To reach the right researchers about a special issue, alert authors of journal activity, and share a society’s new initiative, messages need to be targeted accurately. According to a study done by the Radicati Group, an estimated 269 billion emails were sent and received each day in 2017, and this is expected to increase to over 333 billion daily emails in 2022.

As a publishing partner, the goal of our marketing service is to inform communities of research that can change the world and share the wonderful work that our societies do every day. When working with so many diverse and unique communities, one of our biggest challenges is identifying the right groups to share information with. To address this issue, we’ve started to use the Smarketing app, which allows us to create more innovative, agile, and targeted campaigns, and will in turn drive greater impact for societies and their journals. The tool can search for researchers and authors working in specific fields and defined subjects. It then cross references those names with our email subscribers, and sends the most relevant message to the right people.

When we first discovered the Smarketing app, we saw plenty of potential: this seemed like something that would save us time and help make journal communications feel personal and meaningful for the authors on the receiving end of the email. To make sure it was a tool that could work for our communities, we decided to test it on a campaign to drive submissions for a journal’s special issue.

Our goal was to drive submissions by sending a targeted Call for Papers email to authors who have published research on “plant stress” over the past 5 years – those who would be most interested in learning about the upcoming Special Issue. We identified these authors and shared the Call for Papers with them. By combining the new targeting technology in the Smarketing app with our understanding of the journal’s needs, we were able to approach our goal with precision and focus.

When compared with a general ‘entomology’’ call for papers campaign for the journal, this campaign had an open rate that was 50% higher, and our click-through rates were more than twice what we normally see when using a subject list without additional targeting.

We’re able to use these lists for targeted social media advertising campaigns too – meaning we’re able to reach only those people who are most likely to engage and react to them. Targeting our message helps us in multiple ways: it means the money spent on advertising is more likely to reach the right authors at the right time, and it means that whatever message we’re communicating feels meaningful, relevant, and personal to the selected audience..

This targeting approach can be applied to other initiatives in the future and create greater impact and results for organizations. The Smarketing app is a powerful tool to better reach your communities, to share the mission of your organization, and to engage in a meaningful and thoughtful way.

Do you have any experience using other tools to refine your target audience? Let us know in the comments below.

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