LookWest.ie is an iniative of the Western Development Commission, with responsibility for promoting economic and social development in the Western Region.  LookWest.ie promotes Ireland’s Western region as a great place to live, work and do business and maintains a database of subscribed individuals and enterprises.  The new look e-zine was tasked with informing and appealing to both individuals and business.

• We introduced LookWest.ie in an introductory paragraph.
• Each e-zine presents quite a bit of information and therefore we  ‘themed’ each monthly ezine to provide focus and context.
• Many of the articles contain statistical information so we presented users with a summary paragraph and the option to ‘read more’ for more in-depth information.
• The e-zine referred users to LookWest’s new Twitter account and Facebook page

Campaign Stats

The stats of the first e-zine send were very encouraging.  Despite a long period of inactivity with their database:

• Only 8 people unsubscribed.
• The open rate was 33%
• The click rate was 45%

This is an indication of a finely tuned message sent to a relevant and well maintained database.

Stats vary widely on average open and click rates in e-mails.  Generally accepted averages are 25% for both.  That will obviously depend hugely on, amongst other things, your message, frequency of emails, quality of your database and your sector (whether it is e-commerce, B2B, charity etc).

Tips for planning an e-zine:

• Plan ahead – schedule in advance and gather relevant information
• Consider “theming” emails where appropriate
• Have a clear focus on what you are trying to say, by basing it on what is likely to be of interest to your readers
• Ask yourself why users have signed up to your e-zine. What are they expecting you to provide them with?
• Break information up into bite sized chunks
• Present key information in the top.  Many users will see only the top in a preview pane, and will use this to assess whether to open or delete.