Email marketing has the potential to be a rock star in any organization.
The most in-tune marketers, however, know that in order to benefit from the channel, they must leverage techniques that engage recipients on a personal level and avoid batch-and-blast messages where everyone on a list shares the same experience.
In fact, when MailChimp sampled approximately 2,000 of its users it found that campaigns which were segmented (e.g., by clicks, opens or bounces) performed markedly better than their non-segmented counterparts.
Digging deeper, campaigns that were segmented by "signup type" enjoyed 88.73 percent more clicks than non-segmented emails. MailChimp advises marketers to create signup forms with checkboxes, radio buttons or drop-down menus so subscribers can indicate their interests before receiving messages.
"For example, a music website might have an email signup form with options for favorite genre or preferred method of discovering new bands."
This remarkable increase in engagement wasn't isolated to just signup type, as segmenting by attributes like "zip code" or "job title" provided marketers a 14.43 percent higher open rate than non-segmented campaigns.
Whether you're currently plugged into your email data to improve engagement rates or not, this month's Quiz Time will test your knowledge of the vibrant channel. (Answers are below the questions.)
1. True or False:
Integration of a direct buy (e.g., "buy now") button in email campaigns consistently provides an increase in sales.
2. What percentage of marketers believes smaller, segmented data provides better insight for future development of marketing strategy and execution?
a. 75 percent
b. 25 percent
c. 10 percent
d. 90 percent
3. What do digital marketers think their biggest email marketing challenge is in 2016?
a. Increasing open rates
b. Acquiring new subscribers
c. Competing against other emails
d. Making emails responsive
4. What message do 40 percent of online retailers make sure they send as their first email to new subscribers?
a. A percentage-off promotional code
b. A request for demographic information
c. A "thank you for subscribing" message
d. They wait to email until a purchase has been made
5. In relation to email deliverability, "SPF"¬ù stands for:
a. Shortest path first
b. Sender policy framework
c. Spam protection factor
d. Single point of failure
1. True
2. a
3. b
4. c
5. b
