Ask & You Shall Succeed

by Gail Goodman (CEO - Constant Contact)

Ask and You Shall Succeed -
Using online surveys to improve your email communications

You've probably heard the saying, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." When applied to email marketing, a more appropriate variation might be, "relevancy is in the eye of the reader." You know that your email communications need to be relevant to the interests of your readers. But how can you discover what information they consider relevant? Open and click-through rates give you some idea, but that's only part of the story. There's only one way to get the specific feedback you need from your readers�ask them.

Asking your readers for their feedback on your email communications will give you valuable insights that help you achieve better results including more sales, additional website visitors, and higher open and click-through rates. You will also show your contacts that you are interested in what they think�that you understand your email communications are about them (not you).

The simplest way to get detailed feedback that is easy to evaluate is to send a brief online survey. You can use a number of services to conduct online surveys, including Constant Contact

When you prepare your survey, think about what aspects of your email communications you want feedback on. Then, think about the questions you need to ask to get the insights that can help you make improvements. Here are some key areas to focus on:

Overall satisfaction - Before you get into the details of your email communications, start out with a general question that gets a "gut" reaction from your contacts. Here's an example:

On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being excellent, how do you rate our newsletter?

Most valued sections - Understanding what your readers value most in your current emails will help you focus your energy and effort. If there is a section of your emails that your readers don't find helpful, you may want to remove that section. If there is an area you find they really enjoy, you can explore ways to expand it and make it even better.