What are the metrics to check the success and effectiveness of commercial mailings?
Posted: Mon Dec 23, 2024 5:27 am
We are used to measuring the results of the marketing actions we carry out to levels that in some cases border on paranoia, and yet, in mailing campaigns we tend to settle for knowing the number of subscribers to whom the email is sent and the opening or viewing rate of the email. Sticking to such a poor report is a mistake, since the medium allows us to analyse many other additional metrics that are also more reliable than openings, since these, if we think about it coldly, do not allow us to know the real success of a campaign, since many subscribers may have opened the email but not necessarily to read our offer or message. Maybe it was to delete it 2 seconds later! Let's see what data we should analyse (we show them in order, before sending, while sending and after sending): QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF OUR SUBSCRIBERS
Whether it is a database generated with our own resources or provided by providers of co-registrations, leads, etc. The first thing we need to know is who are we going to send our newsletters to? And how close or far is their profile from our target audience based on our offer or message? We are not going to go into too much detail here on this subject because there are many variables and different cases, but we must be clear in order to analyse the results if the database we are going to use is well segmented or not.
For example, if we send an offer for super cool alloy wheels address in laos to tune our car and we have 10% of requests for information, it can be considered: A- A success if we have sent the newsletter to a horizontal and general database. B- A failure if we were supposed to send it to a vertical and segmented database of tuning enthusiasts registered in specialised forums. As we can see, the result being the same in both cases, the consideration of whether it has been good or bad varies. It is the job of the marketing manager who will coordinate the campaign to analyse and decide whether it can be considered a success or failure based on previous experiences, initial expectations, etc.
As for the size of the database, there are a couple of aspects to consider: the first is whether the number of subscribers is increasing or decreasing (this will indicate the evolution of our list and the interest of our subscribers) and the second, if it is a third-party database, to ensure that the volume of the database corresponds to the real size of the market we are targeting, comparing it with reliable sources.
For example, if someone offers us a database of computer distributors in Spain with 500,000 records, taking into account that the Ministry of Industry indicates that the number of companies in this sector is about 30,000, then it is clear that something is not right, either they have many repeated emails in each company from positions without decision-making power, or many old emails that no longer exist or it is not really well segmented. NUMBER OF BOUNCED OR FAILED EMAILS
We put this parameter second even though it could be thought that it is a piece of data to be analyzed after sending. In reality, if we use a sending system such as www.mailrelay.com that allows us to analyze our database by comparing it with a record of failed emails already located, we should take advantage of it and check the percentage of bounced emails before sending to get feedback on the quality of the same. From 10% of failed emails it indicates that the database is not well updated, it may be old or worse, it may have invented emails. It will also be advisable to check the bounced emails after sending to find out possible problems that have occurred at the infrastructure level or to find out about new ones detected. SPEED AND STATUS OF SENDING
If we need the campaign to be sent within a certain time frame, for example from 10 to 12 in the morning or before a certain date, we will have to make sure that the mailing provider will be able to send it quickly enough and without being blocked. It will also be interesting to be able to check in real time that the mailing is being sent, see openings, bounces, clicks, etc. This is an excellent method to locate possible problems and be able to correct them in time at the moment, avoiding the horrible feedback the next day: "... oops, there was a problem and in the end the mailing did not go through."
Whether it is a database generated with our own resources or provided by providers of co-registrations, leads, etc. The first thing we need to know is who are we going to send our newsletters to? And how close or far is their profile from our target audience based on our offer or message? We are not going to go into too much detail here on this subject because there are many variables and different cases, but we must be clear in order to analyse the results if the database we are going to use is well segmented or not.
For example, if we send an offer for super cool alloy wheels address in laos to tune our car and we have 10% of requests for information, it can be considered: A- A success if we have sent the newsletter to a horizontal and general database. B- A failure if we were supposed to send it to a vertical and segmented database of tuning enthusiasts registered in specialised forums. As we can see, the result being the same in both cases, the consideration of whether it has been good or bad varies. It is the job of the marketing manager who will coordinate the campaign to analyse and decide whether it can be considered a success or failure based on previous experiences, initial expectations, etc.
As for the size of the database, there are a couple of aspects to consider: the first is whether the number of subscribers is increasing or decreasing (this will indicate the evolution of our list and the interest of our subscribers) and the second, if it is a third-party database, to ensure that the volume of the database corresponds to the real size of the market we are targeting, comparing it with reliable sources.
For example, if someone offers us a database of computer distributors in Spain with 500,000 records, taking into account that the Ministry of Industry indicates that the number of companies in this sector is about 30,000, then it is clear that something is not right, either they have many repeated emails in each company from positions without decision-making power, or many old emails that no longer exist or it is not really well segmented. NUMBER OF BOUNCED OR FAILED EMAILS
We put this parameter second even though it could be thought that it is a piece of data to be analyzed after sending. In reality, if we use a sending system such as www.mailrelay.com that allows us to analyze our database by comparing it with a record of failed emails already located, we should take advantage of it and check the percentage of bounced emails before sending to get feedback on the quality of the same. From 10% of failed emails it indicates that the database is not well updated, it may be old or worse, it may have invented emails. It will also be advisable to check the bounced emails after sending to find out possible problems that have occurred at the infrastructure level or to find out about new ones detected. SPEED AND STATUS OF SENDING
If we need the campaign to be sent within a certain time frame, for example from 10 to 12 in the morning or before a certain date, we will have to make sure that the mailing provider will be able to send it quickly enough and without being blocked. It will also be interesting to be able to check in real time that the mailing is being sent, see openings, bounces, clicks, etc. This is an excellent method to locate possible problems and be able to correct them in time at the moment, avoiding the horrible feedback the next day: "... oops, there was a problem and in the end the mailing did not go through."