The Needless Loss that Many Online Publishers Suffer
Why your email newsletter program may be leaving thousands of dollars on the table…
Economics is the measurement of any business enterprise. Profitability is the price of survival.
In four years of journalism school, I never had a single lesson in newspaper economics.
My professors were experienced reporters and editors, but none had ever figured out the business of publishing a newspaper. And none had ever met a payroll.
I took courses at the university’s business school to discover the economics of the publishing industry and to learn the interdependent roles of advertising, production, editorial and circulation. The J-school was clueless.
That was 30 years ago. Today, as I watch the sad demise of daily newspapers, I wonder how many members of the Fourth Estate have failed Economics 101.
Online publishers are not immune. There’s also an economic loss that many online publishers suffer — needlessly, in most cases. They’re leaving money on the table by not testing.
Here’s what I’ve observed, time and time again.
Of all the metrics associated with a website, email performance is the easiest to measure and test.
Writing two versions of an email message and sending out each to half of your database is quite simple. But — stunningly — 95 percent of the publishers I talk to never do it! They never run an A/B split test and measure the results.
Why?
- Is it that they don’t ever measure how much revenue they’re generating on each effort?
- Is it that they don’t believe that testing will improve the results of their program?
- Is it that they don’t know how to a format a report that accurately reflects the results of an A/B split test — and the trend over time?
- Is it because their IT folks are in charge of the email, and they don’t understand direct marketing?
- Is it because editors are responsible for the email, and they are concerned only with the quality of the editorial content?
- Is it because they have an irrational “church and state” separation of editors and marketers?
- Is it because they’re testing promotions, but failing to test newsletter templates?
It’s for all of these reasons, and it’s costing some online publishers a fortune.
How to increase overall revenue per thousand by 50 to 150 percent
The two drivers of email newsletter marketing success are (1) the size of the database file, i.e. number of subscribers, and (2) revenue per thousand emails sent. The goal is more subscribers and higher revenues per campaign.
Online publishers who test and track their results over time all report that testing improves overall performance dramatically — by 50 to 150 percent.
Once they test and measure, publishers swear that A/B splits are one of the most productive uses of their time and resources.
These publishers recognize the reality of being an email newsletter editor. They understand that publishing is a business enterprise.
Email newsletter publishing is about serving the reader and about making a profit.
If you’re not the most profitable publisher in your niche, you can expect to be “out-resourced” by a competitor. If your competitor figures out how to run an email program so that it generates $50 per 1,000 names, and you can only generate half that amount, you lose.
Your competitor will have more resources to grow the file, conduct basic research, perform analyses, etc. The result will be a better editorial product that better serves their readers. They win.
With higher profits, you can better serve your readers. With an ever-increasing number of readers, you can reap higher profits.
Are you paying a heavy price for failing to test email newsletter and promotional templates?
Discover how to launch a successful email newsletter publishing and marketing program and improve it incrementally over 12 months when you join Mequoda Pro today and download the Email Performance Report, Email Circulation Calculator, and Email Lifetime Calculator.
These three Excel spreadsheet tools, and six others, are all included in your Mequoda Pro membership. Find out more about all the benefits of Mequoda Pro membership.
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June 11th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Don, just a quick note to tell you how much I’m enjoying seeing MequodaDaily in my inbox every day! It’s good stuff!!!
June 11th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
That would be Heather H from Oakstone Medical Publishing in Birmingham, AL.