Introduction: What exactly is an email marketing audit?
In today’s digital age, email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for businesses to engage with their customers. However, as with any marketing strategy, it’s crucial to periodically assess and optimize your email campaigns to ensure they’re delivering the desired results. Enter the email marketing audit, a comprehensive examination of your email marketing efforts. In recent months, I’ve been asked to conduct email marketing audits for several brands big ones using the leading email marketing software provider tools to small companies just getting their feet wet.
So, no matter where you are on your email marketing journey, in this article, we’ll explore what an email marketing audit entails and provide you with essential steps to conduct a successful audit. The end result: so you can dominate email marketing!
Step 1: Assessing the quality of your email marketing list
The first step in an email marketing audit is to evaluate the quality and health of your email list. The size of your list is an important factor, but it’s equally crucial to consider engagement rates and spam complaints. A large list may seem impressive, but if your subscribers are disinterested or mark your emails as spam, it won’t yield the desired results. By assessing engagement rates, you can identify inactive subscribers and determine strategies to re-engage them or remove them from your list. Additionally, monitor spam complaints to ensure your emails are meeting subscriber expectations.
We’ll get to reporting later, but here’s a spoiler: when evaluating stats, make sure you’re comparing it against your own data – apples to apples – because this is the best way to analyze campaigns.
Data hygiene is another critical aspect of list quality. Outdated or inaccurate email addresses can lead to bounced emails and damage your sender reputation. Regularly clean your list by removing invalid email addresses and updating any outdated information. Implementing strategies for list growth and maintenance, such as using double opt-ins, providing valuable content incentives, and periodically reconfirming subscriber preferences, will help ensure a healthy and engaged email list.
Step 2: Evaluate email content and design
The effectiveness of your email content and design significantly impacts your campaign’s success. Start by analyzing your subject lines. A captivating subject line entices subscribers to open your emails. Consider testing different subject lines to determine which ones generate higher open rates. Additionally, review your email copy. Is it engaging, concise, and relevant? Tailor your messaging to resonate with your target audience and communicate the value proposition effectively.
Remember, survey your readers inconspicuously. This is a practice I like to call surveying without surveys.
Visual elements also play a crucial role in email marketing. Assess the overall design of your emails, including the layout, fonts, and colors. Ensure that your emails are visually appealing, easy to read, and consistent with your company’s branding. Well-designed emails create a positive user experience and reinforce your brand identity, leading to increased engagement and conversions.
Step 3: Examine email deliverability
Email deliverability is vital to ensure your messages reach your subscribers’ inboxes. Several factors can influence deliverability, including your sender reputation, email authentication protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and list segmentation. Start by assessing your sender reputation, which is determined by factors like email engagement, complaint rates, and spam trap hits. Maintain a positive sender reputation by consistently delivering relevant and valuable content.
Implementing email authentication protocols, such as Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), and Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC), helps establish your authenticity and protects your emails from being marked as spam. Segmenting your email list based on subscriber preferences and behavior allows you to send targeted and personalized messages, improving engagement and deliverability.
Review your email practices and make recommendations to enhance deliverability. Determine and optimize your email cadence to ensure you’re not overwhelming subscribers with too many emails or leaving them forgotten with too few. Also, stay up to date with best practices, email regulations, and anti-spam laws to maintain compliance and avoid any deliverability issues.
Step 4: Evaluate email automation and workflows
Automation plays a crucial role in maximizing the efficiency and impact of your email marketing. Evaluate the effectiveness and performance of automated workflows, such as welcome series, abandoned cart emails, and nurturing sequences. Start by analyzing the timing and frequency of these automated emails.
Are they appropriately timed to engage subscribers at different stages of their customer journey?
Assess the content and messaging within each automated email. Is it relevant, personalized, and persuasive? Tailor your automated emails to address the specific needs and pain points of your subscribers. Furthermore, consider expanding your automation workflows to include additional touchpoints and opportunities for customer engagement. For example, you could create workflows for post-purchase follow-ups, re-engagement campaigns for inactive subscribers, or loyalty programs to reward and retain your most valuable customers.
Step 5: Analyzing email metrics, reporting and KPIs
Measuring and improving email campaign performance is vital for ongoing success. Analyze key metrics to gain insights into your email campaigns. Start with open rates, which indicate the effectiveness of your subject lines and help gauge subscriber interest. A low open rate may indicate the need for more compelling subject lines or targeted segmentation.
Click-through rates measure the effectiveness of your email content and calls to action. Analyze which links and content generate the most clicks to identify high-performing elements and replicate their success in future campaigns. Conversion rates provide a direct measure of how successful your emails are at driving desired actions, such as purchases or sign-ups.
Compare these metrics to industry benchmarks to understand how your campaigns stack up against competitors. Identify areas where your campaigns excel or fall short and use these insights to refine your strategies and create more impactful email campaigns. Consider leveraging A/B testing to experiment with different variables, such as subject lines, email layouts, or calls to action, to continually optimize your campaigns.
Conclusion: 9 out of 10 times you’ll find something you can improve on!
In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, an email marketing audit is a crucial tool for businesses seeking to optimize their email campaigns. By conducting a thorough audit, you can identify areas of improvement and make data-driven decisions to enhance the effectiveness of your email marketing. From assessing list quality and evaluating content to examining deliverability and automating workflows, each step in the audit process contributes to a more successful email marketing strategy. Remember, ongoing evaluation and optimization are essential for staying ahead in the competitive world of email marketing.
Admittedly, you might be doing everything right, but 9 out of 10 times an email audit will reveal something that can be improved on.
Why?
Does this mean to say 90% of people are doing email marketing wrong?
No.
Absolutely not.
The issue at hand here is that when you are living and breathing your brand’s marketing material 24/7, it’s not uncommon that something will be overlooked. And this, specifically, is where an email marketing expert can come in, look under the hood, and offer some professional advice. So contact me and let’s shift your email marketing program into high gear!
Happy email marketing!
