Email Marketing by the Numbers: How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level

The Basics of a New Member Stream

This communication vehicle can take various forms, but there are several key elements that define the most successful new member streams:

• Frequency: A weekly email is usually optimal. Other emails for which a customer has subscribed must be taken into consideration. The last thing we want to do is flood a member in the first few weeks of membership.

• Stream length: Usually three to five emails will suffice. This should afford you the opportunity to highlight and educate on the program aspects you deem most important.

• Relevance and expectations: Tell your new members they are receiving these emails specifically because they are new to your list. Also set expectations in each email for what to expect within the next email.

• Content areas: What you talk about in these emails will depend on your business and the level of customer engagement you would like to attain. The most popular topics: reinforce the reasons for receiving the email, explain how to manage their account or use your website, and provide special offers for new members. This is a great testing opportunity, as you will want to find the optimal content areas.

• Navigation to previous emails: What if a member missed the third email in a stream of four? Not a problem. Just include links within each email that allow the member to view the previous emails in the stream. You may choose to allow subscribers to view future versions as well, but you run the risk of deflating open and click rates in ...