Considering the number of emails that the average person receives in a given day (over 120), the competition for an individual’s attention can be intense. We all have a limited number of hours per day, so we have to be selective when it comes to reading emails – especially promotional messages. By establishing a history of providing relevant, useful information in their email messages, a company can improve its reputation with recipients and increase the likelihood that those email marketing messages will be opened and read.
Achieving relevance is easier said than done. Here are three specific strategies organizations can use to improve the relevance of their email campaigns.
1. Leverage your analytics tools
Email campaign analytics tools can help marketers discover what types of messages tend to get opened (and responded to) by different subscribers. For example, if some of the company’s recent email messages were much widely opened than others, the organization can examine the relevant messages and look for patterns that could explain the difference. Perhaps a humorous subject line was more successful than a straightforward one, or more detailed subject lines led to more opens than vague ones. This information can then be applied to future messages, improving later campaigns. This same strategy can be applied to other performance measures like clicks and most importantly sales. Find types of content (a strong call to action, special offer, highlighted ‘click here’ button, etc.) that lead to better performance and use them more frequently.
2. Segmenting lists
These analytics tools can also help email marketers segment their lists to improve targeting. List segmentation, as numerous industry experts have noted, is a critical component of successful email campaign management. This tactic allows marketers to create messages and offers that appeal to specific groups, increasing their relevance and effectiveness.
Without segmentation, marketers will need to either create bland messages that are generically relevant to many subscribers, but not particularly appealing to anyone, or craft specific emails that appeal to only a small percentage of the total subscriber list. In both cases, relevance suffers, and so will the email campaign as a whole.
(For more information on list segmentation, check out this recent blog post)
3. Asking for insight
One of the simplest strategies for improving email relevance can also be one of the most effective. While you can assess relevance and performance by using your ESP’s analytics tools, you can also get feedback from your email recipients – by asking. It can be very effective for marketers to directly solicit feedback from subscribers to ensure that messages are relevant to their interests. Periodically asking subscribers for their input on email marketing efforts can also demonstrate to customers that the company values their opinions, thereby improving brand loyalty and increasing customer retention rates.
