By Matthew Collis

Although email marketing may be a vital component of your communication strategy, you may not be aware that email marketing campaign reports can help you to pin-point the best leads in your database and increase the return on investment (ROI) of your email marketing. I’m going to share with you how you can easily maximize the value you get from email campaign reports. It’s quite simple, and you’ll be surprised at how effective it can truly be.

Measuring Effectiveness
But, before I spill the beans, you should know, if you don’t already, that email campaign reports are important in evaluating the success of your email marketing campaigns and measuring the results. For example, click through rate (CTR) is a key metric to look at when evaluating an email’s effectiveness. CTR often hints at how compelling recipients have found your offer or a particular call to action to be within your email.

A metric like CTR is significant because you can use the data to experiment with different calls to actions or subject lines, for instance, and determine which ones work best.

But there’s more you can do with CTR information. In fact, two email campaign report metrics and the information tied to them are key in determining your best leads: CTR and forward rate. First, generate an email campaign report and look at the CTR. Second, look to see who exactly clicked through to your offer. Do the same thing again with the forward rate – run a report and see how many people and who forwarded your email to others. The very people who clicked through to your offer and/or forwarded your email are clearly interested in what you have to say. In fact, they likely found your email compelling. Knowing who these people are is important, because it’s often a clear way to see who your best leads are.

Now, can you guess what the next step is?

Targeted Email to Your Top Leads
Send a targeted email or series of emails to the people who you see have clicked through to your offer and/or forwarded your email. Further engage them. Perhaps give them a special offer or incentivize them in some way. Pick up the phone and give them a call.

The best CRM systems include a built-in email marketing platform with email campaign reporting. I recommend an industry-specific CRM, regardless of the industry you’re in. From real estate to textiles, an industry specific solution will usually be more effective.

So, what are you waiting for? Start using your email campaign reports to reach out to your best leads.

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Matthew Collis is the Sales and Marketing Manager at IXACT Contact Solutions Inc., a leading North American real estate CRM firm. In addition to overseeing many of IXACT Contact’s key sales and marketing programs, Matthew works with REALTORS® to help them achieve their real estate goals through effective contact management and relationship marketing. Matthew plays an instrumental role in IXACT Contact’s communication strategy and has written a wide array articles, news releases, and blog posts on contact management strategies and implementation.