Applying the three "Rs" of environmentally friendly living to your email strategy can help you add green to the bottom line.
Has your email gone "green" yet?
The basic principles of environmentally friendly living -- reduce, reuse and recycle -- can also help make your email program more effective and less wasteful.
I thought of this the other day when I took my reusable grocery bags to a new store. The checker looked at me like I had a third eye. Why bring bags when the paper or plastic ones are plentiful and free?
People look at email marketing the same way. It's relatively cheap and easy to do because you don't have to pay postage, consume paper or pay for fuel to get your messages into people's hands. So, why bother to conserve resources?
Because using your resources -- your mailing list, your content and your marketing budget -- more wisely helps you achieve your business goals more effectively and enhances your reputation as a trusted email sender. It also gives you more room in your budget.
Sure, some people (maybe even your boss) won't understand and may even think you're a little crazy, but you can't argue with the results.
Reduce mailings
Reduce the number of emails you send out and save money as well as bandwidth by focusing on relevancy -- sending mailings that match subscribers' interests.
Instead of blasting one message to your whole list, target carefully. Use the data you have collected on your users based on previous purchases, email preferences or web activity to create segments, offers and content that relate more closely to their interests, needs or wants.
You can safely reduce your outreach to visitors who click through from your emails or from a search engine but don't convert. Or, revise what you're sending, again using the data you already have.
Even if you don't collect demographic data or have a sophisticated system for tracking past purchases or interests, you should be able to track which links get the most clicks. That tells you what your subscribers are most interested in.
A corollary 'R' here is "remarketing." Remarket differently to those who get close to converting, as opposed to those who actually do so. Send an extra discount to nudge them closer to the shopping cart, or a deal-sweetening reminder to people who abandon their carts. Your customers are different, so treat them differently.
Although it's a controversial idea among some marketers, you can also save money and bandwidth when you reduce the size of your mailing list and email only to those who have demonstrated some interest before in your offers or content. That's the main reason why opt-in marketing gets better returns than opt-out.
You probably have big chunks of customers who haven't opened, clicked or converted for a year or more. Segment them out, encourage them to come back with a tempting offer, and then cut anyone who still doesn't respond. Why keep talking to deaf ears?
Another way to reduce mailings: Be more careful about the lists you rent. Check to make sure the list is made up of people whose interests or buying history match your goals. Beware of bargain-priced lists with murky permission history.
Reuse effective campaigns
You don't need to recreate the wheel every time you start a new campaign. This is especially important if you use outside agencies, artists or copywriters to come up with the creative elements.
Review (okay, another 'R') the ROI on the campaigns you've run in the past. Reuse those that have been particularly effective, updating elements that reflect readers' interests, your business or competitive situations or other facts of life.
If you found that the A segment of the A/B split you ran last Memorial Day was wildly effective, reuse that approach, and make it an annual event your recipients can look forward to.
Recycle content for other uses
Here, you can recycle some of the actual content you created for other campaigns. I don't mean you should just send the same old offers with the same old graphics until they're old and frayed. You still need fresh, timely content to make your offers pop.
Often, though, you have "oldie but goodie" material that your numbers show works well and remains relevant for your customers. Instead of rewriting it every six months, use lifecycle marketing and target your new customers with recycled content you know is a perennial winner.
If you're a content publisher as well as a marketer, try packaging up some of your winners into whitepapers or best-of collections. Offer them as incentives for opting in or for updating preferences or profile data. Or, send them to new subscribers as a thank-you and to get them engaged faster.
You probably spent time and money creating that content, so, recoup your investment.
All of these strategies together will not only help you conserve your resources and use them more wisely but also could add a little more green to the bottom line.
Wendy Roth is the senior manager of training services for Lyris Technologies.