In a socially networked world, email marketing might seem like an archaic trend, but reality disagrees. Marketers are expected to spend $2.468 billion on it by 2016. This is because there have never been more benefits to email marketing tactics.

With a strong content marketing approach, the efficacy of email marketing software has never been stronger, because it moves the conversation, your commercial message, to a more personal space–the inbox. Its main points are to improve customer relations, to encourage customer loyalty, to increase repeat business, acquire new customers, or convince current customers to purchase more immediately. After all, email marketing tools can be used like a direct line straight to your customers’ attention.

Another reason that marketers love to use email-centric tactics is because of their cost effectiveness, which leads to a high return on investment. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing has an ROI of around 4,300%, which means it all but pays for itself.

All this being said, when we hear about email marketing our minds naturally conjure memories of spam, junk newsletters, and annoying sales pitches. Emails like these are to be avoided because not only will they make customers turn away from the products, they’ll make customers turn away from your business.

Instead, a successful email marketing campaign offers something of value to customers. This is done through effective subject line writing (something that seizes attention and begs to be opened), a voice that goes beyond marketing and sales rhetoric, and content that’s worthy to be shared through forwarding, or through social network posting, which inspires more referrals and word-of-mouth.

Email marketing has in no way, shape, or form gone the way of the dodo. If anything, it’s only evolved into a more polished, refined marketing strategy. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.