If you are running email programs for your business, then you are most likely using some sort of reporting to measure the success of these campaigns. However, a marketer can drill much further down into the data than their Email Service Provider (ESP) might be providing automatically.

Campaigns can differ, as well as the needs of individual businesses. It is really about defining what your goals are and then measuring them. If anything, hopefully these KPIs get you thinking about how you can improve your marketing efforts.

David Baker from Avenue A/Razorfish shares some helpful KPIs to consider in a recent Email Insider article.

General E-mail KPIs:

E-mail sent/delivered

Campaign over campaign impressions/opens (total/unique/% rate)

Campaign over campaign clicks (aggregate/unique /% rate)

Click to open (% who open the message and click through)

Churn rate (% unsubscribe/opt out/undeliverable)

Send to a friend (viral rate)

ISP domain response (open/clicks)

Commerce-Driven Program KPIs:

Total sales (campaign, month, quarter, segment)

Profit/margin per e-mail sent / source

Sales per e-mail sent

Cost per e-mail sent

Average Order Value (AOV)

Number of orders

Conversion rate (to open/click through)

Number of site visits (page rank)

Demand Generation

Number of leads (by product/client type)

Number of downloads

Site visits

Page Rank

Cost per lead

Conversion rate

Membership/subscription/database growth

Web Focused

Cost per visitor

Number of leads by entry page

Heavy user share

Average page views

Stacking effect

Length of site visit by source

While all these are useful measurements, the challenge is to isolate the top three to five that mean the most to your business. When I asked my respondents to name their top three, few wanted to commit to so few, as is usually the case, but here are a few that came back universally at the top of the list. The obvious choices for a commerce-driven business were:

Sales (total sales, sales by campaign/type/segment/cell, per e-mail delivered)

Profit/margin per e-mail sent and campaign level

List growth/churn (size of database, growth month over month, churn rate month/aggregate)

Some companies are driven more by conversion events than pure sales. They want to get a lead into the hands of a partner, call center or salesperson–so they are about efficiencies, rather than sales and/or profit margin.

Cost per lead

Funnel movement (how leads migrate through the funnel stages)

Total reach (how much of the prospect database can be reached at any given time). This includes churn metrics as well.

Notice that the primary KPIs for the two instances above are not about click-through rate or open rate.

When the real focus of the program is purely branding, the metrics seem simpler, but with a deeper definition:

Response rate (both open and click). Brand marketers are increasingly looking at the total reach of their base and less at campaign-over-campaign results. They want to count how many eyeballs were exposed to the brand each month, the resulting interactions and incremental Web exposures.

Site visits and site traffic. Site traffic statistics driven from e-mail are becoming increasingly valuable to see what content and interests are driven from each campaign/program and business division. Depth of site exploration…

List growth. All brands place increased value on the size and relative growth of the database since it represents a potential share of market and voice. It is essentially the lifeline to reach a mass of customers in an efficient manner. This, combined with qualitative feedback, is quite useful in measuring brand attitude, awareness and level of involvement with the brand.

Whatever you take away from this article, do remember:

KPIs must mean something to the folks who manage the program, and be actionable.

Your executives should buy into them.

Your KPIs will evolve, so don’t hold them too personally.

tags: email marketing, key performance indicators, kpi

Krys Bart, Director, Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority
November 15 > 11:30 am – 1:00 pm
Harrah’s Downtown Reno
Click Here to RSVP Now

How has the airport team used marketing to turn the corner from declining air service and financial difficulty to tremendous growth in passengers and cargo?

Join us and learn about the airport’s marketing success, with ideas that YOU can use.

• How do you gain air service in the midst of airline bankruptcies, customer service issues and security challenges?
• How do you expand flights in a time when airlines are actually cutting back on service?
• How do you approach the airlines with a marketing plan that balances their needs and yours?
• How do you involve the community and motivate innovative incentive packages to attract additional service?

It’s not smoke and mirrors. It’s a complex process that involves many factors. Number crunching for one. It’s not just about benefits, but involves detailed financial analysis as well as positioning the unique attractions of the area.

“Reno-Tahoe International Airport – dedicated to moving you.”
“Anytime, anyplace, anywhere…”
“Over 170 flights everyday…”

Krys Bart is responsible for directing the Reno-Tahoe International Airport, and the Reno Stead Airport, with an operating revenue budget of $42 million, and 260 employees. Krys began her tenure as the Executive Director in 1998, at a time of declining air service and financial struggles. Her leadership has led to growing passenger numbers, and cargo has expanded for 18 consecutive months.

Recently Krys was named the “Best Small Airport Director of the Year” by Airport Revenue News. Under her leadership, the airport was named one of the “Top 5 Most Efficient Airports” by the Air Transport Research Society.

When:
Wednesday, November 15
11:30 – Registration and networking
Noon – Program begins
Where:
Harrah’s Downtown Reno
Cost:
$19 – AMA Members paid in advance
$29 – Non-members paid in advance
$20 – AMA Members paid at the door
$30 – Non-members paid at the door
$40 – At the door without RSVP – Seating is on a space available, first-come, first-served basis, with seating at noon

RSVP Online by noon on Monday, November 14th

RSVPs held until 11:50 am on the day of the event. And, please note that you must cancel your reservation at least 48 hours before the event or be billed for the event.

, reno, marketing

CNN.com includes a story posted Oct 22 entitled “Extreme marketing – this car made just for you.” The story details automakers’ efforts to define and fill narrowly-defined niche markets, and includes the factoid that automakers employ research companies — whose ranks include anthropologists — to ride around in test vehicles with potential buyers to observe their lifestyles. Worth checking out for a different view of marketing research and product development.