In the modern digital age, it would be easy to think that social media, paid search or video would be the most favored channel amongst marketers.
So it might surprise you to find out that email marketing is still recognised as one of the most important marketing channels for businesses, with 90% of organizations surveyed claiming it is important to their company’s overall success.
And it’s easy to understand why, when a study into the ROI of email marketing found that on average, email marketing returns £38 for every £1 spent.
But what exactly is email marketing?
It’s actually quite a broad catch-all term that can include things like email welcome series, trigger-based emails, highly personalized targeted emails, and the topic we’re looking at today - email blasts.
If you’re not familiar with the terminology, an email blast is when you send the same email to a large number of subscribers, without applying any specific audience segmentation or personalization.
Email blasts have a bit of a controversial reputation amongst marketers. On the one hand, they enable businesses to reach a wide audience quickly. But on the other hand, some marketers argue that the approach is outdated due to its lack of personalization and relevancy.
In this article, we’re going to weigh up the different pros and cons of email blast marketing, to help you decide whether they might be right for your business.
Are email blasts outdated?
As marketing becomes increasingly data driven, and technology becomes more sophisticated - it’s becoming easier than ever for businesses to segment, personalize and dynamically insert content into their emails.
At the same time, consumer expectations have also significantly evolved, with an increasing demand for personalized and relevant content.
With this in mind, it’s easy to see why the one-size-fits-all nature of email blasts might feel outdated.
However, the evolution of technology and consumer expectations doesn’t necessarily mean the end for email blast marketing.
Their ability to reach a wide audience quickly, and their ease of setup means they can still potentially play a role in your email marketing strategy. It’s just about understanding when and how to use them effectively as part of your approach.
Like any marketing channel, email blasts come with their pros and cons, which we’re going to delve more into now.
Advantages of email blasts
Although they might be seen as ‘old hat’ by some marketers, email blasts definitely have their own set of advantages that can make them a beneficial tool in your email marketing strategy.
They help you get a message out to a wide audience
Imagine you’re launching a time limited flash sale and want to let as many people know as possible.
Or, let’s say there’s a change in the way your business is going to operate that you need to communicate to all your customers.
You don’t necessarily need a highly targeted, segmented and personalized approach to communicate with your email list in these scenarios. A standardized email blast is probably going to be the best route for you.
They can be cost effective and time effective
Email blasts can be a cost-effective email marketing strategy.
To deliver an email blast, you just need to create one compelling email and send it to a single list.
There’s no need to spend hours of business time creating multiple emails or spending your budget on a complex dynamic email solution.
Email blasting can be quick to set up, helping you to be reactive
With their wide reach and simplicity to set up, email blasts allow you to react swiftly to breaking news and market trends, or communicate important news about your business quickly to your subscribers by email.
The performance of email blasts is easily measurable
The simplicity of an email blast also makes it very easy to track performance metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rate, and take learnings about what works and what doesn’t for the future.
With more complex, highly personalized email solutions, it can be harder to pinpoint which elements or messages are responsible for the performance of your campaign.
Disadvantages of email blasts
As we’ve discussed the merits of email blast marketing, it’s only fair to also talk about the downsides.
Lack of personalization
The stats don’t lie - modern consumers react better to email campaigns that are personalized and are tailored based on things that your business knows about them. It’s actually estimated that email personalization can deliver up to 5.7 times more revenue than non-personalized emails.
With the content of email blasts not typically being personalized to each recipient, it can lead to lower engagement rates and make them less effective than targeted email campaigns.
Lack of relevancy
With email blast marketing involving a single email sent to a wide audience, it’s likely that the content may not be relevant to all recipients.
This 'one size fits all’ approach of email blasts can lead to lower engagement rates and make people feel disconnected from your brand.
You might also experience a higher unsubscribe rate from email blasts compared to more targeted emails, and an increase in spam complaints.
Impact on deliverability and sender reputation
If the recipients feel that your email blasts aren’t relevant to them, and they regularly hit ‘unsubscribe’ or mark your emails as spam, this can have an impact on your sender reputation and email deliverability - potentially affecting your ability to reach inboxes in the future.
Email blast best practices
There are certainly pros and cons to take into account if you’re thinking about sending email blasts.
If you decide that on the balance of things, that an email blast is the right solution for you and your businesses - you can get the most out of them by following these email blast tips.
Choose the right email service provider
Your choice of email service provider can make or break your email blast strategy.
Some popular options in that market include Mailchimp and Constant Contact, which include handy pre-designed templates, customizable layouts, and detailed performance analytics.
Or, if you’re looking for an easy way to get started with email blasts, you might also consider Simplelists as an email blast service (there’s a 1 month free trial if you’re interested).
Include a powerful email subject line
The effectiveness of your email subject line has a huge influence on how likely your recipients are to open your email.
It’s worth bearing in mind that people might only see the first few words of your subject line on a mobile screen, so you need to make your words count!
To follow best practices, email subject lines should be brief and capture the attention of your subscribers, intriguing them enough to open your email and read further.
Try some basic personalization (where you can)
Email blasts are known for their lack of personalization, and by definition they will never be as tailored or customized to your audience as a highly targeted email campaign.
But if you have the right data in your CRM, you might still be able to personalize some aspects of your email blast without too much heavy lifting - even if it’s just the recipient’s name in the subject line.
If you’re able to do this quickly without too much complexity - it can help improve open rates and engagement with your email.
Optimize for mobile
With 81% of people checking their email on their phones, it’s important to make sure your email blasts are easy to read and interact with on mobile devices.
Make sure the font is large enough, buttons and links can be easily tapped, and images are optimized for a smooth mobile experience.
Have a clear Call to Action (CTA)
The CTA is a crucial part of your email, as it tells the reader exactly what you want them to do next.
It’s important to make sure your CTA stands out visually, and clearly communicates the action you want your subscribers to take - whether it’s clicking a link, signing up for a webinar, or making a purchase.
Watch the frequency of email blasts
As we’ve already touched on, email blasts often aren’t as personalized or relevant as other forms of email marketing.
They certainly have their place, but you probably shouldn’t over-rely on them for your email marketing strategy or send them too frequently if you want to keep unsubscribes and spam complaints down.
An interesting study found that consumer perception of how many emails a business sends them is actually higher (almost double) than the true number of emails sent. So if you send an email per week, your audience might perceive it as two!
The ideal email frequency will depend on your audience and your industry, so it’s a good idea to monitor your open rates, click-through rates, and unsubscribe rates to find the right balance.
Think about the timing
There are a lot of different studies that examine the ‘best’ time to send your marketing emails.
The general advice is that advertisers typically see the best engagement from emails that are sent between the hours of 9am and 3pm.
But every business and audience is different - and it’s worth doing your own testing to find out the best time to send your emails based on your specific audience.
Additionally, be careful not to send too many emails at once or send emails at odd hours, as this could trigger spam filters and negatively impact your future deliverability.
Simplelists: More than a group email solution
While the concept of email blasts may seem outdated to some marketers, they still have their place as part of your email marketing strategy - especially when you need to reach a wide audience with the same message, quickly.
And while many might know Simplelists as a market leading group email solution, it might surprise you to know that it is used by many clients as an email blast service.
Simplelists supports powerful HTML emails, easy email list management, and comes with impressive deliverability and bounce rate reporting. We also make it easy to set up Simplelists to send emails from your own domain - allowing you to maintain brand consistency.
All this is packaged within an interface that prioritizes ease of use and affordability.
Sounds good?
Why not give it a trial? Sign up for a 1-month free trial and see how Simplelists can help you deliver success with your email blasts.