Tips to Strengthen Your E-mail Campaigns

Van Diest recommended waiting at least 48 hours before declaring a test winner.

"Remember," she said, "the more you test, the more you'll learn. Be sure to use what you learn."

The most important e-mail metric to focus on is conversion rate, which shows the percent of clickthroughs that resulted in an action, whether that action is making a donation, registering for an event, taking a survey, renewing a membership, etc.

The future
Van Diest recommended the following five things that organizations can do now to strengthen their e-mail marketing efforts:

1. Audit one of your e-mails for the four Ps.
2. Plan to test an item in your next e-mail. "The subject line is easy and sometimes has dramatic results," Van Diest said.
3. Check your next (or last) e-mail in a different browser or on a mobile unit.
4. Write (or rewrite) your welcome e-mail. Make sure it offers something or motivates a next action.
5. Create a new segment to test in your next campaign. Try a completely unique message to people who have given you their e-mail addresses but never taken action, Van Diest said.