Optimizing your Email Program for Nurture Marketing, Mobile, Social Media
To do Online Marketing well, marketers need to be good at so much more than Email + Search.
-- Social is the new staple (eROI Q4’09 survey:
70% marketers used social media, 15% of their time)
-- Mobile is next
The Online Marketer’s Challenge
Our world today
History Lesson – starting w/ EmailEmail invented in 1971
“In 1971, Ray Tomlinson developed the first ARPANET email application…he chose the "commercial at" symbol to combine the user and host names, providing the naturally meaningful notation "user@host" that is the standard for email…”
Source: LivingInternet.com
@
History Lesson – Search
1. Jul’03: Yahoo buys Overture; monetizes Search
2. Aug’04: Google pays Yahoo $28.5M in exchange for Bid-for-Placement patent settlement. (Google market cap is now $184 Billion).
History Lesson – Social
History Lesson – Mobile
How Email Fits In 2007: Use Email to Build Online Community2007: RSS to Email (Publishers, Any Business)2008: Nurture Marketing2008: Anatomy of an Email2009: Holiday Email Campaign example2009: Mobile Optimization2010: Five new Tools you’ve never heard of
2007: Use Email to Build Community
Storytelling Drives Results
Community Waiting to be Discovered
Results (14 day campaign)
1. 61,000 unique visitors2. 2,175 user-generated images uploaded3. 150 comments created for 12 Wacom artists4. 2,000+ new subscribers to email house list5. Online sales 150% increase over previous year
2007: RSS-to-Email
Publish One to Many:
Biggest cost for email marketing is a Marketer’s Time
RSS-to-Email applies to Small Biz
1. How do they find you?
2. Where do they land?
3. How do you continue the conversation?
2008: Nurture Marketing
Finding Thru Search: Paid vs. Organic
eROI Google Analytics Stats
eROI Leads by Source
eROI Resource Landing Page…Bad
eROI Resource Landing Page…Good
1. Opt in / Thank you
2. Welcome Messaging
3. First Touch
3 Email Nurture Program Components
Tips for Opt-In
1. Call out your Email Opt-in on every page of your site.2. Don’t expect them to find it.3. Links to samples are effective4. Give subscribers choices! e.g. frequency (daily, weekly,
monthly), event alerts, etc...
5. Tell them specifically what they’re signing up for & how often they’ll hear from you. Keep that promise.
6. Don’t make someone register (user/pass) for email7. Remember, you can get more information later
Examples of Opt-in Questions
Good
Too Much
CBSSports.com Opt-In: Before/After
CBSSports.com Welcome Email Strategy
Thank you after Opt-In
• Thank them
• Confirm the action they took
• Give them the info they need
• Continue the dialogue
A Welcome Email is the first email received after an opt-
in and/or confirmation of subscription
This will likely be your highest open rate ever.
Make it count.
Welcome Email
Email Anatomy
Pre-HeaderHeader
Email Body
Social Media integrationFunctional Footer
2009: Holiday Email - Icebreaker
Campaigns/Frequency3 months of Oct’09-Dec’09: 38 emails3 years of Sep’06-Sep’09: 36 emails
Total emails sent: Oct’09 – Dec’09 ~500kSep’06 - Sep’09 ~450k
Read Rate Oct-Dec’09 – 25%Read Rate ‘06-Sep’09 – 33%
Click Through Rate Oct-Dec’09 – 7.5%Click Through Rate ‘06-Sep’09 – 10.5%
Average Opt Out/Campaign Rate – 0.66%
Icebreaker Holiday Email Findings
2009: Mobile Optimization
2009: Mobile Web for true Engagement, not just impressions
• Email still the backbone for mobile web apps• More popular for B2C
2010: Make Mobile part of Everyday Email
How Email Fits In 2007: Use Email to Build Online Community2007: RSS to Email (Publishers, Any Business)2008: Nurture Marketing2008: Anatomy of an Email2009: Holiday Email Campaign example2009: Mobile Optimization2010: New Apps you’ve never heard of
Tool #1: Flowtown: Append social data to your Lists
Tool #2: Unbounce: Testing and optimizing landing pages
Tool #3: WhichTestWon.com:Email and Landing Page Testing
Tool #4: Email2Mobile: Optimize Email for Mobile + Landing + Analytics
Tool #5: Email on Acid: Content Rendering tool before you send
Thank you.Don’t forget to get a Web/Email Audit right after this.
Ryan BuchananCEO, eROI