Email Marketing – Why Resend?
[Taking a different tach this time in my blog, which usually covers the latest in tech with some occasional fiction thrown in. This week we look at a nuanced tech trick for getting better results from your Email Marketing efforts.]
Email Marketing to Your List is Still the #1 Most Productive & Cost-Effective Selling Tool
My company, Pathfinder Consulting, does online marketing for many corporate clients as well as for me as the author of my thriller novel, NOT SO DEAD. Pathfinder does numerous Google Ad campaigns, Facebook Ads, Social Media placements and Search Engine Optimizations. However, across our many clients and with my personal experience marketing my novel, Email Marketing to your own list of subscribers is still the #1 most productive and cost-effective marketing you can do.
If you own a business, write books or are involved in advertising, you probably already know the power of consistent, engaging email campaigns. Many excellent articles are available about how to grow your email list, what makes an effective email and other techniques for benefiting from what many think of as an ‘old school’ medium. But I’m not going to go into why Email Marketing is so effective or how to grow your list here, although I include links to learn more about that. Rather, assuming you do use email to sell your product or service, I’m going to share one technique to grow your Email results by 50%+.
Resend to Unopened Recipients
I found that not much as been written about this technique and hardly any businesses I work with were aware of it before I introduced it to them. Quite simply, the method to increase your Email response by 50%+ is to RESEND TO THE UNOPENED subscribers. Wait, how’s that work? Most Email Apps and Programs can detect whether the recipient of your email has opened that fantastic email you sent. Really. So, that same program can identify all the ‘non-openers’ and allow you to resend to all those non-openers. If your current program or app doesn’t have the Resend Feature, I’d recommend switching to one that does. I like MailChimp for this purpose. I set up the design, content, and initial send of my author Emails in the desktop version, but find it much simpler to do the Resends in the Mailchimp smartphone app, which only requires a couple of clicks.
What’s the Result of Resending to the Non-Openers?
I’ll share two real-life cases. First, I introduced the Resend Concept to one of our larger retail clients that were already sending out emails to current customers promoting their products and special sales. Sending once, they were getting, on average, $50,000 in sales directly linked to the email. Once I set up the resend for them, they would still get the $50k on the first send, but then they would get $25,000 on the resend to the non-openers. And guess what? We would send a third time to those who still hadn’t opened their email and do another $14,000. That’s $50K + $25K + $14K = $89,000 or 78% more then they had been doing by just sending out their email once.
Second case – I have found that in my author Email campaigns, about 33% of recipients, of the thousands of recipients, will open the Emails, click links and respond that I send the first time, On the resend to non-openers, another 10% to 15% will open the email. Occasionally, I will resend a third time and another 5% to 10% will open the emails. That’s 50%+ better than sending once.
What’s the Best Timing Between Sending the First Email and the Resend?
There are differing opinions on timing, but my experience says that about 24 hours is correct. I’d also recommend not changing the Content or Subject line on the resend. That can just be confusing or even look fishy.
What’s the Downside of Resending Emails?
Downside – just like you will get more opens and responses by resending, you will also get more unsubscribes and maybe a few abuse complaints. If your Email content and offers are compelling and recipients choose to unsubscribe, my view is that they are not your customer or reader. On balance, I believe the greater response and results from resending far outweigh the loss of some subscribers. This a judgment call you would need to make for yourself depending on your particular situation.
I should also mention that your subscriber, who got the first email on Friday and didn’t open it, might not read their email until Saturday when they see both your original email and the resend in their Inbox. They may think they are getting duplicate emails. Some subset of recipients may find this annoying. However, if they value what you are sending their way, my experience is most will stick with you.
Finally, What’s In It For me?
Why should I share this technique that I get paid for in our consulting practice? For me, the answer is easy. First, I believe Givers gain. Second, maybe since I’ve shared one of many cool and useful techniques I use in client and personal marketing, you might contact Pathfinder Consulting to learn more or buy my book, NOT SO DEAD – available in Paperback, Kindle/eBook and Audible Audiobook. Just maybe.
More Resources:
How To Grow Your Email List
Top 5 Reasons Why Email Marketing Is Effective
The Value Of A Resend Campaign By The Numbers
MailChimp – How To Resend To Nonopeners
