Performance Marketing with Google™ Analytics: Practical Strategies for Maximizing Online ROI

Chapter 13. Measuring E-mail Marketing

IN THIS CHAPTER

• E-mail: What's It Good For?

• Defining E-mail Measurement

• Tracking E-mail with Google Analytics

• Data and Analysis

E-mail has long been a favorite tool of marketers. It is an extremely effective way to target highly qualified individuals with a well-crafted and creative message. E-mail can be used a number of ways by marketers. In addition to generating sales, it can be used to retain customers, build communities, and test brand messages.

Regardless of how your e-mail marketing is used, the measurement and optimization are fairly straightforward: You want to define what makes a successful e-mail campaign, measure your campaign, and then segment your data to understand why it did, or did not, succeed. The key is tracking what your e-mail visitors do on the site after coming from an e-mail.

E-mail: What's It Good For?

Before we dive into metrics and tracking, let's take a step back and explain at a high level how you can use e-mail. After all, it is difficult to define and explain how to measure e-mail if we don't define how to use e-mail first.

Marketers use e-mail for many reasons. One of the most common uses is to acquire new customers. Many organizations place a high priority on building their e-mail lists through online and offline interactions with people. For example, many sites have an e-mail newsletter sign-up prominently placed on the site. The newsletter e-mail addresses gathered can then be used in different kinds of acquisition ...