With the explosion of new platforms and toolsets being created for marketers, it can be a challenge to keep up with what’s trending and what works in today’s digital world.
One of the biggest challenges that modern marketers face is actually getting in touch with the right audience. As the world becomes more digital, marketers are struggling to find the best tactics to reach their desired audience. When it comes to email marketing, there are a variety of stats that you can use to figure out which emails work the best (hint: they’re not all created equal!).
Open Rates, Click Rates And Demographics
Open rates, click rates, and demographics are essential to figure in your email marketing strategy. Open rates are the percentage of emails that were opened by the recipient. A higher open rate indicates that the email was crafted well and that the recipient is more likely to be interested in your message. Every email campaign should have an open rate calculated of at least 20% to ensure that you are reaching your target audience. You can use free tools like Google Analytics to track open rates for you.
On the flip side, a low or zero click rate may indicate that your message wasn’t received well and that you should try and improve on that. A click rate of 0% means that nobody clicked on the email to take a specific action (i.e., to visit a website or to click a link). The idea is that you want to maximize your conversion rates as much as possible to generate the best possible results from your email marketing campaign. In general, you can expect to achieve a 1% to 3% click rate on average for any email marketing campaign. To get these rates, you need to make sure that you’re offering something special to convince people to click on your emails.
Cost-Per-Click And Cost-Per-Mail
It’s important to know your marketing budget before you begin your email marketing project or campaign. Although building a large email list is cheaper than paying for individual clicks or mails, it doesn’t come without its costs. One of the primary costs that you will incur as you build a large email list is cost per click (CPC). The cost per mail (CPM) is the cost of sending an individual email to one person on your list. Your overall email marketing cost will depend on how many subscribers you have and how much you’re paying per click and per mail.
If you’re looking to test the waters with email marketing, you can use tools like SurveyMonkey to send out short surveys to potential subscribers. Most companies will allow you to set a spend limit and only offer paid surveys if you reach your target audience. In these cases, you can expect to pay around $1 to $2 per day for a paid survey. Not a bad rate, considering you’re paying for engagement (i.e., people answering your survey).
Top Conversion Points
Conversion points are various metrics that can be tracked to determine the success of your email marketing campaign. Metrics like the number of people that click on a buy button, the number of people that sign up for a free trial, or the number of people that completed a form are all examples of conversion points.
While open rates and click rates are very important to track and determine the success of your email campaign, it’s also important to look at other metrics as well. You should be looking to track the following:
- The number of people that engaged with the content of your email
- The number of people that interacted with the email content (e.g., shared it, liked it, or commented on it)
- The number of people that converted
- The number of people that accessed a particular resource or link associated with the email
- The number of people that clicked a link or took some other action (e.g., bought a product or signed up for a trial)
- The number of people that were on your email list before and after the email was sent
- The number of people that opened the email
- The number of people that clicked on a particular button or link within the email
- The time that it took for the email to be opened
- The amount of traffic that clicked on a particular link or took other action before and after they clicked the link
- How responsive is the desired audience to the content or offers in the email
- What percentage of the audience you reached actually opened the email
- Your overall bounce rate (i.e., the percentage of emails that are opened and then immediately deleted or marked as spam)
With all of these metrics, you can determine the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign. For example, if you’re looking at a resource that you thought would be valuable to your readers but they didn’t convert at a high enough rate, you may decide to try a different approach or send out a different email.
Reach Versus Audience
There’s a common mistake that marketers make when it comes to building their email list. They think that just because somebody subscribed to their list, they’re automatically their target audience. But in reality, those people may not be the ones that you’re actually trying to reach. To figure out who your actual target audience is, you need to look at a variety of metrics.
Firstly, you can use the metrics from the previous section to determine the effectiveness of your email campaign, as well as the reach of your message. For example, say that you tracked the number of people that engaged with the content of your email and you noticed that only 10% of your list converted. That may mean that your email was reaching 90% of your audience, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it was effective. You should look into whether or not your message was actually getting through to the people that you were trying to reach. One way to figure this out is to compare your open rates and click rates for different demographic and geographic groups.
Subject Line And First Paragraph
The subject line and first paragraph of an email are two critical areas that determine whether or not your message is going to be opened and acted upon. The subject line is extremely important, as it serves as the hook for your potential subscriber. The first paragraph is equally as important, as it will determine whether or not your message is interesting and compelling enough for the reader to continue.
If you want to create an effective subject line, you need to follow some rules. First off, it should be about one of the following:
- A sales pitch (e.g., for a sale item)
- A request for information (e.g., to find out more about a product)
- An invitation (e.g., to a special event)
- A teaser (e.g., to catch the reader’s attention)
- A warning (e.g., about a product that could be harmful)
- A challenge (e.g., for your readers to see how others handle a particular situation)
- A statement of praise (e.g., for a customer service rep)
- An emotional appeal (e.g., to make someone feel better about themselves)
- A bold assertion (e.g., that a new product is the best, or that one option is superior to another)
As you can see, there are many different ways to write a subject line. When crafting a subject line for your emails, make sure that you keep in mind the six-word-salutation rule. This means that you should keep your subject line to a maximum of six words, in order to make it easier for the reader to digest your message.
As for the first paragraph, you want to give the reader a reason to continue reading your email after they’ve opened it. The first paragraph of your email should include everything important from the subject line, as well as give the reader enough information to understand your message.
To make sure that your email is effective, you need to look at a variety of metrics. First off, you can use the metrics from the previous section to determine the effectiveness of your email campaign, as well as the reach of your message. Next, you can track the subject line and first paragraph of your email to determine if they worked. Then, you can look at various metrics in order to figure out the success of your email marketing campaign.