Truth 45. The right (and wrong) ways to monitor replies to your email campaigns

In my speeches and client visits, I regularly preach that email needs to give more than take. That means marketers need to go beyond using email to hit their numbers and push products and services. Make it meaningful, unique, and, above all, relevant to the recipients. Those key ingredients should be part of the desired customer relationship formula. Yes, they are all buzzwords, but they're ones that should direct all aspects of your email program.

I recently examined a rarely visited, but key component of the “right email mix”; the reply-to feature of broadcast and targeted email campaigns. My goal was to find out what happens when I replied to permission-based emails from an array of disparate companies that fill my inbox with special offers, business-oriented services, purchase confirmations, and industry newsletters.

A week's worth of replying to commercial opt-in email messages reveals a great deal about how companies treat (or mistreat as it appears) their subscribers. During the test week, I received more than 40 opt-in emails from a range of companies, both big and small. These included business-to-business (B2B) emails, industry newsletters, consumer-oriented promotional emails, and even a presidential candidate's campaign newsletter.

The results were shocking. The perception that email is an easy one-to-one communication tool may be the problem, as most companies evaluated could not close the communications loop or even receive responses from their subscribers, much less reply to them.

Here are some highlights of my test week.

 I received only 6 human replies out of 40 replies to emails I signed up for. The responses were received within 24 hours and sufficiently answered my questions. While I won't reveal the companies that failed to reply, I will give a pat on the back to the companies that did respond, as they are a diverse lot reflecting the nature of the emails I replied to.

• Sam's Club—The giant warehouse unit of Wal-Mart.

• Slatin Report—A commercial real estate newsletter.

• Thin Data—An email service provider, or ESP. (It should be noted that I replied to other ESP newsletters as well but received no response from them.)

• Thrillist—A daily email geared toward men. Think Daily Candy for men. (It should be noted here that not only did I get a prompt reply, but I also got it from the CEO.)

• Zoo Atlanta—One of the nation's top zoos. (This organization shall receive the quickest reply award, as I received a reply six minutes after I replied to its email newsletter.)

• UPromise—A savings network for parents to save money for their children's college education. (The company immediately sent an auto reply saying it would reply within 24 hours, and it did.)

 Three replies were automated messages; two of them stated that the email address did not receive replies, while one auto reply said I should expect a response within 24 hours (which I did).

 Six replies immediately bounced. These were direct inquiries upon receiving the emails and were questions that related to the desired action/purpose of the email. For example, one email was from a major airline confirming a transaction and highlighted hotel and rental car offers. My reply was asking about the rental cars, and it bounced immediately. This is certainly not an effective cross-promotional effort in my book.

 I didn't receive any type of response from the remaining 25 emails I replied to. Interestingly, some of the email addresses that were displayed upon clicking the Reply button hinted at my fate, although in the body of the email, none mentioned that replies would not be answered. These included [email protected] and [email protected]. On the other hand, one reply email address was [email protected], but I found that address proved to be in name only, as I received no reply.

Avoiding common “reply” pitfalls

The first place to start is to identify where replies go and audit this process from the subscriber side. Most email managers may not be able to tell you what happens during a response, and this appears to be a major problem. I know from strategic engagements that this is often the case since many in-depth operational reviews have revealed an information black hole when it comes to knowing where replies go and who handles them.

What may be lurking?

First and foremost, unsubscribe requests are likely in the batches of replies that each email campaign receives. If these requests bounce or aren't received and removed, you may be violating the law. Ironically, one email newsletter I asked to be unsubscribed from featured content about email best practices.

What may grab the attention of more marketers are the missed sales opportunities occurring when replies to emails go unanswered. More than 25 percent of my replies requesting more information on a product or service went unanswered. Not everyone will complete the action you desire, such as clicking on the Buy Now link, so this is simply an inexcusable way to let revenue disappear. It also isn't just about missed sales; it is about the missed opportunity to share a dialogue with subscribers. Email is your chance for a two-way conversation, but it won't happen if your return address goes nowhere. You may miss out on things like testimonials, notifications of errors or mistakes, feedback on content, or suggestions for improvement.

If email wants to take a place at the big boys’ marketing table, marketers need to ensure their campaigns are designed and executed properly from the subscriber's side, going beyond the Send button and the sales and marketing point of view.