Key Performance Indicator (KPI) and tracking. The basics of e-mail marketing
Key Performance Indicator and tracking
The Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is an important tool for determining whether the decisions made so far in e-mail marketing are bearing fruit and whether they are serving the desired goal achievement. In email marketing, the most important KPIs refer to the distribution list and campaign level. At the distribution list level, the KPI determines the quality of existing contacts and the commitment of users. Among other things, this makes it possible to approach inactive users for reactivation and particularly active users for a loyalty programme. At campaign level, both the effectiveness of the content and the design of the templates are determined. The reach and conversion chances of the template can be increased and a particularly good performance can be identified. The following questions and information can be helpful to get to grips with the topic of the campaign and distribution level in more detail.
Opening rate:
How many recipients have opened the sent e-mail?
Distribution list:
In the context of this question, it should be investigated how high the number of active and inactive users is in the existing database. If necessary, reactivation campaigns and loyalty programs should be used.
Click rate/CTR:
How many recipients have used a link in the e-mail?
Mailing list:
This analysis focuses on the willingness of users to buy and on the recording of silent fellow readers. In order to obtain the relevant information, new messages and incentives can be used, for example, for silent readers and recipients who are willing to buy. Surveys or surveys on the relevance of the offer should also be considered.
Campaign:
This is about finding out whether the content of the e-mail was convincing enough to motivate the recipient to take action. A review and optimisation of the CTA, the text/image language and the basic subject matter has an effect on the KPI.
Bounces:
What is the number of undelivered e-mails?
Distribution list / campaign:
The analysis of the existing distribution list with regard to users who no longer exist is of great importance here. This means that the data sources should be checked and optimized for incorrect or inactive e-mail addresses as well as deliverability.
Unsubscribes:
What is the number of unsubscribers?
Distribution list / campaign:
In this context it should be found out how many users consider the contents of the sent e-mail to be irrelevant. A review and optimization of data sources, sending frequency and sending time is essential.
However, it is important to know that all KPIs correlate with each other and should only be considered in context. However, individual KPIs, considered on their own, have little meaning for the effectiveness and efficiency of e-mail marketing.
Industry benchmark
The determined key figures cannot be automatically equated, but require individual consideration. In addition, one’s own key figures should be compared with those of other users in the same industry sector to find out how meaningful the figures actually are. It is precisely for this purpose that some e-mail tools regularly publish up-to-date benchmarks on the average values of all sent campaigns across accounts. Benchmark reports from MailChimp and Constant Contact can be viewed at https://bit.ly/OMRBenchmarkbericht-2 and https://bit.ly/OMRConstantcontact.
Success tracking
In most cases, the aim of e-mail marketing is for the recipients of sent e-mails to reach a landing page and, on this page, for example, to buy a product, register for a service or read certain content. A web analytics tool can be used to measure whether this is actually successful. The links in the e-mail newsletters are provided with campaign parameters. Such parameters can be generated at https://bit.ly/OMRTools, for example. However, such functions are now offered by all e-mail marketing tools. For Google Analytics parameters, for example, it is recommended to write all parameter contents in lower case. Otherwise, it can lead to the fact that the individual reports in Google Analytics can no longer be summarised so easily. This can lead to a distortion of the results.
In addition, there is the possibility of using custom dimensions, for example in Google Analytics, which makes it possible to measure clicks directly out of the newsletter. For this, MailChimp, for example, attaches its own additional parameters to each URL. This parameter information can then be sent to the data layer of a tag management system for further processing.
Using Google Analytics it is also possible to track the opening of newsletters. For this purpose, a so-called measurement protocol from Universal Analytics is used, with the help of which a pixel is generated, which in turn generates a Google Analytics call. A pixel URL is assembled from various parameters and integrated into an e-mail template as an image URL. A corresponding manual can be viewed at https://bit.ly/OMRFinc-3.
Optimized Insights
Of particular relevance in e-mail marketing is the analysis of the opening and click-through rate. However, this becomes a problem for many email marketing managers, as these statistics are not part of the web analytics concept. An inventory or analysis can therefore only take place if the recipient of a newsletter actually clicks on the link in the e-mail. As a result, email marketing managers often make the emails particularly click-strong, making them less interesting for the reader. Conversion by the sent e-mail can also take place if the recipient looks at the e-mail on his or her smartphone, for example, but carries out the conversion from another device at a later date. To be able to detect this, Google Analytics offers the possibility of placing tracking pixels in the e-mail. This makes it possible to establish correlations between the opening of emails and purchasing behaviour. This is referred to as postview tracking. By means of this tracking, it is possible to find out, for example, whether the e-mails sent have been opened at all, whether products were purchased after the e-mails were opened, whether your own website or an app is used more frequently or whether there are also users who open the e-mails sent although they do not use the website. The tracking is completely anonymous and therefore no personal data is transmitted or even stored. The corresponding MailChimp Google Analytics URL Builder can be viewed at https://www.finc3.com.
E-mail marketing in sales
The tracking of sales e-mails is no longer a rarity either. Sales employees can track in detail which e-mails are actually opened, which links are clicked on and whether sent offers are read. The entire customer communication can thus be analysed and optimised. A tracking solution is offered by HubSpot (www.hubspot.com) for example. The conformity of the selected provider with German or European data protection law should be checked in advance. This means that no personal data may be collected through tracking, i.e. the information from the analyses cannot be assigned to any user. The storage of an IP address is also not permitted in this context. If the condition of anonymity without exception is fulfilled, tracking is unproblematic from a data protection perspective. However, tracking must never be carried out without the consent of the person concerned. Permission for this could be obtained in conjunction with the opt-in, which is necessary anyway. It is important that the person concerned explicitly agrees to the tracking.
The interaction of e-mail and print
Email marketing does not have to stand alone, but can also interact with other channels. For example, e-mail marketing can be used to send out different products and triggers to find out what reactions they elicit in recipients. The information from this can then be used to develop segments for sending direct mailings. This results in a higher chance of conversion, which in turn justifies the use of additional costs such as for a print channel. Among other things, this makes it possible to generate significantly higher sales. In addition, the print channel can be used to continue to provide unsubscribers with relevant information, to persuade inactive customers to take action and reactivate them on the e-mail channel, as well as to reach customers who do not open e-mail or are inactive with regard to their mailbox. Email and print can therefore influence each other and help the other channel to be more effective.
General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has been in force since May 2018 and contains, among other things, stricter requirements for the documentation and safeguarding of processes. More precisely, for e-mail marketing this means that there must be detailed procedural descriptions of data, service providers, deletion processes and the like. This is the only way to ensure complete transparency in the event of a requirement to provide evidence to a supervisory authority. Above all, it is important to be able to provide information that is based on the following basics: What data is in the system? Where does this data come from? To whom is this data passed on? For what purpose is the data used? How does the deletion work?
With regard to e-mail marketing, it should also be noted that it is sufficiently documented that all processes are based on DOI. In the case of an existing customer exception, this must be explained accordingly. The entire DOI process must be described, also with regard to data storage and the use of IP addresses.
When designing the documentation, a general description of the processes is sufficient. It is not necessary to explain every small step in detail. It is particularly important that the supervisory authorities see that the person concerned has dealt with the subject matter intensively and also on his or her own initiative. Above all, it is important that all essential aspects are considered.
Furthermore, the ban on coupling, which is stricter with the GDPR, is also important. This prohibition of tying means that consent is deemed not to have been given voluntarily and is therefore ineffective if it is linked to the provision of a service, for example. However, it is not yet clear how the individual provisions of the GDPR are to be understood. It depends on how the courts will decide on individual issues in the coming years. In addition, the European Union has planned the e-privacy regulation, but it has not yet come into force. This regulation is intended to strengthen the privacy of citizens online and also to regulate data protection more intensively. Here, too, it remains to be seen what new requirements will be imposed on e-mail marketing.
