What’s driving the b2b e-mail marketing to an early grave?
Did you know email marketing open and click-through rates are in free-fall (judging by the 2009 MailerMailer study). Back in H2 2007, based on some industry averages, a B2B Marketer could expect 14% of email sent to be opened. Now that number is 11.2%. So for every 1,000 email sent only 112 will be opened.
When questioned marketers believed “image blocking, the increased use of email handheld devices, and list fatigue” were among the key reasons for declining open rates. Did the survey ask the right questions?
Probably another reason for decline was the recipients were not interested in another bland, ill-timed and irrelevant message blasted out to the customer database and which they’ve already received on five previous occasions.
What is the point of measuring ‘open rates’ anyway? Given the trends it’s like counting deck-chairs on a sinking ship. Keeps you busy but not exactly a priority task.
For sure you can make a nice chart using the data collected but what will you do after that? Produce more nice graphics that demonstrate ‘batch and blast’ e-mails campaigns are ignored and produce no results.
As long as b2b marketers are fixated on measuring stuff that doesn’t matter they will not be taken seriously. The real questions are;
- What did the recipient do as a result of the communication?
- Did the information provided progress them closer towards a purchasing decisions?
Difficult and more challenging measures like these are the ones that really matter.
One more key talking point the study throws up was how ‘small lists’ (fewer than 499 email addresses) out-perform medium-sized lists and large lists. In some case the ‘open-rate’ is 40% higher than the other categories.
Smaller lists are getting a better reception –no big surprise really. The reason smaller lists outperform all others is the result of better segmentation and the development of appropriate messages that speak to these smaller groups.
Good B2B Marketers today are:
- Segmenting e-mail messages to address ‘customer personas’
- Assigning ‘batch and blast’ e-mail to the dust-bin
- Using marketing automation technologies to produce ‘customer-driven’ messaging and content
Get ready for the new b2b marketing age. It’s already here.
Link to MailerMailer study: Click here
Want some ideas? Download this WhitePaper “Bringing the Power of Marketing Automation to the Fortune 5,000” for some insights on how to adapt your agency to the new requirements of B2B Marketing.
Biz-Builders exists for companies who need a little more oomph! from their B2B marketing and sales teams and must find new customers quickly. We do this because we must. There is no comparable b2b marketing training in the UK. No Plan No Fun. We build a b2b sales and marketing plan and help you implement it. We offer marketing automation technology consulting and support too – if that’s what you need. You may not!
John Sweeney, Director Biz-Builders, is a B2B Marketing expert. He has helped many hundreds of B2B Marketers with b2b marketing consultancy projects and b2b marketing training. At times he has been able to call New York, London and Devon home. Right now it’s Berrylands and he is slowly adjusting.
sometimes i hate e-mail marketers coz they email me some spammy stuffs*’”
you can always say that email marketing is one of the best ways that you can market products “”