I am reading tons of posts about how email is NOT dying, how 2017 is the year of email marketing, and how email is still a HUGE tool for business. Really? I have so many damn emails in my inbox from companies I’ve never subscribed to I blanket delete them all the time. If I only received email from the places I actually subscribed, reading them would be very manageable and meaningful. Today, we all skim emails by subject line, then by sender – just like Google search results. We’re looking for the right topic, then the credibility somewhere in between the lines. But those alone won’t guarantee a meaningful click-thru. There’s still something missing…
As you know, email marketing it’s a numbers game, which is great, I love analytics, but now they are diluted and we’re relying on them too much. Even with all that, I still don’t buy it. I don’t buy that email marketing is more effective than it was 5 or 10 years ago (or even 1). What we’re missing in all this is a new variable, not just a percent or number that shows a perceived value from a campaign. We need something deeper and I’m calling it the Interest Quotient.
The Interest Quotient is a non-linear measurement that is individually unique for each person. How do you measure that? I don’t know, my formula below is a crude generalization. The Quotient though is indicative of the one thing that sparks interest at a given time. There is a common thread despite the uniqueness – it is that there is a deeper Interest in a topic that highlights that message above all the junk. Here’s the most rudimentary formula I could come up with – though I haven’t calculated in any quantum entanglement theories just yet (I’m kidding).
Interest Quotient = (Subject + Sender) * Credibility / Depth of Interest
Start simple every day – Follow these rules on your email campaigns:
- Refine your list, sending to smaller lists is fine.
- Group your lists – don’t send one to all. Keep the segmented by interest, response, lead value, or customer.
- Have depth to your message. It starts with Subject, then Sender and a high dose of credibility
- Make friends with your lists – Like a good manager, know what moves and motivates each list, like a person.
Want to know more? Why not give me a call and we’ll discuss your ideas.
There’s infinite number of great ideas in each person.
Tom Smidt (tom.smidt@icita.net)
720.232.0917