So why is your email list like Sachin Tendulkar?
Here is why –
1] Sachin is an integral part of India’s team. I doubt if India can be a formidable team without him. Likewise if you don’t have a formidable email list, your Email Marketing program will lack teeth and may be giving a lack luster performance.
It’s possible that Email Marketing is one of the channels that you are using to communicate your brand offering, and that you are unhappy with the opens and clicks that you receive. You might be thinking it’s better to invest your time and money in social media and pay per click ads online. Think again. What Sachin is to our team, so is Email List to your Marketing. You may have the content right, the website perfect, you may be sending it via the most trusted marketer, but if you have the wrong email that get bounced, what’s the point?
2] Sachin commands loyalty because he is honest. If Sachin thinks he is out, he walks out of the match. Email list that is built from people who have given their email address to you will always command the most loyal readership.
Just like you can’t buy medals and trophies you might get one off clicks from a purchased list but you will not get consistent readership. A person who has given you his/her email address is bound to be your target audience. This email is worth much more than a purchased list.
3] Sachin has played consistently over a long time to world records to his credit. Sachin Tendulkar is the most prolific run scorer in one-day internationals. He also holds the record of highest number of centuries in both Test and ODI cricket. Your email list will reap rich rewards if you have a plan to build it consistently over a period of time.
You will need to take efforts to build an internal program just to build your list. Use floor personnel, your inbound call center, your outbound call center, social media channels, SMS channels to build your list. Leave no stone unturned. Be consistent over a long period like Sachin and you will start building your list like his runs.
4] Who does Sachin play for? Does he play for India? I think if Sachin was born in any other country he would have played this well for that country too. Does Sachin play for the crowd? Does he play to win medals? I think Sachin plays because he loves Cricket. It is in his blood. The fame, glory, fan following are the accessories that come with success. But it is Cricket that Sachin plays for.
What do your readers want? The readers have given you their email for a reason. Give them their reason and you will have the accessories like open rates, click throughs, consistent readership etc. Analyse what is working: are you readers happy to receive a promotion “Rs 499 off!”, or do they want to know when is the next sale? If your email list is Sachin what is it batting for?
5] Sachin was not very successful as a captain however and chose to resign from his captain-ship. When he was asked to take it up again he suggested the name of Mahendra Singh Dhoni instead, who has achieved a better success rate.
What have you done to figure out why your email list is failing? Does the web subscriber list (people who have come to the website and given their emails) give you more opens or the purchased list? Have you removed all the bounced data? Do you see better email opens when you send emails less frequently? Analyze your list behavior, and if it means like Sachin you need to resign i.e. reduce the volume of emails or drop some lists do that.
As they say if Cricket is religion, Sachin is God; then if email marketing is religion, you should pray to your email list!