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.

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.

Yahoo Email Service Updates

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In line with Gmail’s new ‘Priority Inbox’ and Hotmail’s recent makeover, email service provider Yahoo has recently updated its own email system with the codename ‘Minty.’

In an attempt to attract current and new users, Yahoo has updated its portal to include social, SMS, photos and videos.  Yahoo email users will now be able to check and post to their Facebook and Twitter profiles so that they don’t even need to leave their inbox to visit different websites. As well as this, Yahoo users are able to use Flickr and Youtube within their email to view videos and photos.

Yahoo is also set to try other communication avenues by including instant messaging and SMS in its services.

The updated portal will have a system which remembers user favourites and will organise email based on what it thinks is most relevant or desirable to each individual. Using cloud based services, Yahoo has claimed the new service is twice as fast with an improved spam filter. 

To minimize the impact this will have on email marketing, marketing lists will need to be segmented based on categories like brand, message type and activity.  

It will be important to try to win back inactive consumers and also remove dead email addresses. A win-back strategy is something that too many marketing companies fail to do but it will help to ensure that emails are not wasted. 

Now that more methods of engagement are possible within email campaigns, it might be an idea to take advantage of this and try using a Youtube video in emails in order to boost response rates. 

Finally, an email marketing strategy that fulfils multichannel requirements will be crucial to user responsiveness and engagement. Providing the option of social media channels within messages by including a “Share this” button in your email campaigns can spread brand awareness and engagement. A study by ‘GetResponse’ showed that there was an increase of 30% click-throughs when these buttons were added.

Yahoo’s changes will create obstacles for email marketing specialists but these can be converted to opportunity for marketing companies who are able to adapt and provide more relevant and consistently engaging content.

105.5M Online Spend Increase in Australia

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Australia’s IAB recently reported that online advertising saw a $105.5 million spending increase in the third quarter of 2010, in comparison to the same time in 2009. 

CEO of IAB Australia, Paul Fisher said:

Feedback from media agencies and advertisers indicates a continued and growing confidence in the online channel as an effective medium to reach, engage and influence consumers, and these expenditure figures demonstrate that investment is indeed following consumer behaviour – online.

Overall, online advertising spending growth was positive with general display seeing an increase of 26%, classifieds of 30% and search and directories by 18%.

Fisher also stated that media feedback indicated that this growth is set to continue as confidence in online and digital channels to reach and influence consumers is on the incline. The spending figures are following consumer behaviour online as well as keeping up with demand.

Thanks to the latest increase in expenditure, the online advertising industry is set to spend over $2.2 billion in 2010, putting them in a better position than ever in the total Australian advertising market. 

Display advertising and classified advertising was said to account for 26.5% and 24.6% of the total advertising spending whilst other mediums made up the other 48.9%.

In general display advertising, email based made up $7.6 million of the advertising spending, which is an increase of 6% compared to the same time last year. 

Dominant industries in the display advertising market include finance, vehicles, computers and communications as they made up 44.3% of the general display expenditure. 

Motor vehicle manufacturers were the largest subcategory, although it was very marginally down in the second quarter of 2010 compared to the same time last year. 

Real estate was found to be the largest category for classified ad spending, followed by recruitment and automotive.

The report by the IAB was said to have collected its advertising data from more than 1000 websites; it was managed by Pricewaterhouse Coopers.

The Pitfalls of International Marketing

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There are many intricacies within international digital marketing, which often encourages marketing companies to remain within the safety net of their own national perimeters.

However, these are exciting times for international email marketing. It has fast become the quickest, most cost-effective way of communicating with consumers. Ideal for expanding internationally, the digital avenue provides the opportunity to reach consumers all over the world, instantly. It has the best global penetration of all direct marketing services but the pitfalls can seem endless if you don’t have a good understanding of international email marketing from the outset.

Companies such as StrongMail, CheetahMail and Datran Media are all US email vendors that have expanded globally, so going global makes sense for the email marketing specialists targeting their consumers. But where do you start if you have yet to dip your toe into international waters?

Communicating internationally involves much more than simply gaining access to email addresses abroad, as so many companies fail to recognise. As the number of different targeted demographics you need to tailor towards suddenly soars, the time zones you work in clash and the behavioural and cultural expectations of your consumers differ, it’s easy to see why some marketing companies fall into the trap of sending international email campaigns using the same strategies as their own national campaigns. 

However, international expansion will be detrimental to the survival of data owners and direct marketers, which means a consideration of the different nuances across geographic location is vital.

The first difficulty in international email marketing is the difference in time zones. This can make a huge difference to the success of campaigns, as emails received at the start of the day are proved to benefit from a much better open and click rate. Not only this, but consider the difficulties encountered by seasonal campaigns when you send out an international email about bikinis – it might be summer in the US but with winter in Australia, your campaign suddenly loses all relevance.

Another, more dangerous issue is that of legislation. Many countries vary in their laws on email marketing, and an awareness of these differences is vital in maintaining good international relations. Laws on privacy regulations and use of personal details vary significantly depending on the country and you could find yourself on the wrong side of the law if you don’t take the time to investigate these differences.

Collecting data in countries that are yet to take full advantage of email marketing will enable you to build brand awareness in a developing industry. Sooner rather than later is the adage here.

For any growing database marketing business, international communication is crucial for sustained success, however, there are several pitfalls to consider before embarking on a global marketing operation. By researching individual country legislation and preference, organisations set themselves up for successful ongoing international communication in the future.

Adapting To Suit The Priority Inbox

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Hotmail has advanced its filtering techniques for email marketing recently but Gmail has upped its game with the new Priority Inbox. ESP’s user behaviour will now affect email campaign deliverability.

Emails will now be sorted in to three categories: ‘Priority’, ‘Starred’ and ‘Everything Else’. The content of email campaigns, the sender reputation and how recipients respond to previous email marketing messages from you, will all affect where your email campaign will be directed.

Consumers will be able to specify the kind of email marketing material they want to receive in their Priority Inbox as well as ‘starring’ emails to mark them as important.

This change to ESP layouts will undoubtedly affect the results of email marketing campaigns; therefore the importance of making your email campaigns relevant and targeting your email data will increase even further. Making email campaigns individual is more likely to ensure that they are delivered as priority messages.
The importance of adhering to best practice is now of more importance than ever; non responsive email addresses that are regularly targeted will result in you being marked as spam.

In terms of your creative, it is a good idea to have a text/image ratio that adheres to best practice, as this also enables you to include keywords. You should also consider how the email preview looks as well as the opened email campaign.

Being whitelisted with ESP’s will be crucial for good delivery. If subscribers add your sender address to their address book this also means that your email marketing will not be redirected so inviting them to do this will be beneficial for you.

The increased importance on relevancy means there is a necessity to listen to consumers and target them with appropriate email marketing material. This will enable the new priority inbox to have less of an effect.

£336million email marketing industry

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Research in to the email marketing sector by Econsultancy has found the industry to be worth £336million; a 15% increase compared to last year.

Reasons for this include how cost-effective email marketing is, in addition to the fact that it is much easier to measure the success of email over other advertising types.

Econsultancy found that social media had not detracted from email marketing campaigns; on the contrary, their research suggests that the two forms of media can be used in conjunction with one another to create a more successful media strategy. They have explained that the use of both email marketing and social media can build more significant customer relations as opposed to a one-way relationship intent on a return.

The company also found an increase in email marketing digital spend in 2010 compared to 2009. An increase from 14% to 17% suggests increased trust and reliance on email marketing campaigns. In addition, around 51% of marketing companies spend over £10,000 on email marketing strategies.

The BBC recently reported on research commissioned by Google which said that the internet contributes £100 billion to the British economy, working out as 7.2% of the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Use of Third Party Data

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Email database owners using email marketing often find that third party data is a crucial component in building their email database as it offers the opportunity to reach new consumers. However it can be difficult to maximise return on investment especially as data often proves to be costly. In order to make the most of third party data you should:

1. Plan goals for the response of your email campaign
   Third party data gleans the best response from email marketing if you avoid a sales pitch in the first message. The first communication with a customer should focus on response as the primary goal.
2. Offer something in exchange for data
   The amount of information you ask for from recipients should be balanced with what you are offering them – the more data you want to collect, the better reward you should offer.
3. Choose your list carefully
   Ensure marketing list quality by investigating a list’s source, age and collection method. Some data can be captured cheaply and illegally – not only preventing your email campaign from being a success but also landing you the wrong side of the law.
4. Segment wisely
   Use targeted demographics to make the most of your email campaign. A message that is sent towards anyone and everyone is costly without good ROI.
5. Suppress wisely
   By adding competitive domains to your suppression list, you can avoid letting competitors see what your email campaigns are like, and which clients you are working for.

Email List Marketing Issues

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According to ‘Direct Marketing News’, 30% of records in an email database list become inactive or change email address every year. This is often referred to as ‘list churn’. This can reduce email deliverability, click through rates, open rates and email campaign performance, resulting in decreased overall revenue. 


List churn means that you often have to spend money on customer acquisition email campaigns because with a 30% decrease in your email lists, it is necessary to find new consumers elsewhere.
Reasons for list churn include people who move home, move jobs – therefore making their work email address inactive, or they might switch email provider.
There is a need to strike the right balance with your email campaigns: if you send too frequently, you might annoy subscribers. Send them too infrequently and consumers could forget when or why they subscribed. 


The easiest ways to prevent list churn is to check your email list registrations – all records should be opt-in data only and all third parties should be checked thoroughly.
All unsubscribers must be blocked from your email lists straight away – better to do this than to be marked as spam which can have a negative effect on your credibility. You should also test all messages before sending email campaigns to ensure links and the overall creative sends properly through the email provider. 


In order to prevent list churn, it is possible to use something called ECOA (E-mail Change of Address), which updates the records in your email database that are no longer active or that bounce. To engage inactive consumers, you could develop a re-engagement campaign with welcome back offers or incentives to encourage them to start opening emails again. 

A list of active consumers is necessary for a healthy email database and is possible simply by keeping consumers happy and interested in the campaigns offered.

SMEs 'should embrace email marketing'

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Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) should embrace email marketing in the long term, an expert advises.

Chris Lake, editor in chief at Econsultancy, claims that this is something all businesses should plan for in the long term.

He identifies a number of areas where companies can benefit from this approach, suggesting that email marketing allows firms to assess the effectiveness of their campaigns.

Three advantages he highlights are the ability of companies to use this approach to expand into new territories, encourage repeat business and attract new customers.

"[Email marketing] should be part of a multichannel strategy and not placed in a silo, nor adopted because it is perceived as being cheaper or easier," Mr Lake asserts.

He says that choosing online campaigns is an incredibly useful decision from a measurement perspective.

Recent research by Hewlett Packard claims that 31 per cent of SME leaders stated they would be spending more money on marketing in the next 12 months.

Offline data can boost ROI from email campaigns

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Leading Data & Direct Marketing specialist CCR Data has revealed marketers can benefit from a 10 percent order increase if postal and email data are merged.

The data company has launched ‘email append' a tool that matches a database onto a pool of permission based email addresses allowing marketers to target offline contacts online.

Email marketing's reputation has suffered due to ‘batch and blast' techniques; ill targeted and irrelevant campaigns that are labelled as spam. However, CCR highlight the fact that as a result of the recession, social media and email marketing received an increase in spending in 2009 due to their cost effectiveness. The new tool for email marketing is designed to increase ROI even further.

Ed Spicer, MD of CCR Data explains its customers were looking for such a tool to be made available. He says, "Over the last year a large number of clients have increasingly asked us for help with their email activity and specifically how they could utilise their existing databases for email marketing."

Email marketing helps increase sales

A new survey has revealed that email marketing is an important tool in helping marketers to increase their sales.
E-consultancy carried out research which found that more than a third (36 percent) of consumers said receiving an email would prompt them to make an online purchase.
It seems that a growing number of consumers now expect to be reached via email - nearly two-thirds (61 per cent) of consumers expect to receive advertising and notifications through this medium.
According to E-consultancy's research, targeting and relevance is still an important issue for consumers. More than half (57 percent) of respondents said they appreciate receiving advertising messages if they are directly beneficial to them, such as discounts and offers, or are targeted towards an appropriate age or gender as the advertising is more likely to be of interest.
The survey also recognised the increasing importance of online social media. Three-quarters (75 per cent) of young people aged between 18 and 26 said they use recommendations on social sites to help them research products prior to purchase, highlighting the growing need for email marketing and social media platforms to go hand-in-hand.

Australian Email Marketing Strategies Lacking but On Par with Global Standards

An email marketing study carried out by ‘Silverpop,’ an email marketing platform has found that local retailers are 25% more likely to offer email recipients the choice to opt-in over those in the United States, but Australian companies lag in offering customers sale or discount incentives.
The study found that 96% of US retailers use email marketing to communicate with their customers compared to 86% of Australians. However, Australian retailers do appear to be savvier when carrying out personalized email campaigns, with 35% of retailers offering registrants preference choices during the sign-up process. By comparison, only 28% of U.S. retailers tailored the opt-in data process.
However, 63% of local retailers that offered choices during registration didn’t connect their opt-out process to a preference centre. In doing this they broke ties with people who didn’t want to stop receiving communication altogether, but just wanted to reduce or refine it. By just adapting the opt-out process mass email marketers can save their lists from shrinking thus enabling them to obtain better results in the long term.
Jeff Clark said, "Australian retailers are outpacing those in the United States in asking their recipients what they want at the beginning of the relationship, but should be offering similar options to those unsubscribing. With irrelevancy being the number one reason people unsubscribe from email programs, listening to your customers and delivering the information they specifically ask for, can have a tremendous impact on your program's effectiveness."
Customer discounts are another area where Australian retailers differ from those in the U.S. Over half (56%) incorporate special incentives such as sales and discounts into their email campaigns. In comparison, 68% of U.S. retailers attract recipients with special offers.