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Whether considering data or design, email marketing is all about
quality over quantity.
Ensuring your list of recipients remains ‘healthy’ is, by far, the most
important consideration when managing an email marketing program. I
would rather have 20,000 fully engaged recipients than 2,000,000 who
haven’t opened a single email in a year. Here’s why:
1 0 YOU’RE FOCUSING ON QUANTITY, NOT QUALITY
Monetary LossIf a person hasn’t opened an email from you, they are either no longer
using that address or are simply not interested in your messages any
longer. You are wasting money by sending to them. Thirty percent of
Americans change their email address annually1.
If you are including non-openers in your reporting, you are negatively
impacting your ability to effectively analyze campaign performance. Consider
this example:
Skewed Reporting
The Acme Company is deploying to the same list of
recipients, over a two-week period-
• In deployment ‘A’ they included recipients whohaven’t opened in 90-days
• In deployment ‘B’, this group was excluded
Deployment ‘A’ Deployment ‘B’
Sent 2,000,000 20,000
Opens 2,400 2,400
Open Rate 0.12% 12%
By sending to non-openers, you are hindering your
own ability to effectively demonstrate engagement
levels to your company, potential investors, ad sales
clients, and others.
DeliverabilityEmailing non-openers destroys your sending reputation. As a result, your
messages will be sent to the SPAM folder and eventually blocked
completely.
Fixing deliverability issues can be expensive, time consuming, and
completely avoidable.
QUICKTIP
Stay away from list rentals and email appends. I have never seen these efforts yield a positive ROI.
If an active opener of your campaigns changes their address, they will likely either re-register or update their profile.
Contact us to learn more about cost-effective re-engagement programs. More than anything, focus on acquisition- driving new signups, instead. It is more cost-effective and yields a much greater ROI.
3 YOU’RE NOT SENDING THANK NEW EMAIL’S TO NEW SUBSCRIBERSIf someone shares their email address, they are showing they havean interest in either your brand or its products or services. This is anopportunity to establish a foundation from which you may grow arelationship with this customer.
Here are a few do’s and don’ts for you to consider:
Do:
• Thank them for subscribing
• Educate them on your brand and share customer service contactinformation
• Ask a question that promotes action when offering new subscribers(who have not yet made a purchase)
“Companies that include an offer typically enjoy a modest 9% lift in
transaction rates and a 30% lift in revenue per email, compared to bulk
welcomes with no offer7.”
Don’t:
• Ask them to share anything with friends or on social media- Keep thefocus on how else you can help them
• Send transactional emails, using web servers or shared IPs. Thisapproach often leads to delays in delivery and sometimes, prevents itcompletely
• Invite them to join a ‘loyalty’ program. You just met them. Get to knowthem first
2 YOU’RE NOT USING THE “FROM” ADDRESS AS AN INVITATIONThe best way to get customers to lose interest in your brand is bylosing interest in them.
I've never understood why the ‘from’ address reads,“[email protected]” in many of the promotional emails I receive.Why would anyone deliberately push customers away? Not to mentionthe fact this can negatively impact deliverability. What should you use?Create a test plan that identifies the best option for your needs- and ifyou need help, we’re here for you.
From asking for their feedback, to reminding customers you are there forthem, service is the single most crucial element to building and sustainingstrong relationships with them.
Stop hiding your hours of operation and contact information in the footerof the message. It is myth that being up front about how to reach you willcause an unmanageable spike in calls and inquiries.
Two-way conversations are about speaking and listening, so it isimportant to ensure you ‘listen’ to what your customers are telling you.This is where reporting comes in. The best way to determine the wants,needs, and preferences of your customers apart from listening to thosewho directly respond to you, is to closely monitor and study click metrics.
Clicks tell you which topics you will want to focus on in subsequentcampaigns- and which ones you shouldn't waste any more time on.
QUICKTIP
Clicks are important, but my favorite metric is the, “click-to-open” rate
(clicks/opens). It tells you how many of those who opened the mailing,
actually clicked through to your site.
In other words, the click-to-open ratio tells you how interesting your
1 YOU’RE NOT INCLUDING HIGH-QUALITY CONTENTNobody is asking you to become a professional copywriter. However,there simply is no one better than you to tell your brand’s story.
According to Content Marketing Institute, Eighty-eight percent of B2Bcompanies leverage content marketing tactics. However, only half of thisgroup clearly understands how to effectively facilitate it8.
Content marketing has always existed. It is the foundation on which weestablish, sustain, and grow relationships with customers. The differencetoday is that companies are so consumed with the methods of deliveringcontent, that they fail to focus on effectively telling their story. You cansend countless emails, but if your messaging isn’t right, you will nevermaximize your revenue and ROI potential.
The subscription-based, content marketing software company NewsCredfound that customers who engaged with their content had a 41% higherrenewal rate, were 33% more likely to be upsold and had a 24% highermonthly recurring revenue rate9.
It simply isn’t about how many followers a brand has on Twitter. Rather, itis how the brand’s story connects with people.
8http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/2016_B2C_Research_Final.pdf9http://lizbedor.com/2016/01/07/how-content-marketing-can-help-ensure-customer-retention102016 B2B Content Marketing 2016: Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report
QUICKTIP
Need help coming up with content?
Ask your best customers to be guest writers- submitting
reviews, comments and other applicable thoughts on
products, services, industry trends and more.
Over the years, our research has consistently shown that marketers who have documented their content
marketing strategy are more effective than those who have a verbal-only strategy or no strategy at all10.
• Web Development • Multi-Channel Campaigns• IT & C-Level Collaboration • Business & Technical Insights• Contract Negotiations
• Team Leadership & Training• Strategic Communications • C-Level Collaboration • Relationship Building • APIs, RSS, XML
Specializations AchievementsRevenue Acceleration
Demonstrated record of success catalyzing dramatic revenuegrowth (including a 75% net income increase for one prominentclient) via consultative leadership, as well as the facilitation oftechnological and marketing innovations.
Data & Behavioral Marketing Specialist
Background of conceptualizing, documenting and overseeingdevelopment of 1:1 marketing initiatives, leveragingpersonalization and dynamic content to increase userengagement.
Current & Former Clients
Over the past sixteen years, I have worked with hundreds ofcompanies, supporting their email marketing needs. Thefollowing is a sampling of the email marketing programs onwhich I have worked -