This is the best article I’ve ever read explaining the Click Rate and why it is important. Please read this so you’ll have a better understanding of how your emails need to be laid out as well as how to measure your email results.

As part of my “48 Hour Traffic Reports” after every email I send, I include a list of the Unsubscribes. I always tell clients, “Don’t take this personally! There are lots of reasons for someone to unsubscribe.” But it does hurt when someone declines to receive your well-written, beautifully designed emails. This article looks at some reasons for people unsubscribing and looks at what you can do to minimize the unsubscribes. Compare your emails to these examples!

Your Computer Lady was selected by Constant Contact as an All Star recipient for the 12+ year! Only 10% of all of Constant Contact’s referral partners receive this designation. It is based on not just on the number of clients YCL has at CtCt but also on the quality of the email lists, the Open Rates and Click Rates of all YCL client emails. This recognition assures you that YCL does know about email marketing and how to do it successfully. YCL believes that email marketing is the best tool available to the small business person to promote their business and build client relationships. If you aren’t using it, call Pamela TODAY!

This graphic based on data from SalesForce reminds us that changing a prospect into a real lead then into a sale takes multiple actions. There is no silver bullet that will convert that prospect instantaneously. Email marketing is a good tool in that cycle of touches. Not the only one but a really good one. It can be automated. It can re-use content you have already written. It is low cost. You can measure its effectiveness.

Here is a great example of how to waste your email time and money. The From is “service.” Who the heck is that? Looks like spam so I’m not opening it. The Subject line is “dry cleaning coupon.” I don’t need a coupon today and it’s Monday morning. Delete!! The opening line (which I can see in my preview) is “Dear Valued Customer.” Yeah. I’m so valued that I’m anonymous. And let’s go one more. I have never done business with this dry cleaner; I have no clue how they got my email address so I am not happy about that. They probably bought an email list somewhere. But I have no interest in their product so the email is a total waste. They’ve only irritated me. If I should need a dry cleaner soon, do you think I’ll go to them?

While this article mentions non-profits, the concepts discussed apply to all businesses. A/B testing takes a little time and creativity but it can really hone your marketing and increase its effectiveness. Even if you A/B test once a quarter, you will learn from the results and your marketing will improve.

Here’s some sound advice from Constant Contact about measuring your email marketing campaigns – Make quarterly plans and measure quarterly.

Measure success at the end of each quarter
If you spend all of your time tweaking your email marketing strategy, you’ll never be able to establish any consistency that will lead to success. Instead, let your plan run its course, and wait until the end of each quarter to monitor what’s working and what needs changing. Then, look to see if you’ve been trending upwards, downwards, or if you find yourself on a plateau.

Look for the campaigns driving success and ditch those that aren’t performing. If you’ve fallen into a plateau and can’t see a direction up or down, it may be time to try a bolder approach that will help create a more definable test. Choose a hypothesis you can stick to over the next three months, like adding more humor to every subject line, and see if it changes your metrics, such as boosting open rates.

YCL sends traffic reports after each email with comments about the strengths and weaknesses of the email. We never want to make decisions or change our marketing plan after one email, however. We want to look for trends. Are the Open Rates going up? Are the Click Rates going up? Is the number of Unsubscribes realistic?

If you would like to do a review of your email trends, call Pamela today. We can look at quarterly, semi-annual or even annual trends.

Good marketing is measurable!

This is rude. If someone doesn’t want your emails, you don’t want to send them emails. So make it easy to unsubscribe. Let them leave with a good feeling that will encourage them to come back if their needs change down the road. Fine print like this doesn’t discourage unsubscribing. It increases spam reports. As in “I’m getting rid of you one way or another!” and it makes people mad.

If my email list has only 10 people on it, I want it to be 10 people who want my emails and care what I’m saying.