Use Your Measurements in Email Marketing

Albert Einstein said "Not everything that counts can beEmail metrics is rapidly gaining a seat at the board
measured. Not everything that can be measuredroom table as businesses seek to satisfy customer
counts."wants, needs, and desires. And, in this economy... to
So...let's see. I don't think what this means is..."Don'tincrease profits and decrease marketing expenses at
measure...don't count." Perhaps...it's more like..."it's allthe same time.
relative....so keep it all in perspective."Email marketing can...and is...doing all of those things.
In email marketing, you have some really cool tools inFocus on tracking, testing, and analytics. Measure all of
web analytics...that measure. So...what should youthe components that result in conversion...after all,
measure...that counts?conversions are your real measurement of ROI.
Well...what about profit? Profit counts? Right?Try...and track...different ideas and page layouts.
There is a web analytics tool that does what's calledHeadlines are critical, as they are often the door that
"clickstream tracking." What is measures is whathas to be opened for the prospect to come in. Test
content, graphic or image, triggers an action of someeverything.
sort when a prospect opens an email and clicks to theUse a solid, well-proven marketing service for email
landing page...up to and including a purchase. Knowingdeliverability, with web analytics that can be set to your
this helps you react quickly, and make neededown paramenters.
changes to build more responsive creatives.Be not only spam compliant, but spam aware. In other
You can now also track real time responses...the timewords, make sure your email messages are not
between when an email is opened, and the prospectgetting filtered by ISP's, sent to your recipient's junk
goes to the site, but doesn't make a purchase. This,mail, or reported as spam. In today's market, your
then, can be set to send another, more targeted oremails are a big piece of your brand. One email
more personal email to provide more information orreported as spam could get you blacklisted, and ruin
greater incentive, and has been extremely successful.years of brand development. Test, and then test more
A good analytics tool can also help you understand theto ensure your emails are constantly reviewed for
search patterns, banner advertisements and otherspam compliance and filtering.
media that may be influencing your prospect.Find a good software package and/or service, use it
Having this knowledge can be tremendously influentialwith customer input and feedback. Measure what
in designing email marketing messages.counts, and you can count your profits.
Why? Because all of them help you determine whatWe began with Einstein's perspective, so let's put this
your prospect wants, needs, and desires...and how toback into perspective. You're in business to make a
make sure it gets to the right place, at the right time,profit, while meeting customer needs, wants and
and delivers the value at a price they're willing to pay.desires. When your passion is to balance the two, you
The idea is to understand what works for your brand.can be "relatively certain" the equation is right.