This blog, Part 2 in the a series will share email marketing testing tips, measuring email campaigns, a Glossary of Terms, and an enormous construction email list. Email Marketing For Construction (Part 1 of 2) covered email marketing basics, and email tips and tricks.

Email Marketing Testing

One of the advantages of email is the ease of testing and optimizing campaigns. Before sending an email out to your full email list, test each campaign, keeping all (email) elements constant but change one variable. This approach is often referred to as A/B Testing. Since this type of testing is an industry standard, email service providers (ESPs) allow you to do this easily. It is vital to run tests when you are trying to decide on subject lines, layouts, or an offer.

To conduct the test, simply email one or more versions to a small list. Depending on the list size, typically 50-100 email addresses is sufficient. Next, measure and compare open rates for different subject lines, or click-through rates (CTRs) for different layouts or offers. Lower open rates or CTRs should be dropped in favor of higher open rates and CTRs. If all versions test low, go back to the drawing board or consult an expert.

Following is a list of email elements you can test before sending out an email:

1. Subject Line
2. Offer/promotion/Call-to-action
3. Layout of the email
4. Design (colors, images etc.)
5. Level of personalization (Mr. _____ vs. First name)
6. Content (balance of written copy and visuals)
7. Headline/Title
8. Mobile Version

Measuring Email Campaigns

As marketing budgets have become more restrictive, tracking, measuring and reporting have become increasingly important. Any ESP you choose will have a robust measurement dashboard that will allow for easy analysis and reporting. Below is an example of what an ESP dashboard looks like:

(click the image if you would like to see an enlarged version)

A typical ESP dashboard will report and track the following:

1. Emails Sent
2. Hard and soft bounces (see glossary)
3. Open rate
4. Click-through-rate (CTR)

When measuring an email campaign success you need to track the progress of your goals. The typical open rate for business-to-business (B2B) markets is between 10-20%. If your focus is CTR then be sure to measure and track that statistic. The typical B2B CTR is 10%. Measuring and tracking your email ensures the success of future email campaigns.

Remember to always test, optimize, execute, track and report your email campaigns for maximum results!

Glossary of Terms

If you are new to email marketing there may be some basic terms you do not know yet. We have compiled a list of what we see as the most important email marketing terms. Note: This is not a comprehensive list.

Blacklisting – Lists of domains and IP addresses that have been reported or accused of sending spam. You can check blacklists at www.openrbl.org and www.dnsstuff.com.

Bounces – Emails that have been sent back to sender as the recipient email address was invalid or presently not working. Hard bounces are bad email addresses and should be removed. Soft bounces are most often out-of-the-office notifications, or temporary server issues.

Click-Through-Rate (CTR) – Hyperlinks within the email that are tracked by the # of times it is clicked on by email recipients, especially offers. Most ESPs report CTR.

Click-through tracking – Measuring the number of clicks that occur on each link in an email message.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) – The ability to keep track of every interaction with every prospect and customer and keeps tracks of trends and tabulates results of such notes on an aggregate scale. Essentially, an intelligent interface that allows keeping notes of every action, sale, phone call, email, fax, etc.

CSV – A file format in which each new field is separated by a comma. This file format is used by ESP’s to build email lists, whereas each email is separated by a comma. Outlook and other email services allow you to export your entire address book in this format.

Database – A storing of records. Databases are made up of tables. Tables are made up of columns and rows. Data is stored in a field (aka cell). Popular types of web databases include SQL and MySQL.

De-duping – The act of removing duplicates from a list.

ESP – ESP stands for Email Service Provider. An ESP is a specific type of Application Service Provider (see ASP). iContact is an example of an ESP.

HTML templates – The most common programming language for emails. The acronym HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language.

Mail merge personalization – The ability to, on the fly for each email, insert data from the database into specific fields in an email. For example, one may place Dear _____ in an email. When each email is sent out, a call to the database is made to retrieve the actual first name of that subscriber. It then ‘pastes’ this data into the email. Dear John, Dear Judy etc. will result.

Message scheduling – The ability to set a time in the future for a message to start to be delivered to recipients.

Open Tracking – The ability to keep track of the number of opens (“reads”) a message gets.

Opt-in – A term that refers to any subscriber that has specifically requested an email newsletter. If they have signed up through your web site, they are opt-in.

Opt-out – See ‘Unsubscribe link’ below.

Spam – Unwanted email that was sent without the permission of the recipient. Also known as unsolicited commercial email.

Unsubscribe link – The link at the bottom of each email which allows visitors to unsubscribe or modify/update their information.

Whitelisting – Opposite of blacklisting. Many ISPs have lists of sites with which they have built good relationships with and trust. If your sending fits their standards, it may be possible to add yourself to a whitelist. If you are on a whitelist, your mail has a much better chance of being delivered.

WYSIWYG Editor – Stands for “what you see is what you get.” Allows users to create their own HTML newsletters right on the sending page, without knowing HTML.

Special Offer: Email 200,000 Construction Firms!

Now you can reach nearly 200,000 construction industry firms* via email with the Construction Marketing Association database! Our partner marketing agency, Construction Marketing Advisors will design an HTML email, and coordinate the email blast for one low price!

Here’s What’s Included:

• Use of CMA construction database (approx. 197,000 email addresses)
• Design, copy edit and HTML Program a functional email campaign (file provided)
• Manage e-blast
• Provide a comprehensive email results and statistics report (opens, click-throughs, bounces, etc.)
• Optional regional list/email blasts; call for pricing
• Stock photos or digital retouching, if required, will be quoted

*Note: list includes construction, engineering and related firms; For more information CLICK HERE!