I get dozens of newsletter type emails every day. Some have great information and others…well, let’s just say I don’t contribute to their open rates any longer. Even among the ones that I do open, very few are actually doing all of the work they can do for the sender’s marketing program. The top three mistakes are common. Are you making them too?
Sending the Same Content to Everyone on Your List
Your customers likely have different interests – and a different level of interest – in news about your company than your collaborative partners, friends, or family (yes, family). You probably knew that without me saying it. Since you are in the know, why are you sending the same email to everyone?
Transactional email platforms (e.g. Constant Contact, MailChimp, etc.) have provided the ability to segment contact lists for years now, yet many companies are not taking advantage of this to send content that is relevant. Relevant content helps increase open rates, and, more importantly, gets read! You can fix this by segmenting your list and then tailoring your content to each segment. Many email platforms can be configured to do that automatically. You’re paying for the service. Why not use it fully?
Only Measuring Opens, Deliverability, and Unsubscribes
These are the vanity numbers of the email marketing world – and they are not all reliable. Open Rate, for example is affected by preview panes that show part of the email even if it is not opened. And, while these numbers may make you feel like you are measuring your success, they don’t go far enough. Some companies have started to measure things such as List Growth Rate, but this is still not far enough. Measuring ROI is critical, or you will find yourself spending more than you should. The equation is pretty simple:
ROI = (Additional sales – cost of email campaign / cost of email campaign) * 100
But even ROI doesn’t tell you everything. You also want to track the number of leads that were generated and measure that against the converted sales, Click Through Rate (CTR), and sharing or forwarding statistics. These tell you how well received your content is – and whether it goes beyond your initial recipient.
Not Using a Strategy That Helps You Learn About Your Audience
The real power of email marketing platforms is in what they can help you learn about your audience. Today’s apps offer a variety of ways to do this, some better than others, but they all require strategic planning to achieve the campaign goals. If nothing else, your email marketing should be helping you to build your traffic, but even that is leaving money on the table.
If you’re sending a newsletter – or any campaign – that’s not helping you to learn more about your audience, you’re losing out on one of the best opportunities to enhance the relationship you are building with prospects and customers. How effective is your email marketing strategy?
