Testing is Your Vital Key

How many of you find yourself wondering why your email campaigns show different numbers? Are you thinking context, subject lines used or even the time sent makes a difference? It sure it does. Testing your campaigns can give you answers that are beneficial in building stronger emails.

Here at Kobemail we offer resources like, A/B splits and Nth Sampling to help our clients figure out what works best for them. For those not familiar with A/B split, this is the strategy of sending two or more different emails to the same list. Usually lists are evenly divided. For instance, a list testing 2 campaigns splits would be separated 50:50 for this strategy. As for Nth Sampling, emails are only sent to a specific group. Example - you have a list of 100 users but you specify to send the variable email to every 3rd users up to the 50th users on the list.

When testing there are some suggestions you should keep in mind.

• Always have a control email. Control email needs to be analyzed under the same conditions as the group you are testing, but without the changed variable. This way you are able to quantify the effects of the unknown variable corresponding to the control.


• Send all test campaigns at the same time. Sending campaigns at different intervals will not give you accurate data.


• If you are testing reaction to different days/hour it is advisable to send out the same campaign where only day/hour will vary.


• Test one change at a time. It is always recommended to just have one modification to each email. This way you can get a clear understanding of what factors caused any performance related changes. Small adjustments, like moving around an image, can receive vast reactions.

It is always suggested to embrace testing. This way you can always figure out what works better or what does not works at all. Test often. Make it a part of your process as it is not here to back track your campaigns but to help you achieve productive emails.

Author: Adeline Zeledon
Editor: Roopal Rawani

Open Rates

Open rate refers to the number of recipients that opened a specific email and is measured using an embedded HTML code that requests a transparent tracking image from web servers. When a reader opens the email, the ISP used to display the email requests that image, and an ‘open’ is recorded for that particular piece of mail.

The real question is: How much emphasis should be put towards analysis of open rates as a performance metric? Due to problems regarding interpretation in relation to image files, it’s long been debated the accuracy and weight this measure should hold – and some overlook open rates as valuable statistical information.

Conflicts regarding open rates include:

• Due to the fact that an ‘open’ will only be recorded if the readers ISP is capable of displaying HTML images, if the option is turned off and the recipient chooses to only receive text-only emails there is no way to record the open rates.


• Although the e-mail has been opened by the recipient there is no guarantee that the receiver read or actively engaged with the email in anyway, all this means is that the tracking image was requested, so you must understand not everyone opening is definitely taking in the information.


• Some e-mails come equipped with a preview function in which the email is displayed automatically and therefore downloads the tracking image without the receiver ever having viewed the image or even clicked the message.

Open rates do have some positives that should not be overlooked, mainly concerning their use as indicators. How open rates change over time, for example, can tell you a great deal because changes in the open rate reflect real-time changes in your marketing efforts and show problems or successes in regards to how your campaign is running.

When using methods like A/B splits, looking at long term trends, making open rates a base for other metrics, and even comparing campaign results across multiple ISP’s the measure it quite useful.

Open rate can be an effective measure in performance analysis – just be careful how much weight you ultimately give this statistic.

Author: Caitlin Durand
Editor: Yasifur Rahman

Using Click-Through Data in Your Email Marketing Campaign

One of the more practical and valuable features of using e-mail to market your business is using e-mail tracking reports to find out what your audience is doing with your e-mails after you send them. Every time someone clicks a link in your marketing e-mail, you have the opportunity to track the click back to the individual, use the information to accomplish more meaningful objectives, and increase the value of your e-mail list.

Click through data is a way of measuring the success of your email campaign using the number of unique individuals clicks (only one click per person is counted) who clicked on one or more links in an email expressed as a percentage of total tracked opens.

CALCULATED AS:

Total number of unique individuals who click a link in the email

-DIVIDED BY- the total number of tracked opens

OR CLICKS / OPENS = CLICK THROUGH RATE

So if there were 3 unique clicks and 30 opened emails:

3 clicks/30 opens = .1 clicks per open (multiplied by 100 to get CTR ) = 10% CTR

Average click-through rates vary widely by industry. Below are some ranges for average email click through rates for permission-based house lists.

• B2B (business to business) email newsletters typically range from 5% to 15%. If your CTRs are consistently below that level then among other things, you are probably providing content of little value to your email subscribers. Or you may have most of the content within your email, not giving subscribers a reason or means to click-through to your Web site.


• B2C (business to consumer) promotional email marketing campaign often range from about 2% to 12%. Email campaigns with less than a 2% CTR may be a result of over mailing and questionable email opt-in processes.


• Highly segmented and personalized email lists (B2B and B2C) are often in the 10% to 20% CTR range. Also, email messages with very strong content but sent to unsegmented lists, like many news or trend-type e-newsletters, are often in the 10%-15% range.


• Trigger or behavior-based email campaigns (emails that are sent to recipients based on some behavior they showed, such as clicking on a product link, visiting a specific Web page, etc.) are often in the 15% to 50% range.

Author: Rebecca Allas
Editor: Yasifur Rahman

Increasing Click-Through Rates Using Strong Call to Action

“As a command, “click here” is beautiful in its simplicity, but falls far short as a call to action – the trigger to launch the customer on the complicated path to conversion – because it doesn’t tell your email readers what you really want them to do.”

Millions of people use search engines daily and every one of those individuals are inundated with organic search listings and the same boring display ads. How do you set your emails apart from the rest for an increased click through rate and conversion?

An effective call to action in your email subject lines and ad text can bring substantial gains in CTR. To get the best results, you have to make clear exactly what you want your readers to do, giving a direct order with direct instructions. Using clear and obvious action words will help the recipient to understand not just where to click through, but why they should and what they can expect in the email.

BASIC SAMPLES OF CALL TO ACTIONS:

• Request more information!


• Sign up now!


• Discover the best deal of 2011!

Take your ad-writing skills to the next level! It is so important to master the skill of utilizing strong calls to action in your ads.

Author: Rebecca Allas
Editor: Yasifur Rahman

Autoresponders – What You Need to Know

Here at KobeMail, we know a thing or two about autoresponder mailings. For email marketers, the following information should be just a review. However, for those not in-the-know, autoresponders are the most widely used online marketing tool. Autoresponders have many names – mailbots, email responders, and autosenders – but regardless of what you call them, their importance is undeniable.

Once an autoresponder is successfully in place, your business can save time and money. Some autoresponder “systems” lead to abuse, which is why you should look to a full service email provider – such as KobeMail – to handle the sending of your autoresponders for you.

The term autoresponder comes from the idea of an email being sent to a subscriber after an action is taken on their end. The autoresponder should only be used for emails to customers who have signed up at your website to receive communications. Otherwise, you will likely face a lot of issues along the way.

An autoresponder should not be chosen solely based on its cost. Instead, you should look at the included features of the service, the reputation of the provider, and other elements to determine which system is the best for your needs. An autoresponder service is elemental in business success today. The online world is full of missed opportunities and you can't let communication with your customers be one of those issues.

Happy Mailing!

How to Send More Effectively

According to Forrester, by 2014 the average email user will receive over 9,000 marketing email messages per year. If you break that down, it equates to a user receiving 25 marketing emails every single day.

ISPs have a limited threshold for emails, so when the frequency of mailing gets ramped up, marketers have to find a new path into the inbox. Below are a few suggestions for marketers, especially those who still plan on mailing at a high rate, to separate themselves from other mailers and find their messages in the inbox of their readers.

1. Remailing. Based on a certain behavior of the reader, you can remail. If there was no click, no open, or no purchase, you can set up a remail automation. You can also remail to a certain list when you are running a special or a promotion. The biggest piece of advice associated with remailing: don’t abuse it.

2. Automation. Creating automated messages, based off of triggers, will increase your revenue. Automating your messages allows you to set up a specific schedule of mailing for specific actions taken by the reader (abandoned cart, site behavior, etc.)

3. Holidays. Aside from the major holidays that fall during the end of the calendar year, you should be taking advantage of the many other holidays throughout the year. Do you have an international audience? If so, capitalize on their specific holidays. There are extensive lists available online of all holidays – be creative and utilize the day!

4. Segmentation. We have mentioned the concept of segmentation before, but it is too important not to mention again. Segmentation allows you to send more frequently based on specific actions or preferences of your readers.

Sending emails at a high frequency can be a good thing, so long as you do not abuse it. Always remember to mail wisely, use an email marketing agency like KobeMail, and build your email lists organically!

Happy Mailing!

Author: Peter Schirripa

Safeguard and Enhance Deliverability

The entire goal of email marketing is to reach the inbox, and thus the users, as often as possible. At KobeMail, we pride ourselves on our top deliverability rates, but as marketers, you have to take some steps toward safeguarding deliverability yourselves. Here are a handful of tips to do so…

KobeMail offers an extensive reporting package, which we monitor closely on our end daily. In order to up your deliverability rates, consider switching analyzing campaign metrics for yourself before you send out your next mailing, rather than looking at the metrics after the mailing has already gone out. Taking the time to analyze opens, click thru rates, bounces, etc before you continue mailing will allow you to optimize campaigns and strategies to get the best performance possible out of your campaigns. Being proactive with your campaign strategies will help to boost your deliverability rate.

Similarly, if you’re seeing negative changes in your reporting numbers, fix the problem immediately. Avoid sending out another mailing with a template or subject line that isn’t performing because it’s very likely that it will perform poorly again. Figure out the problem and amend it quickly. There’s no need to waste mailings on graphics or text that aren’t working!

If you’re not being upfront about exactly what you will be mailing to your users when they sign up, it’s imperative you become candid quickly. In the same vein, if you are telling users they will receive 1 type of mailing from you and suddenly they begin to receive another type without warning or signing up for it, chances are pretty high that they’ll begin to “junk” your mailings. You can be sure that this will cause your deliverability rate to plummet. As with everything, even in email marketing, honesty is the best policy.

For those users who are clicking “spam” or “junk,” take them off your list the minute they do so. If they “spammed” you once, they’ll do it again. Why rack up unnecessary spam complaints when scrubbing your list is so effortless, particularly with our new product iSuppress, which handles every facet of suppression list management including list scrubbing. The same holds true for bounced emails. If you’re seeing upwards of 5 bounces (whether hard or soft) from the same user, get them off your list! A clean list will definitely improve your deliverability and keep your users happy too.

Just by taking a few extra steps before and after each mailing you send, you’ll notice an improvement in your deliverability rates. It is of course important to be affiliated with an email service provider who has a great relationship with ISPs (like us at KobeMail!), but there are always steps you can take as email marketers to improve your own performance.

Author: Peter Schirripa

Editor: Anthony Lee