It can be tempting to have a one and done type of mentality when it comes to your campaigns.  When you’ve managed to get a great campaign off the ground with all the pieces, you feel so accomplished.  Now that you have a great new campaign to warm up all of your new prospects and get them ready to buy, you’re done right?  Well, sometimes.

Often though, you realize that something’s not working. People are signing up, but you’re not getting any new sales.  This is when you know that something’s wrong.  We see this scenario too often but the good news is there’s usually a few simple things to fix that deliver almost immediate positive results.

Here’s our list of the top 5 things to check to maximize your ROI on your marketing campaigns.

1.  Call to Action 

One of the most common mistakes we see in email marketing followup is not providing a strong call to action. If your sequence doesn’t have a clear call to action, readers may struggle to determine what it is you want them to do.  And if they struggle, they’re more likely to move onto something else.  Just like on your website, it’s crucial that your campaign has one very clear call to action that is consistent throughout.  This will dramatically increase the conversion rates that you’ll see.

2. Is anything broken?  It is also possible that your emails contain broken pieces. Even if campaigns are perfect when they’re published, things can happen over time that cause broken links or formatting issues.  If the broken link is, for example, to your sales page, then it’s going to be that much more challenging for someone to buy.  Many people will simply give up if the sales page link is broken and look no further.

If we’re talking about formatting issues, these may not be as immediately detrimental but they can hurt the reader’s overall perception of you and your business.  This can impact their willingness to purchase your product even if they’re have the ability to within the email.

3. Are emails getting opened?

When you’re dealing with less than stellar campaign results, a critical item to check is the subject line.  This is the first thing that the reader sees so if it doesn’t resonate with them, they’re that much less likely to open the email.  It could also be that no one can figure out what the email is so they simply delete it thinking it’s spam.

So take a look at broadcast report to see what’s going on.  You should compare the number of emails sent and the number of emails opened.  This percentage is commonly referred to as the open rate.  You’re looking for as high of an open rate as possible but what percentage you should expect is going to vary based on list size and industry.  If you’re consistently seeing open rates under about 10%, there’s probably room for improvement.  It’s also a good idea to take a look at your processes if all of a sudden your open rates drop dramatically. Open rates aren’t an exact science since there’s factors out of your control that influence it (such as mobile email readers), but it’s still a good idea to monitor how your emails are performing.

4. Are you following up enough?  One or two emails following up is not always enough.  Sure, you may have some customers that are primed to buy after the first hello but it is much more common to need multiple follow-ups.  In fact, statistics show that it can take anywhere from 5 to 12 touches before a lead is ready to buy.  It’s important that you find a balance between overwhelming leads and following up enough to stay present in their mind.  If you’re not following up often enough its more likely that leads will forget about your product even if they were considering a purchase.

5. Who is opt-ing in?  Lastly, you want to look at who is opt-ing in and where they are coming from.  If you have hundreds of people opt-ing in from sources that aren’t converting, then perhaps that source isn’t the right fit for your services.  However, if you find that one source is providing consistent conversions then you can make smarter decisions about where to focus your energy.

Determining the right lead sources to focus on will help you increase the number of leads but also the right kinds of leads.  Because having a huge list of people who are never going to buy from you is often an exercise in futility.  However, having leads from sources more likely to buy from you is only going to amplify your efforts.