Recently we began managing a client’s email marketing program and as I reviewed the history of their account, I noticed that lists had been created based on opens of previous emails. In fact, several thousand subscribers hadn’t received an email because they had not opened the email prior to that. I cringed when I saw this, knowing that surely a few click-throughs were missed by leaving out that group, and possibly valuable conversions.
It’s necessary to quickly review how “opens” are tracked, and how to derive value from the metric. Opens are based on whether or not a subscriber downloads the images contained in your email. Consider the following scenarios:
- Subscriber reads the subject of your email in their email client interface, and is inspired to visit your site because it reminds them of a need they have (congrats, you really nailed it with the subject). They eventually delete the email from their inbox list without ever even previewing it. The subscriber visited your site and maybe even converted, yet no trackable image was downloaded, no “open” was recorded in the email marketing application. The email isn’t credited with an open (or click-through or conversion).
- Subscriber opens the email in their client “preview pane”, reads some copy, and then clicks through on a link. The email gets credit for the click-through, but not the open. Some email programs may automatically credit the open if a click-through occurs, thus reconciling this subscribers interaction. However, consider this scenario if the subscriber just went and typed your URL into their browser.
- User seees the email on their Blackberry, makes a note to later visit your site for a need they have. Finally makes that visit 2 days later. No images downloaded obviously, so no open and also no click-through, but a visit and possible conversion.
You get the point: you’re likely getting responses to your emails that aren’t being recorded as opens or click-throughs.
So how do you use the open metric? It is all about trending. Once you have an established your email marketing program, you can begin to look at how this metric rises and falls from one send to another. If you have a more sophisticated email marketing program (or some other way to split your list), you can begin to A/B or multivariate test and then compare the open metric for the various groups.
Now, tracking and metrics aside, what if your subscribers simply aren’t responding your email messaging? Don’t drop them from your regular sends! There are a number of tactics you can use to try to get a better response, and there is limited risk in keeping these folks on your list. First, a couple of tactics that might work.
It may be time to implement an option with your signup and settings that allows the subscriber to select how often they want to be contacted. This obviously requires a bit more effort in regards to list and campaign management, but may be effective for your subscriber base.
Another segmentation tactic may be subject matter; are you sending your male and female customers the same email? Are you sending your skiing subscribers the same email as your snowboarding subscribers? What about those in warm-weather climates vs. those in cooler-weather climates? How about teens vs. Gen Ys? You get the point: targeting these groups even with just the subject line might have a significant effect on response.
Another tactic is to make your emails more engaging. Easier said than done, but well worth the effort if varying subjects and content are tested systematically and efficiently.
The gist of it is: don’t give up on subscribers. They haven’t given up on you, they just are bored with what you’re saying, or they’re having a hard time hearing you through the noise in their inboxes. Rather than segmenting them out of the conversation, think of what you can say to get them back into it.
Tags: email opens, email testing, segmenting email subscribers
