Email Marketing Stats – Misleading 'Facts'

In the world of Internet marketing, statistics play a very important role. Businessmen depend on them to chart their future course of action. While marketing through emails, you do not know the kind of person the recipient is, although you do have a fair idea of his preferences. The reports you get back after sending mailers tell you a lot about the impact your emails have made, or in short, depict the success of your campaign.

However, many a times, statistical data can trap you into harbouring misconceptions about your email program. These data usually report on how many emails were delivered and received by your target audience. The word 'delivered' usually signifies the arrival of a message in the recipient's inbox.

However, it can be quite misleading at times because it does not does not take into account the emails that are deleted by anti-spam mechanisms provided by email service providers. Also, it does not consider the mails that are dumped in the 'junk' folder by subscribers. To decipher the real delivery rate, you can make use of delivery monitoring services available online.

Marketers often go around town talking about low unsubscribe rates of their mailers. However, little do they realise that maximum users conveniently check the 'This is Spam' option for your emails, and automatically send them to their 'bulk/junk mail' folder. This means, even if they continue to be your subscribed recipients, they are actually not even looking at your mails! Therefore, do not be under the misconception that they love what you send to them and that is why do not wish to unsubscribe.

When you have identified inactive subscribers from your email marketing list, it is best to send them separate mailers to try and win them back. There might have been certain elements missing from your original campaign – generate appeal with an altogether new one.

When you decide to make reports on your campaign, ask yourself very relevant and appropriate questions. This is the only way in which you can actually reach a correct conclusion and measure the effects of your marketing strategies. Do not believe stats illogically and do not let them mislead you.

Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_215738_3.html