Response Posts
Oct
18
By Stephanie Miller
VP, Strategic Services
Back in August, many retailers claimed they wanted to avoid the heavy promotions and discounts that have become a crutch for driving response in many email programs. We applauded this decision, knowing that email doesn't have to cut the margin in order to get a response.
Thus, we were disappointed at retailer reaction when the National Retail Federation (NRF) reported survey results in September that most consumers say (not surprisingly) they would rather have free shipping and other discount offers this holiday season. ...
Tell me moreCategories: Response
Oct
17
By Stephanie Miller
VP, Strategic Services
Not sure it's a good thing, but pretty much everything makes me think of email. Sir Richard Branson, founder and chairman of Virgin Group gave the keynote at the DMA Monday morning. He was wonderful. He told the story of Virgin's growth by harnessing innovation and challenging assumptions. He said he only enters new markets where he feels the existing players are not optimizing the opportunity. He has tied his business mission to a commitment to preserve the health of the environment. He was candid about the skepticism he has faced as he enters each new business. He told the story of privatizing the railroads in Britain, a project which was years late and more expensive than they had anticipated. Yet, today, Britons fly his airline, take his trains and, of course, still buy his records. The brand power, he says, is strong enough to persevere even when Virgin has to be honest with his customers -- honest about delayed launches, cancelled flights and price increases.
So what does that have to do with email? ...
Categories: Response
Oct
10
By Matt Blumberg
CEO & Chairman
I had a good meeting this morning with one of our long-time multi-channel retailer clients who is in town for Shop.org's Annual Summit. Over the course of our conversation, she relayed two things going on in her world of email marketing at the moment that bear repeating (with her permission, of course). ...
Tell me moreCategories: Response
Oct
05
By Tami Monahan Forman
Director of Strategic Services
We all know that email is critical to the online shopping experience and to customer satisfaction. But would you believe that transactional emails are more important to customers than customer service reps who can answer questions? We were surprised, too, but that was the finding of a recent consumer survey.
73% of respondents in a recent survey we did through Return Path's Authentic Response survey division said that email was "very important" to the experience with an additional 25% rating it as "important." Only 2% said email confirmation were not important. The other elements we asked consumers to rate included customer service, ability to find products, return policy, free shipping. Of those, only free shipping scored as high as email messages to confirm orders in importance to consumers.
Take advantage of the vital role that transactional messages play in your relationship with your customers. ...
Tell me moreCategories: Response
Sep
13
By Tami Monahan Forman
Director of Strategic Services
I have a secret. I love to write subject lines. It's a task that many email marketers dread, but I think it's fun! It must go back to my days on my college newspaper, writing headlines.
And, in my work with Return Path clients, I get to help write a lot of subject lines. So, I thought I'd share with you all the method Strategic Services has developed for writing subject lines. Following these 6 steps will make the task of writing subject lines easier and more effective. ...
Tell me moreCategories: Response
Aug
08
By Tami Monahan Forman
Director of Strategic Services
We recently got a call from a client (who shall remain nameless, for what will soon be obvious reasons) with a question that we found alarming.
The client who called us is the email manager for his company, acting as a kind of internal agency to a number of departments who want to use email marketing. One such department requested that he put together a "one-time" email for a list they had acquired. ....
Tell me moreCategories: Response
Aug
02
By Matt Blumberg
CEO & Chairman
You're probably sick to death of us talking about complaints and how they impact your email reputation. At the risk of pushing you over the edge, though, consider the matter from the perspective of the complainers. In a recent Return Path survey, nearly 79% of consumers admitted that they have hit the "spam" or "junk" email button to get rid of email they don't want. And nearly 37% do it as a way to unsubscribe from things they had asked to receive ....
Categories: Response
Jul
19
By Stephanie Miller
VP Strategic Services
Twenty percent of marketers said they can measure ROI, but cannot act on it, according to an April survey of senior-level marketers by the Association of National Advertisers. The survey found that 32% of marketers are satisfied with their ability to measure and act on ROI to improve business results, up from 19% in 2005.
Measuring and acting to improve ROI is a common challenge for email marketers, as well. I've got some data, but not enough. Or, I get reports from my ESP, but I don't know what to do with them. Or, I know the profile of my subscribers, but I can't segment based on demographics.
Steal one or more of these ideas to help turn whatever data you have today into real ROI.
Use email to educate prospects. Many marketers have both prospects and customers on their house list, sending the same promotions to both and rarely inspiring either segment to action ....
Tell me moreCategories: Response
Jul
10
By Stephanie Miller
VP Strategic Services
Readers spend an average of 51 seconds with email newsletters, typically skimming the contents. Only 19% of newsletters are read fully. (Nielsen Norman, 2006)
That's good news and bad news for B2B email marketers, who are most likely to produce content newsletters rather than tips or pure promotions.
Good news is that 51 seconds is a long time in the email world, as promotional emails get about 15 seconds (Marketing Sherpa, 2005). The average person reads about 200 words a minute, which means, I'm loosely figuring, you'd get about 100-150 words after headlines and images to communicate and engage - or about 5-7 headlines if the reader is skimming ....
Categories: Response
Jun
22
By Stephanie Miller
VP Strategic Services
We all earn a permission grant from our subscribers, and then watch the response rates falter after a few email messages. Why do consumers and business professionals sign up for email they don't want to read? Well, they do want to hear from you, but when you don't manage to keep them engaged, you lose out to other things in their inbox. To break through inbox clutter, you have meet a high standard.
Want your email program to work harder? Apply this crazy idea to your program: Make the email itself the point. Our research shows that the primary driver of opens and response is prior value with the email program itself. It matters less that your brand is recognized, or even that the reader is a loyal customer. The key is providing value in the email message.
To wit. Sending a promotion about merchandise makes the email about the offer. What if the email was the point? Instead, send three tips for summer travel, staying elegant in the heat, or preparing tasty, nutritious meals without turning on the oven. Feature your merchandise "in real life." ....
Tell me moreCategories: Response
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