Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
Does the huge failure rate of email marketing drive you nuts or drive you to improve?
Even the best email campaigns convert at only 4% or so - 96% failure! So why do we do it? Detailed post on the Social Moxie blog: Email Marketing Fails 96% of the Time. Good Job!
Best Answer
- Recommended by:
- Jenny Sears,
- Bill Crane
The metrics to measure the success or failure of a email marketing aren't limited to click-rate. clicks are a single dimensional measure of recipient engagement. Success metrics for measuring the effectiveness of email marketing efforts should include:
Revenue generated and/or influenced.
Prospect 'Engagement'. Metrics include open rates, ratio of total vs. unique open and click rates (which indirectly measure 'pass-along'), new prospects added to the sales funnel via email marketing, revenue conversions that were influenced by one or more email campaigns, website traffic and of course, click rates.
With the uptick of social - Email can also become 'social glue' - successful companies are using email marketing to amplify and leverage their social strategy.
Craig Stouffer
Pinpointe On-Demand Inc.
- Recommended by:
- Christopher Donald
Your focus with any channel and any campaign should be the return on investment. "Success rate" and "failure rate" are meaningless terms. By many definitions, TV ads, radio ads and billboards are huge failures, but those are obviously very effective channels when used well. Make sure you are defining success in terms that are meaningful to your business.
- Recommended by:
- Scott Mersy
Scott,
This is a very interesting topic. I have clients that are spending thousands of dollars a month to purchase list or applying pricy incentives for customers to hand over their e-mail address in exchange for a $5 coupon. This is absolutely absurd when you think of where else these advertising dollars could be spent.
I am a huge fan in mobile marketing and growing a group of customers/clients that have voluntarily opted-in to a program. This program has proven to be more effective with an open rate in the 90+% range. They are also able to control more variables than e-mail allows.
In my opinion e-mail marketing is losing traction and is less and less effective. Many individuals have a specific e-mail address that is reserved for spam messages that never get checked. Software does exist to "scrub" and find other e-mail addresses linked to that person however, there are many negatives of employing this software.
Interesting topic.
- Recommended by:
- Simone Ward
Huge failure rate? Email marketing is the workhorse of lead conversions. For many B2B situations (or any situation where the "3 C's" are present -- high Cost, Change in the way you do things, or Complexity), email marketing is essential for "nurturing" leads over time.
Too many companies do a poor job of that "nurturing" -- the educating of prospects over time. It's important to remember that few website visitors that have converted to a lead have read a lot of the information on your website. So email should be used to educate prospects about your solutions's benefits, uses, how others are using it, etc.
I see a "huge failure rate" when:
1. the email isn't relevant or doesn't tell the prospect "something they didn't know."
2. the email fails to include an offer to drive the prospect to take the next step.
3. The offer is completely inappropriate for prospects just getting to know the company
And, in general, few email campaigns to purchased email lists seem to work.
But is it "EMAIL's" huge failure rate, or is it poor email marketing strategy that is giving email a bad rap?
I agree with Karen and Andrew it is about how effective the E marketing strategy is and the tactical approach. It makes no sense having buying databases and not engaging the customers or recipients. A Good Call to action is important if future emails are to be received and welcomed. To touch on Andrew's point re his birthday, client information especially when asked for should be effectively used, it impresses the client and holds the user of the information in high esteem. If you are collecting client information use it so that it is to the benefit of the client, and appears personal. After all we do like to feel special. :)
I think it can be VERY effective, especially if you have an unwritten contract with your subscribers that you'll exchange great content (or deals) if they'll trust you with their email address.
I just sent out an email to my 10,650 opt-in subscribers yesterday. You can see it here: http://www.recouses.com/2011h
Stats: 1.7% bounces, 1.9% unsubscribes, 0 complaints (as spam), traffic spike on website: 186.25%, bounce rate (0.87%--unheard of low rate), downloads of just the first three position papers in one day: 1,445.
My email marketing is the most effective thing I do (except writing books).
Events
- Dos and Don'ts of Small Business Marketing May 29 @ 11 am PT
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
Scott,
Great question. I have "done" email marketing for about 11 years now and can say with confidence that despite the high failure rate of many campaigns, its a money making machine in terms of ROI. The DMA seems to think that for $1 invested there is a $46 return, however I ain't buying that number. I think its lower, but even if were $27 it sure beats the heck out of SEO or direct mail or any other marketing channel that I know of.
The problem with this however is that with it returning such a high ROI, many companies fail in my opinion to really leverage the channel correctly. Let me give you an example. My birthday was this past Monday and I subscribe to hundreds of programs of which I know I have given them my birth date. I believe I only received a handful of Happy Birthday emails which sad considering I have $$ to spend and would have liked to have seen a great deal come my way on my birthday. I have seen returns as high as $75 RPE and engagement (CTR's of 45-65%) on lifecycle emails such as birthday ones.
My real answer to your question is that despite a high failure rate for most email programs, it drives me nuts AND it makes me want to help companies drive HUGE and I mean enormous value to their subscriber base by getting better.
Andrew Kordek
Co-Founder, Trendline Interactive
A Email Marketing Agency
Twitter: @andrewkordek & @trendlinei
Email: andrew@trendlineinteractive.com