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Stat Central is a mini-series that takes a look at interpreting the report statistics in your MyNewsletterBuilder account, and explores using them to improve your email marketing campaign.

We all want to increase the efficacy of our email marketing campaigns, right? Of course! Well, one of the most effective ways to improve your impact is by watching and responding to your open rate. Now, before you roll your eyes and tell me how obvious that is, let’s take a close look at exactly how those numbers should be put to use.

Alright, one more obvious statement alert: At face value, the open rate number tells you how many subscribers opened (and didn’t open) your newsletter. Sure, there’s a lot you can intuit from the number, but you’ll find real gold if you dig a little deeper.

You’ll notice that each number on the MNB Reports page is linked. If you click the open link you’ll be taken to a list of those subscribers that opened the selected email newsletter. Here, you export that list into a report – and that’s where it gets awesome.

Find Your Biggest Fans
If you’re sending a weekly newsletter, for example, try exporting that opens report one week after each send (hint: when you log in to send this week’s newsletter, export that report while you’re in there). Keep all of your exported reports in a single folder, and take a look at them at the end of each month. If you have a reasonably sized list, you’ll start to notice patterns in subscriber opens. Some readers will open weekly, some every other week, and some simply won’t at all.

Why You Want to Organize Your Readers
Once you’ve recognized your regulars, your semi-regulars and your non-interests, try segmenting each into different subscriber categories. Keep the regulars in your weekly newsletter category, but pull the others and drop them into different groups that might better suit the number of emails their looking to receive. If you notice subscribers who haven’t opened a newsletter in months, add them to a category that only gets monthly or quarterly newsletters, and see if they start opening (if they don’t, dump ‘em!).

So, we’ve taken a small bite out of the real value of the open rate, but our stat party doesn’t end here. We’ll be back soon with another look at your numbers and how they can benefit your email marketing campaign.
Happy sending!