0.04% conversion, what could be wrong?

[FFMG]

Hi,

I have a fair amount of very targeted users on my list, (a few 000s).
It has taken me 5 months to build that list and I am very happy with the results, (in other words, because of the sign up process, I am quite sure that they are not bots or spammers).

I used a redirect on my site to count how many users actually clicked on the link I gave them in the mail. It was a not a cryptic, dynamic link but rather descriptive of the product I was selling.

The response was more than disappointing, less than 4% actually followed the link, and from them the usual 1% went on to sign up, (leading me to believe that the sales pages was not the problem, although I agree that it could be improved).
Only 0.70% actually opted out, (leading me to believe that something is not right).

I looked at my email and I am fairly confident that it was not that terrible, maybe I could improve one or two things, but a 4% response is killing me.
Those low numbers tell me that there is something else wrong with the email. Maybe something technical?

But while I go down the technical route, (checking if all the mails left the building), I wanted to ask your opinion.
Do those numbers make sense?
I was hopping more like 50% to follow the links, was I hopping for to much?
At 4% click thru I will need a couple of million users to make any kind of money.
Please don't give me the standard, "It depends on the niche and what you are trying to sell them" .

FFMG

 

[eWebCreator]

Newsletter Response

During that 5 month of list building, how many weekly or bi-weekly messages did you send to the list?

Having people on a list is the first step, but unless you keep in touch with them, they will forget who you are and why they signed up for your list.

What I do is have a list of around 10 automated responses, which go out after a set amount of days since they sign up. This makes sure they remember who I am, plus it also builds credibility and trust, as the information I send is truly valuable.

-Matt

 

[yanbiz]

Hi FFMG,

Matt is absolutly right! Internet marketing is about trust after all. I would like to share my observation and my reality but it doesn't mean it's like this for everyone but I'm sure I'm not that wrong. Along with Matt's post, I would add the following.

Some people are subscribed to so many newsletters or ezines that they naturally sort the e-mail they receive. Even myself, I have subscrice to ezines solo ad service but in return I had to subscribe to some of their ezines so I receive e-mails everyday. I am sure there are very good product or service offers but because my time is limited on the internet (I still work full time, I work on my business part time for the moment), I read not more than 1or 2 out of 20-30 I receive daily.

If you have a autoresponder that you can "personalize" your e-mail offer and automatically insert your prospect first name in the title/subject, that makes a huge difference. If it's unpersonalized, you have less chance to grab someone's attention. Even for yourself, when you receive an offer with your first name, you are naturally tempted to click on it first, even if I know it probably comes from an autoresponder.

Also, consider that you are probably not the only to send them e-mail marketing / info-product / sales page. Maybe your e-mail content is filtered by some of your prospect's spam filters (I'm not saying you're spaming) or you have invalid/expired e-mail address as well, it happen sometimes. Even myself, one of my autoresponder has a spam check devise before I broadcast my e-mails.

Yes "money is in the list" but along with this advertising method, maybe you should consider to diversify your efforts to promote your product or service.

Good luck!