Everything You’ve Ever Wanted To Know About

Email Marketing

(in 180 minutes)

July 9, 2011

Your Hosts

Carley Knobloch

Your Hosts

Joyce Shulman

Your Hosts

Our Time Together Today

•  Getting to know YOU •  What’s the best Email Service Provider (ESP)?   •  Sign up process

•  How to grow your email list (Part I) •  BREAK •  How to grow your email list (Part II)

•  Anatomy of an email •  BREAK •  Ninja stuff

Flickr Photo: a2gemma

The Best Email Service Provider (ESP)

It Depends!

Baseline Features

•  Manage your list of subscribers (allow multiple lists, and segmentation

•  Create campaigns using a WYSIWYG interface •  Send email campaigns now or schedule for later •  Track campaign performance (Opens, Clickthroughs,

Bounces) •  Double and single opt-in

•  CAN-SPAM compliant •  Deliverability guarantees

Emma (myemma.com)

•  Who they’re great for: Companies with small lists, or who send infrequently

•  What they’re great at: Beautiful, custom template, easy interface, surveys and forms included

•  PROS: Discounts for NPs, lots of personal attention, list segmenting, autoresponders.

•  CONS: Not cost-effective for big lists, set-up fee required •  Price: Set-up design $99; $30/month for 1000 (10% off for

yearly pre-pay)

Constant Contact (constantcontact.com)

•  Who they’re great for: Everyone •  What they’re great at: Event management, surveys, custom

services

•  PROS: Discounts for NPs, social media integration, good CS, tons of tutorials, local seminars, compare by industry, anti-SPAM checker, API integration, pre-fab templates are tested for multiple formats, autoresponders.

•  CONS: Costs extra to host more than 5 images, one opt-in for entire account, email archiving (costs extra)

•  Price: 60-day free trial; $15/month for up to 500 subscribers, save with pre-pay

Vertical Response (verticalresponse.com)

•  Who they’re great for: Everyone AND less frequent senders •  What they’re great at: Detailed reporting, different methods

for email creation (for every level of geek)

•  PROS: Create print postcards for direct mail, segmentation, surveys, API integration, partnering companies, great CS, lots of image storage, archiving.

•  CONS: Interface less attractive and intuitive than others •  Price: $10/month for 500 subscribers OR pay-as-you-go (1.5

cents/email or less, in bulk)

AWeber (aweber.com)

•  Who they’re great for: Affiliate marketers, using email to drive sales

•  What they’re great at: Sophisticated tracking for email performance and ROI

•  PROS: Sophisticated list segmenting, create blog posts from emails (archives), affiliate link tracking, great CS

•  CONS: Tougher to customize templates, no image hosting, clunky autoresponders

•  Price: $19/month for 500 subscribers; first month for $1; NP, student and pre-pay discounts

MailChimp (mailchimp.com)

•  Who they’re great for: Everyone AND less frequent senders •  What they’re great at: Easy (and comprehensive) list

management/import, design freedom

•  PROS: API integration, Google analytics plug-ins •  CONS: Vague tracking data, no affiliate marketing, no live CS

•  Price: FREE for 12,000 emails/month; pay-as-you-go pricing (starts at 3 cents/email).

Email Sign Up Process

•  Single vs. Double Opt-In •  Designing Opt-In Process

Single Opt-In

Sign-up Box Confirmation Page Welcome Email

Double Opt-In

Sign-up Box “Check Your

Inbox” Page

Confirm Email

Confirmation Page Welcome Email

Single vs. Double

•  Both are legal under CAN-SPAM act •  Some ESPs only allow double (Aweber) •  Anytime you give your email address to a

store, considered SOI

Single Opt-In

CONS: •  Tougher to prove in court if accused of SPAMMING

•  People may not remember that they signed up •  People may sign up others that don’t want to receive your

email, or don’t know what it is (SPAM!!)

PROS:

•  Quickly build your list (conversion rate is higher, could be up to 50%)

Double Opt-In

CONS: •  Slower list building

•  Confirmation messages can get lost

PROS:

•  Reduces SPAM Complaints •  Builds a “quality” list (indicates dedicated, responsive

subscribers) •  Builds a “cleaner” list (no typos, no fake addresses)

•  Sometimes commands higher ad rates

Designing Sign Up Process

Sign-up Box “Check Your

Inbox” Page

Confirmation Email

Confirmation Page Welcome Email

Sign-up Box

•  What is this? •  Why should I sign up?

•  Mention it’s FREE (if it is) •  Mention frequency

•  Further incentive

•  Clear call to action •  Data fields (how much to ask for?)

•  Thanks for signing up •  When will I get next communication?

•  Other calls to action (ie. Social Media, Tell A Friend)

Confirmation page

•  You’re subscribed! Thanks again •  When will I get next communication?

•  Add us to your “whitelist” •  Links to incentive items

•  Unsubscribe Instructions

•  Other calls to action (ie. Social Media, Tell A Friend)

Welcome Email

Sign-up Box “Check Your

Inbox” Page

Confirmation Email

Double Opt-In

Confirmation Page Welcome Email

•  SHORT and CLEAR •  Instructions •  Reasoning •  You won’t be subscribed if you don’t!

“Check Your Inbox” page

•  Instructions •  You won’t be subscribed if you don’t! •  If you’ve received by mistake… •  Contact information

Confirm Email

How to grow your email list

Part I

List 5 companies off the top of your head

In Groups

• Timekeeper • Notetaker • Searcher(s) • Form filler-outer

Assign Roles

•  Go to the websites of your 5 companies.

•  Find the email subscription form and sign up.

•  Record time to find, then complete form –

Opt In!

•  Capture process. User-friendly? Easy? Hard?

In Groups

Flickr: jaxhouse

How to grow your email list

Part II

Download Google Doc (PDF)

Anatomy of an email

Flickr: patrlynch

Flickr: jaxhouse

Ninja Stuff

Flickr: financialaidpodcast

Ninja Stuff •  Freebies •  Drip campaigns •  Autoresponders  •  Segmentation •  A|B testing •  Squeeze pages •  Share With Your Network (SWYN)