check on our emails on and off throughout the day. That gives brands and marketers ample opportunity to get people’s attention. About 53% of emails are opened on mobile devices, and about 23% of people who open an email on their phones will open that same email again later, according to Campaign Monitor. About 75% of Gmail’s 900 million users check their accounts on mobile devices, according to TechCrunch. So even if consumers and clients aren’t biting at your offer or aren’t converting, they are reading – and that itself can be considered effective.

Email plays nice with social media: You don’t have to choose between email marketing and a social media campaign. Your email message can link to social media, optimizing both efforts. Email subscribers are three times more likely to share your content through social media than visitors from other sources, according to QuickSprout. People are 6x more likely to click on an email than a tweet, according to Campaign Monitor. But what if your email directed viewers to your tweet? Voila! Now you have two ways to get your message out.

Email can be a powerful and effective way to reach consumers. A few steps can help you make the most of your email strategy.

Give ’em the hook: You only have a few seconds to catch your readers’ attention. The subject line is key, whether it is a question, a teaser or something interesting, entertaining or compelling.

A personal touch: Personalized emails can boost customer engagement and click-through rates. Aberdeen found that click-through rates jumped 14% and conversions improved by 10% with email personalization. Also, emails sent by a person or persona outperform those sent by a generic address like accounts or info @yourcompany.com.

What’s in it for me?: Consumers are much more likely to click and read emails if they can get something out of it. That includes coupons and special offers, but it also can included tips and inside information — as long as the reader sees it as valuable.

Test and retest: An effective digital marketing team or agency will constantly evaluate all aspects of your email marketing effort. This includes the subject line, day and time it was sent, pre-header, images, message content, length of content and calls to action or other links. All of these attributes can contribute to email performance, or lack thereof. Test this and the geographic, demographics and other criteria of who you are targeting. Optimize based on performance and your effort will continue to improve over time.

If you would like to learn more about high performing email marketing tactics specific to your market, feel free to drop us a line at 203-682-4585, shoot us an email at info@adedgemarketing.com or Contact Us and let us know what’s on your mind.