低迷经济中发挥电子邮件营销的5个优势 (译文/原创）

几乎没有公司可以逃过经济危机的劫难,并且市场营销预算首当其冲地受到影响.

当营销预算萎缩, 相当比例的资金转移到了在线媒介. 日子艰难, 营销人员需要能力去测量,证明ROI, 并且将集中在获得客户最有效的手段上. 电子邮件, 特别的, 提供营销者一个经济有效的途径与核心客户保持紧密沟通, 充分发挥客户数据的优势, 并从现有基础上分析以获得额外的巨大价值.

今天的电子邮件营销者正在面临挑战吗? 那就要讨论使用客户分析来驱动业务,并且切实执行.

在推动相关供给OFFER和内容以使转化率和交易率最大化方面,电子邮件营销者常常不能充分发挥他们所了解到的客户信息的优势. 那些建立了一个巨大订阅者列表的公司,由于没有执行同期的分析策略,导致列表的90%价值未被开发. 这是无法承受的缺点

从客户沟通策略里面搜寻最大价值的营销者, 通过他们的电子邮件反映数据可以获得更高级的对客户的理解,而不需要支付额外的费用. 这将允许营销者开发更多精准的,相关的OFFER, 和信息. 如果你还没有让你的分析人员开始这样做,那么现在开始长袖善舞吧!

超越打开和点击

根据最近的FORREST RESEARCH报告, 40%以上的电子邮件营销者仅仅使用基本的测量指标,比如打开和点击率. 这比完全不做分析要好,但还是不够的. 如果把客户从点击电子邮件开始后到达网站的行为也考虑进行全面分析, 营销者将获得更好的结果和更有效,快捷的ROI.

跟踪网站行为

几乎所有电子邮件的目的都是为了推动网页的流量; 然而大多数的跟踪集中在了电子邮件本身上. 打部分的分析工具提供者可以和电子邮件提供者方便集成, 但是很少恭喜把电子邮件和站点分析绑定.

站点行为, 比如站点目录, 一个电子邮件接收者的访问,或者放弃购物车行为, 都可以推动更多的相关电子邮件活动. 分析站点行为将成为任何高级电子邮件活动的奠基石,因为它将产生更多相关邮件,而没有增加费用.

增加订单规模,而不是列表规模

过去几年, 营销者面对海市蜃楼般的销售额目标, 使用电子邮件营销来弥补不足. 最大频度的方法来达到目标, 就是增加发送到列表的电子邮件数量.

这个方法显然是有效的,因为它经济并且能带来短期需求的效果. 在广泛流传的减速期, 很多很多营销者把这个作为他们的核心策略.

结果? 消费者每周屡次看到他们的邮箱挤满非定向的信息. 无论营销者还是消费者都没有从这种非聚焦,轻易发出的策略中受益. 与其纯粹地增加列表规模,不如专注于增加订单的平均金额, 通过一个长期的检测方案来提高对现有用户列表的细分和定向.

测试,测试,测试

根绝FORRESTER RESEARCH的报告, 只有23% 的营销者拥有全面的检测方案. 大部分营销者依赖猜测或者在发送前面的偶然测试.

由于营销者们被要求花费更少且做事更多, 没有什么策略比一个全面的测试规划更能引起快速的影响. 毕竟, 能否成功了解一个活动的单个人的行为,可以帮助更快获得未来的成功. A/B测试可以测试他们邮件的一个方面两个选项哪个更好, 可以迅速展示电子邮件的价值.

从标题开始, 测试价值为基础的信息, 比如折扣还是优惠券. 电子邮件营销者使用相关的放映数据进行分析, 可以开发多方面的综合测试, 针对每个信息(标题,创意,设计) 来决定最好的组合. 没有一个大量的测试规划, 电子邮件营销的各个方面只能来自于建嗲难得猜测.

不要忽略未反馈者

即使那些拥有精巧分析程序的营销者也会忽略他们列表的一大部分: 为反馈者. 确定为什么某个细粉没有反馈将极大帮助获得更多销售额.

当预算吃紧, 营销者必须持续了解和优化收集于消费者的知识. 在减速期间最重要的是, 使用分析获得关于消费者行为的信息, 同时开发相匹配的 相关沟通方法与每个消费者进行沟通的方案.

在电子邮件活动中开发最相关,定向的创意和信息的关键,是尽最大可能的了解订阅者在以前电子邮件活动中的行为. 这只能在你已经对每个客户细分进行了分析后发生.

没有公司可以对它所有的客户发送同一套创意和OFFER, 现有环境要求营销者倾尽所有, 一个针对电子邮件活动的全面客户分析程序将带来更多更多收入.

Five Ways to Leverage E-mail in a Down Economy

http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=3631664
By Al DiGuido, The ClickZ Network, Nov 13, 2008

Few companies have escaped the turmoil of the economic crisis. And marketing budgets are usually first to take the hit.

While marketing budgets shrink, a greater portion of marketing dollars are shifting to digital media -- and for good reason. When times are tough, marketers require the ability to measure, prove ROI (define), and focus on the most efficient means to reach customers. E-mail, in particular, allows marketers a cost-effective way to stay close to core customers, leveraging customer data and analytics to extract greater value from their existing base.

Are today's e-mail marketers rising to the challenge? It's one thing to talk about using customer analytics to drive business and quite another to actually do it.

Too often, e-mail marketers fail to leverage what they know about their customers to drive relevant offers and content to maximize conversions and transactions. Companies that build a large list of subscribers without a concurrent analytics strategy leave 90 percent of the list's value untapped. That's a shortcoming you can't afford.

Marketers seeking the most value from their customer contact strategy without spending additional funds should work on gaining an advanced understanding of their customers through their e-mail response data. This should enable marketers to develop more targeted, relevant offers, and messaging. If you aren't putting your analytics to work, now's the time to roll up your sleeves and get started.

Go Beyond Opens and Clicks

More than 40 percent of e-mail marketers say they use only basic metrics, such as open and click rates, according to a recent Forrester Research report. While that's better than forgoing analysis entirely, it's not enough. Marketers will find much better results and achieve greater, faster ROI when they implement an advanced behavioral analysis, taking into account what consumers do on a Web site once they click in the e-mail.

Track Web Site Behavior

The goal of nearly every e-mail is to drive traffic to a Web page; yet most tracking only focuses on the e-mail. Most analytics vendor tools integrate with e-mail providers quite easily, but few companies tie together e-mail and site analytics and then on the information.
Site behavior, such as Web site categories an e-mail recipient visits or shopping cart abandonment, can drive far more relevant e-mail campaigns. Analyzing Web site behavior should be the cornerstone of any advanced e-mail campaign because it will produce more relevant e-mails without additional costs.

Increase Order Sizes, Not List Size

Over the years, marketers faced with a looming revenue target have turned to e-mail marketing to make up a shortfall. The most frequent method for hitting that goal, however, has been to increase the volume of e-mails sent to the house list.
It's easy to lean on this method because it's inexpensive and can bring needed short-term results. During a widespread slowdown, too many marketers use this as their core strategy.
The result? Consumers watch their e-mail boxes fill with untargeted messages several times a week. Neither marketers nor consumers really benefit from this unfocused, easy-way-out strategy. Rather than solely increasing list size, look to increase average order sizes and overall revenue by creating a long-term testing program while improving segmentation and targeting to your house list.

Test, Test, Test

Only 23 percent of marketers say they have a comprehensive testing program, according to Forrester Research. Most marketers rely on total guesswork or occasionally test their messages prior to spending.

Because marketers are tasked with doing more while spending less, no strategy will make more of an immediate impact than introducing a comprehensive testing plan. After all, understanding the success and failure of a campaign's individual components can help achieve future triumphs more quickly. A/B tests (define) where companies test the better of two options of a single facet of their e-mail can quickly demonstrate the value locked away in e-mails.

Start with the subject line. Test value-based messages that mention discounts or coupons. E-mail marketers with statistically relevant response volumes should work with in-house analysts or with an agency to develop multivariate tests (define) that test multiple facets of each message (from subject line, to creative, to design) to determine the best combination of elements. Without a robust test plan, every element of your e-mail marketing program is simply guesswork.

Don't Neglect Non-responders

Even those marketers who have a sophisticated analytics program neglect a significant portion of their list: non-responders. Determining why a segment isn't responding can be extremely helpful in driving more revenue.

When budgets are tight, marketers must constantly learn and optimize based on knowledge gleaned about customers. Priority number one during the slowdown: use analytics to learn more about customer behaviors and develop a program to match relevant communications with the needs of each customer.

The key to developing the most relevant, targeted creative and messaging in your e-mail campaigns is to learn as much as possible about how your subscribers have responded to past e-mail campaigns. This can only occur after you have analyzed your customers with an eye toward the needs of each customer segment.

No company can speak to all of its customers with a single set of creative and offers. In an environment where marketers must make the most of what they have, a sophisticated customer analytics program for e-mail campaigns will unlock significant revenue.