It’s hard to imagine that in 2016 there is anyone who doesn’t use email in their day to day life. It’s even estimated that there will be over 212 BILLION emails sent this year alone. Over 123 billion of those emails will be sent and received by businesses.
But even with all those emails being sent, many businesses aren’t taking full advantage of getting the most out of their email. This is especially true in regulated industries like healthcare, where email use is very low despite a recent study showing email use can improve the overall health of patients.
Here are three areas to check and make sure you are getting the most out of your email use for your business.
Efficiency
Taking away the interruptions of a phone ringing can do wonders to making your business run more efficiently. When was the last time you were glad the phone rang when you were in the middle of an important task?
A 2013 study by Michigan State University revealed that even a brief interruption can double the amount of errors that occur. But most phone calls aren’t that brief and take on average 4 minutes.
However, Yahoo researchers found that replying to an email took an average of just 2 minutes. Email also has the added advantage of being able to set aside time to reply in batches, which is much more difficult to do with phone calls.
Marketing
No one likes email SPAM. Yet a 2015 study by Marketing Sherpa revealed that over 70% of adults in the U.S. preferred to receive promotional ads via email than other channels like TV, social media, and texts.
The key is to make sure the email blasts you send will provide value to your customers. For example, an email with 20% off a meat-of-the-month club would be great for some customers, but just SPAM to a vegetarian.
Thankfully there are lots of user-friendly, personalized email marketing platforms available like MailChimp, Constant Contact and Mad Mimi.
Customer Service
It used to be that if you wanted any kind of customer service you needed to talk to someone. Unfortunately there’s a lot of cost behind handling phone support, especially as businesses scale and get larger. This is bad for both the customer and business owners.
Email can provide a much better experience as customers don’t have to wait on hold for hours, they can just send an email and go about the rest of their day. It’s also better for businesses as most customers are satisfied to receive a response in 24 hours. It’s also much better for both parties when conversations can be clearly tracked in an email trail rather than a he said-she said debate.
Online customer support platforms that integrate with your email include Intercom, Groove, and Front.
Conclusion
In the end, email use is only going to increase. With the increasing use of smartphones, tablets and wearables, email is intertwined in the daily routine for most people. It only benefits businesses to make sure that they are taking advantage of all email has to offer and giving their customer options in how they want to communicate.
Main image credit: riverglenwealth.com
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