We recently conducted a marketing test with an ezine solo mailing. For those of you who are not familiar with what a solo mailing is: it is a special mailing that is sent out to an ezines list of subscribers as an exclusive message. Most ezines today will consist of information about several different topics and products. A solo mailing will strictly focus on one subject - usually a promotion of some sort.

This solo mailing was sent to a test list of one thousand opt in subscribers of an ezine that focuses on marketing information and opportunity updates. We set up the test in a two step fashion. Readers were informed of an opportunity to receive FREE training by a world renowned expert. All they had to do was click over to a special page that we had set up (step one). Once they arrived at this page, they saw a letter that went into more detail about the opportunity and encouraged them to leave their names and email addresses for the package and an autoresponder letter (step two).

A little more than 22% of the subscribers clicked through to the web page. Of those visitors 53% left their names and email addresses in the form box to receive further information. The net result was that 11.6% of the list responded to both steps and pursued the information. Over 90% of the action occurred within the first 24 hours of the mailing. Approximately half of the click-throughs came within 6 hours (the mailing was sent out at night).

What this Means

We think that an initial response rate of 22% is excellent. Getting more than 50% of visitors to a web page to respond is also very good. Two main reasons for the success of this experiment were: 1) An exclusive message devoted to one subject  2) It was an offer for something FREE. Now we know that this word is often abused and overused causing people to get suspicious when they see it, but it still gets their attention and generates inquiries.

Incidentally, the offer was genuine and real. Yes, there was a catch. A small one. In order to receive the FREE materials they had to register for a different training course. The deal was that they would get the FREE materials even if they cancelled the order 5 minutes later.

What Will Affect the Response Rate?

Knowing that most Internet opportunity seekers are constantly bombarded with offers, how can you get the best response rate?

TITLE

The Title or subject line is the most important part of the whole project. The subject of our mail out was...

Another aspect of the mailout that we think made it more effective is that it was Brief. Just 5 paragraphs of 3 to five lines per paragraph. All we wanted to do was tell people enough to get them to click over to the web page. Some experts will disagree with this, saying that long copy works very well if it's properly done. Well, what if you're not an expert copy writer? If you really like long copy, save it for the second step. For the first step, simply get the click through.

CLIENT CENTERED COPY

Talking to the reader is another very important factor that will dramatically affect the results. Does the copy involve and excite the reader, or does it just talk about you and your product?

CALL TO ACTION

As previously discussed, we wanted the reader to drop everything and go to the web page. That is actually what we said.

"...drop everything and rush over to http://www.worlddealcenter.com/freebook.html right now. You will see the most current update, and the info that you need to decide if a FREE training program like this is right for you."

There was no beating around the bush. Just a simple directive that would give them the information that they needed.

It is our sincere hope that this little marketing experiment has given you some insight into 'How to Conduct a Successful Email Campaign'. We honestly believe that focused advertising in ezines is one of the most effective methods of reaching your target audience.

Feel free to contact me with further questions.