Success Factors in E-Mail Marketing

E-Mail Marketing Performance Indicators

To establish successful e-mail marketing, it is necessary for you to analyze your e-mail marketing performance indicators.
These are primarily:

• Address database
• Bounce rate (i.e. the number of e-mails which cannot be delivered, categorized as hardbounces and softbounces)
• Open rate (number of e-mails that have been opened)
• Click rates (number of clicks, possibly "unique clicks")
• Response rates (number of orders in relation to number of e-mails sent)
• Conversion rate (number of orders in relation to clicks)
• Unsubsribe rate
• Complaints

Based on these performance indicators, individually tailored solutions can be employed.  The markers indicate where pontential for improvement lies. A high bouce rate, for example, indicates a bad address database. Low open rates might be the result of weak subject lines. Layout and content of a newsletter influence the click rates, too.

Success Factors in E-Mail Marketing

To sum up, we believe that good e-mail marketing can be realized through the following measures:

• Usage of double-opt-in to gain addresses
• Gaining addresses in accordance with legal standards
• Whitelisting through partners to guarantee a high delivery rate
• Segementation and target audience specific campaigns to guarantee newsletter relevancy
• Subject line splitrun tests to increase open rates
• Balancing the frequency of campaigns based on long term tests
• Newsletter personalization (subject line and content)
• Life cycle mails which are sent timely with certain events
• Event related e-mailings such as birthday, name day, etc.
• Tests, tests, tests