We had the pleasure to discuss with George Cașcaval our fellow Performance Marketing Specialist about how these two digital marketing disciplines are different and how can they work together to increase revenue.
Sometimes, you may not be sure where to invest more time and money. Should I invest in PPC, or should I focus on growing and marketing my current email list?
It might seem like an easy choice to go for PPC, but when you realize that you need to invest a significant amount of money without a guaranteed return, you start to think twice.
How is Email Marketing different from Performance Marketing?
Costs
In general, the cost for Email Marketing is lower than the cost of PPC, assuming you already have a subscribers list. The ROI of Email Marketing is very high; for each $1 invested, you should expect to get $42 in return. The cost of PPC is higher and depends on industry and keyword competition, but if it is profitable, it will attract new clients as well as retain existing ones.
Speed to Market
Each newsletter you send out requires some brainstorming: choosing which products or services to promote, finding a subject line that will encourage people to open the email, creating copywriting, and finding and editing images. In PPC, there is a setup that can take 1-2 days, but afterwards, only small edits/updates on the ads are needed.
Audience Ownership & Segmentation
In Email Marketing, you own your audience; there are no algorithm changes, and there is no keyword competition. All you need to do is maintain a clean email list with people who want to receive your emails and thus stay out of the spam folder. In PPC, you are competing with everyone else for the same audience. The most ownership you can have over an audience is through retargeting and paying more to reach your audience.
Personalization & Segmentation
In Email Marketing, you can use the subscriber’s first name (if you have it), interests, demographic data, and previous activity (opens/clicks). In PPC, it’s not the same; you can’t have individualized messages for each person. You can segment with remarketing lists, but you don’t address individuals directly.
Measurability
In Email Marketing, you have access to email engagement data: how many people opened or clicked on your email and how many unsubscribed from them. Regarding conversion or revenue, the most you can do is use a discount code sent only to your newsletter subscribers and track who/how many used it. In PPC, the tracking capabilities are more complex; you can even track sales. You can see which click generated the sale.
How Email Marketing and Performance Marketing can work together
1. How PPC can help Email Marketing
The most significant way PPC can assist Email Marketing is by adding new subscribers to your list. You can create a PPC campaign with a landing page where people are incentivized to subscribe to your newsletter.
You can also use PPC campaigns to test the theme of an email campaign. See what works in PPC and then send a newsletter promoting that product or service. Instead of sending the same newsletter again, you can use a PPC campaign targeted at your email list. This way, people will not receive another email with similar content.
2. How Email Marketing can help PPC
Upload your email list to Google and deliver ads specifically for your list of subscribers, so the product is displayed again to the customer.
See which Email Marketing campaigns have the highest open rates and build PPC campaigns based on this data.
Conclusions
Email Marketing and Performance Marketing should work together; the campaigns should be synchronized so the audience receives the same products/services within a specific timeframe. It is also beneficial to share reports between them in order to make the Digital Marketing campaign more effective.
Performance Marketing’s Strongest Point Over Email Marketing
- Brings in fresh clients, which can also grow the subscriber list.
- Volume & Scalability: If an ad generates profit, then you can scale it as much as you want, and the profit will still be there.
Email Marketing’s Strongest Point Over PPC
- Builds a relationship with the subscriber and keeps your brand top of mind for the customer at a very low cost.
- The ROI is very high, and the costs are constant because you compete only for the customer’s inbox and their attention. You don’t depend on algorithms, seasonality, or keyword competition.