Tomato Fish Marketing

We love it when our client’s are so happy with our service that they send us copies of kudos they receive from their clients:

“Thanks for keeping me on your newsletter list… there must be a way for us to partner on projects.”

This simple success story lead to a new relationship for our client with potential revenue they would not have otherwise had if we had not developed their email newsletters for them on a monthly basis.

Got quesitons? Learn more about our targeted online marketing and implementation system we call TOMI.

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Why is email marketing so important? Email marketing is important because it works and it works with almost any size budget. Here are some email marketing facts for you to think about:

• According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generated an ROI of $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009 and outperforms all other direct marketing channels.
• According to Forbes Media in Feb/March 2009, email and e-newsletter marketing are considered the second-most effective tool for generating conversions, just behind SEO (www.forbesmedia.com).
• A 2009 survey of US B2B marketers by MarketingProfs and Forrester Research found that 39% planned to increase email budgets, while 11% planned a decrease (www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007108).
• The DMA estimate spending on email marketing (in the USA) will increase from $600 million in 2008 to $700 million in 2009 (http://directmag.com/email/1014-email-roi-dma/).
• A 2008 survey by Forrester Research revealed that 95% of surveyed marketers use email marketing, with another 4% planning to do so by year end (http://directmag.com/magill/0909-marketers-social-media/).

Why does email marketing work?

• It allows targeting and is data driven
• It drives direct sales
• It builds loyalty and trust
• It supports your sales and lead generation

And every email campaign that you send out generates data that can be use to refine your message and calls-to-action.

• Email promotions / offers generate immediate action
• Informative email newsletters provide contacts with wanted information, builds awareness, contributes to corporate branding, and strengthens trust and loyalty.

So, we know that email marketing works, but you must have the following first:

• a complete, up to date list of folks that want to hear from you (Importance of CRM),
• a consistent and clear message, and
• an effective delivery system

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What is Segmentation?

In a few words, it means the process of dividing into groups or categories. In email marketing, we take this a step further and say that segmentation is the creation of groups of people or organizations that share one or more characteristics that causes them to have similar product and/or service needs.

So, how can segmentation help you?

I was meeting with a client of mine yesterday and we were discussing his marketing plan, or lack thereof, and we decided that he had a great opportunity to segment his email marketing list based on 14 months of enewsletter data. Segmentation will allow him to better serve the needs of his clients through email by making sure that each segment is getting the information that they are interested in receiving. This in turn keeps his enews recipients more interested and forms more of a partnership than a “hey let me blast some general info out to you”. Also, segmentation will allow him to create small lists and achieve more targeted marketing regarding specific events or products. Smaller lists that are more targeted mean lower mailing costs and a higher return on investment.

Segmentation examples:

1. current list consists of all clients
2. split current list into 2 groups: entrepreneurs and service providers (in my clients case)
3. split those 2 groups into more targeted lists: by industry or product type

So, let’s say my client has a new entreprenuer client that has developed an idea for a new product. How will he best get this product out to the market for feedback from service providers? With his lists segmented, he can now send a simple “new product” email to those service provider types that fit that product industry or type and he knows that the right people are getting the targeted message.

This is just a simple example of how to split your lists, but it should give you a basic idea on how to get started segmenting your lists. If you’d like to learn more or want help segmenting your lists, drop us a line.

Are you an entreprenuer with a product idea or a service provider? Contact Jon Speer.

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We ran our averages again on September 1st and here were the results:

TFMail Averages on September 1st, 2009

• Opens = 30.15%
• Click-Throughs = 12.01%
• Bounces = 3.47%

Constant Contact Averages *

• Opens = 21.27%
• Click-Throughs = 4.82%
• Bounces = 11.5%

* Constant Contact is a widely known and highly used email marketing service so we have included their posted averages to give you a better perspective and comparison. If there are any other email marketing services you would like to see listed please let us know and we will see if we can get the averages and add to our list.

Are there any other email marketing metrics you’d like to see or have questions about? Please let us know.

To view the previous metrics in May, 2009 click here.

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I found this fascinating quote today:

In a few of weeks, we will be offering another Free Whiteboard Strategy Session. The topic for next month’s event — 7 Tips to Market Your Business on the Web. Please come join us with any business development or marketing questions you’d like answered.creoquality.com, September 11, 2009 – FREE Whiteboard Strategy Session, Aug 2009

You should read the whole article.

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We ran our averages again on May 19th and again today just to see how we’ve faired over the last two weeks. Looks like the numbers are up — thanks to our awesome clients who continue to trust us and follow our suggestions!

TFMail Averages on May 19th, 2009

• Opens = 37.85%
• Click-Throughs = 10.33%
• Bounces = 4.66%

TFMail Averages as of 10:00AM today

• Opens = 37.96%
• Click-Throughs = 10.94%
• Bounces = 4.59%

Constant Contact Averages *

• Opens = 21.27%
• Click-Throughs = 4.82%
• Bounces = 11.5%

* Constant Contact is a widely known and highly used email marketing service so we have included their posted averages to give you a better perspective and comparison. If there are any other email marketing services you would like to see listed please let us know and we will see if we can get the averages and add to our list.

Are there any other email marketing metrics you’d like to see or have questions about? Please let us know.

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According to the February 2009 issue of Fortune Small Business, this current recession is no time to panic. FSB and Zobgy International conducted a survey of 500 small business owners in early December and here is what they found:

• 48% of small business owners have yet to take action in response to the economic crisis.
• 27% scaled back expansion plans.
• 23% cut back on marketing.
• 19% froze salaries.
• 14 % laid of staffers.

The statistic that you need to pay attention to is the 23%. Unfortunately, we don’t know any details about the types of marketing that was cut back, but we do know that if other small business owners are cutting back on their marketing then they are leaving a huge chunk of business on the table for all you other small business owners.

Now is the time to buckle your chin straps and get down to the nitty gritty with your marketing. You don’t need to cut costs – you need to be more aware of where you are spending your marketing dollars. Make those dollars work harder for you and in turn get higher ROI on the same marketing dollars you were working with before we hit the recession.

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Research now shows that the lack of natural talent is irrelevant to great success — in any industry. So, what’s the secret? It’s painful and demanding practice and hard work.

There is no substitute for hard work. According to an article written by Geoffrey Colvin (“What It Takes To Be Great”), natural gifts or lack thereof are irrelevant – talent has little or nothing to do with greatness. You can make yourself great. Most accomplished people need around ten years of hard work before becoming world-class. But, hard work is not enough.

Practice makes perfect. The best people in any industry are those who devote a significant amount of their time and energy on “deliberate practice”. Deliberate practice is an activity that’s explicitly intended to improve performance and provides feedback on results. Another aspect of becoming great is consistency.

So, how does all of this fit into becoming a great marketer for your company? Well, the point is that any company can achieve marketing success with hard work, practice and consistency. All successful marketing campaigns, whether via print branding or email, must have these three components.

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I’ve had clients ask me what typical campaign rates they can expect from email marketing, in particular the rates that are achieved by TFMail. So, we’ve done some research and we’ve compared two popular email marketing software versions with our TFMail:

Rates according to Vertical Response:

Open Rate – Customers who tend to have great relationships with their customers can get open rates as high as 40%, which is great. Others that have gathered their lists over several years and potentially lost some customers could be in the 14-18% range.

Click Rate – Click rates usually fall in the 1-3% range. However, if they’ve got an amazing story to tell or great deal to give, then we see it skyrocket to the 8-10% range. Anything over that you’re off the charts. Again it all depends on that relationship you have with your customers.

Bounce Rate – We’ve seen our customers average bounce rates usually come in under .5%. However, lists mailed less frequently can have bounce rates in the 5%-7% range. A list that is mailed for the first time can have up to a 50% bounce rate depending on how “new” it is.

Rates taken from a study of 200 million emails released via Constant Contact:

Open Rate – an average of 21.26%

Click Rate – an average of 4.6%

Bounce Rate – an average of 11.54%

TFMail Rates:

Open Rate – an average of 37.12%

Click Rate – an average of 14.16%

Bounce Rate – an average of 13.29%

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What is list segmentation and why should I care about it, you ask?

List segmentation allows you to drill down into direct email communication to specific contacts/audiences. You find out what your contacts are specifically interested in and that’s what you send to them — tailored emails that give them exactly what they want.

What are the perks of list segmentation?

• Create target audiences based on standard and custom fields within your lists.
• Increased response rates.
• Better response to your call-to-action.
• Divide your segmentation results into multiple mailing lists (opens, clicks, bounces, etc) in order to test offers, subject lines or even content to see which performs best before mailing to your entire audience.

How can you use your list segments?

• Send a campaign to people within a specific interest group to provide more relevant content.
• Send a campaign to people who clicked a link or opened a previous campaign for following up on campaigns or event invitations.
• Send to “active” contacts who have opened multiple campaigns and clicked at least 3-5 links to weed out non-responders.
• Send a special “are you interested” to “non-responders” who have never opened an email or clicked a link to close them or get them off the list.
• Send birthday emails with special discounts to your lists segmented by birthday.

NEED LIST SEGMENTATION HELP?
If you have any other questions or want help in creating segments for your lists, please send us an email at team@tomatofishmktg.com.

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