Why email marketing is less effective than ever before…and what you can do about it

Ask most anyone who’s been online for any length of time if open rates on broadcast emails have gone down and the majority will give you a resounding YES! By some accounts email marketing is in proverbial toilet. Yet, there are others who say email marketing is still one of the most effective methods they use to promote products and services. So who’s right; the majority or the handful who swear email marketing is alive and well? Actually, both. Here’s why. The majority of people who use email marketing are still throwing mud on the wall and hoping something will stick. Those who are getting incredible open rates are doing something the others are not; segmenting more than ever before. You’ve heard how important it is to have a “sweet spot” niche market, but have you heard you need to go deeper into the process? Case in point… The Women In the Pet Industry Conference. By far, it is one of the best conferences I’ve not only participated in, but also presented at. As the title indicates, it is for women – and a few brave men. Additionally, the majority of those in attendance are entrepreneurs. Some are in manufacturing. Others are dog trainers. Still others are service providers such as Debra Hamilton, attorney at law, who is committed to educating pet owners on the ins and outs of making sure you and your pets are protected in case of accidents, illness, death and any unforeseen circumstance life may throw your way. Although a woman who owns a multi-million dollar company that manufactures dog doors is in the exact same industry as someone who has a $100,000 dog training business, how you market to each is likely different; or at least it should be. It’s the same with your niche market; there is likely an umbrella industry that has multiple segments within the industry. Let’s say your market is the dental industry. Would you market the same to dentists as you do hygienists as you do office managers? If you market the same to each segment there’s a great chance your email open rates are minimal at best. If you segment your marketing, there’s a great chance you’ll have a much better open rate by not throwing “marketing mud” on the wall and hoping it will stick. According to one report by MarketingSherpa, 32% of marketers say segmenting their email database is one of their organization’s top objectives, while 52% of marketers say they have a great need to improve email database segmentation. Not all buyers in an industry are alike. Nor do all buyers have the same buying cycle. Nor will they all buy the same thing. In my business, I have various levels of investment my buyers make. There are those who are very seasoned, have been in business for years, make a great living and need something very different than those who are just starting out. More seasoned entrepreneurs may choose my private consulting services over a $27 eBook. Or they may find a small group coaching program is far better for their needs than a $7 report. What an entrepreneur who has been in business for 20 years needs is very different than the person who is just starting out, doesn’t even have a DBA and is trying to grow their business on a shoestring budget. What the entrepreneur who has a wealth of knowledge looks for when they create multiple streams of revenue is night and day from someone who wants to create their first eBook. So before you jump on the bandwagon of those yelling from the mountain tops that email marketing is dead, perhaps you need to look at your marketing behaviors and your overall messaging. Are you lumping all your subscribers into one group over and over? Or are you fine tuning what you’re doing in order to more fully serve your market with your messaging? So what are you doing to fine tune your marketing efforts? Are you clear on the needs of the various segments of your market? If not, isn’t it time to make the necessary changes in order to have a laser beam approach to what you do? I daresay it is.