According to Inc.com, “I don’t know,” are powerful, credibility-building words and that by admitting ignorance you make everything else you say more credible. When you learn to act on these three words, you will become a better marketer. Like many self-help approaches, you must first admit you have a problem before you can take steps to solve it. I am a data addict. I search for answers in numbers, even if I suspect that the answer may not make me smarter on the topic. Just having collected and analyzed the data so that I can evaluate its worth, perhaps discard it, brings me comfort. In this eBook, I’ll introduce you to the topic of analytics: the measuring of campaign engagement. We’ll also look at how data is tracked, what individual data points matter, what that data means to you, and lastly, how you can improve the data. This is not a how-to book. It’s an “ahhhhh…now I get it” book. For the full eBook, go to SpiderTrainers.com/resources

1. Marketing Metrics
When "I don't know" becomes "Ahhh, now I get it!‖

2. Introduction
I am a data
According to Inc.com, ―I don’t know,‖ are
addict. I search
for answers in powerful, credibility-building words and that
numbers, even if I
by admitting ignorance you make
suspect that the
answer may not everything else you say more credible.
make me smarter
When you learn to act on these three
on the topic.
words, you will become a better marketer.
— Cyndie
Shaffstall Like many self-help approaches, you must
founder,
first admit you have a problem before you
Spider Trainers
can take steps to solve it.

3. Traditional visibility
In traditional marketing, print ads, mass
media, direct mail and the like, there has
been a long history of marketers
complaining of the lack of visibility into the
engagement level of their campaign — no
data on the number of people who
viewed, interacted, or converted.

4. Digital visibility
With digital marketing, visibility is great — and getting
better — and, importantly, it has even provided marketers
with new insight into our traditional (offline) marketing
engagement as well.

5. Chapter 1
Online campaign tracking
To effectively capture
analytics in your online
Email interaction is tracked by including a
and offline 1x1 pixel image (web beacon) somewhere
campaigns, you should
first understand how the within the email. The pixel image file is
data is collected.
stored on your email service provider’s
(ESP) computer server. When the recipient
opens an email and displays the graphics
of the email (either by default or
manually), a call is made to the host
computer to display the image in the email.

6. Chapter 1
Cookies
 Standard cookie — Provides the full behavior metrics by automatically
saving all tracking information.
 Opt-in cookie — asks visitors for permission before saving the tracking
information. once a user grants permission, their process will be similar to
that of a standard cookie.
 Opt-in with opt-out cookie — recipients and visitors may choose to opt-in
and having tracking information saved or opt-out of having any tracking
information saved. if the recipient opts-out, your analytics will not include
any information about their behavior or interaction with your forms, landing
pages, or website.

7. Chapter 1
Offline campaign tracking
Ideas include:
 Surveys and polls
 Sign-up lists
 Coupons, sweepstakes, and promotions
 QR (quick response) codes with targeted
landing pages
 Dedicated phone number
 Discount codes

8. Chapter 2
Analytics
Some 46% of marketers
participating in the 2013
Analytics are critical to your growth and
MarketingSherpa success as a marketer, and
Marketing Analytics
Benchmark Report yet, surprisingly, 73% of marketers do not
occasionally gain insight
from analytics data their
measure digital analytics and 80% do not
company collects. while measure offline activities.
another 37% routinely
gain insight, 6% rarely
gain insight, 9% lack the
tools, and 2% don’t
have access to the data.
— MarketingSherpa

9. Chapter 2
Source (acquisition)
The source of your list should be carefully
documented and managed. The way in
which you acquired a name will forever
affect the way that the lead, prospect, or
customer will interact with your company.

10. Chapter 2
Acquiring lists
There are three paths to list acquisition:
 Purchase a list. There are many reputable
companies that will sell you a list.
 Rent a list. Typically with rented lists emails are
sent on your behalf by the list broker or owner.
opt-outs, unsubscribe, and spam complaints
abound as you have no existing relationship with
these leads.
 Build a list. A great list that comes from
ongoing, quality engagement with people who
have shown an interest in your product or
company; subscribers.

11. Chapter 2
Explicit data
If you have an in-house
list, but it’s scant on
Use explicit data and implicit data to define
information, deploy a segments in order to:
triggered marketing
campaign to collect  Improve message relevance
additional data through
the use of forms. You  Build better A/B and multivariate testing
could, for instance, offer
an eBook for download  Target subject lines that increase open
and the request form
require their annual rates
revenue or number of
employees.  Improve click-thru rates
 Improve keyword association between
your brand and your offer
 Increase sales

12. Chapter 2
Pre-open metrics
Pre-open metrics include:
 Deliver – was the item delivered?
 Bounce Rate (email) = # undeliverable
# sent
 Bounce Rate (website) = # visits with a
single-page view # visits
 Day and Time of Send – best to test with
your leads
 Location – is language important? Are
recipients local or global?

13. Chapter 2
Post-open metrics
According to our
findings, email
Post-open metrics include:
marketers can
expect their open rates
 Open – rate equals # reported open #
to peak the first hour delivered
after delivery. This peak
is then followed by a  Glance, skim, and read – how long did
decline over the next 47
hours, until open rates
the email remain open?
essentially drop to zero.
 Click (download, view, etc.) – redirect
— Mailermailer.com
links are the most common.
 Opt-out (unsubscribe) – useful as an
indicator of relevant, appropriate, or
timely messaging

14. Chapter 2
More post-open metrics
 Forward to a friend – a short  Visit website – encourage
form tracks new recipient page views at your website.
actions  Affecting Search-engine
 Delete – eventually, this will Rankings (SER) – interaction
happen. with your website is important
 Print – if you send an in-store to your rankings in search
coupon, printing should be engines and should be
expected. encouraged by your email
 Socially engage – comes in campaigns.
two forms: social share and
social follow.

15. Chapter 2
Outcome
With your goal measurements, you should
then look to calculate the average revenue
earned per piece sent (whether online or
offline). This is called your macro
conversion rate.
Net profit margin – shows how much of
each sales dollar shows up as net income
after all the campaign expenses are paid.

16. Chapter 3
Testing
A/B and multivariate testing can provide a
wealth of information well beyond the event
and behavior tracking provided by your
ESP and ISP and these are important
analytic points. A/B testing changes only
one variable while a multivariate test
changes two or more design or content
changes at the same time.

17. Chapter 3
Heatmap
Heatmaps are typically used in addition to
click tracking and can help you identify
design components of your email or page
that catch the viewers’ eyes. Heatmaps
actually track mouse movements, but
studies have shown that mouse
movements match eye movements 88% of
the time.

18. Chapter 4
Deliverability
According to our
findings, email Deliverability issues can affect everything
marketers can
expect their open rates
from a billboard to a TV commercial, from a
to peak the first hour
after delivery. This peak
magazine print ad to a direct mail
is then followed by a
decline over the next 47
postcard, and from a brochure handout to
hours, until open rates
an email. Reaching your target audience is
essentially drop to zero.
— Mailermailer.com the first step.

19. Chapter 4
Spamtrap
Spamtraps may be one
of marketers’ most
Also known as a honeypot, a planted (yet
challenging deliverability hidden) email address that, when
issues. By hitting
spamtraps, not only are harvested and emailed, identifies the
you not processing your
bounces correctly, but if
sender as a spammer. These email
you hit a pristine addresses are unpublished and only exist
account, you also would
not have any type of in the deep dredges of code accessible
opt-in for that
account, which signifies
only by companies using nefarious
to the ISPs that you are methods for collecting email addresses for
not following best
practices. the purpose of sending spam email.
— Experian Marketing
Services

20. Chapter 4
Spam complaints
83% of deliverability
issues were related to
Most email clients today include a report-
sender reputation. spam button, so it’s literally one click away.
Content of email was
only a secondary factor. If you’re experiencing high spam
another interesting
finding was that nearly
complaints, try adding an unsubscribe link
20% of legitimate
to the top of your email or introduce
mailings failed to be
delivered. yourself at the beginning of the email and
— Return Path remind them of the business relationship
you have.

21. Chapter 4
Opt-outs
83% of deliverability
issues were related to
A/B testing will help you determine if it’s
sender reputation. your content, but there are other methods
Content of email was
only a secondary factor. to reduce opt-outs.
another interesting
finding was that nearly  Include a link to your privacy policy.
20% of legitimate
mailings failed to be  Provide recipients with an opportunity to
delivered.
select the type of publication when they
— Return Path
subscribe and to change their
preferences in every email you send.

22. Chapter 4
Sender authentication
The channel that
delivered the strongest
Sender policy framework (SPF) is an email
ROI for customer validation system designed to prevent
acquisition for B2C
marketers was direct spam by detecting email spoofing through
mail. Direct mail also
scored the highest
the process of verifying the sender’s IP
among B2C marketers
addresses. Spoofing is when the sender’s
for customer contact
and retention. address and other parts of the email
— Target Marketing header are modified in order to appear as
magazine
though the email is being sent from a
different source (usually a more reputable
source).

23. Chapter 4
Sender reputation
Six elements to your sender reputation:
 Volume – keep your traffic to an even keel.
 Number of unknown recipients – Send to people with whom you
have developed a relationship.
 Complaint rates – Most ESPs agree that spam complaints should
not exceed more than 1 per thousand.
 Spamtrap hits – Stick to the high road when building your list.
 Consistency – Find an ESP and stick with it.
 Management – Be responsible for the acquisition and ongoing
maintenance of your list.

24. Chapter 4
Mobile design
As we become more mobile, so must our
marketing and that means we need to
adopt new approaches to email design.
Most ESPs, if not all, can provide you with
the metrics on which devices your lists are
most viewed. This information should guide
the design and presentation of your emails.

25. Chapter 4
Reporting applications
There are a number of applications that can
give you visibility without having to leave
your current provider if they do not provide
the depth of reporting you feel you need.
We have used and recommend either
Litmus or Email On Acid and both are great
tools to help you improve the effectiveness
of your campaigns through
testing, tracking, and tweaking.

26. Chapter 4
Offline deliverability
Between June 2011 and
June 2012, consumer
As unfortunate as it is, the equivalent to
QR code scans rose by unsubscribe in direct mail is often to throw
400%. June 2012 also
saw an average of 120 it in the trash. Recipients rarely take the
scans per minute and 4
million first-timers
time to phone a company and asked to
scanning QR codes.
have their name removed, so there’s no
— Pitney Bowes
opportunity to analyze why exactly the
recipient did not take advantage of the
offer. our best shot is to ensure we deliver
an appropriate vehicle, beautiful
design, and to the right person at the right
address.

27. Chapter 4
NCOA
National change of address (NCOA), which is the updating
of your mailing list by applying current information
contained within a registry of people who move or
otherwise change their address in the United States.

28. Conclusion
Analytics are a fairly new specialty, but business is
booming and experts abound. Whether or not you intend to
be one of those experts, you can certainly participate. You
don’t have to get it right the first time, you just have to be
diligent and keep after it. Start small and track
opens, bounces, opt-outs and other event and behavior
data points and work your way up to A/B and multivariate
testing. Getting to a point where your email and direct mail
consistently achieves better results is rewarding and
enjoyable.

29. About Spider Trainers
Spider Trainers provides creative services to marketing
departments of 0 to 100. We are a network of more than 80
experts in email development, web development, search-
engine optimization, analytics, graphic design, ad
creation, multimedia creation, social media
postings, writing, and editing.

30. Contact Spider Trainers
Phone: 651 702 3793
Email: cmeyer@spidertrainers.com
Website: http://www.spidertrainers.com
Address: PO Box 280487
Lakewood, CO 80228 United States