Using Email Promotions

 

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While the effectiveness of e-newsletters is measured over time by their ability to retain customers, email promotions are intended to have immediate results for your email marketing plan. Email promotions should increase purchases, sign-ups, downloads or registrations.

As a result, the conversion rate (the percentage of email recipients that take the desired action) is a better measure of its success for an email promotion than its open rate.

To induce recipients toward immediate conversion, email promotions need to be more compelling than in-store offers. Common incentives include free shipping, reduced prices or complimentary gifts. Studies show flat-out dollar amounts generate more conversions than percentages off. However, results vary.

For example, free shipping on small, lightweight items isn't as compelling as for large items where the shipping cost may rival the purchase price. Test several offers to determine what works best for your target market. The more unique an offer is, the more likely it is to spark interest. If customers don't show up, you haven't given anything away.

Incentives are paired with a deadline that encourages recipients to act immediately and provides a timeframe for measuring results. Since email promotions can be delivered quickly, at no cost, they are an ideal tool for boosting short-term performance. For example, a restaurant or hotel with low reservations for a specific upcoming weekend can send an email promotion that boosts attendance by offering a discount or free gift on those days.

Put time limits on offers so customers will use them immediately. Take advantage of natural deadlines such as holidays, tax deadlines, birthdays and seasonality. Consider limiting the number of offers that can be redeemed. For example, on peak shopping days, retail stores offer incentives to the first 100 or 200 customers to boost early in-store sales.

Work Smart When planning an email promotion, consider the timing. For some retailers, sales during November and December account for more than one-third of their annual income. There are only 19 business days after Thanksgiving where online retail businesses can guarantee timely delivery of purchases. As a result, many businesses consider free shipping a cost of business during this time--rather than a promotional offer.

The format of an outgoing email can influence the success of an email promotion as much as the offer itself. Prior to sending an email, ensure that you've addressed best practices:

• Include plain text -- Most email promotions are optimized for delivery in HTML format. Nevertheless, email promotions should always be sent as a multipart email with HTML and plain-text versions of the email embedded. The benefits of multipart emails are twofold: They allow the message to be read using email clients, such as mobile devices, that don't load images; and they require marketers to provide a substantive and compelling description of their promotion.
• Don't replace text with images -- Avoid using images for headlines, links and calls to action. This process of flattening text increases the likelihood that the promotion will be rejected by spam filters. Also, many email clients are set to block images and require the recipient to download images separately.
• Consider the preview panel -- Begin your promotion with the most compelling content. This way, if a recipient's email client is set to preview incoming messages, they will have an opportunity to see persuasive information about your email promotion before they open it.
• Remind Subscribers -- Remind recipients that they asked to receive your offer and provide them with the ability to opt-out of future offers. Prevent a reputation for spamming.