A look at ways to advance the email marketing process
I recently took a look through GetResponse’s new free report entitled “The State of Email Marketing in SMBs”.
The data was conducted throughout two weeks in November 2011, and focused on responses from 600 respondents.
Right off the bat there was some interesting finds, like these four stats:
-66% of respondents communicate the type of content found in the newsletters to subscribers.
-71% of respondents include unsubscribe links in their newsletters.
-72% of respondents are using a confirmed opt-in subscription model.
-79% of respondents are using sign-up forms to build lists.
All of these numbers show that a majority of the businesses sampled take their email marketing serious by following laws and being proactive about the growth of their lists. These practices ensure relationships with people who want to receive your content willingly, who also have the opportunity to end the relationship when they please.
The findings in this report seem to paint the picture of companies that are having success with email marketing. Seventy-percent of respondents have adopted a consistency for their campaigns as regular emailings occur. Another 61% is focusing on the analytics behind campaigns and 68% value the email copywriting skills necessary to create compelling subject lines.
Although these businesses appear to be on a steady track to successful email marketing campaigns, there are few areas that have been neglected by the majority of respondents, including split testing, list segmentation, social media integration, and follow-up cycles.
According to the study, only half of the respondents have an email and social media collaboration, even if the company is present on social networks. This is certainly an area that needs addressing, as social media is changing the way Internet users share and consume content. And incorporating social media icons and link directly to social networking sites is not a difficult undertaking.
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A look at areas to improve on
Segmenting lists can have a major impact on relationships. Marketing messages deployed to new email list members should be different than the email marketing messages that go to buyers who have been on the list for years. A lifecycle email marketing strategy that help build stronger connections because it shows the recipients that you are familiar with them and the way their have treated your brand since day one. Segmenting also helps the email marketer to present the most practical product or solution at the right time.
Only 42% are utilizing segmentation strategies.
Along with segmentation, list management isn’t a major concern to the majority of respondents, as 38% do not remove inactive contacts and 36% never attempt to re-engage any of those inactives.
Slightly more than half of the respondents use email marketing systems that take care of complaints and bounces. For those companies that do not have bounces and complaints handled, specifically those who do not pay attention to the types of inactive contacts on their list, serious problems can arise. If you fail to eliminate hard bounces from your file, your email reputation and deliverability may be jeopardized.
It’s worth noting that the industry performing the best according to GetResponse’s results is the publishing industry (which beat out the technology industry by a couple of points).
Take into consideration the components of email marketing that you are neglecting and can focus attention on. If you need help with any of these strategies, please leave a message and let us know.
And don’t forget to take a look at this free report from GetResponse.
