Email marketing remains the most effective way today to prospect for new customers, build customer loyalty, and grow sales. At least, that is the conviction of the trainer Myriam Forest. We sat down with her to discuss best practices for making email marketing an effective business driver.
There seems to have been a resurgence of email in marketing strategies in recent years. Is that something you’re seeing as well?
Myriam Forest: Absolutely. I attribute it to a general fatigue with social media, especially since the rise of AI over the past few months. On the one hand, we’re seeing more and more content that looks alike, and on the other, brands’ posts are becoming less and less visible. So they’re turning to other channels… including good old email marketing.
Not only is it not dead, but it’s actually highly effective. It’s almost as if we’re rediscovering it.
It’s true that email is a long-established marketing channel…
Myriam Forest: …And it remains one of the channels with the best return on investment in digital marketing! For one thing, you don’t have to compete with social media algorithms, which ultimately gives you much better visibility.
It also allows you to provide more personalized content. You can create highly targeted segments and develop a more intimate, personal relationship with your audience. Ultimately, that makes your communications more impactful.
Not to mention that the barrier to entry is low, or even free when you have a small subscriber base. Everything can easily be managed in-house and at a lower cost than investing in tools such as digital advertising.
As you mentioned, it’s an “owned” communication channel, which is a significant advantage at a time when AI agents are increasingly removing intermediaries.
Myriam Forest: It’s true that I place a lot of emphasis on the idea of autonomy with organizations. For now, though, I would say that it’s not so much the disintermediation of AI agents itself that is causing concern (although it’s something we need to be mindful of). It’s mainly the fact that many companies are at the mercy of arbitrary decisions regarding their social media accounts—account suspensions, fraud, loss of access, and so on.
After investing time and sometimes money for years, companies can lose their Facebook and Instagram pages/accounts, often with little or no recourse. This is especially due to arbitrary decisions made by AI systems and the lack of access to real human customer service for social media platforms. That’s why it’s important to maintain control and ownership of your database.
The principle is simple: people who have subscribed to our list are not dependent on a third-party platform that could shut down tomorrow. As always, you should never put all your eggs in one basket.
What are some of the common mistakes you often see in organizations’ email marketing strategies?
Myriam Forest: The main one is viewing email marketing as simply a newsletter. This channel has several facets, including an automation component that shouldn’t be overlooked, because it’s what allows you to personalize messages based on the customer experience.
To make full use of all the levers available in email marketing, you first need to think in terms of segmentation rather than simply sending generic emails. For example, there are e-commerce techniques for re-engaging people who have abandoned their shopping carts. This isn’t a newsletter sent to everyone; it’s targeted, segmented communication.
Conversely, what best practices do you generally recommend?
Myriam Forest: For starters, I often hear that a good email open rate is between 25% and 40%. I disagree! You should be able to push that benchmark much further.
I work with clients where we achieve open rates above 65% by delivering the right targeted content to the right people. That’s absolutely achievable when you know your audience well and offer them content that genuinely interests them.
You also need to be careful not to fall into the bad habit of using email solely to promote your product catalog. You should constantly be asking yourself about the value of the information you’re sharing in your emails.
Finally, I would be wary of falling into the trap of having AI write 100% of our emails for us. Just like on social media, I think that’s the best way to make users lose interest in our content. Brand voice is more important than ever.
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