What should you know about your email list?

If it’s Thursday, it’s time for Three Things.  This week: three things you should know about your email list.

You would think these three things are your number of subscribers, open rate, and click-through rate (plus perhaps a fourth:  churn rate), but Richard Rushing at Email Insider suggests something different:

What if you knew:

1. The value your email list subscribers associate with getting your emails?

2. Does what you send your subscribers match or exceed their expectations?

3. How and why did your email subscribers sign up in the first place?

That’s three that I would want to know.  Rushing suggests several others in his post and I’m sure you could think of the three things most relevant to your organization.

More importantly Rushing points out that you should, wait for it… ASK your subscribers these things from time to time.

Agreed.   It becomes easy to get lost in the reports showing your open rate increasing or decreasing and your click-throughs and conversions holding steady, but sometimes it’s necessary to step back and find other sources of information so you can better plan your next steps.  Subscribers (members, donors, etc.) should be asked directly for feedback.  You’ll probably find out something new every time – if you ask the right questions.

Check out Rushing’s post for more.

…and that’s the Three Things for this week!  Do you have Three Things you’d like to get off your chest? Shoot us an email – we’d love to feature your ideas in this space!

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