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Done well, email marketing can deliver perhaps the highest ROI of your marketing dollars. Executed poorly, and email will deliver terrible results and potentially anger recipients. The following are some of the email mistakes that we witnessed in 2002:
- Ignoring the Outlook Junk Filter: As one of the most widely used email clients, Outlook is a force not to be ignored. But companies such as Dell, Wells Fargo, Handspring and many others didn't take the time to learn the words and symbols that the default filter looks for. The most common mistake - using "free" and an exclamation mark in the subject line.
- Not Using "free": Spam filters scared many legitimate email marketers from using "free" in their subject lines and body copy. But if used correctly, "free" - in the context of "shipping," "white paper," etc. is still perhaps the most effective email offer you can use. As mentioned above, the key is in knowing how to use free so that you don't get trapped by spam/bulk mail filters.
- Renting Poor Quality Lists: Quality costs money - a concept that clearly applies to email lists. While some marketers argue that low-cost lists can deliver a respectable ROI, our analysis shows that more expensive lists (i.e., higher quality), will produce a greater ROI. Secondly, we believe that mailing to inferior quality lists (the infamous unidentified "marketing partner" source) potentially harms your brand.
- Meaningless eNewsletter Subject Lines: "On CareerJournal Today," "SE Update #136," "LoopNews 12/26/02" and "eClub Newsletter" tell a recipient very little. Subject lines are supposed to entice a recipient to open the enewsletter - the issue number is of no value to the reader. The subject line should include information from the newsletter that is most likely to grab readers’ attention.
- Not Testing in Popular Email Clients: A target link that works fine in Outlook - doesn't work in Yahoo. The From line sent as "Big Company," might show up as "marketing@bigcompa" in AOL. The subject line: "Order by Friday for Free Shipping and Arrival by Dec 24" is rendered by AOL as "Order by Friday for Free Shipping and Arrival by Dec." Not testing for these variables in different email clients can have significant negative impact on your email results.
- Not Testing Variables: Perhaps the greatest advantage email has over its other marketing brethren is the ease and immediacy of testing. If you aren't testing different variables on a regular basis then you are not using the medium correctly. Every email campaign should be designed to delivery some specific learning, that can then be applied to future mailings. Successive tests either build off of, or further refine, earlier test results.
- Testing Lists, But Not Mailing Bulk: Another trend we've seen is for companies to move forward on testing rented lists - but then not mailing in bulk to the best performing lists. While budget or organizational changes often bring things to a halt, companies should not move forward on email test campaigns unless they are absolutely committed to moving forward on the bulk mailing. Because of the up front costs (strategy, list analysis, creative, etc.) and lower list volume, a cost per lead of $100 on a test campaign, could be lowered to say $40 per lead in the bulk campaign.
- Email Offers That Aren't Relevant: It goes without saying that an email campaign works best when it includes a compelling offer. And while compelling doesn't have to be "free" or "20% off," an offer must be relevant and of value to the recipient. Segment your lists and make the content and offer more personal and relevant to the needs, interests and past behavior of each segment. When renting lists, choose as many appropriate selects as possible - and develop your offer around the specific needs of that audience.
- Not Having an ISP/Domain Strategy: AOL and Yahoo in particular emerged as real challenges for consumer-oriented marketers in 2002. Whether it is dealing with HTML compatibility issues or blacklists, spam or volume-based filters - each of the major ISPs have their own specific issues that may need addressing. The first mistake is simply not tracking results by ISP/domain - you'll never know if you have a problem, but most companies discovered they did in 2002.
- Not Integrating eNewsletter and Search Engine Optimization Efforts: The key to top rankings on the major search engines is content. eNewsletters are one of the best sources for content, and a means to increase your rankings for various keywords. Many companies go to a lot of trouble to design, write and distribute their eNewsletters, but then don't make the effort to take the articles from the newsletter and post them on their Web site and optimize the pages. It is a simple process that can reap big rewards - but very few companies make the effort.
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