The One Email Metric You Should Track

------=_Part_164431308_1212357369.1676649767887 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="----=_Part_164431310_585930213.1676649767887" ------=_Part_164431310_585930213.1676649767887 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit ============================================================ MarketingProfs Communication Today The One Email Metric You Should Track. Plus: Celebs in Boston! Read this issue on the Web. Just follow this link: ============================================================ You received this newsletter at this address ({EMAIL}) as part of your subscription to MarketingProfs.com, or because you subscribed to our newsletter. To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add us to your address book or safe list. Manage your mail preferences: N_fq/RGllRHdTQ1BwVEl6NVJtTTNpanBYdTdzanRyUk1jN3dWenVrZlc4aHZkQ1RoSlV1dDB3NnBhdm0xS0pjMFh4NjVLeDlLT1AxK2NHTng0Z1ZYYUd0MXlpdG1Oa0ZVYUhPcWM1VVpXQit2ZjE4ZDJoRmtGMDZWdz09S0/ If you prefer to no longer receive MarketingProfs Communication Today, you can always leave this list: 6fe/RGllRHdTQ1BwVEl6NVJtTTNpanBYdTdzanRyUk1jN3dWenVrZlc4aHZkQ1RoSlV1dDB3NnBhdm0xS0pjMFh4NjVLeDlLT1AxK2NHTng0Z1ZYYUd0MXlpdG1Oa0ZVYUhPcWM1VVpXQit2ZjE4ZDJoRmtGMDZWdz09S0/WERJZUhvTGx4N0xVVHQvYktJVWpWRm13dkJtT3Z1VEZQUVFFM0o1VzQ1c25hZU10R1RuMWo1TFc5SHhmY2NPaAS2 Copyright 2000-2023 MarketingProfs LLC. All Rights Reserved. 1985 Riviera Dr, Ste 103-17 | Mount Pleasant, SC 29464 | (866) 557-9625 ------=_Part_164431310_585930213.1676649767887 Content-Type: text/html; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Plus: Celebs in Boston! [MarketingProfs Communication Today] February 2023 Hi, friend. About 18 months ago I started manually tracking a specific metric for [my personal newsletter](. A version of that metric has now become increasingly important to marketers like you. * * * I call the metric I track Open to Write Back Rate (OWBR, pronounced "Owe-bur")—the percentage of people who literally reply to any given issue of my email newsletter after I send it out. OWBR is my rebrand of reply rate or response rate (RR), which some email marketers track and measure. Email expert and MarketingProfs speaker Michael Barber told me that only a few email providers currently include RR on dashboards, among them HubSpot, Salesforce Highrise, and Outreach. Outreach also measures the sentiment of each RR (Angry? Joyful? Is it Fri-YAY yet?)—probably through an AI/natural-language processing tool, Michael said. * * * Why is this small metric so important right now? For a few reasons... 1. RR/OWBR is a signal of email reputation The more people reply to your email, the more your sender reputation improves. A strong email reputation means your email actually gets into inboxes. It's less likely to be sent to Spam or Promotions or kicked to the curb. 2. RR/OWBR is a signal for writing resonance How inspired are your readers to hit reply and write back to you? Zero? Well, friend. I love you... but your email newsletter is a nurturing tool, not a broadcast platform. Try harder. You got this. 3. RR/OWBR is a harbinger of a relationship How much do they want to have a conversation with you? Do you feel like a real person...? Or do you feel like a literal... uh... "solution"? I suppose I could have said that the metric is a signal of reader engagement. But I really wanted to use the word "harbinger" in a sentence. 4. RR/OWBR is an audience research tool It tells you a not just who your audience is from a demographic standpoint. But who they actually are. How they found you. What they care about. What they look to you for. In other words, it tells you a lot about both them and you. * * * All that ^^ is why I watch OWBR. So my advice to you: Work on making your own RR/OWBR into a powerful engine for your own email program. How? I have thoughts. 1. Use your Welcome email as a trigger to action. Invite your audience to interact with you immediately—in that first email. Invite them to respond. Set up a system to deal with the responses. » Important: Don't make it feel "hard." Make it simple-easy for a new subscriber to respond. Example: When you subscribe to my personal newsletter, I ask you two simple questions: (1) What path brought you here, and (2) what you hope to learn. Metrics: 82% of new subscribers open that email. The RR/OWBR is 43%—meaning, 43% of them write me back. Why it matters: I learn all the things I talked about above. I also learn a lot about who my "influencers" are (who is recommending my work); who my audience is; how I can most help. 2. Ask easy questions in each newsletter issue. Again: make sure they're open-ended, easy layups: What's your favorite tool? was in a recent issue (93 of my subscribers shared a favorite with me). I learned the hard way why easy matters. (Side note: I generally learn everything that hard way. You, too?) Hard way example: Many, many issues ago I wrote my own Dr. Seuss-inspired poem. At the time, I invited readers to do the same. "Write a Dr. Seuss-inspired poem!" former-me said. "It'll be fun! Hit reply and share it with me!" What happened? Crickets. I might as well have asked subscribers to map their dreams via a Cartesian coordinate system and then bring them to a bubble over a Bunsen burner. (Impossible.) 3. Optimize your content for Crush, not Crickets. I hate the Bro word "crush." But in this case it describes when I get a crush of email into my inbox. Focusing on RR/OWBR makes me fine-tune my approach to optimize for maximum crush. ("Maximum crush"—and now I've temporarily entered full BroMode™ whoops.) * * * Your turn: What's your strategy for a stronger email engagement with your audience? Hit reply and let me know! (It'll route through Shelley in Customer Service. She's awesome.) [Ann Handley] [Ann Handley] Chief Content Officer, MarketingProfs Author, Everybody Writes: Your New and Improved Go-To Guide to Creating Ridiculously Good Content ATOM: Ann's Tip Of the Month Why are procrastination and distraction chronic handicaps in writing? You plan to write and send your brother a text and the next thing you know you're watching the top 20 Betty White TV moments on YouTube. Frustrating. Enter [Write or Die](. Write or Die bills itself as putting the prod in productivity. It allows you to set a time limit and attaches random consequences if you quit typing (sirens, pop-up boxes, heart attack-inducing unwriting—the words are literally erased right before your eyes). It's either motivating or anxiety-producing, depending on your temperament and mood. [Shakeup B2B by MarketingProfs]( Shakeup B2B [Online Event] Calling this an online "event" doesn't do it justice. This [online-palooza]( this April 11–13 is designed to spark ideas, inspire action, and toss those long-held "best practices" out the window. Details: Over a dozen sessions. One-on-one opportunities with subject-matter experts. Small-group roundtable discussions. And two optional interactive workshops with certification. [Free for MarketingProfs PRO members ($279 annually for [PRO membership]().] Marketing Communication Resources [Webinar] [Webinar] [The 10 Things Great Marketing Writers Do That Set Them Apart]( Learn how to take your marketing writing from meh to marvel...holy-wow! In this virtual program, now on-demand, I walk you through my writing process. And you'll have funigans watching this one. [Article] [Article] [6 Uses for AI in Customer Support](. Artificial intelligence has been improving workflows in back-office systems for years. Now the advent of generative AI—which interprets human language and mimics human speech, writing, and art—can revolutionize customer service in particular. Writer's May Habib shares how. [Article] [Article] [5 Ways to Overcome Poor Communication](4YQL/SG5MRlpneDVkT1JaM0haWis0UzFuaUt1SnVobEZkVjZPTnVmYjdvaklhNVJXZFlicDZybWY3d01ZT1UyN3o2Y29JZVM0VkFJSEhKZE1TOGV5MVZLUEczU0NpRlE3KzBaZGIxV2dKcjlsWU5TY1pIWGFzdkltQT09S0/) Bad communication costs businesses $1.2 trillion annually. (Trillion!) That's nuts, right? Here are 5 ways to wrap a tourniquet around the bleed. [Event] [Event] [The Thing I'm Most Excited for This Year.]( (Please join me!) A Message From Augie Handley [Augie!] Celebrity meet & greets with Augie! Another reason to join MarketingProfs in Boston at [B2B Forum this October](/SG5MRlpneDVkT1JaM0haWis0UzFuaUt1SnVobEZkVjZPTnVmYjdvaklhNVJXZFlicDZybWY3d01ZT1UyN3o2Y29JZVM0VkFJSEhKZE1TOGV5MVZLUEczU0NpRlE3KzBaZGIxV2dKcjlsWU5TY1pIWGFzdkltQT09S0/). * * * Thanks for reading this far. And again: Like this? Want to see something specific? Please hit reply and let me know! I read all your emails personally, and I'd love to hear. [MarketingProfs] Your Communication Today Team Your team for this issue (in alphabetical order): Megan Cordero, production director; Vahe Habeshian, publications director; Ann Handley, chief content officer; Augie Handley, naps expert. [MarketingProfs]( Copyright © 2000–2023 MarketingProfs, LLC All Rights Reserved Read our Terms of Service [here](. This email was sent to {EMAIL} as part of your MarketingProfs subscription. If you prefer to no longer receive MarketingProfs Communication Today, you can always [leave this list](. 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