Over the past few years, research has continued to prove the benefits of email marketing by business: low costs, high conversion rates, and detailed tracking are significant factors. But email marketing has become more than just a tool for spam and e-commerce. Consumers are becoming increasingly sophisticated about the difference between spam and permit-based emails. More and more of them accept permitted email marketing as a positive entry for direct mail.
The good news is that the majority of people who receive email-based emails have opened up, on average, 78% of them.
Jupiter Research reports that effective email marketing campaigns can generate nine times as much as 18 times the profit of postage. But making a business email effective is an art and a science. Here is a list of items, potential problems, and practical solutions to keep in mind:
1. Spam! Spam! Spam! I don't need Viagra!
The average consumer receives more than 300 emails per week, 62% of which are spam. No wonder there is so much animosity in the industry. But spam filters, multiple folders, and “spam reporting” features help consumers become more comfortable with the dangers of spam. While 89% of users cited spam as a major concern in 2003, that number dropped to 85% in 2004, in line with the increase in anti-spam tools.
So as a licensed business email-based retailer, what can you do? One tip is to remind your subscribers to add you to their “secure senders” list. The second and most important strategy is to ensure that your email marketing provider has a good relationship with the ISPs. This will ensure that your email marketing campaigns get into subscribers' inboxes, not their junk mail folders. When choosing email marketing software, make sure the company has strict anti-spam policies and complies with Can-Spam guidelines.
2. Photos and Formatting: Why do my emails look broken?
Broken email campaigns are a growing problem among email marketers, especially as several companies and web-based email providers are now blocking images as a measure against spam. In fact, according to Click, 40% of email marketing messages sent to inboxes are "broken."
This was actually something that emerged during Elite web’s beta-testing phase, as we had a client in the Government of Canada whose recipients used the most secure emails. The solution we have found now has become one of our main competitive advantages.
What Elite web does is publish the entire single email marketing campaign sent to a secure place on the web (a place where first-time email recipients can access it, thanks to encrypted user authentication technology). The technology also ensures that you can track your users' behavior, even if they are reading your email campaign in a secure web environment.
3.Personalization and related content: For business e-mail, one size does not fit at all.
In a recent study conducted by DoubleClick, email users had a 72% chance of responding to a business email if its content was based on the interests they had described. That number indicates the total value of allowing users to choose their own interest groups and control which business emails they receive. The most popular interest categories, according to research, are coupons and household goods.
But your coupon is incorrect unless the user opens the email. Users in the study said the strongest reason to open a business email is the name from the “from” field. So it is a good idea to make sure your company name is clearly mentioned there. Another great feature is the "title" line. Users cite discounted offers and exciting news as the most compelling headlines, followed by new product announcements and free delivery offers.
4. Click and convert: Show me the money!
So the user opened your email and read the content. That's fine. But where to sell? There is good news here. For one thing, consumers are at greater risk of buying due to a business email campaign. One-third of users in the DoubleClick survey purchased something by clicking the link in the email. Another 42% clicked on an email link for more details, then purchased the product later. Second, online coupons are thriving: 73% of consumers have used an online coupon to purchase online, and 59% have used an online coupon offline.
The leading players in tourism, hardware / software, electronics, clothing, food, furniture, gifts/flowers, and sportswear are the leading players in tourismr. All the companies that send business emails in those categories said that between 71% and 80% of recipients buy their products due to the email campaign.
No need to worry if your company is unequal in one of those industries. The global trend of email marketing changes seems to be shining daily. The average click-through rate for purchases has increased by almost 30% since 2004 and the rate of delivery of orders per email has grown by more than 18% since last year.
5. Tracking statistics: Who are my real customers?
Email marketing is a growing tool for active CRM, and it's about time many businesses see that. First, if your provider's email services do not include data, real-time tracking, you get a raw agreement. Real-time tracking is now a industry standard, and it's very important, because it allows you to see exactly when a user opens your campaign, clicks on your link and makes that purchase. Studying your users can help you improve your communication efforts, so each campaign works better than the last (several email service providers let you compare the performance of your campaigns).
But many vendors are in the dark. According to a recent Web Trends survey, only 5% of retailers are confident in their online ratings.
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