Email statistics show that on average 18% of emails are opened. Now we all know that a lot of people view their emails in preview panes and can get the idea of what you have to say without opening them. In fact, Email Labs says that 69% of at-work email recipients read in preview pane.
So why are we even talking about open rates? We need to ask ourselves what is the purpose of our email marketing, the subject line and content and how do we measure the effectiveness of these? Obviously, the subject line is meant to tell the reader what the message is about and to catch attention. But, like those really creative television ads that everyone remembers but no one buys as a result of, there needs to be more than a catchy subject line and more thought put into our emails and why we are sending them.
We spoke in our post on October 6th about email strategy overall. Today, I'd like to focus in a bit on the subject lines, content and what that tells us about a companies email strategy and what we can learn.
So, as we think about our subject lines, let's start with what are and should be our goals and metrics. Obviously open rates can be used as a comparative metric for the goal of gaining attention, but what else should we consider when assessing subject lines? Do you and can you tie your emails to actual web visits (click throughs) and transactions? If you do, how does this fit within the overall customer journey? What role do you want emails and the subjects and content of those to play in your overall communications? Depending on who the person is, what the content is and what your product is, email could be more or less important to the journey towards purchase and play a role in how you manage that relationship and what you want to deliver in this channel.
Let's look at an example from clothing retailers to illustrate.
I have used many of my favorite clothing retailers as examples in past posts, organizations such as Macy's, Loft, White House, Black Market and Chicos. My relationship with them is about need and desire to be fashionable, up-to-date, buy and own quality clothing that will last, be functional and perhaps to fulfill a specific clothing need such as for an event or activity.
When I look at 20+ of my recent emails however, virtually all the subject lines focus on sale messages:
Loft: 50% OFF = love at first bite (we mean, sight)
Macy's: On the ballot: big savings on all your fave accessories!
White House Black Market: Columbus Day Sale Starts Now.
Chicos: A Berry Good Deal: 50% Off Sale
Are they doing this because their data shows that promotional subject lines have the best open rates or do they have data that shows this drives the best immediate sales? Is this the best way to add value and build relationships with customers and prospects or are we as marketers driving less value to our brands by constantly offering deals and selling only based on a deal? Are we even thinking about ways to engage our customers via email other than by offering a deal and trying to drive an immediate sale? Is there something more to the subjects and email communication that we should be considering?
I know as a consumer, I would be interested in reading about latest trends and colors, seeing great ideas on combining tops and pants or what the hot accessories are this month. We buy fashion magazines, so clearly we are interested in that kind of content. However, the retailers we buy the products from don't help us with that type of content via email. I ask, if I was receiving this type of content would I think first of that brand when I had the need for clothing and would I be more willing to buy it at a premium or at least not discounted? Would this be a better way to solidify my long term relationship with that retailer and thus build lifetime customer value for them? Perhaps the answer is "no" and this is not SOUR eMail. There is the classic example of JC Penney and their attempt to become an everyday value retailer. Now I am sure this strategy didn't fail due to a poor email strategy, but it speaks to the challenge for marketers of remaining relevant, driving value and becoming the brand of choice when clothing (or any product or that matter) is needed.
How do we develop a thoughtful, relevant, personalized and timely email strategy that connects our customers and prospects to our brand in a meaningful way and drives value for both of us?
Today's Tips for Better Email Strategy:
- Understand the customer journey and what role email plays and can play for your products and brands.
- Ask your customers what kind of content they care about and deliver it via email.
- Think about how this email content connects to your overall content strategy and how you tie your communication vehicles together for a comprehensive strategy.
- Think about different types of email, what makes them relevant and when and how to deliver them. So for example for our clothing retailers, should they be sending fashion trends content during the debut season for designers? A good example of providing value beyond the sale is from Shaw Industries. They sell flooring products, but do an excellent job of making flooring experiential. Each year they feature a color of the year to show that flooring choices are more than just the carpet or hardwood you buy and giving you a bigger reason to care about their brands.
- Make sure you focus on the right metrics in your emails and consider that you should have different metrics based on the type of emails.
- When looking at email statistics, classify the emails by type and set metrics standards based on those types. For example, promotional emails, transaction emails, newsletters versus sales emails should have different metrics.
- Change the cadence of your emails based on the type of content, subject and based on what consumers desire and what you know about them and their behaviors. A good article was recently published by Marketo and one of the points covered is cadence and the impact of good segmentation and targeting. The chart below shows graphically what this looks like.
- And of course, test and learn on a continual basis.
Use these email strategy tips to create an insightful, actionable and ROI driven approach to email marketing that wins for both you and your customers. Don't be a SOUR emailer with no strategic approach to your email marketing efforts!
Source:
Marketo Email Blunders
