Good News for Small Biz
Are you a small-business owner? Don't be intimidated by the big boys' e-mail campaigns.
Are you a small-business owner? Don't be intimidated by the big boys' e-mail campaigns.
How are small businesses faring in the battle for the email inbox against large companies with big advertising budgets?
Surprisingly well, according to a new report by VerticalResponse.
Its “Trend Watch Q1 2006” offers revealing insights into the world of small business email marketing. It also provides rare, indispensable industry benchmarks that allow small business owners to compare their email performance to similar-sized companies in the same category.
Here are some illuminating conclusions drawn from the report and a recent conversation with Vertical Response CEO Janine Popick:
Popick also reports that although most small businesses are doing great at steadily growing their email lists, only a few reach the elusive 10,000-member threshold.
As a small business owner, I find many of the report’s findings accurately reflect my own recent e-newsletter experience.
My e-newsletter is only broadcast to roughly 800 colleagues, clients, and prospects but enjoys a 49 percent CTR (define). Within the e-newsletter, the articles on life coaching topics, such as “Taming Your To Do List” and “Creating Problem-Free Zones in Your Life,” attract a dramatically higher readership than the more business-focused articles.
As my list grows and I broadcast more frequently, the bounce rates go down, because I’m continually cleaning up the list. The only difference is I’m not experiencing a higher unsubscribe rate. In fact, it’s decreased. But that may because over time, I’ve been working to refine the content to increase the relevance to my readers, which creates a greater rapport both on- and offline.
So if you’re a small-business owner, don’t be intimidated by the big boys’ email campaigns. You’ve got a closer rapport and stronger relationship with your customers. You can make it even more satisfying for everyone by staying in touch by email.
Want more email marketing information? ClickZ E-Mail Reference is an archive of all our email columns, organized by topic.