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Send Fewer Emails, Make More Money
By Robert "Dude" Spellings, Jr. | February 13, 2009
If you’ve read any of my posts, you know I am a big believer in relevancy. I’ve long believed that email could transform direct marketing from what many recipients would consider a nuisance into a win-win proposition for both the marketer and the recipient. We still have a long way to go, but it looks like my prediction is coming to fruition.
Chad White over at The Retail Email Blog has some amazing stats which demonstrate that marketers who put the effort into making emails relevant to recipients are rewarded handsomely. He’s got gobs of info from the 2009 Email Evolution Conference that show massive increases in performance in response to increased relevance through triggered emails, subject line testing, list management, etc.
Dell’s program was inspiring with several different triggered emails that all had 3x or better response rates over their non-triggered counterparts. But one of the more hidden gems in the post, was this little snippet:
REI performed a cadence test where they suppressed emails to non-clickers for 4 weeks after which they sent them their anniversary sale promotional email. Despite the control group receiving several more emails over that 4-week period, the suppressed group outperformed the control group by 4%. “I know that it’s possible to send fewer emails and make more money,” says Reynolds. “It’s nirvana.”
This is what all email marketers should be shooting for: more responses from fewer emails. No one likes unwanted email and email marketers should be doing everything we can to hit only the people who want to hear from us. In the long run, not only is this strategy going to give you a better ROI, but it will also build your brand and win loyalty from your customers.