Email strategies - how to get one part 2

Extract fro, Ten Steps for Developing an Effective E-mail Strategy, Part 2
BY Jeanne Jennings March 26, 2007

If you do e-mail marketing without a formal strategy in place or have a strategy but aren't meeting business goals, you're in luck. This is the second is a series of five columns covering the 10 steps required to develop an effective e-mail strategy:

1. Identify qualitative goals.
2. Analyze the current situation.
3. Complete a competitive analysis.
4. Define the target audience.
5. Determine which types of e-mail meet your needs.
6. Develop a content strategy and a frequency and send schedule.
7. Design the e-mail template.
8. Create quantitative goals.
9. Compile budget and ROI (define) projections.
10. Evaluate results and tweak the strategy accordingly.

Complete a Competitive Analysis
This critical step in the process is one many organizations skip. Some feel funny "spying" on their rivals. Others don't believe there's anything they can learn from their opponents. Still others aren't sure how to go about gathering this type of information.

The short answer to all these objections comes from Michael Corleone in "The Godfather: Part II": "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer."
The easiest way to begin is to sign up for any e-mail newsletters your competitors offer. I recommend using a nonidentifiable address rather than a business or personal address; just get a free e-mail account. Not all companies screen competitors' e-mail addresses from their lists, but some do. Also, it's helpful to keep these e-mail messages separate from your regular correspondence. And if you're looking to gather data on how your competitors segment their lists, you may want to utilize one e-mail address for each segment or e-mail newsletter so you can see how they treat different selects.

From the subscriber side, you won't be able to get the detailed information you have on your house list, but you will be able to observe such things as:

1. How frequently they mail
2. What types of e-mail they send:
3. Commercial or transactional
4. Formats, such as postcard e-mail, long-form e-mail newsletters, and short tip e-mail
5. When they send: days and times
6. Whom they send to (which list segments
7. What products or services are mentioned
8. What types of content are included:
9. Editorial or promotional
10. Long or short
11. Content quality: great, fair, or poor

Define the Target Audience
The more you know about your readers, the better you can match content offerings to their interests. Focus on things that matter in the context of the relationship you want to have with them. For consumer lists, standard demographics such as gender, age, marital status, educational background, and hobbies may make sense. In the business world, those data points may be moot; title, seniority, and job function may be more appropriate.

Figure out business goals in respect to each group. You may be looking to generate qualified leads from a prospect pool while trying to sell additional products to current clients. Don't limit your audiences. You may want to communicate with the press for PR purposes or with companies offering complementary products to your markets in the hope of getting referrals.
Note features, benefits, and advantages your products, services, or information offers your audiences. These may differ by segment and product. You'll likely end up with multiple paragraphs or a grid-like structure. That's OK. The better you define your groups, the better you'll be able to target content.