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www.
nexmedia
.co.za
By Toby Hone
Improve your email marketing ROI by as much as 300 per cent by avoiding these three common
mistakes.
H
aving been assisting clients with outbound email campaigns and the
supply of data for the past five years I have been privy to see exactly
what works and what doesn’t when carrying out email campaigns.
Below is an overview of the top three mistakes I see made by clients
when carrying out an email campaign.
Single Send
This is one of the biggest mistakes I see clients make. If you consider that
industry open rates for email broadcasts vary between 10 and 25 per cent,
that means that between 75 and 90 per cent of emails do not get opened!
That may make you wonder whether email marketing is in fact a viable
marketing channel, however, when you consider the relatively low cost, speed
at which a campaign can be carried out (usually within a matter of hours) and
perhaps most importantly, the measurability, you realise that email marketing
is an extremely effective channel.
The issue is that a single send simply doesn’t maximise your chance
of generating ROI. The ideal campaign should have a separate follow-up
message – not only to those people who have opened your email, but perhaps
more importantly to those who did NOT open your original mail. Carrying out a
re-send based on opened / unopened status, can increase campaign open and
click-through rates by as much as 300 per cent.
Wrong Audience
When considering who your target audience is, most clients only think of
the final decision-maker. This is a logical thought process, however, it is
fundamentally flawed in that it completely ignores the role of the ‘influencer’.
These are people who may not be involved in the final decision, however, they
have a direct impact on what product / service is ultimately chosen as they
are involved either from a user or research perspective.
Consider the example of a Sales Manager who is battling to keep on top
of his sales team and generating and managing inbound leads. He may be
reporting to the MD, who would ultimately be the decision-maker for deciding
on what CRM system to use, however, the sales manager and even his sales
executives would be influencers in the process of deciding what CRM system
to use.
By targeting ONLY the MD, this severely limits your chances of getting
considered, whereas contacting multiple people that are influencers, as well
as the decision-maker, means a much higher chance of being considered as a
service provider.
No Follow-Up
As the old saying goes: ‘If at first you don’t succeed, try, try and then try
again’.
Too many clients, however, simply ignore this advice and rely on a
single mailshot to a poorly selected audience, and when they don’t get an
avalanche of interest they simply discount the effectiveness of email as a
lead-generation tool.
If you consider points 1 and 2 above, and then carry out a carefully
thought-out follow-up campaign, either directly related to your initial
campaign, or offering something different, your chances of generating interest
increase significantly. Your company and brand generate familiarity and trust,
and your chances of having your emails opened and responded to improve
dramatically.
So, next time you are considering utilising an email campaign for your
business product or service, try to avoid making these three mistakes and
watch your marketing ROI improve.
Three common
mistakes in email
marketing
Nex Media • THREE COMMON MISTAKES IN EMAIL MARKETING
