Person sending mail with bow. Express delivery concept. Isolated

Background

This post was a result of the following:

A client of ours – Renzo Huruiti from DNVGL is currently sending regular email communications to his database.

I then asked him the following question, “what is the purpose of your campaigns?“, followed by “you still need a clear objective“.

Renzo then replied “do you have any documentation on target outcomes for emails?”. I had none on hand.

So this post is for you Renzo, and all those other marketers in the B2B world engaged with email marketing campaigns.

What are the key outcomes do you want for your email campaigns?

1. To stimulate interactions

I wrote about this in a previous post. In my experience, the best measure of success of an eDM (Electronic Direct Mail) is to drive clicks or interactions. This is a reflection of those who open the email and engage with the content of the email. For example, this may involve clicking “read more” on a particular piece of material you are writing about.

2. To drive sales

It is important to include a clear call to action within the content of the email. This could be an image with a link attached labelled “Book a Meeting”, “Request a Demo”, or “RSVP – Yes” to name just a few. With any intuitive marketing automation platform when the recipient of the email clicks this ‘button’/call to action within the email, this  should then fire off an instant notification to the assigned sales agent with the prospects relevant details.

3. To educate

Most companies in the B2B world have a very unique product or service. The majority of the time, the potential customer fails to see the benefits of the product or service because he/she does not properly understand its usefulness or purpose. Therefore, it is important to educate the potential customer about your product. This could include a series of eDMs in the form of an automatic drip or nurture campaign. Usually, people learn best through whitepapers (PDFs), Webinars or PowerPoint presentations, so make sure you embed these assets within your eDM campaigns.

4. Reach

This entails expanding your reach or audience over time. I recall taking a full page ad out in the Wentworth Courier for a client. It cost them 7.5k. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulation made in June 2013, it boasts a circulation of 51,393. However, the amount of people who actually would have looked at that specific ad, I doubt will be over to 1%. Emails on the other hand – given it has a catchy title and you have ensured your email passes through the spam box – will be read or at least skimmed by the recipient (and cost you far less). Therefore, it is a numbers game. The more known valid emails on your database the higher your reach. So keep the top of your funnel ripe with new names.

Feel free to post any other outcomes you have recognised as important for your email campaigns below.