Successful email campaigns result from ongoing evaluation and adjustment. The real advantage of the technology is the ability to constantly assess effectiveness and make changes immediately. Yet, many food marketers treat email with the mindset that once it is developed and sent, it’s done. That’s static thinking.
The following are some telltale signs that your email campaigns may be suffering from static thinking:
- The company directive syndrome: Email content reflects the concerns and interests of the sending company, and not those of the recipient. The company wants to sell products, but the recipient wants problems solved – theirs. Email content has to express an understanding of the recipient’s problem and how the company’s products/services can offer a solution. “We sell this, how much do you want to buy?” is doomed to fail.
- The conflicted company: Email content contains multiple messages and calls to action, but which ones are really directed at the recipient? Emails should not create doubt and confusion in the mind of the recipient. If the company sending the email can’t decide what is most important, how can the recipient be expected to do so. Focus. The real beauty of email campaigns is total flexibility in send schedules, and multiple unique emails, each with a single focus and call to action. Not only will the recipient understand why they received the message, the sender can evaluate each message/version to determine which ones are most effective.
- Too paralyzed to analyze: Email campaigns generate a great deal of data that is extremely useful in tweaking campaigns to improve ROI. Yet many companies feel a little overwhelmed by performance metrics so they summarily ignore them. Opens, clicks, conversions, and value of each recipient/customer are all pieces of information that when used wisely can greatly improve email campaign ROI.
