Do you know how to do a mini-audit on your email list? This is an important way to fine-tune your emailing marketing within your business.
Your email marketing campaign plays an important role in the success of your brand. It’s an excellent way to reach potential customers who have a real interest in your niche. It’s also an easy way to stay in contact with and build strong client relationships with existing customers.
Audits are a great way to examine every aspect of your email strategy starting with the creation of your emails all the way through the distribution process. Email audits help you spot problems that hinder your success so you can look for solutions to improve your strategies and receive better results. One area that should be audited regularly is your email list.
Why Do a Mini-Audit on Your Email List
So, how do you actually do a mini-audit on your list? This is a practice to be performed on an already existing list. It’s a way to go through checkpoints in your email and your marketing techniques, to assess what is working and what needs improvement.
Creating the list is the first step in any email marketing campaign but simply creating a list is not enough. Even the best strategies and marketing campaigns are useless if they’re not reaching the right audience, which is why doing regular mini-audits on your email list is so important. If you’re not reaching your target audience, then all of your hard work and marketing efforts are wasted.
Your email list must be updated regularly to keep up with the changes taking place in your niche. Some of the consumers on your list may no longer have an interest in being a subscriber, while there are others out there searching for what you have to offer. The best way to keep the list up-to-date is with an audit.
Mini-audits allow you to take a closer look at your list to determine if you’re actually reaching your target audience. They will help you see who on your list is responding to your emails in a positive way and who is not. Use the information you gather to help you target the right audience so you can get the results you desire. Your annual email audits will also go a lot smoother because this part of the audit will already be up-to-date.
How to Do a Mini-Audit on Your Email List
One of the most important things to understand about your email list is that quality is better than quantity, even if that means there are only a handful of people on the list. Your goal is to reach your target audience because they are the ones that are most likely to take advantage of your offers. Over time, your list will grow.
Ideally, everyone on your list is what’s called opt-in subscribers, which means they all signed up to receive your emails. Your email audit should focus on reaching your target audience, encouraging them to subscribe, and then keeping them interested so they will stick around.
When doing an audit on your email list, answer the following questions:
Here are some important things to look for when doing your email audit. Keep in mind, you can repeat this as often as you want. I recommend at least once each quarter.
What methods are you using to attract potential subscribers?
Before you can build your email list, you have to get the word out that you want subscribers or no one is going to know you exist. Take advantage of social networking and create high-quality blogs to help draw attention to your business. Be sure to use good opt-in methods on your website, blogs, and social sites to encourage sign-ups.
What kind of incentives are you offering?
Most people don’t give out their emails freely. They expect to get something in return for providing their information. So, once you get their attention, you need something to encourage them to become a subscriber. This includes everything from newsletters filled with valuable information to offering subscribers special discounts on your products and services. If you’re having trouble getting subscribers, take a good look at the incentives you’re offering during your audit to see where you can make improvements.
Are you providing good information that clearly explains what you’re offering potential subscribers?
People want to know what they’re signing up for and if it’s unclear, they will just ignore you. Make sure potential subscribers know exactly what type of information, offers, etc will be in your emails in addition to how often they will receive them. This will also make it easier to reach your target audience because only those with a real interest in your niche will sign-up.
Is your signup form easy to see and use?
When you do a mini-audit on your email list, you should also check your signups and opt-in forms. Your sign-up or opt-in button should be clearly visible on your webpage, blog, and all social sites. In addition, the process should be quick and easy to do. Most people won’t take the time to sit around filling out long questionnaires so keep it short. While doing the audit, check to make sure all of your links are updated and working properly.
Are you providing quality content?
This is important because once you get quality subscribers, you need to keep them. If you have a high unsubscribe rate, this could be one of the problems. If your content is not beneficial, there is no need for them to stick around and many people will end up unsubscribing.
Are you taking advantage of testimonials?
You have to encourage your audience to sign-up and be a subscriber. Placing testimonials from other customers on your sign-up page talking about how they have benefited is a good incentive to give you a try.
Is your Privacy Policy available and easy to see?
Privacy is important and your readers must know their information is safe with you. Providing access to your Privacy Policy will help make potential subscribers feel safe and encourage them to opt-in.
Examine each one of these questions carefully as you conduct the mini-audit on your email list to look for problem areas. This keeps you focused so you can see where improvements are needed. During your audit, record any problems you find so you can search for solutions. Then you can create a plan to improve the way you reach out to potential customers. As a result, you’ll attract more quality subscribers with a real interest in what you have to offer. Then your email list will continue to grow.
Learn more about how often you should email your list here. And learn how to make more money with your list here.
