That said, how can email marketers use metrics to determine fatigue? It's important to remember that email fatigue is relative to what's normal for your particular company and product category. So the first step is to determine your benchmark based on your average click rates over time. Be mindful that marketing messages to different audiences, and in different types of email communications (newsletter, product sell, transactional), will have different rates. A steadily declining average click rate is a sure indicator that your content, offer, and/or mail frequency needs close scrutiny. A sudden drop-off suggests something went particularly wrong and warrants immediate investigation. Perhaps, the wrong content or list was used.
In addition to examining aggregate trends, email marketers should look at the performance of specific segments, particularly their most high-value and most loyal customers. As click activity slows or stops, those customers should be targeted for specific re-engagement messages and offers. Of course, what you say to formerly brand-loyal customers would be different from those with more limited relationships. But in both cases, your objective should be to solicit feedback on their needs and preferences so you can adjust messaging to prompt renewed engagement.
What specific rates might signal a rise in email fatigue? Taking into account seasonality and your own benchmarks, a drop-off of 10 percent or more would suggest the onset of email fatigue. You should be specifically concerned about customers who have not opened or clicked after three to six mailings. The longer mail cadence -- monthly versus bi-weekly, for example -- the more concerned you should be about their inactivity.
If your re-engagement efforts fail to prompt a response after several attempts, you should consider removing inactive customers from your list. Studies have repeatedly shown a direct correlation between the level of engagement and the propensity to hit the spam button -- and too many spam complaints could jeopardize delivery of your email even to those who are still actively engaged with your brand.
Treating email fatigue
Given this, there are instant actions marketers can take to alleviate this problem. First, segment your list based on name source and level of engagement. The biggest mistake email marketers make is sending the same message at the same frequency to everyone. Names acquired through email appends, list rental, and/or co-registration aren't likely to see the same value in your brand as those customers who have been buying from you all along. So don't treat them the same.
Similarly, customers who once exhibited high open and click activity but now don't shouldn't be sent the same messages at the same frequency as others. Find out what's changed with their needs and/or preferences. Not doing so is tempting a total disengagement from your brand.
Secondly, continually survey your customers and find other ways to prompt interaction. The key to avoiding email fatigue is to recognize that permission isn't eternal, preferences aren't static, and customer needs aren't set in stone. Build mechanisms into all of your communications for customers to tell you about their current needs and how your content can be made more relevant to them. And, of course, act on what your customers tell you.
In order to be truly successful at their email marketing efforts, marketers need to think beyond the immediate email campaign and put themselves in their customers' shoes. By making a dedicated effort to be attuned to their customer needs and by leveraging the right technology solutions, marketers can avoid the pitfalls of email and brand fatigue in their campaigns. They can deliver against their revenue objectives while building brand loyal customer relationships for the long term.
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Dave Lewis is CMO of Message Systems.
