Bronto Blog

Every email marketing manager is always searching for ways to grow their subscription file - this is a given. Many options and opportunities exist to grow your subscription file organically. Unfortunately some email marketers still struggle with purchasing permission based lists as a means to increase their mail file. By doing so they settle for a quick fix that really does not build a stable, viable and cost effective acquisition.

I think of the saying “good things come to those who wait” applies to smart email marketing managers who appreciate the logic and process of growing their subscription file organically over time and with well developed marketing efforts.

The opportunities to grow a healthy subscription file comprised of subscribers with true interests in your products, company, messaging… are only limited by the time you spend creating and implementing an effective Email Marketing Acquisition Plan.

Over the next few weeks I will create a series of blogs focusing on each of the following elements. Each element is critical to creating a thorough Email Marketing Acquisition Plan.
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Lessons Learned from Bronto’s Marketing Team
Paid Search
Part 1 in a Series

Just as many of you are in the process of finalizing your marketing plan for 2008, so is Bronto. An important element to our planning is reviewing the metrics from the current year, and analyzing what marketing elements have been successful, as well as those that haven’t. It’s a good exercise. It helps you determine where to put your money, and what channels to grow in the following year. One channel that appeared to be in a need of optimization was our paid search campaign. Our goal was simple, reduce spend and increase qualified conversions. Here are some of our metrics and how we achieved them:

• Increased paid search conversion from 2% to 15% - We learned quickly that the key to increasing our paid search conversions was engaging the prospective customer throughout the conversion path, while gaining valuable insight about our respondent. Haven’t heard of conversion pathing? Check out: http://blog.nomorelandingpages.com. In addition, we created complimentary touches that followed up with the prospect, often times before they were even engaged in the sales process, producing a better qualification rate.
• Reduced paid search lead cost by 62%. By analyzing our paid search metrics, we were able to determine which keywords had a high cost, but a low qualification rate. By removing these keywords and focusing on the keywords that were relevant to our business offerings, we reduced our spend while maintaining the same (if not more) amount of leads that qualified at a higher rate.

So, you’re probably asking, “What does this have to do with email marketing?” More than you think. Creating a fluid campaign strategy positively impacts your bottom line. Take a look at all of your marketing channels and determine if there are places to integrate your email marketing and keep your audience engaged.

Sally Lowery
Online Marketing Manager at Bronto