E-Mail Marketing Response Improvement

The selling of electronic mail between companies and markets is a popular subject. It is one of digital marketing's most powerful instruments, contributing to a high customer response rate. E-mail marketing can link marketers to customers and allow them to interact in real time (Sterne & Priore, 2000). It enables advertisers to connect with multiple consumers at a low cost at a single time. The efficiency of the email depends on how it is planned and arranged by the marketer. This paper uses an experiment design (DOE) to test the relationship between cause and effect in e-mail marketing. Testing For Cause-and-Effect Relationships Using DOEThe design of experiment (DOE) applicable identifying the cause-effect relationships in a process (Goos & Jones, 2011). DOE help to determine the primary inputs in a process as well as the optimum outcome of a given process. The DOE comprises of factor inputs, levels and responses or outcomes. Factor inputs are controllable and uncontrollable factors within a process. In this case study, the factors include email heading and e-mail body. The adjustment or modification of these variables in the various experiments leads to an outcome. Levels are specifics setting of the factors in a process. In our example, Heading is either generic or detailed. Similarly, the body of e-mail can either be plain text or HTML.The response is the outcome of the experiment. In this case, the response would be whether the emails were opened or not opened as well as the rate at which customers responds to the send emails. The response help in establishing a cause-effect relationship between the variables- email heading and email body. From the case study, the plain text emails had higher response compared to HTML formatted text. The difference in preferences could be due to ease of opening and read the texts. The plain text is easy to open and read compared to HTML as such it has higher response rate. It can be noted that the format of email heading has a small impact on the customer response rate. However, using detailed email heading result in a higher response rate when email is opened.2. Presentation of the Result of DOEThe result of the DOE can be presented using Interaction Effects Chart and Scatter Chart. The interaction effect chart provides numerical data on the response level for each variable under consideration. With such data, one can easily compare the impact of the variables on the customers’ response to emails as shown in table 1. The scatter chart provides a pictorial display of response rate at a given heading level such as generic and detailed. The graphical display allows for easy determination of the relationship between response rate and levels of email heading as shown in Figure 1.Generic(-) 42 57.5Detailed(+) 36 74Table 1: Integration Effect ChartFigure 1: Scatter Chart.3. Recommend for Increasing Email Response RateThe company should ensure its email are pertinent, short simple and to the point. Such approach to email design is necessary because some clients are busy and have no time to go through detailed e-mails. The company may also do well to write it emails in plain text rather than HTML to allow easy opening and reading by the recipients. It should also ensure that the email is clear and concise so that the recipients can identify the intended message with ease. The company should avoid including many topics in a single mail because that makes an email lose it envisioned objective (Sterne & Priore, 2000). It is also essential for the company tests its emails on multiple platforms and clients to enhance the response rate. The use of several platform help to determine the efficacy of various channels used by clients. The firm can test in mobile phones, personal computers as well as tablets. It is also vital for the company to use e-mail template with professional design. It should use a branded email template that is consistent with other marketing efforts as this creates a good impression on the receivers and trust among the respondents.4. Strategy for Developing a Process Model of Increasing E-Mail Response RateThe best approach the company can use to increase it email response is to focus on designing it email with the focus on the email body as well as factors that would motivate clients to open the email. The data show that there is a small difference between generic and detailed headings. Therefore, the company could decide to use either depending on the cost involved (chose the approach with lower cost). However, the firm should focus on improving the chances of the recipient opening the emails. As shown from the scatter chart, open emails have higher response compared to close emails (Sterne & Priore, 2000). It can do so by determining the subjects that can motivate recipients to open the emails by testing a series of them. The company should also identify itself through use of branded templates. Finally, it should make the email pertinent and to the point.ReferencesGoos, P., & Jones, B. L. (2011). Optimal design of experiments: A case study approach. Chichester: Wiley.Sterne, J., & Priore, A. (2000). Email marketing. New York: John Wiley & Sons.