All the excuses are behind us now. Holidays are in the rearview and the normally weak first two weeks of January are over. Ok, so let’s look at some trends and tips that can drive marketing performance...
RELAX!
The first 2 weeks of January are NEVER good for EMAIL MARKETING....
Here is some interesting data to consider...
HISTORICALLY:
January 1st – 14th VS January 15th – 31st
2nd Half January Click-Through Rates:
Consumer: UP 31% 👍
Business: UP 42% 👍
And this year especially...Nobody has time for your emails. They can barely figure out how to function normally. Things will pick up in a big way as January wraps up. 👊👊👊
TACTICS DON’T WORK YEAR-ROUND
Lots of interesting new trends that we are seeing related to certain tactics working at certain times of the year...
EXAMPLE: Emojis
Emoji use in subject lines in Q4 2021 was up over 1,000% for both BtoB and BtoC marketers. In Q4, Emoji Use in Subject Lines Increased Open Rates: BtoC UP 27% and BtoB UP 21%
BUT...
January 2nd – January 16th Emoji Use in Subject Lines is DOWN –
BtoC: DOWN 57%. (that is ‘use’ and not ‘performance’)
BtoB: DOWN 71%. (that is ‘use’ and not ‘performance’)
What’s interesting is we are already seeing campaigns planned surrounding Valentine's Day and emojis in subject lines appear to be playing a huge role. Even more interesting is BtoB campaigns planned for February have heavier use of emojis than what we are seeing currently.
What does all of this mean?
Tactics are not for use year-round. Different things work at different times of the year...When holidays approach and things aren’t a mess there is a greater appetite for more gimmicky marketing tactics. Basically, if we are ‘in the mood’.
Examples of tactics and topics that will fade out in the next few weeks:
What works now that won’t be working in March?
BtoB: 2022 Outlook, Forecast, Trends
BtoC: ‘New You’ or ‘Better Yourself’ Theme
Re-sending to Newsletter Non-Openers
Sending to non-openers on offer related campaigns is super obvious. And I really hope you didn’t stop doing this because of Apple’s iOS 15 – (here is my take on all of that - jayschwedelson.com/Content/scoops/Scoop-17-010322.html )
Anyway...back to sending to non-openers:
So, for any offer related email campaign the normal setup is a 3x send effort over a 2 week period:
Example: All 3 Sends Happen Within 2 Weeks
Send #1 – Intro the offer
Send #2 – Time is running out
Send #3 – Last chance
This is obvious and the data proves it out every time:
1x Send Campaign vs. 3x Send Campaign (Same Offer and Same Audience)
BtoB: Response Rates UP 78%
BtoC: Response Rates UP 64%
But marketers often don’t apply this same thinking to non-offer email sends such as email newsletters...Email newsletters or blogs take a really long time to put together. Why would you only send that great content once? Total waste!
It is so simple to add in an extra send...
Example Email Newsletter Send Plan:
Send #1: Regular Subject Line
Send #2: Sent 48 Hours Later – Subject Line: Oh no, you missed it!
Overall Click-Through Rates for 2x Email Newsletter Send vs. 1x Send
BtoB: Click-Through UP 28%
BtoC: Click-Through UP 34%
Since You Didn’t Ask...
For any new readers of ‘Scoop’ this is where I share stuff that has nothing to do with anything that is actually helpful or useful...
WATCHING:
SELLING SUNSET (NETFLIX) – I think this show is the first sign of the apocalypse. I watch a lot of really bad tv, but this is some seriously next level garbage. But I am still watching.
OZARK (NETFLIX) – Hooray! Best Show is BACK! If you don’t like this show you need to unsubscribe. Not kidding. Do it now.
PLAYING WORDLE:
So basically, I am a moron. That is what I have concluded because of Wordle. My entire family shames me if I don’t get the answer in 4 or less. I am seriously thinking about cheating.
If you don’t know what ‘wordle’ is than you should ‘google’ it. Here is link to play -
www.powerlanguage.co.uk/wordle/
RANDOM THOUGHTS:
I think a clear sign of aging is keeping cereal in a clear container. I do this, therefore I’m old.
That’s all for now. HEY! Did you hear about the news?????? We are putting on a FREE Email Marketing Conference – here are the details...www.linkedin.com/posts/schwedelson_guruconference-emailmarketing-free-activity-6884528005855633408-6ya5
BTW – How are you? Shoot me a note and loop me in on how your marketing is going and how things are overall.
Best,
Jay
p.s. pass along to a friend if you think they may want to sign-up....www.JaySchwedelson.com
Are we connected on LinkedIn??? www.linkedin.com/in/schwedelson/
AND – PAST ISSUES OF SCOOP ARE NOW LIVE AT jayschwedelson.com/Scoops
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