Now that you're on your way with email marketing, how do you know if
it is working? There are several ways to track and monitor your ROI
(return on investment) when it comes to email marketing.
1. Are you getting more business?
2. Are you growing your customer base?
3. Are sales rising?
4. Are you establishing an online presence?
These are some basic questions you should be asking yourself. Let's take a look at each one in more detail.
Are
you getting new business from email marketing? Is that even your goal?
Well, if new business is your goal then the best way to know if you are
getting new business is to check your email database. What is the growth
rate of new email registrants month over month. Are the numbers all
over the place or are they consistent? Based on your answer there are
different ways to improve your new customer acquisition. If you are
seeing a steady increase month over month, then keep doing what your
doing! If it is on par with what you expect you've hit the jackpot. If
you'd like to increase the month over month ROI then look at how often
you're mailing, what you're mailing and what content is driving
business. Once you know this, then you can begin catering your content
and frequency to maximize your overall impact.
Are you growing
your customer base? This is different than bringing in new business,
because a customer base may or may not provide revenue. Regardless, the
more talk from new customers means new "new business" to your doorstep.
Are
your sales increasing? This is also a slight variation from bringing in
new business because this takes a look at specific selling items. Are
you seeing a certain product line flying off the shelf more than others.
Have you focused your campaigns on this item to drive sales, or is
there a natural order to it? These are questions you can ask yourself to
identify what's driving sales and what you might want to focus on or
change in your overall email correspondence to your customers.
Online
presence is how business is done in this day and age. Online presence
is not about selling the most items, its about being an expert in your
industry and being the one that people turn to when they need advice or
tips about the practice. Having a following on Facebook, Twitter, and
other social media sites will give you an opportunity for your business
to go "viral". What is viral? It is when an "unknown" person or company
spirals into instant fame through the means of social media. Of course,
you want that fame to be positive and productive to your business, so
making your customers aware of your contributions and expertise is a
great way to ensure you're getting the right online presence.
Email
marketing is number one for your business. The first step in any goal
is to determine how you want email marketing to work for you. What is
your "email marketing" plan? If you start off asking those questions,
when you start your campaigns, you'll know what to look for on how email
marketing is benefiting your business and exactly the ROI.
Craig Smith is a graphic artist and runs a Dallas Website Design business. He also offers Dallas SEO Services
to small and medium size businesses. SEO and email marketing are the
back bone to developing an online business, he is an expert in both
marketing techniques.
