2009: It has been the Year of Engagement!

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ROI was supposed to be a major focus for 2009. The email volume has certainly gone up dramatically. Less is being done through other channels and the lines of a true opt-in has blurred a little. The key to connection this year has been engagement. If you can engage you can connect, and your program will do well. Here are five tips from marketers who have been successful in engaging their recipients:

1) Improved Segmentation – Place your recipients into segments and market to them appropriately, a few simple segmentation points include last clicked or opened, consumer (buyer, customer, member) vs. prospect, online vs. other channel and the length of time on file.

2) Active Subject Lines – Tempt the recipient to open the communiqué, this doesn’t necessarily equal esoteric subject lines, create a quick preview of the email to set their expectations and lure them in. Get your team involved to plan subject lines and never forget that the recipient is part of your team.

3) Achieve True Personalization – Personalize with content and incorporate relevant dynamic elements that fit the recipient’s preferences. Do more than insert the recipient’s name, focus on relevancy and work to engage.

4) Predict & Validate Numbers – Learn to put a prediction on expected results from a campaign – opens, clicks and conversions. Record the actual results and evaluate the delta with your email team, involve your overall marketing team as often as possible to help move toward continuity and discuss trends among your recipients. This group evaluation helps your multi-channel strength and allows you to see what consumers are really doing (Reverse Preferences factor in greatly in 2009.)

5) Carry on a Conversation – Back and forth dialogue is a necessity, accomplish this through small surveys to keep asking if you are meeting their needs. Leverage their responses into future offers.

Remember the recipient is savvy, they expect great things from you and know the value of email marketing, it’s your job to execute perfectly.