Test Your Email Marketing Services

WRM-Media - Email Marketing Specialists

Morgan Stewart from Media Post recently advised that mass email marketing success was entirely dependent on prior testing.

Stewart said that the inbox is a ‘phenomenal equaliser’ demanding that brands of all shapes and sizes meet appropriate standards. A fair comment, as it is true that every email fights for a recipient’s attention from the same place with only its brand reputation and a subject line to stand it in good stead.

‘To improve, you need to try new stuff - a lot!’ he said.

‘However, change for the sake of change itself usually just perpetuates mediocrity. Give yourself (or your team) the freedom to push the limits while constantly comparing the results of these new approaches against a control."

Business standards for testing email campaign performance should be compared against their own previous experiences, in order to improve upon their best, as opposed to making a comparison to the rest of the industry.

Measuring Targeted Email Marketing

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A recent study by MarketingSherpa has suggested that many marketers struggle to continually deliver highly relevant content to a specific target audience.

Despite this, email remains one of the most valuable forms of communication in the majority of digital marketing strategies when focus is given to quality over quantity.

Measuring the return on investment of email marketing is notoriously difficult for many. It can be hard to monitor email responses and the rate of opening to sales/lead. Many companies that provide email marketing services will also provide you with a report upon campaign completion, which details the clicks, opens and unsubscribers to name a few.

To minimise the number of unsubscribers, businesses should be patient when building a targeted email list. One typically successful way of growing such a list is to ask website visitors to provide their email address in return for a service that indicates some of their interests. For example, if website visitors have to leave their email address in order to gain access to a downloadable white paper or extra content/news, you can be fairly sure they are interested in the content on offer.

WRM-Media’s consumer site Who-Remembers-Me.com requests that members agree to receive email marketing material in return for free membership to the site and as the site’s purpose is for members to reconnect with old friends, WRM can offer unparalleled data accuracy as well as an ability to measure the results of all email campaigns.

Small Businesses Benefit From Email Marketing

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Georgia Christian of Male Blaze has suggested that small businesses should be able to receive good ROI from email marketing thanks to its cost effectiveness. In an article for Marketing Web, she noted that the channel is an effective way to establish long lasting relationships with a wide audience of consumers.

"With each permission-based email campaign that your recipient opens, you are effectively establishing a trusting relationship with them," said Ms Christian.

"Your email messages will, over time, make your customers feel as though they are an important part of your company."

WRM-Media believe that email marketing can be a valuable tool to small businesses because it allows targeting towards either a very wide audience, which businesses would be unable to attain otherwise; it also enables targeting towards a very niche marketing if appropriate.  Small businesses can benefit from niche targeting if they cannot afford to lose emails sent to uninterested recipients.  Email marketing can be sent both en masse and to a niche market, making it a unique form of communication.

Email Marketing Remains the Main Driver of Website Visitors

 

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According to US magazine Website, a recent study suggests that email is still the most effective way of driving traffic to retail websites. 

Foresee Results carried out the study, which found that ‘19 percent of shoppers surveyed said they visited a top retailer’s online storefront after receiving a promotional email from the company. Eight percent said they were driven there by search engine results, and only five percent said their decision to visit one of the top 40 retail websites was primarily influenced by social media channels such as recommendations on Facebook or Twitter.’

Facebook and Twitter are a valuable resource as the personable aspect of a recommendation provides brand loyalty, but email marketing continues to be more effective in terms of driving visitors to retail websites.

 “Tried-and-true online marketing tactics should not be abandoned or ignored in favor of newer media,” says ForeSee’s VP of retail strategy, Kevin Ertell.

The study by Foresee Results investigated the top 40 US internet retailers and found them to be most keen to use multiple marketing methods. Ertell clarified this by saying “It’s (social media) just not the key driver of sales by any means at this point.”

WRM-Media Email Marketing Predictions for 2011

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There are hundreds of ‘trending’ articles out there at the moment due to the long awaited end to a slow 2010 for many marketers. Fortunately for WRM-Media and others in the direct marketing industry, businesses looked to save money on their marketing strategies and as a result turned to email marketing as a more cost effective means of communicating with consumers.

Along with its cost effectiveness, another key feature of email marketing that has continued to increase in importance is the ability to target consumers based on behaviour, location, age and preferences. In 2011, every form of media has seen predictions differ in whether they will rise or fall; signifying that the uncertainty is yet to subside. However, it is a safe bet that insight in to customer requirements and desires is going to be crucial for 2011.

In order to both maintain current customers and attract the new, marketers will need to offer what others do not – a more bespoke service. Being made to feel special and individual is innate in humans and if marketers can make the consumer feel this way, half the battle is already won.
Consumers have come to expect targeted advertising and if they do receive something entirely unrelated and abstract, are likely to disregard it without consideration as the marketing homework has not been done previously.
The unabating social media train is testament to the power of engagement. 2009 saw a social media frenzy in which companies raced to be involved with the different sites; 2010 saw the trend continue in terms of marketing but 2011 is set to see businesses take social media more seriously than ever. Already this year, fashion site ASOS has launched a fully functional site through its Facebook page, combining shopping with social media.

Support of social media is telling of what email marketers have known for years; engagement is paramount to companies wanting to bridge the gap and form a relationship with their consumers. Email marketing can offer you the opportunity to target customers and, if you have an ongoing relationship with your email marketing company, monitor the results over time. This allows you to adapt every email campaign to suit the recipient and adjust to their typical behaviours.

Planned marketing budget increase

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2011 is forecast to see an increase in marketing budgets following a rise in confidence levels after the recession. Spending channels with secure ROI such as email marketing are likely to see the increase initially as firms ensure their spending increase is safe.

IPA and BDO Bellwether carried out a report recently which found that nearly a quarter of UK marketers cut their budgets in the last quarter of 2010.

With new economic policy enforcements and an uncertain future still hovering over us, the cost cutting was implemented as a safety precaution.

However, the results of 300 firms ranked among the country’s top 1,000 have been distinctly brighter for 2011. The report found that marketing budgets would see an increase, particularly in spending channels that have a proven return on investment such as online marketing, email marketing and paid search.

President of the IPA and vice-chairman of the Ogilvy Group UK, Rory Sutherland said that although the findings were a mixed bag, some comfort could be taken from the fact that “initial budget setting for 2011 is currently higher than the actual 2010 spend".

4% growth in Australian marketing budgets

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Throughout 2010, Australian marketing budgets have increased by 7%. Compare this to next year’s planned marketing budgets and the 4% increase suggests that growth has slowed. However, despite the fact that the average planned rise is lower in 2011, a survey has found that 44% of marketing companies expected a rise of 15% in their marketing budgets.

Key priorities for marketing companies remain unchanged when compared to the last survey carried out. The most important priorities include:

Focusing more on maximising the efficiency of how marketing budgets are spent.

Focusing more on improving and finding new measures to increase sales.

Maintaining brand reputation.

The channels that received the biggest growth in investment in the last year are social networks and applications. Both saw a 10% increase from 2009. Online advertising was next, then viral marketing and direct marketing.

Chief Executive of the Australian Marketing Institute, Mark Crowe said that, ‘Overall, a further increase in budgets is expected, which represents a consolidation of the strong growth that was experienced last year.’

‘Online and new media not surprisingly continue to enjoy high levels of increased usage. However, traditional media can also look forward to increased usage albeit not at the same level.’

The findings were gathered from The Second Annual Senior Marketers Monitor, which is based on 369 responses from senior marketers.