Easy Email Marketing: 10 Simple Steps For Creating And Sending Marketing Email Your Customers Will Love
Step 9: Look At Opens, Clicks And Unsubscribes
Welcome to Step 9. I hope you’re feeling good about the email you sent to customers. You may have even sneaked a peek at the reports. Let’s talk about those reports and what really matters.
Adjust Your Expectations
In a perfect world, every customer who read your email clicked and purchased what you offered. (Your email’s Action, remember that?) Alas, the digital world, like the real world, is imperfect.
If you had even one customer take the Action you wanted, then I believe that is reason to celebrate. The reality of digital marketing, especially email marketing, is that if 1 to 10% of customers take you up on your offer, you’re doing great. That has been true for the decades I’ve been doing this.
Here are the hypothetical results of a typical marketing email. Yours may look similar. Sent 1,000 emails -> Opened 400-> Clicked 150-> Sales 30
The big success here is that you started your email marketing the right way and in only eight steps. That is amazing!
If more than 10% of your customers bought something because of your email, you are on to something big. Keep doing that!
If not, don’t worry. I’ll have some solutions for you in the next step.
The Three Things That Matter Most
If you‘ve looked at the reporting your email service offers, you’ve probably seen a lot of confusing information.
I recommend paying attention to only three things right now: Opens, Clicks and Unsubscribes. (And any sales, but those won’t show up in your email reports.)
Opens are the number of times people have opened your email. Your email service should distinguish between cumulative opens and unique opens. That is, the total times the email was opened, even if it was several times by the same person. Versus the number of individual people who opened it.
Clicks, as you’ve probably guessed, are the number of times customers have clicked on the Action link in your email. It is usually smaller than the number of people who opened your email. Not everyone who opens clicks.
Unsubscribes are, of course, the number of people who unsubscribed from your email, never to be heard from again. It’s easy to worry about this number, but don’t obsess over it. You are going to get a few unsubscribes every time you email customers. People’s wants and needs change, they move on, so it goes. But if the number of people unsubscribing is huge, it may call for adjusting your message or offer in the next email. Or it means your list was full of people who didn’t want to be on it in the first place.
The good news is that you have my permission (as if you need it) to ignore reporting beyond Opens, Clicks and Unsubscribes for now. In fact, you may never need to look at anything else as long as customers are opening, clicking and buying. In that case, keep doing whatever you’re doing!
Give It A Few Days
It’s natural for the response to your email to taper off over several days. After that, feel free to go over the report and think about what worked and what can be improved in your next email.
Beyond that, it’s worth occasionally checking on the reports of past emails ― say, once a month or so ― because you never know what people are going to do. I’ve kept offers in my inbox for weeks before acting on them. People are weird.
Next Is Step 10 (And The End Of This Guide)
Can you believe you have almost completed this guide? I can, because you’re a learner and a doer. I knew you’d send that email. I’m proud of you.
Next I’ll share some ideas about the further steps to consider for your marketing email. (That’s a clue ― there’s always a next one.)