Clickthroughs Per Purchase is the Gold Standard for Targeted Email

While working on a proposal the other day for a prospective customer, I decided that I’d go the extra length for him in an attempt to demonstrate where exactly the company could make up some ground in its effort to realize a bit more bang for its buck in its email marketing program. That is, the company wanted to make more money from its existing customer base. When I looked at the company’s email marketing statistics, I was surprised to find that their clickthroughs per purchase was much higher than any company I’d seen.

Essentially akin to conversion rate, clickthroughs per purchase is one the most important metrics - imho - to an internet retailer. Why? Because it tells the etailer whether or not they’re reaching the right customers with the right message. It tells an etailer whether or not they’re campaigns are effective. The law or large numbers - not the statistical law - will mandate that an etailer that sends out, say, 800,000 emails in an email blast will necessarily get some purchases from said email. But how many customers do they get that are just kicking the tires. How many non-focused window shoppers are they getting?

Now, I’m not saying that window shopping is bad. I’d rather have window shoppers on my site than have no traffic at all. But if our imaginary etailer does a better job of targeting its emails so that they activated the consumers instead of just arousing interest, then the message should still attract the window shoppers while simultaneously activating the customers who are truly desirous of the advertised good. (On a content or creative side note, marketing emails that have too many goods advertised also lead to more window shoppers because they activate choice anxiety in your consumers. “I want all these things but I don’t want to choose poorly so I won’t choose at all.”)

Another thing that goes hand in hand with less clickthroughs per purchase is that your average order value should rise. I know that seems too good to be true. But the logic is infallible. After all, less purposeful shoppers are more likely to buy peripheral goods. In other words, the window shoppers don’t set out to buy something once they got your email. Instead, they buy small things that they only marginally want so that buyers’ remorse doesn’t set it.

In the etail world, I would advocate that one purchase should occur for every 50-65 clickthroughs. That is a sound measurement and will mean that you’re activating your customers properly. One purchase per 100 clickthroughs? Look out.

Tags: choice anxiety, Clickthrough, email, Email Marketing, Multi-Channel Marketing, Targeted Advertising

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This entry was posted on Thursday, August 21st, 2008 at 7:52 am and is filed under Clickthrough, Email Marketing, Multi-Channel Marketing, Targeted Advertising. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.