Bluestreak's CMO summarizes the tasks necessary to analyze and maximize open, click and buy rates.

The two most fundamental objectives for email marketers are, first, growing the size and quality of their opt-in email databases, and second, increasing the performance of their email campaigns. However, there is no simple formula to achieve these objectives.

Email strategies that work well for one email marketer can turn lackluster results for another. So what is an email marketer to do?

The simple academic response to this question is “test.” Therefore, the practitioner needs to identify those elements of the email he or she should test, how frequently they should test, and finally a method to select the right sample for the test.

Email marketers often test subject lines and the “from address”-- both of which help drive open rates. Simply put, the open rates represent only a third of the full process: Open-Click-Buy. Our services team helps many clients put together comprehensive test plans. So, we have summarized our experience and recommendations in a simple testing schedule to help an email marketer maximize the open, click and buy rates.

It’s important to understand that, like most marketing, email marketing is far more science than art. Managing your tests along these variables will enable you to build more effective algorithms that will drive better results for your clients. Relevance is always key-- not just the topical relevance of any offer, but also the relevance to each individual recipient. 

Whether your organization manages a database that you target offers against, or if you’re a third party targeting against someone else’s database, use these tests to make your offers and your targeting more personally relevant to each recipient. That’s the best way to drive results-- and revenue.

Anurag Ahuja is CMO for Bluestreak.