To have any worth, marketing feedback must be both relevant and constructive, says Barry.

I WAS scrolling LinkedIn recently and came across this survey by a marketing professional:
‘Communication isn’t about the message you send, but the feedback you get’

a) Absolutely
b) No
c) Heard better? Answer below.

On first sight, the answer is ‘yes’, of course. Or is it?

This got me thinking – which is why I answered box C, as follows:
‘Marketing communication is not just about the message you send. It’s about that message being relevant to the person receiving it – and meeting their need. Feedback may then follow.’

76% clicked box A, ‘Absolutely’, so who’s right?

To be worth anything, feedback needs to be relevant. I’ll explain, using the context of email marketing. Regular readers will know I’ve written about email marketing regularly as it’s one of the most cost-effective marketing tools you can use.

Previously I have focussed on why you should do it, the benefits of email to your business and the design and sending functionality. This time, I’m going to focus on one area of email marketing that is easy to ignore. Reporting or feedback.

Within good email software there is usually a superb set of tools that enable you to analyse the success of your marketing emails.

On the basis you’ve sent a strong message to a good quality list, reporting works equally well whether you send fewer than a hundred emails at a time, or many thousands. The numbers aren’t important. How you use the information is.

Immediately your email has been sent you can measure engagement and response.

We regularly send emails for clients and will measure and report feedback within 24 hours. The usual aspects of reporting are:

• Emails sent: The number of emails dispatched and to which list.
• Unique opens: The number of emails opened by recipients in numeric and percentage terms.
• Links clicked: The number of people who clicked on links in your e-shot and how many times they did so. This is a valuable metric for the following reasons.

One popular link clicked is ‘view in browser’. This is where the recipient wants to be able to view and read the email in the way you designed it. Some servers will only allow emails through as text with links, or hidden images, so to be able to read it the recipient must use their browser view. This is a sure-fire way to know the e-shot has had positive engagement.

Other links might be to download a brochure, to visit to your website, go to a social media page, or to reply by email. All this is valuable feedback you can act upon.

What are good ‘open’ and ‘click-through’ rates? Open rates vary but it’s generally accepted that if an email achieves an open rate of between 10% and 20% then this is acceptable. We’ve found that on emails to smaller list numbers an open rate of above 30% isn’t unusual. This again is good feedback as it confirms the level of engagement.

The number of link clicks can vary, but as a norm, if you receive less than 5% click-through then your sales message and call to action need to be reviewed.

Bounces: Emails that don’t reach the intended recipient. A ‘hard bounce’ is where an email address has closed as the person has moved or has a new one. Good systems will quarantine this data so it cannot be sent again. A ‘soft bounce’ is where there may be a technical issue, for example, an email box is full, or your e-shot has arrived at a server but remains undelivered.

With any bounced address it would be good practice to try to call the individual and check the details you hold with them and if necessary correct it. If they’ve left a job role then mark your master list as such to avoid using it again.

What can I do with this information? This data becomes more valuable with every e-shot you measure. Using your master list, you can make a ‘measurement’ copy of your data on a new spreadsheet, and then delete columns of non-essential data to create a manageable version you can add reporting data to.

For example, if you remove all columns apart from say company name, recipient name, email address, and telephone number, you then have an easily manageable sheet you can add measurement columns to each time you send an e-shot. You can do this for each list you use for email marketing. This may sound a lot of work but for a smaller list it should only take an hour or so.

Spotting patterns: once you’ve produced a report for two or more sets of results you’ll notice patterns start to form. For example, analysis of email #2 may well show that a high percentage of those opening this had previously opened and engaged with email #1. This suggests that, even though you may not have had a phone call or received a form, there’s interest in your message.

Who should you follow up? Have a look at your ‘open’ and ‘click’ data and establish who has clicked on which links most often.

If a recipient has clicked on say your brochure download link or website link, often multiple times, this is a good place to start. Phone them up to ask if they need more information, a quote, or even a demonstration. You know from your data how interested they appear to be. Then you’ve opened what should then be ongoing dialogue that hopefully leads to work.

Also, a recipient may refer you to someone else in their specification team who might also be interested in what you have to offer. If this happens, then add the new data record to your master and email list. Remember, there’s likely to be a ‘decision-making team’ on most projects.

Non-openers: these may number as much as 70% of your list. If you wish you can download a list of non-openers from your e-marketing system and send them a further email, perhaps with a different subject line to encourage them to open the email. Opens may generally be lower for a mailing to former non-openers.

Incidentally, the subject line can make or break an email. Bear in mind the sole purpose of your subject line is to encourage recipients to open your email.

If you have a larger list of maybe 500 or 1,000 records or more you can introduce what’s known as A/B testing. This is where you can measure if a simple change to a subject line in one email generates greater or fewer opens than a second email sent simultaneously. To work properly, this must be a single change, otherwise it may become confusing

However, if you’re new to e-mail marketing then just take things one step at a time.

Unsubscribes: it’s essential you give recipients the option to opt out of receiving marketing emails from you. The number clicking the ‘unsubscribe’ link will usually be low, often less than 1%. These data records should be noted as such on your master list so you don’t send any more marketing email to them. A good email system will quarantine unsubscribed records to stop them being used again.

Referring again to the original LinkedIn survey question you can now see why I thought feedback is good – providing it’s relevant and based on something constructive.

Finally, if someone doesn’t respond to your emails it doesn’t mean they’re not interested in what you’re offering. They’re just not interested now. It can often take seven or eight marketing ‘touches’ before someone even notices your email, which is also another pattern you can see emerging in your response measurement.

So don’t get disheartened, just keep sending good e-shots – recipients will soon unsubscribe if they really aren’t interested in what you’re offering. If you need more information about any aspect of email marketing, or marketing in general, then please give me a call or send an email.

01773 712116
info@streetwisesubbie.com
www.streetwisesubbie.com
Barry Ashmore is managing director
and co-founder of StreetwiseSubbie.com