2015 - The Best & Worst of Simply Friday

So - how did the newsletter perform?

• 45 newsletters sent this year which was a little behind last year’s 47 but ahead of 2012 and 2013’s 44.
• Grew the opening rate from last year’s 58% to 62%
• Changed the opening title to shorten it by removing the “It’s Friday” Text
• A lot of churn - the list size stayed the same but many more new subscribes and unsubscribes than previous years.

On the whole I think I’m happy with that - driving the opening rate above 60% is encouraging and considering how the first half of the year was - I think I have a soft target for 2016!

The Best of 2015

What’s Going On In Your Business
Opening rate of 72.34%
July 2nd.

What's Going On In Your Business?

An impassioned plea to not only start measuring your performance but to actually do something with the data.  Just compiling the figures isn’t enough - you need to be changing behaviors as a result of data trends.

The Worst of 2015

Marketing Advice From Helmuth Von Moltke The Elder
Opening rate of 50.94%
October 29th

Marketing Advice from Helmuth von Moltke the Elder

You’d think after last year’s worst performer I’d have learned that random headlines that make sense to me but give you no indication as to what’s inside don’t work.  I wish I’d got this one across better as it is a critical point:

Digital marketing is the wild west and it’s different for everybody and every business.  Yes you need a plan and a general objective but you won’t find out what works for your business until you dive in.  The message that “No plan survives contact with the enemy” is so true when it comes to digital marketing - particularly in the social world.

Finally...

I don’t know about you but I’m exhausted - it has been a draining year.

I’m going to take the rest of month and get my energy back - do some reading and catch up on a million things I’ve been putting aside.

Have a happy holiday season and a fabulous new year.

See you on January 7th.

Written while listening to:  C major Theme - Lisbon Development

Image Credit: Metric Spaces by stuartpilbrow on Flickr
Image Credit: Bismarck, Roon, Moltke - Wikipedia

The Best (and worst) Newsletters of 2014

I started this newsletter on Thursday 18th August, 2011.  Sent to the client list from my former web building company, it was an explanation of how Google works and had an opening rate of 35%.

• In 2012 I sent out 44 newsletters and had grown the opening rate to 43%
• 2013 saw another 44 newsletters and the opening rate moved up to 54%
• This year I will send out 47 newsletters and the opening rate is averaging just above 58%

Even though the data indicates that I'm getting better at this, there are still the outliers that shed light on what resonated with you and what didn't - and they're always fun to look at!

The Best of 2014

Why your data is like a fine wine
Opening rate of 70%
September 4th

I liked this one - short and sweet it made the point that the longer you track your data, the more sense they make - check it out here.

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The Worst of 2014

Just how scary is your website?
Opening rate of 48%
November 6th

Sent after the Halloween holiday and intended to  make the point about the importance of mobile, not only was it a little late - it didn't give you any indication of what was inside - it was fun though!

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Subject line takeaways for 2014

What's been super interesting for me this year is the use of "How" in the subject line.  When I use it to explain how something works the opening rate goes down.  When I use it to explain "How not" to do something - the opening rate goes up.

I'm not quite sure what that means - I suspect that with limited time, it's easier to learn what to avoid than it is to have to learn something new.  Hmmmm - I might play with that next year.

More newsletter analysis next week!

Written while listening to: Build - the 2 hour version by music2work2 on YouTube

Image Credits: Halloween parade, Oct 2014 - 69 - Ed Yourdon on Flickr / Age like a fine wine by Derek Gavey on Flickr