“Email marketing is way to target customers through email. As we send direct mail through the postal service, in email marketing messages are sent via email.”
Standard Definition
“E-mail is the most effective way to promote any product or service online. It is a direct & simple way to communicate with customers, prospects and subscribers. Email marketing is one of the most trusted & popular online marketing channel available for marketers.
It is best medium to show your interest into customers which indicates that you care about them & want to work with them.” – Sarv
Types of Email
Here we’ll discuss two major types of email.
Transactional
Transactional emails are expected messages that are received after a specific action has taken place. When a customer make purchase on your website, you send an email to confirm order & give them further details.
If you fill out a form to register for an event, then you receive a thank you email which include further information.
Other examples of transactional emails are: welcome message, account information, order or purchase status, payment confirmation, invoices etc. These emails are highly personalized and the whole content is dedicated to user action. Thats why transactional emails have high click through rate (CTR). There is no unsubscription link.
Promotional
Promotional emails are sent to promote product & service. These emails contains offer, coupons & sales to acquire customers. They could be informational like newsletters or announcements of new product for increasing sale and brand awareness.
Personalization of these emails is very low. Promotional emails are template based. You must create offer clear & add special graphics because customers don’t have time to read your email. It contains sense of urgency & clear call to action (CTA) like, “Shop Now” or “Buy Now” etc. There is an Unsubscription link.
To build a email marketing list, it’s very important to know what is the difference between, opt-in, double opt-in and Not opt-in.
Opt-in
When a user sign up on your website through the sign up form. The information (Name and email id) is added to email list. There is no need of confirmation. It’s the fastest way to build list because users don’t need to remember to click a confirmation link.
If you buy a product from a store and provide your email address, you are considered a single opt-in and eligible to receive email messages about the store.
Double opt-in
After the sign up process an email is generated to user. This email requires the user to click a link in the email in order to confirm that he/she is the owner of the email address and does want to receive emails from you. The email address will be added to your list only after the link is clicked. A double opt-in process help to build a strong and quality list.
Not opt-in
This is purchase list from third party/affiliate or a list which generated from web search. The subscribers or contacts on this list will not have specifically requested to receive emails from you, so your emails will be considered as unsolicited email or SPAM.
Email Marketing Terminology
Unsubscribe
When a subscriber unsubscribes, this indicates that the individual no longer wishes to receive emails from your business. People can easily unsubscribe by clicking the “Unsubscribe” link.
SPAM
irrelevant or unsolicited email (for promotion) sent to a user who has not opted in to receive messages from that sender.
Segmentation
Segmentation is a division of a list by various attributes such as interest, age, location, sign up date, previous activity, industry etc. Segmentation is critical in targeting your audience with relevant email campaigns.
Open Rate
Open rate is percentage of recipients who opened email.
Number of emails opened / number of emails delivered
Unique Click
The number of time specific user click on link.
Forward to Friend
The Forward to a Friend link lets subscribers easily share your campaign with their friends.
Click Through Rate (CTR)
CTR = Number of clicks / number of emails delivered
View in Browser
The View in Browser link allows subscribers view your campaign in their web browsers.
Social Share
Social media buttons in email campaign make it shareable on social media channels. Subscribers can easily share it on social media networks.
Update Info
Here you can update or edit your personal info such as Name, email address, contact info etc.
Unsubscribe from List
User can unsubscribe or remove oneself from a specific mailing list.
Responsive Email
Mobile must be responsible for different devices – Desktop and mobile. You should test it on different devices before sending.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of number of emails that are not delivered to recipient’s Inbox.
Number of emails not delivered / Number of email sent
There is two type of bounces – Hard bounce and soft bounce.
Soft bounce is temporary problem.
Hard bounce is permanent failure.
Autoresponders
Autoresponder is a Program that automatically sends a pre-written message in response to incoming email.
Split Testing / AB Testing
Split testing or AB testing can help to improve email marketing campaigns. You can test different versions of an email message before it runs – Test different subject line, offer, or content randomly, and based on those results, send the best version.
Cost per subscriber – You can choose plan according your subscribers list.
Cost per mail or pay as you go – Do you want to send specific amount of email per month? Choose cost per mail plan and only pay for number of email you sent.
Some other terms are (Mainly used in affiliate marketing):
CPV – Cost Per View
CPO – Cost Per Open
CPC – Cost Per Click
CPL – Cost Per Lead
CPS – Cost Per Sale
CPA – Cost Per Acquire
Is there any terminology that you would like to add? Is email marketing is a key part of your marketing strategy?
Please share your views through comments. We’d like to hear from you!
