ECM-Week10-EmailMarketing-Session

Email Marketing

Case Studies

CityDeal.ie

Asos

Schuh

Prudence Magazine

Wiltshire Farm Foods

Pixmania

Why does email marketing work

• Allows Targeting & Segmentation – right prospects• Is Data Driven – you can focus campaigns on prior

behaviour• Drives Direct Sales – attribute post-click action with

eCommerce activities and sign-ups• Builds Loyalty, Relationships and Trust – – Frequent meaningful communication helps stay “top of mind”

• Support Sales Through Other Channels – influence and drive offline activities

• Customer Acquisition and Customer Retention

Where To Start

• Prepare, Plan and Set Objectives– What are you trying to accomplish – goals/objectives– How will you measure success – clicks, post-click actions?– What do your customers really want and need from you– Are you offering special prices and promotions?– How can you offer more value to your customers

• Map Out Your Email Marketing Plan– Devise a schedule to help you reach subscribers with the right

info and right time– Decide what types of email campaigns will be sent when and

why

Email Service Providers

Email Service Providers

• Mail Chimp – www.mailchimp.com• Constant Contact – www.constantcontact.com• Vertical Response – www.verticalresponse.com• TriggerMail – www.triggermail.com• CheetahMail – www.cheetahmail.com• Blue Sky Factory – www.blueskyfactory.com• Aweber – www.aweber.com• Campaign Monitor – www.campaignmonitor.com• ExactTarget – www.exacttarget.com

Why Use an ESP?

• Benefits of using ESP– Advance reporting to help measure success– Management of subscription lists, opt-outs, bounces and

SPAM reports– Avoid delays on your mail own server– Whitelisting and feedback loops– Monitor and manage blacklists– Advance feature and & tools– ESP focus 100% on email – they are experts in this area

Selecting an ESP

• Things to Consider when choosing an ESP– Templates and ease of use– Deliverability assurance– Dedicated or shared IP address– Customer training and support– Reporting capabilities– Managing subscribers, lists and segmentation– A/B Testing and other advanced features– SPAM Compliance– Mail Box Viewer– Integration with Social Media

Growing Your Database

• How To Build Up Your Database– Add an opt-in form to every page of your websites (you want

people to subscribe)– Add an opt-in page to your facebook business welcome

landing page– Capture opt-ins in off line channels – phone, direct mail,

conferences etc…– Direct offline users to specific sign-up landing pages to gauge

how successful these activities are

Email Design and Layout

• Clear User Outcome Focused Design– Design attractive, simple and easy to use templates– Make sure design is easy to follow, articulates a defined

thought sequence and has clear calls to action– Test your mail to ensure that it renders across all email clients– Don’t Embed image files in emails – link to external servers– Use inline CSS rather than relative CSS links in header

First Impression Count

• Your first email should be a welcome email– Introduce your company and benefits of receiving the email– On your email sign-up form - tell users what they will get and

how often– Convince users that your goal is to provide value for them– Special offers for signing-up to your email newsletter– Provide an obvious opt-out link for the user– Link to your privacy policy– Clearly show your physical address – you’re a real business

Its All About Content

• Content is King– Map out content for your next few campaigns– Each email should provide clear value– Don’t try and do all your selling with your email copy –• You want user to “click” through to landing page

– Always meet the expectations that you set in the opt-in stage (and you should be setting expectations at that stage)

– One or two “Clear Calls to Action” per Email (no more)– Relevant (right audience with right content), Timely, Targeted

and value driven (from users perspective)

Best Practices

Permission Based Email Marketing

• The Key to Email Marketing– Send relevant, timely, targeted and valuable emails to

subscribers who have asked for them

• Acceptable ways to build a list– Make sure you have an explicit Opt-in tick box– List Append (eCommerce etc..)– Opt-in rental (rent a temporary list from a partner who has

permission to rent out)

• Unacceptable ways to build list– Non opt-in list referral– Not adhering to opt-outs

Opt-In Form

• Easy to find opt-in form on every page– Short & easy to fill out– No sneaky pre-checked boxes (surreptitiously signing users up

to content)

• Always answer the question “WIIFM?” at signup stage– What’s In It For Me?”

• Always confirm subscription immediately with a Thank You Email or Confirmation Email (Receny)

The Welcome Email

• Should be immediate (within 15 minutes) – recency is incredibly important

• Welcome email should set the tone and frame for all email to come

• Explain the benefits of subscribing• Re-iterate the content and frequency users can expect• Always provide links back to your website – with some

clear prominent links to click• Always provide a link to opt-out and update preferences

Test Your Subject Line

The Subject Line

• The most important part of your mail– If a user does not open your mail, you cannot sell or

communicate to them at all

• 45.2% of users open email based on the subject line alone

• Test and transmit clear value propositions in your email subject lines

Subject Line

• Keep it 35 Characters or less• Avoid Spammy words – BUY NOW, CLICK HERE, FREE

etc… (look bad and get caught by spam catchers)• Minimise use or don’t use symbols and special

characters – (!!!)• Don’t use misleading headlines – you’ll annoy people

(plus its illegal in the CAN-SPAM Act)• Time delimit offers – “offer ends in 24 Hours”

The From Line

The From: Line

• Should be clearly and easily recognisable to your subscriber

• Use you company’s name versus a persons name• Avoid using [email protected] - people don’t

respond well to automatically generated emails• Be consistent with the From Name and From Address• Monitor replies to your From and Reply To Address• Set up specific email address on your domain for email

campaigns

Designing Your Email

Creative Design

• Design for the email Inbox – its not a webpage• Keep your email width under 600 pixels wide• Make sure main key elements are “above the fold”• Use a balanced image-to-text ratio – Don’t use all images – you need text

• Don’t try and sell everything on the email• Keep your email content brief– You are selling a click not a product or service

• Create a clear scent trail to your landing page• Have a forward to Friend and SWYN links

Email Components to Test

A/B Tests

• Continually improve upon your email campaigns by performing A/B Tests

• You can test various areas of your email program:– Subject Lines– Data/Time Send– Email Frequency– Creative Design/Image Placement– Call-to-action variations (Free-Shipping Vs % discount)– Call to Action Placement– Landing Pages

Deliverability

• Work with your tech team and/or ESP to continually monitor your email deliverability and IP address reputation

• Set up authentication records (Sender ID, SPF, Domain Keys)

• Use a dedicated Mail ISP – ideally one which is whitelisted (ESPs use these)

• Don’t send your email from Dynamic IP address – like your office based one

Leveraging and Integrating Social Media for Email Marketing

Social Media

• Email is the glue for Social Media• Use Social Media channels to build subscription lists• Encourage and enable email sharing with social tools

from within the email itself (SWYN)• Use your email list to build your social media network

Links

• http://www.email-standards.org/