Email marketing is one of the oldest techniques on the Internet to reach out to customers. As technology has progressed leaps and bounds since the invention of the Web, new strategies have emerged. Are methods such as search and social media taking the throne as the main way for businesses to market their products? According to a recent article from Digital Journal, nothing has changed quite yet. Email marketing is still the top choice for strategists trying to maximize the exposure of their company’s products and services.

For consistent, effective customer engagement and communication, Digital Journal stated that the best choice for marketers is still email. In fact, one of the main uses for social media pages is for companies to gather email contact lists and focus on marketing campaigns with those databases.While social is a great way for businesses to get their names out there, email is where customers receive the necessary information, exclusive offers and discounts that will convert them into return buyers.

How has the email marketing game changed?
Whereas email marketing was once a cut-and-dry business choice, strategists nowadays treat it like a science. Digital Journal cited market segmentation as the factor that brought email marketing to the next level of precision. Collecting data and targeting specific demographics with tailored messages lifted email marketing out of the dark ages and allowed recipients to feel that they were personally addressed by their favorite brands and updated about their preferred products.

Marketing strategists have also made an effort to cut down on the total amount of content that their target audience receives in an average email. This quality over quantity approach has allowed businesses to maintain the relevancy of each message and has been shown to keep customers interested in receiving more mail in the future. Mobile viewing was another element that Digital Journal emphasized will be a critical point moving forward in email marketing. Because over 50 percent of email viewing occurred on mobile platforms last year, businesses cannot overlook the importance of optimizing their messages for this format.

It’s about the little touches
Personal details are separating successful email marketing campaigns from failures. In a recent article from Business2Community, contributor Lisa Gulasy examined the differences between two order confirmation emails that helped her decide which brand she preferred. Unsurprisingly, the businesses that crafted a fun holiday message became her top choice.