Are Your Opt-In Emails All Dressed-Up With No Place To Go?

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Email marketing… the golden goose for business.  It drives better returns on investment and better ability to track sales and user engagement than traditional marketing. Much less time is needed to dress-up and send out an email campaign versus those print postal mailings and the messages can be sent real-time! Emails can be tailored to specific customers and segmented based on customer database information.  Just send out your fabulous email campaign to your opt-in lists and let the conversions begin!

It sounds perfect.  It almost is.

But, what if some of your customers never receive the news about your fantastic new product or that blow-out, not-to-miss sale? Your emails are fabulously dressed but never make it down the catwalk.  In other words, what if customers did not receive your email because it was designated as spam and placed in a bulk folder or, perhaps, it was never delivered at all.

Here’s the kicker.  Return Path publicized the results of an Inbox Placement Rate Benchmarks Report.  This report indicates that 22% of marketing email sent with subscribers’ permission never reached their inboxes during the first half of 2013. Based on a sample of nearly one trillion messages sent worldwide, it concluded that 18% of all email messages were either blocked or went missing; another 4% were delivered to subscribers’ spam or junk folders.

That number differed depending on the origin country and industry, but even the US, with an Inbox Placement Rate of 86% which is one of the best in the world, missed out on getting their campaigns to 14% of its opt-in customers. That means billions of lost messages and opportunities to strengthen relationships.

All is not lost. In fact, the report highlights an opportunity to look at the fabric of your email marketing campaigns and possibly revamp behind-the-scene preparations to get your emails properly all dressed up with someplace to go; your opt-ins’ inboxes.  Here are some important things that Taarga can help you to consider:

1. Reputation. If you create and maintain good relationships with your customers, they’ll want to receive emails from you. They may whitelist you, almost guaranteeing your emails will reach the inbox.  Internet Service Providers (ISPs) monitor senders’ reputations and rate them with a sender’s score.  If you’ve been whitelisted, it will make it even easier for you to reach other inboxes.  Even if you haven’t been whitelisted, as more customers receive your emails and are not marked as spam, your good reputation with ISPs will grow, resulting in more emails getting to inboxes.
2. How clean and fresh are your opt-in lists? Are bad email addresses removed? Are potential customers able to opt-in without complications? Are you CAN-SPAM compliant? Are you re-engaging unsubscribers? Are you using social networking?
3. Content. Send snazzy, inviting subject lines that point to a clear, strong message about your product, service, or event. Make it create a call-to-action. Make your content mobile friendly with high-quality design that can fit small screens.
4. Segment your customer lists. Send emails that are relevant to specific customers. For example, don’t send an email to all your opt-ins across North America for a one day sales event located only in Texas.
5. Send regular emails. Don’t let customers forget who you are. Keep them engaged, but don’t bombard them with emails either. There is such a thing as too much. It’s all about balance.
6. Testing. Sending out test emails of your campaign can highlight glitches and ensure the flow ability of your emails to their destination inboxes.

Lastly, suit-up with a solutions provider who really knows opt-in email marketing.  Taarga’s team can help you send off a seamless campaign that will ensure your opt-in email campaigns arrive in your customers’ inboxes and ready to dazzle.

Taarga

Driving Trusted Communications