Achieve Better Email Marketing Results by Setting Quantifiable Goals

If I asked you to identify your top email marketing goals, you’d probably say “increase engagement,” “re-engage old subscribers,” or “achieve faster conversion.” These are among the most popular and important objectives. However, they’re not always easy to measure. Even after you’ve defined factors such as what constitutes engagement and how to define a conversion, determining whether your efforts are successful is a challenge marketers face every day.

As we grapple with tasks such as proving ROI and measuring campaign effectiveness, marketers face another issue: making sense of results in the age of “big data.” So, how can you wrap your arms around all of this data and determine whether your strategies are bringing you closer to your email marketing objectives?

Here are our top three tips for setting more quantifiable goals, and making sense of your results:

1. Link Qualitative Goals to KPIs

Your boss says he wants you to increase email engagement, but what does that really mean? Before you can put the wheels in motion toward your goal, you need to pinpoint what you’re trying to achieve by outlining the key performance indicators. For example:

What are the biggest indicators of engagement?

• Open rate
• Click rate
• Unsubscribe rate

Knowing which KPIs you need to review will help you set more measurable intentions. This leads me to my next point.

2. Assign a Numerical Value and Deadline to Your Goals

Now that you’ve defined your key identifiers, the next step is to assign a quantitative value and timeline to each metric.

Start by using the wealth of information already at your fingertips: your database. Compare current data to campaign results from last month and, if it’s available, last year. Also take time to research industry averages. This will give you an idea of what your competitors are achieving, and what you’ve accomplished in the past, so you can set appropriate and feasible goals.

Finally, set a deadline. For example, if your goal is to increase engagement, your quantifiable goal may be “Achieve campaign click rate of 15% in two weeks” or “Decrease average unsubscribe rate 2% by the end of the quarter.”

3. Measure Progress and Learn from Trends

At the end of your predetermined timeline, review your results. Whether you exceeded your goal or fell short, take time to dissect each campaign and note any trends. For example, you may discover subject lines with numbers yield a higher open rate with one segment, while personalized subject lines achieve better results with another. Or, if your emails delivered in the morning enjoy higher open rates, you may want to consider segmenting your list by time zone. Listen to the story your data has to share, and use it as a blueprint for all future campaigns.

By identifying your objectives, linking qualitative goals to measurable values and taking the time to learn from your past endeavors, you can achieve better results and continuously improve your strategies.

Having difficulty getting your subscribers’ attention? Read our eBook 3 Ways to Use Subscriber Data to Modernize Your Email Marketing and learn how to achieve better results faster.