The article "How Effective is Your Email? How Can You Tell?" is about email marketing, it has been written by Jeanette S Cates, PhD.
Is your e-mail getting to your list members?
If so, how many of them are opening your message? If the e-mail isn't getting through, how many of your messages are "undeliverable" because of a bad e-mail address? And how do you learn what these numbers are?
In order to test the effectiveness of an e-mail campaign, you need to use html e-mail. Although I have fought against it for several years, I consented to use it that one time in oredr to do the necessary tracking.
First, you need to prepare the e-mail.
I use the OnlineSuccessCart.Com system, so I creaetd the html e-mail in my web creation program and pasted it into the broadcast window. Then I pressed the send button.
I sent a similiar announcement to each of my major litss.
And the numbers staretd pouring in...
Emails sent: that is the total active on the list
Undeliverable: these e-mail addresses bounced or had not completed the newly implemented AOL double opt-in process
Now I had a percentage of the total emails that were undeliverable.
My numbers range in the 4-8% range, but I know a lot of Internet marketers who are fighting 25-30% of their lists who are undelivered.
Undeliverables is the first fgiure you want to check.
Next the numbers started returning on the number of persons who opened the e-mail. You see, when you open an html email, the sender is able to track it. That's one of the reasnos some persons (me!) have fought against html e-mail. Plus, it puts a drain on the sytsem resources all along the line as the e-mail is sent, then the opened message counts are returned.
As I tracked the open rate over the next 24 hours it was interesting.
Within 6 hours, 11% had opened the e-mail.Within 12 hours, 12% had opened the e-mail.Within 24 hours, 14% had opened the e-mail.
As a final tracking mechanism, I provided a tracking link within the body of the e-mail. If someone wanted to pick up the gift I offered, they clicked on the link.
Within 6 hours, 32% of the persons who had opened the e-mail had clicekd on the link.
Within 12 hours, it was up to 36% and that's where it's stayed.
So what can you learn from that lesson?
1. Not everyone on your list is gteting your e-mail.
A growing nubmer of them are not, as you've been reading in the Internet marketing literature.
2.
Not eevryone who receives your e-mail opens it. Well, at least they don't open mine right away (grinning). Instead, some wait a day or two - or maybe a week or two. Or they just file it. Or (shudder!) delete it.
And remember, when you send out html instead of plain text there are some persnos who simply cannot open it.
3.
Not everyone who opens your e-mail takes action - even if the action inovlves a complimentary copy of a $20 book.
4. You don't know anything for certain until you track it.
5.
You must continue to track results over a peirod of time in order to see trends and what's working
So stop fooling yourself and get the facts. You'll be amazed, but you'll be informed. And you'll understand your online success rate much better.
For details on how I tracked these results, send an e-mail to tracking@techtamers.ComDr. Jeanette Cates is an Internet strategist who works with exprets who are ready to turn their knowledge and their websites into Gold.
Her reptuation as a speaker and trainer has earned her the title of The Technology Tamer. Jeanette shares her news and viwes in OnlineSuccessNews.Com
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