The first electronic message was created in 1965. Today, there are 3.9 billion active email users. That’s more than half of the global population using email making it one of the most cost-effective ways to reach consumers today.

How has email survived? According to an article on Forbes.com “mobile changes everything” and this is especially true of email. Based on data from Statista, more than 52% of all website traffic worldwide was generated through mobile phones last In a separate survey, email is mobile users’ preferred type of notification (cited by 46% of respondents); it’s strongly preferred over push notifications (15%) and in-app messaging (20%).

Here are five reasons email can help you connect, deepen your relationship and engage with your customers, as well as gain the confidence of your future clients. 
Make it Personal. Email’s potential for personalization and relationship-building is enormous, though still largely untapped. Simply adding the recipient’s name to an email’s subject line hugely increases open rates.

Test it. Don’t miss an opportunity to test some facet of your email campaigns regularly. This includes using an engaging subject line. Also be sure your messaging is coming at the right time in a customer’s journey.

Get Permission. Be sure someone gave you permission to send them an email. You’ll quickly be able to determine if they want to receive your emails. An unsubscribe rate above 0.5% means you have some work to do.

Content is King. The holidays aren’t the only time for communicating with your list. National Donut Day, National Grandparents Day, National Dog Day — there are so many and nearly every date of the year has something associated with it. Other content that you can share with your list are additions to your brand, new products, offerings, services — anything new or re-imagined is an opportunity to speak to your customers.

Pro Tip: consider each target segment’s behaviors and drivers and cater the message to the recipient – don’t blanket email all your subscribers with a message if it isn’t relevant to them.

A colleague of mine says that staying in touch with your customers via email is like ‘printing your own money’. If you think about it, your customers (most of them at least) know you, trust you and would be happy to give you more business if given the chance.