| This article, targeted to email marketing newbies, will | | | | you started your business. Whether you're using Excel |
| introduce you to seven important terms you need to | | | | or a user-friendly, low-cost database like ACT, your |
| know to expand your knowledge of email marketing. | | | | house list is arguably your most valuable asset. |
| As a small business owner, you can leverage email | | | | In the world of email marketing, your house list is often |
| marketing to generate leads and/or make direct sales | | | | referred to as a permission-based (or opt-in list) |
| at a very low cost and impressive return on | | | | because you've asked each customer and prospect |
| investment (ROI). | | | | for permission to communicate with them via email. If |
| The email marketing terms covered in this article | | | | you send emails to addresses that haven't given you |
| include: | | | | permission, you take the risk of being reported as a |
| Click Through/Click Through Rate | | | | Spammer. |
| Deliverability | | | | As a small business owner, you need to develop an |
| Email Service Provider (ESP) | | | | email marketing strategy to maintain an ongoing dialog |
| House List | | | | with your house list that includes fresh, relevant, |
| HTML vs. Text | | | | informative content and special offers/discounts. It's |
| Opt-In (Permission-Based Email) | | | | marketing dollars well spent. Remember, it costs 5 |
| Subject Line | | | | times as much in marketing dollars to acquire a new |
| CLICKS/CLICK-THROUGH-RATE | | | | customer vs. making a sale to an existing customer. |
| When an email recipient clicks on your email that was | | | | As an email marketer, two invaluable concepts that |
| delivered to their inbox, that's considered an Open. If | | | | must become an integral part of your strategy are |
| they click on a link within the email message (also | | | | Segmentation and Targeting. |
| known as a hyperlink), the term used is Click Through. | | | | SEGMENTATION |
| The Click Through Rate (CTR) is an important metric. | | | | Segmentation refers to breaking your house list into |
| To determine the Click Through Rate, use the following | | | | smaller parts that share one or more important |
| formula: the number of unique clicks on a link in your | | | | characteristics. If you're marketing to consumers (often |
| email message divided by the total number of unique | | | | referred to as Business-to-Consumer Marketing or |
| Opens. (Unique Opens are calculated by subtracting | | | | B2C), market segments could include one or more of |
| bounces, unsubscribes and duplicate clicks by the | | | | the following: |
| same individual. ) For example: | | | | demographic -- age, gender, race, home ownership, |
| XYZ company sent out 1,000 emails; 50 unique | | | | employment, household income, married or single, # of |
| recipients Opened the email. That's an Open rate of | | | | children in household, etc. |
| 5.0%. Of those 50 who opened the email, 10 clicked on | | | | geographic -- zip code, country, region |
| the link to download a free white paper. The CTR is 10 | | | | psychographic -- behavior, attitudes and values |
| divided by 1,000, or 1%. | | | | If you're marketing to businesses (often called |
| Clicks and Click Through Rate are two of the most | | | | business-to-business marketing, or B2B), segments of |
| important metrics used to measure the success of | | | | interest might be one or more of the following: |
| your email marketing campaigns. | | | | Company size (in employees, annual revenue), industry, |
| DELIVERABILITY | | | | SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) code, # of years |
| From a marketer's point of view, deliverability directly | | | | in business, products and/or services offered). |
| affects the success or failure of an email marketing | | | | Segmenting your house list means you're practicing the |
| campaign. When you email in bulk (hundreds or | | | | most important concept in marketing -- Targeted |
| thousands) it's inevitable that less than 100% will be | | | | Marketing. Identifying your target audience is not rocket |
| delivered. Maintaining deliverability in the 90th percentile | | | | science. As a business owner or someone interested |
| is very important, because, obviously, those who never | | | | in starting your own business, you probably have a |
| receive your email can't respond to your offer, i.e., click | | | | pretty good idea who the target audience is for your |
| on the link or links in your email. | | | | product or service. Take the time to do a lot of |
| There are two main reasons why emails don't reach | | | | research to learn everything you can about your |
| their destination: bounces and anti-spam mechanisms. | | | | target audience. As you know, there's a wealth of free |
| Bounces | | | | information on the internet. |
| There are two types of bounces: soft bounces and | | | | Many believe they have multiple target audiences; |
| hard bounces. | | | | generally they have one target audience with multiple |
| A soft bounce refers to an email not delivered due to | | | | segments (see Segmentation above). |
| a temporary problem on the recipient's end, such as a | | | | HTML vs. TEXT EMAILS |
| full mail box, an auto reply message set by the | | | | HTML emails are very professional (and promotional) |
| recipient announcing he or she is on vacation, | | | | looking -- usually in 4-color with creative graphics like |
| out-of-town on business, etc. or there are technical | | | | images, photos, logos, and formatting techniques, |
| difficulties with the server on the receiving end. These | | | | including underlining, bold, hyperlinks and fancy fonts. |
| soft bounces should be identified and sent the email | | | | They look like small magazine ads or promotional |
| again within 12 hours. | | | | postcards you receive in the mail. Not only do they |
| A hard bounce refers to an email that's not delivered | | | | quickly attract the attention of recipients, code is |
| because the email address is invalid (someone left their | | | | embedded in HTML emails that provides you with |
| job, an individual changed from yahoo to gmail, etc.) | | | | tracking information. |
| First, when these emails bounce back, be sure to first | | | | A text email is just what it says -- text only. You |
| check them for typos in the email address. You need | | | | receive countless text emails every day from friends |
| the exact email address, otherwise the email will | | | | and family. As an email marketer, you can think of a |
| quickly bounce back. | | | | text email, if well-written, as a compelling sales letter. |
| Spam | | | | The advantages to sending text emails are: every |
| If your email is identified as spam, it's either deleted | | | | recipient can view it properly, it's easy to produce and |
| before delivery or sent to the recipient's junk/spam | | | | mobile devices can read it easily. Some of the |
| folder instead of their inbox. | | | | disadvantages include: |
| Visit the Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) webpage | | | | you can't hyperlink words - you must include the |
| that describes in detail the legal issues surrounding | | | | entire address in the email |
| spam: (link appears in resource box at the end of this | | | | no formatting options, i.e., underlining, centering, bold, |
| article.) | | | | color |
| EMAIL SERVICES PROVIDER (ESP) | | | | can't track the open rate |
| An ESP provides email marketing services, which | | | | Your best strategy is to send an HTML and text |
| typically include: | | | | version to each email address. If you work with an |
| helping you update your house list | | | | ESP, they generally require you to send both versions. |
| offering hundreds of HTML email templates for | | | | OPT-IN (PERMISSION-BASED) EMAIL MARKETING |
| you to choose from | | | | To be a legitimate and ethical email marketer, you |
| deployment of your email campaign (the actual | | | | must gain permission to send emails to your recipients' |
| sending of the emails) | | | | Inboxes. And, you must also assure them that you |
| providing performance reports that show important | | | | won't sell or share their email address with third-party |
| metrics such as click through rate, undeliverables, | | | | marketers and that they can unsubscribe to your |
| unsubscribes, etc. | | | | mailing (house) list at any time. |
| Free-trials are available from some of the largest | | | | SUBJECT LINE |
| ESP's like Constant Contact, iContact and Vertical | | | | Along with the "From" line in your email, the Subject |
| Response. For an affordable monthly fee, ESP's are | | | | Line is an essential factor in getting your email opened. |
| essentially offering a Do-it-Yourself Service. If you feel | | | | The "From" line from a recognized sender will |
| reasonably comfortable with cutting and pasting and | | | | substantially improve (but not guarantee) an increased |
| downloading, you can do well with these services. | | | | open rate. |
| Note: The monthly fee does not usually include | | | | Research has shown that the majority of email |
| copywriting. So, the critical question is: do you have the | | | | recipients look at the "From" line first. After recipients |
| time? Successful email marketing requires Frequency. | | | | know who's sending them an email, the Subject Line is |
| Your intent is to build a relationship with your | | | | the next key to getting your email opened. |
| customers and prospects. If they don't hear from you | | | | You should write the Subject Line first; it will help you |
| at least monthly, they will soon forget you. | | | | better focus and target your message in the body |
| HOUSE LIST | | | | copy. Remember, body text must deliver what you |
| Your house list is your company's list of customers | | | | promise in the Subject Line. |
| and prospects that, hopefully, you've been building since | | | | |