Because we have so many different types of clients, we are in a pretty unique position to see what types of advertising people are trying, what they are paying for it, and what their return on investment is. We try to use this knowledge to help our clients get the best bang for their buck when it comes to their advertising dollars.

So, what type of advertising gives you your best return on investment?

According to MarketingCharts.com, as well as our own experience, the answer is email marketing, with a whopping 124% ROI. Social media ads came in at 30% (really close to direct mail campaigns). Pay per click was 23%.

They also noted that email marketing had the best cost per acquisition numbers, at around $10 per customer. For our clients, it’s even less.

Incredibly, many companies aren’t taking advantage of this. When we onboard a client, one of the first questions we ask is “do you have a list of your customers and their emails?”
The answer is more often than not no. If the answer is yes, it’s usually because they have some sort of client tracking software that has that data that they can export, and not because they have been collecting their customers emails like the precious little moneymakers they are.

“But hey,” I hear you asking. “I absolutely hate spam email. In fact, when I get spam email, it makes me angry at the company that sent it.” Hey, us too. One of our favorite tech tips to share with clients is to search your email inbox for the word “unsubscribe” to bring up all the nonsense you never signed up for and make it easier to go through and unsubscribe from them all at once.

That said, there is a difference between spamming “prospect lists” full of emails of people who almost certainly would take their email off said list if they could, and connecting to your customers and potential customers who, directly or indirectly, indicated that they were interested in the service or product you offer. Our gold package comes with monthly custom email newsletters that offer your customers articles that might interest them that they can then forward to family or friends, potentially getting you some new business in the process. In addition, newsletters are a great and unobtrusive way to throw in the “Hey, have we done a great job for you? If so, could you click this link and review us online?” Many of our clients have seen fantastic results in their online ranking simply by offering a link to their existing customers that allows them to quickly leave a review.

Are you taking advantage of email marketing with your existing client base? If not, you’re missing out.