Email Marketing: 4 Great Things Google Analytics Can Tell You

Not only is Google Analytics free, but it delivers in-depth statistics on the people who visit your website, how they got there and where they went afterward.

So how exactly can GA make your email marketing campaigns better? Add Google Analytics to the mix and there are four things the tools can tell you about your email marketing campaigns.

What's In A Subject Line?

Your subject line may very well be the most important part of your email, and if your subject line doesn't appeal to person reading it, the email doesn't get opened. It's as simple as that.

GA can help you track which subject lines garnered the most opens. This means that you can use A/B testing to look at your email campaigns by segments, and see which subject lines worked best and which fell flat. Once you have that data, all you have to do is get rid of the subject lines that aren't working, focus on the ones that are, and you're on your way to a higher open rate.

Where In The World Are Your Subscribers?

Let's say your business is looking to expand into the global market, specifically targeting consumers in South America. GA can track where the people who open your emails are located, which gives you insight on whether your attempts to reach a foreign market are successful or not.

Take a look at the geographical stats GA gives you, segment your email lists by geographic location, and if your target audience isn't opening your emails, you can change your campaigns so that they offer extra cultural or practical appeal.

What Happened After Your Email Was Opened?

Another way GA can come in handy for email marketers is by tracking what actions subscribers took after opening your email. Did they follow a link to your web site? Did they browse your product list? GA not only tells you what pages subscribers looked at on your site and whether they bought something or not, but even where they went after a sale. This is a great way to get an outsider's perspective on your website's design and functionality, but also a commentary on the overall effectiveness of your site pages.

What Calls to Action rallied your readers?

Now that email marketers have gotten more sophisticated, the linked phrase click here , used to send people to pages on a Website, is the most simple (and often least effective) call to action in an email. Today, most email marketers are using calls to action to get people to follow on Twitter, download a white paper, or visit a Web channel to view a video.

With Google Analytics, you can finally know if your request to get subscribers to join a social network, forward an email to a friend, or watch a how-to video actually intrigued your readers enough to get them to do what you hoped they would do. With your GA data, you can see which types of calls to action worked " and use the best ones for future campaigns.

There's always room for improvement in email and newsletter marketing, and making changes for the better should be an ongoing and organized process. With GA, you'll gain a wealth of data you can use to really polish your emails and newsletters, leading to ultra-targeted campaigns and a big boost in ROI.