September marks that transition from “back to school” excitement to really buckling down and making the grade. We’ve finally washed the sand out of our summer hair, and let those school and alarm clock bells ring us back into the reality of school and work. For students, it’s time to hit the books, and for email marketers it’s time to hit the campaigns.
As always, the fall represents an enormous revenue opportunity and this year promises to be the most tantalizing yet. Forrester Research Inc. expects U.S. e-retail sales to grow to $ 414 billion by 2018, and mobile commerce sales are forecasted to reach $ 100 billion this year.
Make sure you have the right school supplies and skills that will get you to the head of the marketing class. Here’s how:
Know Your ABCs…of A/B Split Testing: Studying takes practice. How do you best study: at the library, by yourself, with friends, with noise? You typically find out after taking the test and see how well you fared, and then determine how to study better the next time based on whether you passed or failed. Likewise, marketing campaigns take practice. Make little changes in your campaigns to see which is the most effective. Meet with your team each day to determine what component you are testing (subject lines, creatives, time of day, etc.) and what right combination will get you an A+ campaign.
Make the Honor Roll by Monetizing Transactions: Rather than treating transactional emails like those general education classes that college freshmen have no choice but to take, treat them like the revenue- and grade-boosting electives they should be. Transactional emails—order confirmations, shipping notifications, etc.—are emails customers want to receive, and often experience 100% open rates. Additionally, order confirmation emails with cross-sell messages have 20% higher transaction rates, so use tools such as Campaigner SMTP Relay that easily and quickly integrate marketing and transactional emails, placing promotional messages within these emails that eager customers devour to increase your revenue.
Analyze Your Audiences: Advanced Placement (AP), C student or Drop Out: Not all students are alike, nor are customers. Some AP-style students will eagerly read and study your emails, learning your information by heart and re-reading them over and over again. Some students may not be interested at all, opting to drop (or opt) out. Segment your audiences properly: Be sure to send your AP students frequent, personalized information while limiting communication to your “dropouts” to about half your normal rate.
Try a New Subject: If you’re a math major a drama class may seem scary, and if you’re a marketing guru you may be intimidated by IT. But trying something new doesn’t have to be scary, especially with today’s tech tools. Technology today has made so many business processes easier, including integrating various contacts and making your campaigns mobile-friendly. You can integrate CRM and ERP contacts into email marketing campaigns to expand your potential customer list—so long as you maintain that list responsibly. You can also easily implement responsive design (small screen-friendly design) so your mobile customers can learn about and buy your offer with one smart device.
Take Roll Call: Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback so you can identify and stop making the same mistakes. With a show of hands via responses to email surveys, ask your customers about your campaigns. Inquire about frequency, timing and the content of your messages and if possible show your appreciation of their feedback with discounts or sales.
Don’t let your email marketing campaigns get an “F” this fall by sending the same messages to the same people at the same time. If your interaction rates are too low, you will be kicked out of ISP school and it’s very difficult to earn your way back in. Follow the tips above to receive that revenue cap and gown in the fall.
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