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

Introduction By the Numbers: What’s It All About?

Marketers, it’s time to let go. Say goodbye to intangibles and opinions. Wave adios to feelings and gut instinct—you know, that reason your boss used when you asked him why the color green would work for your brochure.

Repeat this adage with me: “Half my marketing dollars are wasted. I just don’t know which half.” Okay, it’s the last time you’ll ever say those words. It’s the last time you’ll take a leap of faith or look into your crystal ball and make a wild prediction.

I know that making marketing decisions based on feelings and intuition seems natural. And that traditional marketing, branding activities, and expensive professional services can be alluring. They’re comfortable. So comfortable, in fact, that they seem right to a lot of organizations. Here is one of my favorite lines from Thomas Paine’s Common Sense: “A long habit of not thinking something wrong gives it a superficial appearance of being right.”

Yet, there is a new era of marketing unfolding. One based on data, analysis, and what people actually do rather than what they feel or say. It’s time to say “no” to what may feel comfortable and “yes” to the facts.

As humans, we like to think we are interesting. Complex. The reality is that we typically repeat the same behavior over and over again. Take me, for example. This morning, I read the paper. I drank Starbucks coffee. I listened to my iPod while doing both. And guess what? I’ll do the same thing tomorrow.

That’s ...