Imagine your new website goes live. You’re ecstatic about the feel, the look, new functionalities and – even better – the increase in visits which might (and should!)  ultimately lead to more business. And then, one year on – what do you do? Do you look at your stats? Do you know what’s going on on your website?  How many people have visited, where they came from, how many referrers you have? How long they stayed and what pages they looked at?

Or you’re engaging in email marketing. How many split tests have you done recently? Do you know what your database likes? Does one part of your recipients always receive a different version of your emails or does everybody always get the same design, same message, same “from”,  same everything? And how many times do you change your Google AdWords to see if you can get in those extra % clicks…

Do you know which digital mix gives you the best conversions…?

Do you constantly test and improve…?

If the answer is yes – great! You’re doing the right thing to monitor and (potentially) improve your communication with the customer then this is what marketing is all about. If not, it might be worth considering – simply because in the fast changing digital world something that worked a year ago can be the spanner in the works 12 months down the line.

The magic formula is testing, testing and again testing. Everything that can be changed in your digital mix is worth testing to ensure that your marketing works. Test your website (layout, images, design, the options are endless), test your email marketing, try different ads in  your Pay-per-click, play around with your banners, test different approaches in Social Media and see what works and what doesn’t.And then go out and do something about it.

“I’m going to strip out 1,000 records from of your 3,000 database which we won’t email-market to anymore”. And? How does that sentence feel to you, as the owner of a precious and loved database? Resistance? Panic? “No, no, no”? And you are absolutely right, after all, it is your data, you have spent years acquiring these email addresses and you feel that you should communicate with them; and what better means than email marketing?

The question here is not “Do I want to communicate with them?” but “Do they want to communicate with me?”

Who are the people who respond to my email marketing – and who are those that don’t? Reducing a database hurts but is absolutely the right thing to do when you realise that part of it is dead weight. They are the people who never open any of your emails and who are quite clearly telling you “I don’t want to talk to you”. It is their right to refuse any contact with you but at the same time you should make sure that you are focussing your effort on the people who are actually engaged. The ones who open your emails, who download, click on links, phone you and ultimately, buy from you. They are your evangelists and they are the ones you should nurture.

So, when you’re doing email marketing, keep an eye on your database. Monitor who opens your emails and who doesn’t – and don’t hesitate – after let’s say 9 or 10 months – to delete the persistent “non-readers”. You’ll save money, it will do your figures good and you’ll end up with a nice and engaged email marketing community. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

E-newsletters are a great place to present your company and to show off what you have achieved. And it is only natural that you want to tell your readers all about the amazing things going on like new products, new clients, new technologies, new contracts or just a great service.

On the one hand, a regular newsletter is the ideal place for this type of information; after all, you want to remind people why they should come to you and / or stick with you. On the other hand, like with so many things in life, you should be careful not to overdo it. When gathering ideas for a newsletter you should always put yourself in the position of the reader and ask yourself the famous WIIFM? “What’s in it for me?” In other words, what’s the benefit for people who have agreed to be emailed by you on a regular basis? (yes, they should agree in some way to receive your marketing communications!).

Treat the contacts in your database as people that are special; because they are. They are the people who want to engage with you. So, give them something special from time to time; invite them to an event and offer reduced (free?) tickets; give them access to materials (e.g. white papers) which others can’t get their hands on; let them have something – e.g. a special offer – which others can’t buy or before others can buy it. These are only examples but I’m sure that if you look at your business and your client base you will find a lot more little treats for your faithful newsletter recipients. Exclusive is the word. So – what’s in it for them?