Email marketing is massive to build recurring engagement and I encourage everyone to have a funnel collecting subscribers when visitors arrive on your blog. However, having a solid email marketing campaign is NOT the only thing that’s going to increase your traffic because you have to analyze the statistics to find out what works. Email is an awesome marketing tool to waste and the unfortunate thing is many people do by sending messages too frequently, during the wrong times and days. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege to sit down with many top bloggers in the industry, gathering ideas on what they think are the most important metrics to analyze in email marketing. If you can tweak the following, then you should be able to create a funnel and email strategy that produces enormous conversions.
Let’s jump right in…
Start with a Funnel
No matter what metrics you’re looking to analyze, you should always start with a solid funnel. Having a funnel set up will allow you to test different forms and even allow you to install additional tracking codes within the backend. However, many of the email service providers like Aweber.com provide tracking statistics in reference to forms. You can split test form variations to find out the highest performing opt-in. Here’s what I’ve learned about creating a funnel…
- Only ask for the necessary information. For example, if you’re offering a FREE eBook, then only ask name and email address.
- Always track conversion rate by utilizing FREE add-on applications
- Keep funnel short and right to the point. Utilize bullet points, etc.
- Learn from competitors in your niche. Visit their website and look at what they’re doing. They’ve tested and tweaked over the years, providing you with what works.
Once you have a funnel to gather subscribers, you’ll be able to start testing different metrics to implement into your email marketing campaigns. I’ll list them by importance…
1)Â Â Â Frequency
No matter what time or day you’re sending follow-up messages, it’s important you understand how frequency can harm your campaign. Did you know that the two reasons people choose to unsubscribe is because of too many emails and boring content? This is why you have to figure out what your objective is and how often you are going to be publishing content. For example, here’s what I’ve learned…
First, if you’re publishing content daily, then send your subscribers a breakdown of the content published the previous week, “1†a week. This way, your subscribers can choose what content to read by clicking through from your email message and you’ll protect yourself by NOT emailing them daily whenever you publish content. Your subscribers are probably part of several lists and don’t need to be emailed daily. Keep it once a week, providing a summary from the previous week. Next,
What’s your objective? If you’re selling products, then obviously, you’ll be marketing to your subscribers during product launches, etc. Shoemoney.com is a great example of a great email schedule that has produced awesome results. He shoots an email to his subscribers once a month with a summary of all the content published the previous month. I skim through looking for content attractive to me, but the point is, I’m given a choice.
Going forward, track your frequency, narrowing down what works for you. You should be able to figure this out by analyzing how many people open and click through or subscribe.
2)Â Â Â The Day
This topic has been up for debate and many bloggers state that the day you send out your messages will depend on your niche. However, case studies have the shown the following results…
First, avoid sending on Mondays because many people have just come off the weekend and spend this day cleaning out their email inbox. They skim through and are more likely to trash your email if it’s NOT work related. Tues-Wed have the highest success because people have more time to view recreational email messages. Weekends, people are busy, but businesses offering deals benefit as people often take advantages of sales, etc. Going forward, do the following…
Test what day works for you by exploring the statistics over time. ESP’s provide a system to track opens so look for a pattern. For example, if you have 5,000 email subscribers, then split the sending into “3†days, looking for when people engage with them the highest. Do this for a month to gather enough data before sticking to a solid “day†sending schedule.
3)Â Â Â Analyze the Time
A very important metric because sending too early will get your messages mix up with others and too late, and no one will get it. It’s important to test when people are opening your email messages and then incorporate the results into your marketing. However, it is not going to be hard because you’ve already tested the day, so you have to, again, split the sending throughout the day and here’s what I did…
I was testing for a client who had 10,000 email subscribers and from my previous analyses, I knew Tuesdays were the best day to send. I split the subscribers into 2,500, sending them with a “3†hour gap in between. My first send was at 8AM, then every “3†hours. I analyzed when the majority of people were opening my email messages and narrowed it down to frame of “5†hours. The following week, I sent a follow-up to 10,000 subscribers during the 5 hour window and was impressed with the results. The point is, I tested throughout the day and kept narrowing until I found an optimal window.
You should do the same and the results will vary depending on niche.
4)Â Â Â Subject Line
Here’s what you know…
- Frequency
- Day
- Time
Now it’s just a matter of increasing your open rate. Much of this has to do with the “from†and “subject†line. You have to test what email format gets the highest open rate and statistically, it’s been proven that having the subscribers “first†name in the subject adds a professional touch. Again, I would split the subscribers right down the middle, sending ½ without name and the other with name, checking for open rate statistics. In the end, you should achieve highest open rate possible because without anyone reading your email messages, it is a marketing strategy gone down the drain.