In this magic 92nd podcast episode Producer Jonathan and I get down ’n dirty about when and why you should (and when and why you shouldn’t) track email opens rates.
Here’s a taste of what’s on this episode:
* Why tracking email opens for most people is about as useful as tracking website “hits” (which is an acronym for “how idiots track success”).
* Why the silly myth that more opens automatically equals more sales is harder to kill than a vampire. (To make sure this myth dies, Producer Jonathan and I decided to stake, behead, and stuff this myth’s mouth with garlic just to be sure its dead.)
* Computer scientists and engineers who laugh at marketers who think they’re “scientifically” testing emails.
* An “inconvenient truth” about just how unreliable email open rates are that recently came to light int the news about Apple Computer.
* Why even spammers who get obscenely high opens still get few sales.
* The 4 times when you SHOULD definitely test open rates.
* A secret way of using open rates to come up with super profitable product titles.
* What to check if your open rates suddenly drop out of the blue.
* A little-known way to use open rates to wipe out spam complaints. (I learned this from a guy who has a 2 million+ list, if you’re really worried about spam complaints do this and watch them drop like a politician’s pants at a brothel.)
* The single best way to (1) reduce spam complaints to near nothing and (2) get people actually *thanking* you for sending them pitches by email.
* What producer Jonathan tracks in his emails that is far more important than opens, clicks, and, yes, even sales. (If you do this your sales will go up anyway.)
Anyway, a merry time was had by all.
Ben Settle
