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Email markEting In the US, shopping website measuring email rOi Gilt sends out more than 3 000 different forms of its email marketers look at two figures – daily email, each based on open rate and conversion rate – as a past user behaviour measure of success. The system isn’t 100% efficient: factors like the operating system, firewalls, network and client email software can prevent clicks from being reported. If anything, the figures are wildlife enthusiasts. “The client, if they’ve underestimated, rather than inflated. opted in to your list, must be interested For Malamoglou, a good open rate in either the product, the service, or the would be 30%, with a 1% conversion kind of topic as a whole – whether it’s rate as a direct result of the mail – in game drives, wine, kitchen appliances or other words, a customer opens the mail, financial advice. So engage with them on clicks on a link and makes a purchase that level, rather than forcing sales down immediately. In reality, people seldom track and trace their throat,” he says. behave in such a linear fashion. “But it’s The key to tracking email success or In the US, shopping site gilt not about that, it’s really about building failure is in the analytics or report-back (www.gilt.com) sends more than 3 000 a client relationship,” he insists. functionality of an email marketing different forms of its daily email, each system. By using simple tracking based on past user behaviour. naturally, africa-specific lessons technologies, email providers can that degree of personalisation requires Agnes Sokol is a US-based marketer aggregate information about which users a sophisticated back-end and a lot of who spent a month in nairobi assisting open each email, which links in the mail input. But, according to the McKinsey the Savannah Fund, a seed capital fund readers click on, and whether the email report, it can drive real returns. The report specialising in east Africa. She says one is forwarded to friends. cites an example where “home-goods of the flaws in local email marketing Says Malamoglou: “email-reporting retailer Williams-Sonoma reported a campaigns is that, in geographic functionality is incredibly powerful. If you 10-fold improvement in response rates areas where Internet connectivity is use the system to its fullest, you could by adopting personalised email offerings, problematic, the target audience may only actually determine exactly what your based on individuals’ on-site and check their email infrequently. user’s preferences are over time.” catalogue shopping behaviour”. “A creative way to get around this Better customer insight means hurdle is to find your users where they knowing more about what customers going mobile currently are and effectively move them want – and giving this to them The eMarketer website reported last to your site,” Sokol writes on the fund’s means heightening relevance. In the year that nearly 45% of all marketing website. “This can be done by using case of a company like getwine emails were currently opened on a mobile some highly targeted offline marketing, or (www.getwine.co.za), an e-commerce device. But, Malamoglou warns, “If using popular channels like SMS or social site that markets wine directly to your website is not mobile-ready, I think networking, which are regularly used consumers, the system can track who you lose some of the impact.” google around the continent.” is clicking on a special for Hoopenburg would agree: a survey done in 2012 by She continues: “Africa has a staggering Cabernet Sauvignon 2011, for example. the search giant found that 61% of users mobile penetration rate that can be used The same customer may seldom click would not return to a mobile site that to market your product. Ahonya (an on white wines or red blends, so the didn’t render well on their smartphone or online shopping site based in ghana) system becomes smarter and can be set tablet. They also found that “consumers incorporated an integrated SMS campaign up to send more targeted emails to that are more likely to buy online when the site into their email marketing strategy to customer, focusing on red wines and meets their mobile needs”. ensure that they could communicate their related products. To accommodate this trend, email message with their users.” marketers recommend keeping the Among the ‘tricks of the trade’ for Dear valued customer mail simple. Malamoglou says: “don’t email marketers are: don’t send email on a Malamoglou explains: “You really have to overdo it with images; don’t overdo it Monday – people are too busy; don’t send be careful about the way you treat your with promotional imagery. Just give them on a Friday – people are too tired; give PHOTOS: ISTOCKPHOTO, SUPPLIED users. You have to give them value.” For good content. If I open a mail and it has a readers great reasons to convert; gently instance, subscribers to a game lodge’s billion images, it’s spam. If it’s just flashy welcome your new subscribers – don’t email newsletter get links to game park imagery with a million deals, I’m going smother them; and email is a sniper bullet, news, pictures or videos of interest to to opt out and unsubscribe.” not a machine gun – go for relevance. 50 strategicmarketingafrica Second quarter 2014