Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Transcription:
(Please excuse any typing errors.)
This week we received a question from one of our subscribers around open rates for emails and what would you realistically expect if you decided to give email marketing a go. That’s the subjects of this week’s podcast. I’m going to map it all out for you so you can get a real sense of what results you can expect.
I am a big advocate of emails because it works. For many recruiters, you’ve got a database and it’s there, you can use it as an engagement tool. But what sort of results can you expect?
The reason why I wanted to do this podcast is because I had a question from Dan one of our subscribers about what sort of open rates can he expect from emails.
There are 3 things to consider. I’m going to cover each one in detail then I’m going to chat through what response rates you can get.
How well do they know you?
It depends on the prospective client or cold lead that you are sending this email to. It is pretty logical you’d think. If you’ve got a number of clients or candidates that you’ve worked with in the past, then your response rate for opens and people reading your content is going to be a lot higher.
Why? It is the same reason I consistently go to Marks & Spencer to buy clothes – I’m used to it, I know they always deliver, I’ve been a client of theirs for years so I know what I can expect. I have been ‘trained’ to go along to Marks & Spencer’s and use it.
For you or your clients and prospects or cold leads, they are all at different stages of the buying/awareness journey. Imagine that you’ve got clients or candidates and you are sending them an email and that email adds value, then you’re probably going to get a high open rate.
Clients
Our experience for client lists is that you can have, sometimes a 90 to 100% open rate depending on how regularly you communicate with them. The more regularly that you communicate, the more likely they are to be, I mean this with love and respect, ‘trained’ to open your emails.
Of course, they will open them when the messages that you are sending is relevant for them. So for clients, you could even have as high as a 90% open rate but you would be expecting possibly a 50% open rate depending on your market. A high-level HR professional or somebody like that may not open it as regularly because they are busy but if you make them compelling and you are adding value, you will get people to open them.
Prospects/Leads
What about prospects? A prospect is probably somebody who opted into your website, someone that you have had some engagement with, then your open rates may be as high as 20%, it could be even higher. Again it boils down to what value you are adding and how regularly are you communicating with them.
This is really important. People miss this out. If you just send an email ‘blast’, I hate that word but people call them email ‘blasts’, when you send out an email blast don’t be so surprised if people unsubscribe from your emails because it is just a quick hit. Of course, you are going to get unsubscribes because people change, they might be having a bad day etc.
One minute you are flavour of the month, one minute you might not be. You will get that but the people that stay on your list and open your emails are the ones you want to be bothered about.
What about a cold list?
A cold email list – What sort of response rate can you get from them? It depends.
If it is a pitching email you will probably get even less response. If you are trying to build value and create a relationship with someone they are more likely to open your email. {Sidenote: Remember in the UK, it is still okay from a business to business context to send somebody an unsolicited email provided you give that person the option to unsubscribe from that email.}
For the cold list you could be looking at anywhere, and this might shock you, from 2% through to maybe 5%. If you are getting a 10% open rate, you are doing well on a cold email list.
People want to know what the point is. Well, if you are sending an email out to a thousand people, and you’ve got a 10% open rate, then potentially a hundred people have opened that email. So what? Well, what happens if they open it and then a certain percentage of those then ring you? It’s well worth it.
It’s the way you tell um !!**
What else can affect open rates and emails? It can be down to something as simple as the title. The title of an email can make a difference. If it is an obvious pitching email people just probably delete. They are not going to open it. If it is an email that has some form of curiosity and a potential benefit for that particular individual, people are much more likely to open that email. Why? Because we are all wired to be curious about things and we are also all quite self-motivated.
If it was an email that said “How One Candidate We Placed Had 20 Job Offers” then I would suspect that if I were a candidate, I want to know how that particular candidate got 20 job offers. I am likely to open that email.
You have to deliver on the body of the content within the email. That’s logical but it can be quite easy to read through your email that you are going to send and think about a sexy title that is going to get people to open it.
The key thing is value. You’ve got to add value. Pitch, pitch, pitch is not going to work in today’s environment. Remember email marketing is a strategy to warm people up to then pick up the phone and talk to you. That’s when you can do your sales proposition.
That’s when you can implement your selling skills. Whatever process you might use in the context of selling, whether you are spin selling or any form of identifying needs, it is going to work with an individual because particularly if they contacted you then they are warm. They are liking what they are seeing and they want to have a conversation with you so that’s going to make a difference. That’s around the value add. Add value to your potential clients and candidates.
People sometimes get a bit nervous about how often they should pitch. I always say ‘4:1 ratio’ – 4 general emails with a call to action in the PS.
PS’s are very powerful and it could be a little subtle thing in the end. ‘Did you know that we are the approved supplier for XYZ’? Or ‘Click here to find out about the 8,000 candidates we have placed in the last 25 years.’ Something like that, very compelling. If you are a candidate you’d think “These people know what they are doing” so they are more likely to click through.
Summary
If you are wondering about what email response rates you are going to get, then it depends on:
- Whether it is a client
- A cold email list,
- The value you are adding,
- A compelling title
Then the secret sauce!
There’s one secret little thing that I haven’t mentioned before and it is consistency. One of Prof Cialdini’s principles of influence.
The more you send emails, the more people see you as a major “authority” in the market, the more trust you develop and the more contact points you create to build a foundation with prospective new customers.
Would you like training on E-marketing?
Email marketing will be one of the modules on our new Marketing for Recruiters course that we will be launching in November this year. Depending on your recruitment organisation and geography it qualifies for matched funding. If you would more information then fill in our Contact Form and put the word November 2015 course in the subject line and we will be in touch.
This podcast was hosted by Denise Oyston.
