If you’re asking the question “is email marketing still effective?” our answer is absolutely yes! But (and this is a big but), in order to achieve meaningful results, you need to have a strategy in place. You won’t know what’s working, what’s not and what to change unless you set yourself some email marketing goals.
So, what are useful goals to set, and what metrics do you need to track to constantly improve on your efforts? We delve into the ‘whys’ and the ‘hows’ to help you get set for success.
Why you need SMART goals for email marketing
Often, the reason email marketing falls short, is because you’ve not defined what success is. If you don’t know where you’re going – how will you know if you’ve arrived?
Before you start getting creative with email design, we recommend setting yourself some goals, but not just any goals – SMART goals.
SMART goals set you up for email marketing victory. They will transform a general idea, or distant dream into an actionable pathway to success by using a specific set of criteria to help you define your objectives.
The SMART in a SMART goal stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Using this approach, you will remove any generalisations or guesswork from your objectives, set a clear timeline and make it easy to track your success.
Your SMART goals will define your intent and focus your commitment to a specific objective. They will also help you to monitor performance, and reduce wasted time spent aimlessly sending marketing emails with no real aim.
Our top 3 SMART goals for email marketing
So, now you understand the necessity and benefits of goal setting for email marketing, let’s look at some example goals that you can get started with right now.
Email Goal #1: Increase open rates
The best ways to increase your email open rates is to A/B split test your subject lines, send times and to segment your audience. Sending relevant emails to the right people at the right time will inevitably assist you in achieving this goal.
The more people that actually open your emails, the more chances you’ll have to turn them into customers, or loyal brand advocates.
Example SMART goal for increasing open rates:
By the end of the quarter, we will boost email open rates by 8% through split testing our subject lines on all email sends and segmenting our audience into active and inactive subscribers.
Related metric to track: email open rate.
Email Goal #2: Improve click through rate
Once you’ve achieved higher numbers of people opening your emails, you’ll want to get more people to click on your calls to action.
Resist the urge to clutter your email template with multiple offers, confusing messages or numerous links in the hope something will work – step back to your SMART goals and consider your main objective. What one thing do you want the reader to ultimately do? Don’t confuse matters and remain focused.
Example Smart Goal:
In six months, we will see a 25% increase in our email click through rate, averaging 350 clicks per email send by streamlining our email template design, testing our calls to action, segmenting our list and providing high-value content based on audience feedback.
Related metric to track: email click through rate.
Email Goal #3: Re-engage inactive subscribers
All email marketing lists have inactive subscribers. But bombarding them on a regular basis means they cost you money and provide little in return. Remember, list size is merely a vanity metric – engagement is far more significant.
Good email marketing practice means sending high-quality content to people that enjoy it, and therefore want to hear from you. Engaged lists mean better inbox placement and return on your email spend.
Example Smart Goal:
By the end of May, we will have segmented our email list to identify any subscribers that have not opened an email in the last 6 months. We will create a 3-step re-engagement campaign to try to entice them back into our active list and automate this send when an email address is added to this database.
Related metrics to track: Open rate, bounce rate, number of unsubscribes and SPAM complaints
So there you have it, our top 3 email marketing goals for you to get started today. Just remember, setting goals, no matter how SMART they are will not deliver unless you follow through with them. Making sure you’re monitoring your email sends, tweaking your designs and staying focused on your goals will inevitably ensure you’re actively committing to improvement.
So, what is your SMART goal for your next email marketing campaign going to be? If you still can’t decide, get in touch with Transpond today. We’ll help you structure a focused email marketing strategy for success.