E-marketing Will Increase Sales and Loyalty (Part II)

As we mentioned in Part I, strategy is the most important, and often overlooked, element of successful e-mail marketing. Taking the time to develop a strong strategy will help ensure success and save you time and money in the long run.

In our previous issue we talked about points one through five of our ten-point plan. This month we’ll discuss points six through ten. 

6. Develop a Communications Strategy

E-mail itself is simply the communications channel. There are many ways to use the channel and a variety of message types you can employ. Which type of e-mail suits your needs?

Editorial (long form) 

This is the most common type of e-mail newsletter and can be an effective way to:

• Demonstrate your company’s expertise in a particular area
• Build a relationship with your readers
• If you’re a retailer you can also supplement costs or generate revenue by charging suppliers to advertise their products

Promotional e-mail (short form)

Also known as “postcard” e-mail where everything is above-the-fold. The content is strictly promotional and can be an effective way to:

• Motivate immediate action
• Drive store traffic and/or website traffic
• Encourage readers to attend an event (in-store or in-mall) or register for a contest

Don’t make the mistake of trying to include too much content—stay focused and keep it simple.

Frequency

• Most newsletters are monthly. Track your results and test different frequencies to see what works best for you. 
• Frequency will also depend on the resources you have available to develop quality content. Better to send one high-quality  e-mail per month than two mediocre e-mails.

Timing

• Industry research shows that there’s no longer much difference in which day of the week e-mail is delivered. Test a couple of different days, pick the best performer and stick with it.
• We’ve found that having an e-mail waiting in the recipient’s in-box first thing in the morning (06:00) generates the best results. Don’t forget to account for time zones.

7. Relevancy

• Ask questions and track consumer website behaviour to determine customer “types” beyond demographics. Consumer preferences and behaviour are effective points of segmentation.
• For instance, one of our clients uses customer preferences such as favourite stores and average spend to determine message content that will help motivate purchase decisions.
• Segment messaging based on previous e-mail behaviour (opens and click-throughs). 
• Test different subject lines, content and offers to motivate a higher open rate and motivate non-openers.

8. Get Read

Is your e-mail reaching its target and getting opened?

• Start with e-mail acquisition best practice number one – double opt-in. This confirms the consumer’s intention to subscribe and gets the sender’s e-mail address in the recipient’s contacts list.
• Consumers report that on average 24% of the e-mails they receive to their primary e-mail account are “opt-in” while 31% are Spam. A well-written and properly-formatted subject line is critical to getting through spam filters and capturing your subscriber’s attention.

9. Define the Metrics

What will you track and how will you track it?

• To determine if your e-mail program is effective, or to calculate ROI, you’ll need to have a measurement plan in place, including what metrics to track, how and when to track them.
• Open and click-through rates are a good start but only tell part of the story. Effective marketers track consumer behaviour beyond-the-click and onto the website to understand the value of e-mail marketing. Talk to your analytics provider about integrating web and e-mail analytics. If they don’t offer this it’s time to look around. There are many cost-effective options on the market.

10. Evaluate the Results 

• Most e-mail service providers offer sophisticated e-mail tracking capabilities beyond delivery, open and click-through rates.  Make sure you can track bounces, forwards, new recipients, subscribes, unsubscribes, and clicks by link.  
• If you’re conducting testing – and you should be – then you’ll want to evaluate the results of those tests: e.g. best performing subject line, offer or call-to-action.
• Evaluate by consumer segment as well, and plan to focus on your most profitable customers FIRST.