How to reap the benefits of targeted emails with minimal effort

You know the challenge you have as an email marketer: to make your emails as relevant as possible to those receiving them. The first step is to segment your list into groups. The next step is to create relevant email campaigns for each targeted segment. This approach to email marketing allows you to focus on the specific needs or interests of each group.

Just how much of a difference can a targeted email campaign make? In his book, The Quiet Revolution in Email Marketing, Bill Nussey tells the story of the retailer eBags who sent targeted email campaigns to new subscribers. As a result, their click-through rates climbed by 20 percent and the average order size grew by 45 percent. Wow! These results show that there is great potential in taking this approach to your email marketing.

You may not have a marketing staff, but you can still market intelligently and efficiently by sending relevant content to specific target audiences. Here are two fictional scenarios, along with visual examples, of how to efficiently produce targeted promotional and newsletter campaigns. Use these examples as inspiration to create a plan of your own.

Scenario 1: Using Click-Throughs to Send Targeted Promotions

Andy, the owner of an outdoor adventure company, sends a monthly email newsletter. In each issue they included promotions for equipment needed to go:

o Rock climbing             o Mountain biking          o Kayaking

Several weeks after sending his newsletter, Andy downloads the email addresses of the people who clicked on each link and adds them to the appropriate list-rock climbing, mountain biking, and kayaking. He then uses this list to market specific products and events to people he knows will be interested with targeted email campaigns.

Andy creates these email campaigns by following these steps:

1. Creates an email promotion for an upcoming rock-climbing trip

2. Makes two copies of that campaign: one for mountain biking and one for kayaking

3. Replaces the content in copied campaigns with information and images about the two add’l events

4. Schedules his three campaigns

Scenario 2: Segmenting a Newsletter List to Make Relevant Offers

Ann is a fundraising consultant who helps nonprofits to reach their fundraising goals. She has an email list that she's segmented into three categories: current clients, past clients, and prospective clients. She's preparing to send her monthly newsletter. She wants everyone on her list to receive her article, "10 Tips to Keep Donors Giving," but wants to include a different special offer for each of her segments. to your success.

Here are Ann's special offers:

o For clients: Refer a company for my services and receive $100 off of next month's bill.

o For past clients: Receive a free evaluation and recommendation for your holiday fund drive.

o For prospective clients: Receive a free evaluation of your fundraising program.

Ann follows these steps when creating her targeted newsletters:

1. Creates a newsletter for current clients

2. Makes two additional copies

3. Replaces the client-specific offer in each copied campaign with the correct offer for the segment

4. Schedules her three newsletters

Targeted Emails: Obtainable and Effective

Creating targeted email campaigns is well within your reach, and it doesn't have to take a lot of time. It simply requires some thought, planning, and a little extra effort. Once you have your plan in place, measure your results. Did you get higher open and click-through rates? Are your subscribers taking more action (making a purchase, registering for an event, etc.) than they did before? If your answer is "yes," then you've found what the studies show to be true: targeting with relevant content is the key to successful email marketing.