For email channels, should you attribute program status success based off of an open or click and why? | Community
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Nate_Oosterhous
Level 7
December 5, 2016
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For email channels, should you attribute program status success based off of an open or click and why?

  • December 5, 2016
  • 2 replies
  • 5431 views

Hi All!

Question:

For email channels, should you attribute program success based off of an open or click and why?

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    Best answer by Jessica_Kao3

    For Email programs I rarely if ever have that as a stand along program and never have opens or clicks as a success step.  Let's take a look at the example if you do.

    I have an email promoting white paper A.

    I have a Content Program:  white paper A - captures people who fills out the form = success.  This is for anyone across any channel that fills out the form.

    I have a Web Asset Program:  white paper A - capture people who fills out the form = success from anyone who is organically driven here i.e. not social, not paid, not adwords,

    LinkedIn Program :  White paper A

    etc. 

    If I send an email, if this is a nurture email I put it in the nurture channel, again, I don't set a success.

    If I am just blasting it to just send it, I would not set opens or clicks as success.  The success is captured in the other programs stated above.

    I receive the email, I fill out the form, I become a member in both the content program and the web asset program. 

    The reason why I don't set a success in the email program is because of the MT attribution.  Marketo actually does a pretty good job on the linear MT attribution. 

    In a parallel universe, I set success at Email clicks.  I send out an email, you click on it.  You buy something.  That email program get's a portion of the credit. 

    I look at my reports and see that emails are contributing significantly to pipeline.  I should do more emails.  So I should send 50 emails, and pipeline will get attributed to anyone who clicks.  You end up diluting the usefulness of the attribution.

    I buy something for 100,000

    I was sent 9 emails and I clicked on 4, I went to a webinar and sat there for 60 min. 

    4 email program success (20,000 each for the success) = $80,000

    1 webinar program success (20,000)

    When you look at your reports you will see email have a huge influence on pipeline and takes away credit from the usefulness of the attribution data. 

    Summary - emails should be a part of a nurture program or another tactic. 

    2 replies

    Robb_Barrett
    Robb_Barrett
    Level 10
    December 5, 2016

    Good question and very tricky.

    The subject line is responsible for the open, the content is responsible for the click.  I'm guessing the ultimate goal is to drive people to your website?

    Is it possible that email by itself is too vague? Is the email just a tactic for a larger campaign? 

    Robb Barrett
    N
    Nate_OosterhousAuthor
    Level 7
    December 5, 2016

    Hi Robb,

    We use email marketing (email blasts, drip campaigns, and nurture campaigns) at almost all stages in our revenue model.  We send email campaigns to drive engagement with our emails in hopes that they (wherever they are at in the buying journey) are led to purchasing from us for the first time or drive repeat business. 

    The tactic is usually for them to engage with some content such as a whitepaper, brochure, case study, etc or use a hard cta to bring them to our web site's contact us, request a quote, or trial forms.  Sometimes we just want them to engage with the email content (read the email).

    I am asking this question because we are working on setting everything up RIGHT for the first time.  We what to attribute success properly so that we can say that yes this person who now has an opportunity was influence by this email program.  We are working on setting ourselves up for success with reporting in regards to Multi-Touch and more.

    I guess the question really is what constitutes as being "influenced" by an email?

    N
    Nate_OosterhousAuthor
    Level 7
    December 5, 2016

    This is a question with regards to defining program status success for an email channel.  Maybe that was not clear in my original question.  I updated the original question post to include "status".

    Jessica_Kao3
    Jessica_Kao3Accepted solution
    Level 7
    December 6, 2016

    For Email programs I rarely if ever have that as a stand along program and never have opens or clicks as a success step.  Let's take a look at the example if you do.

    I have an email promoting white paper A.

    I have a Content Program:  white paper A - captures people who fills out the form = success.  This is for anyone across any channel that fills out the form.

    I have a Web Asset Program:  white paper A - capture people who fills out the form = success from anyone who is organically driven here i.e. not social, not paid, not adwords,

    LinkedIn Program :  White paper A

    etc. 

    If I send an email, if this is a nurture email I put it in the nurture channel, again, I don't set a success.

    If I am just blasting it to just send it, I would not set opens or clicks as success.  The success is captured in the other programs stated above.

    I receive the email, I fill out the form, I become a member in both the content program and the web asset program. 

    The reason why I don't set a success in the email program is because of the MT attribution.  Marketo actually does a pretty good job on the linear MT attribution. 

    In a parallel universe, I set success at Email clicks.  I send out an email, you click on it.  You buy something.  That email program get's a portion of the credit. 

    I look at my reports and see that emails are contributing significantly to pipeline.  I should do more emails.  So I should send 50 emails, and pipeline will get attributed to anyone who clicks.  You end up diluting the usefulness of the attribution.

    I buy something for 100,000

    I was sent 9 emails and I clicked on 4, I went to a webinar and sat there for 60 min. 

    4 email program success (20,000 each for the success) = $80,000

    1 webinar program success (20,000)

    When you look at your reports you will see email have a huge influence on pipeline and takes away credit from the usefulness of the attribution data. 

    Summary - emails should be a part of a nurture program or another tactic. 

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