Are You Expert Status? The 2016 Email Marketing Quiz Results Are In

Small business owners wear many hats. In fact, it’s reported that the average business owner ends up doing three to six extra jobs outside of their main role. And often, marketing falls onto their plates. Knowing this, we challenged our blog readers to test their email marketing knowledge. We also asked them specific questions regarding their level of comfort when it comes to handling marketing for their business. See the quiz results and responses of the small business owners below.

But wait! Want to see how you fare on the quiz first? Take it here:

• Quiz: What’s Your Email Marketing IQ?

Email Marketing Quiz — Answer Logic and Results

Let’s discuss the quiz results, answers and reasoning behind each one.

Q1. When is the best time to send an email?

A: It varies.

Score: 34% of quiz takers answered correctly.

This is one of the most frequently asked questions and one of the most debated. Ask 10 people, and you’ll get 10 different answers. If you’re looking for a fairly safe bet, try Wednesday afternoons around 2 p.m. Every person and email list is unique, though, so try different days and times to see what works best for your audience.

Q2. How many times per month should you email your customers?

A: Two to three times per month.

Score: 59% of quiz takers answered correctly.

The optimal frequency to contact your customers is two to three times per month. This is the frequency we use for our customers, and they see great results with a twice-a-month schedule.

Q3. What kind of device do the majority of consumers use to read their emails?

A:Smartphone

Score: 88% of quiz takers answered correctly.

Sixty-five percent of all emails are opened first on a mobile device.

Q4. What is the best strategy to grow your email list?

A: Ask your customers directly.

Score: 79% of quiz takers answered correctly.

Email marketing is only as successful as the email list. Give people plenty of opportunities to sign up for your email list through opt-in boxes on your website and blog. This beats buying a list because you know you’re reaching people who are interested in what you have to say.

Q5. What factor do readers consider first when deciding if they will open an email?

A: Subject line, from name, contact list

Score: 41% of quiz takers answered correctly.

All of these matter because it only takes a few seconds for someone to decide whether or not to open your email. As mentioned above, your email marketing efforts are only as good as your email contact list. As for subject lines and from names, that may be the first impression you give to a recipient. Your from name should be familiar and your subject lines specific, short and compelling.

Q6. What’s the most valuable data to analyze from your emails?

A: It depends.

Score: 20% of quiz takers answered correctly.

Open rate, click-through rate, and reply rate can be equally important depending on your marketing objectives. You’ll want to track your email marketing efforts alongside your larger goals and keep in mind that all of these things are just one piece of a larger puzzle. What people do after opening your emails is what really matters.

Q7. How often should you remove bad addresses and unsubscribes from your email list?

A: As they happen. I want my emails delivered only to people who want them.

Score: 91% of quiz takers answered correctly.

A clean email list allows you to better segment your database and create custom content to appeal to the specific pain points of your target audience. Making a point to regularly clean duplicates and unsubscribes from your email list will result in improved deliverability, engagement, and analytics.

Following the email marketing quiz, we asked business owners to answer a few survey questions.

Q8. What kind of activities take up the majority of your time?

Writing emails and newsletters — 34%
Thinking of good subject lines — 12%
Understanding my audience or customers — 38%
I don’t email my customers on a regular basis — 15%

Q9. What obstacles do you face in your email marketing?

Time — 38%
Expertise — 21%
Creativity — 29%
Obstacles, what obstacles? — 12%

Q10. What kind of topics do you want to learn more about?

Email marketing best practices — 32%
Social media strategy — 27%
How to get more warm leads — 38%
Other — 3% (Ranging from all of the above to “How to organize and stay in touch on a more regular basis with as little effort as possible.”)

Industry of Email Marketing Quiz Respondents

Real Estate — 67%
Insurance — 13%
Home Services — 4%
Promotional Products — 3%
Mortgage — 3%
Wellness — 2%
Automotive — 1%
Other — 7% (Sales training, communications, church)

Wrap-up

When it comes to email:

• Business owners are most interested in learning email marketing best practices and how to get more warm leads.
• Lack of time is the biggest obstacle to email marketing for business owners.
• Understanding their audience consumes the majority of their time.

Quiz takers were most knowledgeable about things like the popularity of smartphone use, strategies to grow their email list, and the importance of removing unsubscribes from their list. They knew less about the most opportune times to send emails, send frequency and how to analyze email data to their advantage. Overall, 189 quiz respondents averaged a score of 52 percent.