Using Email To Increase ROI

Using Email to increase ROI

Customer Momentum is key to any retail relationship. There are too many competitors out there to risk leaving it to chance that when the time comes, the consumer will remember you and make a beeline to you to purchase the much needed product. This is where email comes in. Email Marketing is an extremely cost effective method of ensuring that you are in the consumers mind by arriving in their inbox at regular intervals with relevant offers, news and specials.

In order to have momentum, you need to meet 2 basic requirements:

1: Permission
2: A reason in order to contact your customer.

Below, we have listed 6 easily applied reasons for contacting your database by email:

1. Newsletter
2. Say thank you
3. Follow up
4. In a poll-get feedback
5. Offer discounts/promo
6. Viral marketing -ask for referrals

Now that you have a reason to contact your database, below are some helpful tips to help increase list growth and ROI from your email marketing efforts. Please keep in mind that these tips are by no means exhaustive, but they give you some good information to work with.

Creating Your List

Use Opt in method rather than Opt out method. That is, the client needs to tick the box to opt in rather than un tick and a pre ticked box. This will give you a cleaner and more valuable list.
Offer alternatives of communications such as newsletters, specials, different product lines etc. This way you have more of a chance of appealing to a wider audience by providing something for everyone. Be sure also to state how often they will receive it i.e weekly, monthly, occasional etc, as someone may not be happy to receive a weekly promotional email from you, but are more than happy to receive an occasional e-flyer.
Capture more details other than just email address. By doing so, you are then not only building your list, but you are able to segment and target - which will reduce reader burnout, as you can ensure they are receiving targeted and relevant information which is of interest to them. Ponemon Institute conducted a survey in January 05: Effect of trust on information Sharing with Online Merchants. (Source: Ponemon Institute, January 2005)
Send an email confirmation the same day as they subscribe-preferably immediately after. This can easily be done if using an ESP email Service Provider).
Ask to be whitelisted in the confirmation email as well as thank you page after subscribing. However, it's no good asking to be whitelisted if the confirmation email isn't delivered to the inbox! Make sure that the email is personalised with the subscriber's first name, and ensure that the branding reinforces your branding. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship, so you don't want to make a bad first impression! You can read more about Confirmation emails at: http://www.ezemail.com/resources/articles/confirmation-emails.html
Ensure that all your online marketing efforts incorporate an 'opt in' box to subscribe to receive e-communications i.e whether it is during the sales process or resulting from a banner ad to download a freebie, offer them the chance to receive further e-communications from yourself. Make the most of every opportunity.
Make the call to subscribe obvious: At a minimum it needs to be in a prominent place on the main page, but it is recommended that it is also placed on other key pages of the website….make it easy for the reader to subscribe.
Don't use pop ups for subscribers: An eMarketer report states that 94% of people find them annoying.(Source: eMarketer: Email Marketing: How to improve ROI 2005)
Inform: Give your readers information about what they are subscribing to. Truverse conducted a survey in October 05: What can sites do to encourage email subscriptions? The clear winners were; 1: Give the subscriber control of what is delivered when 2: Show them an example. This can be as simple as a "click here to view a sample", or "click here to view our archives". (Source: Truverse, October 2005)

Create

Entice: Entice the reader to open the email. Deliver a persuasive subject line, copy and offer.
Personalise: Jupiter Research reports that you are 40% more likely to have average conversion rates of more than 3% compared with those who don't personalise. (Source: "Effective Email Marketing" Jupiter Research Vol3 2004)
Grab attention: The look of the email needs to grab attention immediately. Make it irresistible -both in aesthetics and copy. Keep in mind that readers skim, so don't overload them.
Remember, the email is only the first step; it is the following steps where you sell the product.
Reinforce brand name in subject line or "From". Wherever possible, don't use a persons name but rather use the company's name.
Position your logo thoughtfully: The position of the Logo is very important and it needs to be above the fold (i.e so that it is seen within the 'preview' pane.
Be helpful: Let them know why they're receiving the email-remind them of how they subscribed. Often this will nip any complaints in the bud, thus saving you resources in responding to potential complaints.
Be consistent with branding. Whenever possible, reinforce your brand….this applies to e-communications as well. If you have a slick looking website, then follow suite with a slick looking e-flyer. Don't vary it. If possible, use the same logo and the same colouring as on your website, have the companies name on the "From' Field. It is simple things like these, which will entice your reader to open and read the email-simply based on their familiarity of your company's logo.

The Offer

Discounts and Free Shipping: Jupiter Research found discount oriented promotional email had best results in generating sales. 67% of consumers find a sale price compelling motivation and 55% were motivated by free shipping. (Source: "The ROI of Email Relevance" Jupiter Research Vol 1 2005)
Obvious: Make the offer and the call to action obvious. Readers skim, so don't make it hard for them to grasp or find.
Don't wait for reader to find offer at bottom of page - put it a couple of convenient places.
If creating a postcard, ensure it is not just one image. It can be designed to appear to be, but for the sake of deliverability, it needs to have more text than image %. Spam Filters tend to penalize emails which are made up either of just one image or if they have a large image to text ratio.

Deliver

Use an ESP: It is no use applying all of the above tips if your emails do not arrive in the recipient's inboxes. Be sure to use a reputable, whitelisted ESP which will increase your chance significantly of arriving in the inbox.
Multipart: Ensure that you emails are sent using Multipart technology, which sends both text and HTML versions of the e-communications and allows the recipient's email client to determine which version it receives.
Personalise: Personalising your e-communications will not only help to build the client/customer relationship, but also enables the success rate to be higher as the email will be more Spam filter friendly.
Frequency: A survey by the e-tailing Group, finds that the highest percentage of retailers (32%) send communications on a weekly basis, with bi-monthly following a close second (26%). (Source: E-tailing Group, the Merchant Speaks, April 2005)

Conclusion:
Remember to integrate the email campaign with other marketing efforts, which may well be offline strategies. Email marketing is push marketing and can be used effectively and economically to bring clients to your online or offline shop. If you have any questions regarding any of these tips, please feel free to contact me: kath@ezemail.com

Kath Pay is Marketing Director of Ezemail, an innovative company that provides comprehensive email marketing solutions including a fully re-brandable Agency solution. For more information on how easily email marketing can be implemented, please contact Kath at kath@ezemail.com