Wow, what a missed opportunity.
A traditional direct mail marketer would never think of not measuring the success of their promotions, so why would an email marketer not do the same?
Well, let me tell you...because they see no benefits in terms of cost savings. After all it is free to send out emails to your current customers right? Wrong!
Even though it is free to email your current customers remember the cost of sending an untargeted or in appropriate email is that of an opt-out. And there could not be a higher cost than the customer telling you to no longer communication with them.
So how do we track our email campaigns and what metrics do we monitor?
Well first you will need an email delivery program. Even something as simple as Constant Contact will do. http://www.constantcontact.com/ It does not have to be pricey. Such a system can run you as little as $150 per year. Once in place you will begin by monitoring the open rates and click rates. And with some simple key coding tricks you can even examine the results by various customer demographics and segments.
Once a customer clicks through to your site, you will use Google Analytics (which is free by the way) to help you monitor exactly what each visitor that "clicks through" is doing. For example, what pages they are viewing, the number of pages they are viewing, the time they are spending on your site, what they are downloading, etc. And again with a little work you can see how these metrics differ by unique email copy and offer approaches you might be sending them via Constant Contact. It really could not be easier. Even my cat Simon could handle it. You do not need an IT background. Trust me. And most importantly the time is worth it.
Keep in mind that getting it all set up is only half of the effort. The toughest part is learning how to assess your metrics to make good marketing decisions. Based on a report from the Web Analytics Association (WAA), 35% of companies are not happy with the overall application of web analytics for purposes of making strategic decisions. That is a high percent. Showing we have a way to go. But with a little patience and effort we can do it. http://www.clickz.com/3626084
Perry
So how do we track our email campaigns and what metrics do we monitor?
Well first you will need an email delivery program. Even something as simple as Constant Contact will do. http://www.constantcontact.com/ It does not have to be pricey. Such a system can run you as little as $150 per year. Once in place you will begin by monitoring the open rates and click rates. And with some simple key coding tricks you can even examine the results by various customer demographics and segments.
Once a customer clicks through to your site, you will use Google Analytics (which is free by the way) to help you monitor exactly what each visitor that "clicks through" is doing. For example, what pages they are viewing, the number of pages they are viewing, the time they are spending on your site, what they are downloading, etc. And again with a little work you can see how these metrics differ by unique email copy and offer approaches you might be sending them via Constant Contact. It really could not be easier. Even my cat Simon could handle it. You do not need an IT background. Trust me. And most importantly the time is worth it.
Keep in mind that getting it all set up is only half of the effort. The toughest part is learning how to assess your metrics to make good marketing decisions. Based on a report from the Web Analytics Association (WAA), 35% of companies are not happy with the overall application of web analytics for purposes of making strategic decisions. That is a high percent. Showing we have a way to go. But with a little patience and effort we can do it. http://www.clickz.com/3626084
Perry
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