Testing Strategies for E-mail Marketers

Tie Testing to Changes and Results by Michael Pridemore

E-mail marketing is effective because it is accountable. Unlike any other medium, it is easy to track open rates, bad addresses and purchase rates, allowing marketers to gauge responses to their promotions. Formulating an e-mail testing strategy can be daunting at first. There are many variables to consider and a good e-mail program should allow you to test every possible alternative, both within a single campaign and across multiple campaigns. With all the choices, it is best to keep it simple at first. Once you start testing, it is important to use the results to make your campaigns better.

The first step in formulating a testing strategy is to determine what is important to you and how to measure it. Concentrate your efforts on what will impact your results and save minor details for later. There are many factors that influence campaign success. However, start with testing content, audience and timing for best results.

Content

There are a few ways to gauge the effectiveness of your message content. Since the offer is crucial to a successful campaign, explore variations and see what gets the best response. Perhaps your customers prefer "free shipping" to "10% off purchase." Examine both click-through rates and purchase rates to see what is working. Click-through rates are a great way to measure interest, but to be truly sure of the effectiveness of your campaigns, find a way to prove ROI.

Look at viral marketing rates. Recommendation can be the best form of flattery. If a recipient enjoyed your content enough to share with others, your message is probably effective. Now look at viral click-throughs. Are these recipients reading your content? If viral recipients are not opening or clicking-through to read your message, consider why. Is your subject line engaging? Does your e-mail look appealing to someone who is not familiar with your company?

Try different creative formats. In some cases, such as a new product introduction, rich media has a great response, because it quickly catches the recipient's attention. In other cases, rich media is an unnecessary expense, slowing delivery and load times for consumers who just want the facts, not the presentation. Determine what format your audience prefers by testing. If HTML open rates and click-throughs are similar to rich media, save the time and costs associated with creating complex media by sticking to HTML or text. Past studies have shown that HTML is generally preferred to text, but unless you survey your own audience, you won't know for sure. For example, techies often prefer plain text messages, instead of HTML. Also, AOL users either read limited HTML or no HTML at all.

Audience

Audience segmentation is an important part of any e-mail testing strategy. Different groups or recipients may react differently to your message. Try segmenting based on gender, geography, age, purchase history etc. Determine your audience. Do most of your sales come from teenagers? Do past customers account for 99% of your e-mail click-throughs? So what? It doesn't help to know that only 1% of men click-though to your website if you don't use that data to make your marketing strategy more effective. Segmenting factors are virtually countless. Use conditional content to see if different messages appeal to different audience segments.

Look to viral marketing results to determine which audience segments find your content valuable. A recent study by Forrester Research found that 19% of women were likely to forward e-mails of interest to their friends, compared with only 13% of men. Evaluate your message based on results and tailor your strategy accordingly.

Timing

No matter how great your content is, if it catches the reader at a bad time, it will get overlooked. There is a lot of research and generalizations out there that predict the best time to send messages, but you need to look at your own data before you make conclusions. The goal of timing is to have your message delivered when the recipient's inbox is not crowded with other mail. But, if everyone followed the expert recommendations out there, then all mail would arrive at the same time. Industry surveys may prove to be correct, but test with your own recipients to be sure.

One trend that has arisen, is inbox clutter that appears first thing in the morning. By setting your delivery schedule to a time past lunch, you should see an increase in open rates.

Frequency is another factor that can be tested. Monitor your unsubscribe rates over time. If the unsubscribe rate is high (2% +), there is something wrong with your campaign. Maybe you are sending messages too frequently. Examine your content. If you don't have enough relevant content to fill an e-mail message, consider cutting back your schedule. It is always better to err on the side of too few messages. Inundating recipients with messages will increase unsubscribe rates.

Once the results come in, what should you do with the information gathered through testing? Turn testing results into knowledge about your recipients with more targeted campaigns and offers. Use testing to create a schedule, assess customer needs and determine market trends. This customer centric approach will pay off with increased sales, customer retention and loyalty.

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Michael Pridemore CEO, http://www.Socketware.com pridemore@socketware.com

Today's Motivational Reading

Maintaining YOUR Best Professional Attitude

by Gerri D Smith

"The mind is everything; what you think you become." - Guatama Buddha

Do You Have What It Takes to Take It?

Without the strength to deal with the stresses in life: pain, sickness, disappointment, missed opportunities, bad business decisions, and more, you can easily be discouraged.

Whenever something hits you and you don't have what it takes to overcome it, your means of coping will be undermined.

To overcome minor or major setbacks, recharge yourself spiritually. Give yourself a God-like power to react and reverse any mental picture you may be holding of weakness. With God's help you know you can take anything that comes your way.

Are you a Positive Person?

Always in life there are times when the going is rough, tough, and downright too much. Coming out of it on top takes a positive attitude.

To maintain a positive attitude when everything around you is crumbling takes an inner power beyond anything you can imagine. To do so depends on how and what you are thinking at the time it is happening to you.

If you can smile when you'd rather complain, you will find strength in your weakness. And if you can endure and overcome your fear, you make way for the best possible outcome to any trying situation.

Are You Strong Enough to Face Your Problems?

Some sources of strength to develop and keep are:

To maintain positive thoughts at all times. Practice seeing yourself as strong and you will be strong. Seek God's guidance and be ready to accept the experiences, ideas, and directions when they come to you.

If your life is extra hard for you, be honest with yourself and find out where the trouble is.Are you making your life hard? There is always a reason when something in your life does or does not go well. This can be traced to what you've already created in your mind prior to when the situation happens.

When faced with a troubling situation, take control of your thoughts--this influences your attitude. Don't ever let your mind control you. Choose healthy, spiritual, and positive thought patterns that will supply you with unshakable strength.

So create happy thoughts and your problems will be tiny.

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Gerri D Smith,
Publisher and host of an online Personal and Business Improvement network, tailored for women business owners and entrepreneurs. Visit: http://www.distinctivebusinesswomen.com Mail to: gerridsmith@msn.com

Subscribers' Corner:

From 'FANZINE' To 'EZINE' - A Brief History Of EZines!

by Michael Green

Maybe it shouldn't come as a big surprise, but most people out there don't actually know what we mean when we casually utter the word 'EZine'.

So let's cut to the chase....An EZine is in fact an Electronically delivered Newsletter. And that means that it is usually delivered by Email.

Phew! That was sure simple!

But if understanding EZines is straightforward enough, then appreciating the origin of the word EZine is anything but a piece of cake!

So Where Was the Term 'EZINE' Born?

Well the most popular school of thought is that 'EZine' is in fact short for the words 'Electronic' and 'magaZINE'. Put them together and you get 'EZine'.

Yet although this has become the almost universally accepted explanation, it probably ISN'T actually true!

For one thing we've just explained that an EZine is an Electronic Newsletter, NOT an Electronic Magazine. And of course the 'Z' that comes from the word 'magaZine, doesn't even exist in the word 'NEWSLETTER'.

So the reality is that there must have been another explanation for the creation of this new word in our dictionary. Here's a rival theory:

Way Back In Time Came the Humble 'FANZINE':

A fanzine was a publication with a small number of subscribers - (perhaps from 5 - 1,000). Fanzines were targeted publications geared towards specific interests like: SciFi, Fantasy and Football clubs. They were frequently run by committed supporters and the small-time, close knit style of the fans would often contribute to a cult like status for their printed publications.

Those printed publications were called 'FanZines', but were frequently referred to as 'Zines' instead.

Most EZines Are Based Around Specific Ineterst Groups

Back to the modern day and most EZines are based around specific interest groups, just like the Zines once were.

Adding an 'E' on the beginning brings us to the word EZine and this offers us a much more logical explanation for the creation of this new word in the English language.

EZines Are More About Profit Than FanZines Ever Were

The proliferation in the number of EZines has been dramatic. My best estimate, based on researching and counting directories of EZines, is that there are now in excess of 500,000 different EZine titles out there.

And the reason for the variety of EZines is blindingly obvious: "It's inexpensive to become an EZine editor and publisher".

Having said that it's cheap to get into the market of publishing EZines, most people underestimate the immense amount of effort involved in publishing on a weekly, monthly or on occasion daily basis. EZines can be hard work to produce at high quality - all the time.

And my research has revealed that the purpose of EZines has shifted too.

Whereas EZines were originally published in the FanZine tradition (enthusiasts writing about a subject they love), nowadays most EZines are published for PROFIT.

Savvy Editors Know There's Money To Be Made

You see people have realized that an Opt-In EZine publication can not only pay for itself, but it can also generate very significant levels of income for their owners through the promotion of online products and services in particular. Savvy editors know that their personal endorsement for a third-party product can net a rich return from a loyal EZine readership.

So whilst the origin of the word EZine may still be shrouded in mystery, the current day purpose of many EZines isn't. And the best EZines of all provide rich content to their readership and a welcome source of income to their owners.

Good luck with your own Ezine,

Michael Green
Ezine & Newsletter Expert.

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Michael Green, is an acknowledged expert in Newsletter and Ezine publishing. He has created a toolkit to assist budding EZine editors to develop their own money-making Newsletters. Michael's "Easy Ezine Toolkit" provides step-by-step guidance for establishing your own successful EZine and shows you how to turn it into a money-making venture. To create your own great Ezine now click here ===> http://www.EasyEzineToolkit.com

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