Sales Emails What’s working (and what isn’t) · 2020. 2. 3. · "The truth isn't the truth un-l people believe you, and they can't believe you if they don't know what you're saying,

SalesEmailsWhat’sworking(andwhatisn’t)

AndrewStead

UKDirectorofDigitalandCommunica?ons

Thecrea?vechallenge

"Thetruthisn'tthetruthun-lpeoplebelieveyou,

andtheycan'tbelieveyouiftheydon'tknowwhatyou'resaying,

andtheycan'tknowwhatyou'resayingiftheydon'tlistentoyou,

andtheywon'tlistentoyouifyou'renotinteres-ng,

andyouwon'tbeinteres-ngunlessyousaythingsimagina-vely,originally,freshly.”(BillBernbach,DDB)

GeFngopened–the‘A’inAIDA

What’sthemostopenedemailsubjectheaderofall?me?Here’saguess…

‘ILOVEYOU’(Approximately50mopensworldwide,or10%ofinternetconnectedcomputers)

Breakoutincaseofemergency:

‘Oops!’(tripledsalesonWorldMalbecDay)

Blanksubject

Buttestsubjectsby$-per-send(notopenrates,ofcourse!)

Andremailwithnewsubjectstounopens(butwatchthoseunsubs!)

“Themoreyoutell,themoreyousell”

Don’tbelievethekidsintheirfancysneakers…copyisnotdead.Meettherunawaysuccess…that?cksnoboxes!

Butwe’renoangels

Our‘seriescampaigns’arenowathirdofourannualemailrevenue…andverymuchaboutsavingsandlowprices.Andjumpingonanewstoryneverhurts…Proseccoshortages,Brexit...Butwhat’sconsistentisthatcomplicatedoffersDONOTWORKonemail.

Keepingitreal

Genuineenthusiasmshinesthrough:•  “Father,ImustconfessthatIhadsexwithtwo

beau-fulNorwegianbackpackers”.•  “Youdon’tneedtotellme?It’snotreallyasin

beforeGod.”•  “OhIknowthat,father,I’mjusttellingeveryone.”EXERCISE:Writeitagain,buttoagoodfriend.“Iwouldn’tnormallyemailonaSaturday,but…”Acknowledgewhereyouareintherela?onship.

Everynowandthen…wegetitwrong...

•  Londontrophywinnerfor‘BestRedUnder£15’atjust£7.99andwasselectedforthepresstas?ng…yetwas50%downagainstforecast!

•  Veryunusuallywestrayedintored-trouserterritory.–  “SowhatdoesF’Oztastelike?InTheObserver,Tim

AtkinMWsaid“DãoredsarelikeacrossbetweenaRhôneandaredBurgundy”soyoucanexpectsojredfruit,lithetanninsandagentlelickofspice.”

–  “ThetypicityofDãoatadazzlingprice.”(Decanter)

•  Madeourcustomersfeelsecondrate–  “Theonlydownsideisthatthereareonly400cases

availableinthecountry…ourU.S.officetookthelion’sshare.”

•  Andteeteredontheedgeofnotmakingsense–  “Trophy-winninginside?p–drinkoutsidethebox!”

Upcloseandpersonal

Youcantargetwith:•  Previouspurchase•  Ra?ngsandreviews•  Behaviouraltriggers•  Lifecycle(‘DearMrUnengaged’)•  TimeofdayanddayoftheweekRelevancedoesmorethanjustincreaseresponse

Wheretoposi?onthe‘I’inAIDA?

•  Alongemailwithashortlandingpage?

•  Orashortemailwithloadsofdetailsonthewebsite?

•  Ourtestssayitdoesn’tmaoer

…whatmaoersisstayingfreshandnotbeingtoorepe??veinyourtemplates.

vs.

Eitherway,thechutemustbegreased

•  Responsivedesign•  Testedonallbrowsers•  Mobileiscri?calforemail–

ourconversionisup68%YoY•  Testend-to-endfor

non-technicalglitchestoo…

Addingstraighttobasketdroppedresponse

ShoppingBasket

ProductPage

Respectthecustomer–beappropriate

FixedDate CountdownTimer(ForwhichembarrassinglyIcan’tfindthecrea-ve)…wasdown19%

Offeringreducedfrequencyop?ons

Therearenohardandfastrulesabouthowmanyemailsaretoomany…relevanceandvarietywinyoupermissiontoraiseyourfrequency.Forseriescampaignsweallowcustomerstooptoutforaweek.Apreferencecentretosoothpoten?alunsubscribersisplannedfor2017andwillhaveapplica?onforsignupstoo.Lotsoftes?ngbeckons.

Don’tforgettheboringemails

Everyserviceemailisasalesopportunity,andyouropenrateswilllikelybehigherthansalesemails:•  Orderconfirma?on•  Deliveryconfirma?onSignthemupforofferemails,sellthemsomethingcomplementary,remindthemofyourappetc.

Thebigthemesfor2017

Automa?on•  Behaviouralandlifecycletriggers

Personalisa?on

DeliverabilityIncreasethemarketablebase•  Prospects•  Recruits•  Exis?ngcustomers