Question

Topic: E-Marketing

Publishing Articles About B2b Sales And Marketing – Question 3 Of 4

Posted by Anonymous on 2/19/2004 at 9:30 PM ET 250 Points
This is question three in a series of four questions. Please see the first post for the background and answers so far:

Question 1 of 4 (now closed, but suggest you to read for background)
Question 2 of 4 (still open)

Problem 3 of 4: Our yield is dropping. Prior to December 2003, we averaged 25% click-throughs, but this is falling. Feedback from those who read them is super-positive, but we need more to read. Our emails are sent monthly, and they are very short invitations to read one of four leading articles written by opinion leaders on subjects that are compatible with our methodology.

The system we use to for our web site and member-management (including emails) can only present a single trackable link, even though there are four articles. We could link to the articles from the email, but we’d lose all tracking. So our invitation from a single email is to click through to a single page that summarises each of the four articles, and then provides four links to a one-screen précis of each explaining how this article fits with our methodology, and they in turn link to the full article.

We don’t know if the problem is that SPAMers have ruined a good medium for us, or that four articles in one monthly email is too much and maybe we should do one email with a single article each week, or that there are too many steps, or something else we’ve missed.

Question 3 of 4: How can we improve our click-throughs? This is an opt-in list of (typically very senior) sales and marketing people (and CEOs) who are very interested in generating demand (managing their funnel). Specific experience-based suggestions would be most appreciated (we’ve got theory coming out of our ears already).

I will post question 4 (encouraging email forwards) after this one runs out of steam.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Blaine Wilkerson on 2/20/2004 at 2:15 AM Accepted
    I not only understand your dilemma, but agree with the above suggestions/statements.

    However, Tim Pepper, a frequent Top25 expert is a pro in this arena. I reccomend contacing him via his site:

    www.pepperblue.com or his email listed in his profile (pepperblue).

    It's most likely he will respond to this question anyway, but just in case...he's the guy I recommend for consult on newsletter optimization.

    I have some ideas if he doesn't get back to you soon or does not post...I'll keep an eye on this question...
  • Posted by Pepper Blue on 3/2/2004 at 12:03 PM Member
    Wow, what a great bunch of information everybody has given.

    Hugh, is it possible to see an example of the e-newsletter?

    One suggestion I didn't see, but excuse me if it was posted is to make it more interactive. I did see suggestions for more engagement, same difference I guess.

    One area that recently worked for a client of mine was a "contest".

    Now while open rates remained the same at about 48%, their was a definite increase in business, both from existing and new customers, and the forward to a friend rate increased.

    In this case a stronger and more interactive call to action is what proved to get things going.

    Hope that helps, I can get into more detail if needed.



  • Posted by Pepper Blue on 3/7/2004 at 12:08 AM Accepted
    Hi Hugh,

    O.K., after reading over your 2 newsletters and all the above responses I think Richard B gave some pretty solid advice, I really can't add anything original to it, but can add some comments, all from my customer's experiences.

    People don't like to think when reading a website or a newsletter. Like he said, help them make decisions. If they want to think, then this where you provide links to landing pages where they can at their option put their brains into gear.

    If you can change your ASP without too much pain, do it. You need more trackability. But, you don't want to put too many links in because the value of tracking gets diluted - too many switches and levers to play with - but at least you can give a 2-3 (3 at max) "calls to action" options and track them. For example, go to a 1)white paper, or go 2) to an excerpt from the "Leaky Funnel" or 3) a customer case study. Then next time you can meaure and tweak.

    I definitely would consider less content more frequently. I have found that once a month is not enough. Twice is optimal, unless you have a lot of weekly specials like a retailer or a lot of constantly changing content i.e. financial services.

    As I mentioned earlier, occasionally throwing in something interactive or competitive gets people opening that normally wouldn't. Even at the high level of your subscribers, everybody likes to have fun.

    Hope this helps Hugh.

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