WJR Business Beat: Top Marketing Channel in 2022? Email (Episode 351)

Good morning, Paul! So many bases to cover if you’re a small business owner. You’ve got to produce whatever it is that your company sells. You’ve got to find the right distribution channels and partners. And of course, you’ve got to get the word out. You have to market and create awareness leading to interest, which ultimately leads to sales. So how are small businesses doing that these days? Well, here it is Paul. Small business marketers in 2022 believe that email is the top go-to channel to use in 2022. The new Traffic Trend study just released by e-commerce platform ClickBank indicates that roughly 28% of marketers will focus on email as their top choice. Now, Facebook marketing comes in a close second at 25%, dropped a bit, no less still in second, and thn 17% will focus on Google and YouTube. So why has email risen as king today? Well, here are a couple of reasons among many. First, while emails are sent out en masse, of course, there are amazing tools now available to marketers that allow you to facilitate personalization with each individual customer. For example, you can address each customer by name and provide specific content, which targets each customer’s individual purchase behaviors and preferences, and this leads to tighter relationships and that leads to more business. Second, you can showcase your expertise. Emails do more than offering promotions and deals these days. The best marketers use email as part of a content marketing strategy. If your business sells fishing poles, you’ll provide content on key things to look for when purchasing a pole where the fish are biting these days. And what bait is hooking the big one. When you do this, your customers find value in reading your emails and you can mix in subtle promotions and deals alongside the content, and they build confidence as a result of you showcasing your expertise. And third, you can use email as a means to collect really high value data on your customers, especially in today’s world of tighter privacy regulations. That is gold. So, there you have it, Paul. The best marketers this year focused on email first and for a good reason. And if you’ve got a small business and you’re tasked with marketing, go with the email. I’m Jeff Sloan, founder and CEO of startupnation.com, and that’s today’s Business Beat on the Great Voice of the Great Lakes, WJR.