Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

I agree with the others here but I add a word of caution. My open rates and click through rates are not at their highest ever right now. However, lead conversions and sales are. In other words, you can increase open rates when people are confused or don't know what you are advertising, but that doesn't mean that you improved your visibility. You just reached curious but uninterested people - many of which find your message irrelevant. Click through rates depends on your offer. Free reports will get a much higher click through rate than a sales call or appointment. So it depends on what your offer is as to what the click through rate is. It is always best to measure yourself vs. yourself since most offers are not identical. I look less and less at open rates and click through rates and look more and more on how many really interested leads I am getting and then how many of them convert into sales. Yes, I still look at these measures, but they are only indicators, not outcomes in and of themselves.

I agree - It all depends on the offer and the content. High open and click through rates are rare in the current climate and every additional percentage point you can leverage out of a mailing is worth taking.

The quality of the incentive becomes king. If recipients ignore ore otherwise do not respond to your emails to the usual extent (That is a 98% “no-call to action” rate) then a meagre 1% improvement from base will represent a 50% improvement in your results.

Go for it!

Steve Alker

emarketer just posted an article on the subject.
https://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1008045

My open rates really differ based upon the type of message. My e-newsletters, for example, have about a 40% open rate, while promotional offers hover around 20%. Click-through is generally around 10%.

I've experienced stronger results when I've used subject lines that are simple, direct, and clear. I've noticed that many e-marketers try to use mysterious subject lines in an effort (I assume) to inflate open rates. As a consumer, that irritates me, and I end up either unsubscribing from those companies' mailings or clicking "delete" without opening the messages. I think it's less effective in the long run.

I think that the best way to get opt-in email addresses is by social media invitation (e.g. "sign up for our email list to receive special offers") or contests. By using permissed-based approaches like these, you end up marketing to an audience that's more likely to care about your message(s).