In tough economic times, you need to do more with less. Here are six simple, inexpensive things you can do today to increase the return on your email marketing efforts this month.
1. Increase your email list growth
Your email list is an asset; the most qualified sign-ups you get, the larger your list will be. Your company’s Website is a good place to start. Make sure you include a benefit-oriented call-to-action to sign-up for email on every page. No one 'needs' more email, but they do want information to help them do their jobs better, enjoy their hobbies more, save them money, etc. Make sure you include these benefits in your call-to-action.
Once they are interested, your registration page should encourage them to complete the process, not drive them away. In general, you can ask for five to seven fields of information without causing people to abandon the process. These typically include email address, first name, company name (for B-to-B), zip code (which is helpful for geographic segmentation) and one or two additional fields to allow you to provide relevant content based on the subscriber’s interests.
2. Make the most of your welcome message(s)
When someone signs up to receive email from you, they’re looking for a relationship. You’re in a honeymoon period with them, so make the most of it! Make sure your welcome message invites them further into the relationship with you – and furthers your business goals.
If your goal is direct response, provide an incentive for an immediate purchase. If it’s lead generation, use your welcome email to further flesh out the benefits of your product. If you have a long sales cycle a series of welcome messages, sent a few days or a week apart, which include benefits and customer testimonials, can be a cost-effective tool for moving prospects through it.
3. Optimize your preview pane view
A recent MarketingSherpa survey found that 64% of people use the preview pane to decide whether or not to read the full email. Make sure you are making good use of this 'prime real estate'. It should engage the reader and include your key messages, including your brand, a benefit-oriented headline, a personalised salutation and a reason for them to read more.
A recent client recognised a 220% lift in leads generated, with no decrease in lead quality, through inexpensive changes I recommended to the preview pane view. Another client got an equally impressive 75% increase in online orders thanks to optimising the preview pane section of the email.
4. Strategically resend email
Many organisations would be very happy with a 1.4% conversion rate on an email campaign. But by resending strategically, you can do even better. A resort property which got those results on the initial send did a strategic resend, just to the people that had clicked-through but not booked a reservation.
The open rate on the second send was more than double that of the initial send; the conversion rate for the second send was a very impressive 36.5%. The second send incorporated an incentive, which was in the first email but not featured prominently, into the headline. Otherwise, they were identical. The additional bookings more than paid for the cost of the second send and lifted the ROI significantly.
5. Incorporate marketing into transactional email messages
Transactional email messages, which are the result of a purchase or other action, have higher click-through and open rates than any other type of email message. As long as the primary purpose of the email remains transactional, CAN-SPAM allows you to you include a marketing message.
For a great example of this look no further than the receipts iTunes sends – they include a list of recommendations for music favored by others who made the same purchase. It’s a marketing message that many recipients see as a customer service.
6. Confirm your email deliverability
If your email isn’t getting delivered to the inbox, people won’t be able to act on it. Bounces don’t tell the whole story; many filters that block email don’t let the sender know.
There are a number of websites that let you check your deliverability for free, including SenderBase.org. The best time to check is shortly after a large send. If you find you have a problem, your email service provider should be able to help you resolve it. If you’re sending email from an in-house system, Pivotal Veracity and Return Path both offer help with deliverability.
More and more companies are turning to email as a cost-effective channel to generate direct sales and leads. By spending a little time and effort, you can get even more from your email marketing efforts.
Useful Links:
MarketingSherpa: www.marketingsherpa.com
Senderbase.org: www.senderbase.org
Pivotal Veracity: www.pivotalveracity.com
Return Path: www.returnpath.com
Source: Jeanne S. Jennings
Consultant, Email Marketing Strategy
JeanneJennings.com, Inc.
