The first installment of this email marketing walkthrough covered dividing your email master list into targeted subgroups. This week you can sit back, relax, and learn how to increase the open rates of your email campaigns through sender name optimization.
Increasing Open Rate by Optimizing Your Sender Name
Optimizing your sender names and your subject lines are the two actions you can take in order to increase the overall open rate of your email marketing campaigns. You should start by thinking of short and credible sender names. Credible means that the names should not sound like blatant spam. The worst sender name I have ever seen used in an email was a noun that started a sentence continued in the subject line. That was obviously unsolicited spam. The first step in increasing your open rate is to avoid repulsing your recipients. If you are unsure which of your sender names sound bad, then simply go through your office and ask your colleagues to give you their opinions. If they themselves roll their eyes or gag at some of the names you present, then it’s usually a sound indicator to think of some better names.
Here are a few methods that I have noticed throughout the years to help you brainstorm. You can use the combination of your company name followed by the word “Staff.” Each proper and common noun in the sender name should start with a capital letter so as to look professional. I’ve noticed that some email marketers choose to use only the name of their company as the sender name. I’ve also seen email marketers use the first and last name of managers in their sales departments, though I would suggest that it’s better to protect your privacy a little more when using all forms of mass communication. So which sender name combination is the best to use, you ask? That simply depends on the nature of the products or services that you are looking to present. It is up to you to determine which combination works best through the following tests.
Sender name optimization is achieved through the AB testing that is commonly used in other types of marketing, such as Search and Banner. An effective way to do this is to divide the email list into two equal portions. Each portion would receive an email that is identical to the other in every way except for the sender names. Over the period of one week, monitor the open rates for each of the groups. The emails that receive the highest open rate should be used for the next mailing.
As discussed in the first installation, part one of this email marketing walkthrough, companies with diversified products and services should have multiple campaigns in their email marketing strategy. Each campaign should be geared towards the preferences of the recipients; hence, the AB testing methodology should be used in each campaign. When doing this research you should be prepared to find that different campaigns will yield different results, indicating that your overall email marketing module can contain either one or more appropriate sender names.
You can use this testing system on your multiple campaigns once or over the course of several months, until you feel that you have discovered the sender names that truly optimize your aggregate open rate.
Improving Your Email Campaigns Starts With Improving Yourself
I know an elderly man who used his stoic work ethic to succeed in raising three children and purchasing a house in spite of the handicap of an incomplete high school diploma. I also know another man with an Ivy League education to his name who continues to live miserably, miserly, and lonely due to his general indolence and whiny attitude. The moral of this allegory can be applied to email marketing. Success does not stop at mere knowledge; it can only be achieved through the combination of technical skills, hard work, and a healthy attitude. A high level of self-discipline is required to keep track of the open rates in each of your campaigns. For example, if you do not already master Excel, then it is mandatory that you brush up on it by reading a user guide or getting a quick tutorial from a more experienced coworker. Keeping a very organized and growing Excel document that lists dates and open rates of your past campaigns will provide you with the accessible data you need to make a fast decision on which sender name to choose for future mailings. Ask your email distribution service if they offer online training webinar that you can participate in. In addition, don’t hesitate to email your account representative back and forth with informal Q&A sessions. Service providers such as IntelliContact and CoolerEmail enjoy when email marketing enthusiasts attend their webinars and take an interest in their products, which are all too often underutilized.
Sender name optimization is only one facet in the vast science of email marketing. Mastering this single aspect will help you run a successful and, as always, ethical email marketing campaign. This small sender name detail warrants research. Fail to take it seriously and your email marketing campaign might just end up in the dreaded, yes you guessed it, Trash Can.
Look for the next installments of this email marketing guide to find out more on how to write subject lines and strategically place hyperlinks in your emails.
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