How to Raise Email Response Rates

In direct marketing the response rate refers to the number of people who respond to the offer. According to the Direct Marketing Association, 4 out of 5 competitive companies use email promotion as part of their vital marketing mix. Business-to-business email response rates are generally reported in the 1 to 2 percent range by accurate click-through measurement devices. A recent study conducted by Harte-Hanke reviewed 700 permission-based email campaigns, including 4.25 million email addresses. The report objective was to discover the best strategic and creative practices of successful email marketing.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Active website
• Email account

1. Review response average rates. Randy Wussler, Vice President – Product Development at Harte-Hanks, revealed these actual click-through average response rates broken out by campaign types:
   Type and Response Rate
   Market Research - 4.1%
   Sales Promotion - 1.7%
   Subscription Offer - 1.4%
   General Marketing - 1.3%
   Online Seminar Invitation - 1.0%
   Offline Seminar Invitation - 1.0%
   
   The high rates of 25 percent for General Marketing, 21 percent for Market Research and 10.3 percent for Sales Promotion are significant potential indicators for the power of email. An email campaign can reach double the number of prospects, with much stronger response rates than direct mail.

2. Integrate media messages. Integrating your email message with a telemarketing campaign and direct mail program will boost response rates from 5 to 15 percent. Harte-Hanks found that email shouldn’t operate in a vacuum. Create a consistent message dialogue with your customer that blends email with other media to lift customer response.

3. Tailor the message. Create and personalize your email communication based on individual recipients and market segments. Craft your copy to target specific issues of different executive groups like corporate leadership, marketing and sales. This unique messaging raises response rate much more effectively than a generalized message sent to all 3 groups.

4. Design a live landing page. An email campaign with a home page link as response device may lose traffic. A landing page designed specifically for the email offer is the ideal solution. Coordinate copy and graphics on both email and landing page to smooth the prospect’s purchase path. A compelling call-to-action and a transparent response mechanism will capture the sale.

5. Focus on frequency. Optimal frequency for receiving email messages is declining across all marketing categories. Accepted frequency estimates fall within a range of twice weekly to twice per month. Testing your list, conducting warm customer surveys and applying common sense consideration guidelines will bring you to your desired frequency.

Tips & Warnings

• The email sender should be a person, rather than a company. People respond to people, not corporations.