Email Direct Marketing Techniques

Email Direct Marketing

Techniques Guaranteed to Increase Your Success

Reggie Brady

[email protected]

(203) 838-8138 © Regina Brady 2011 all rights reserved

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Agenda

• Email Benchmarks and How Do You Rate?

• 4 big trends

– Mobile

– Social

– Relevance and email triggers

– Reactivation

• 8 building blocks for success

Overall Benchmarks Q2-11

Conversions based on clicks – 3.16% (up from Q1-11)

Epsilon – Q2-11 Email Trends and Benchmarks – 8-31-11

a study of 7.1 billion emails sent by Epsilon across multiple industries for around 150 clients

Overall Benchmarks

Epsilon – Q2-11 Email Trends and Benchmarks – 8-31-11

a study of 7.1 billion emails sent by Epsilon across multiple industries for around 150 clients

Benchmarking

Maturity Class Mean Class Performance for

Email

Best-in-Class Top 20%

• 21% average year-over-year

improvement in revenue


improvement in click-through

rates

Industry Average Middle 50%


improvement in revenue


improvement in click-through

rates

Laggard Bottom 30%


decline in revenue


decline in click-through rates

How do you rate?

Aberdeen Research – Email Marketing: Customers Take It Personally – 12-10

Differentiate Process

from Business Metrics

Silverpop – Email Marketing Metrics That Matter – 7-09

Email Marketer

• Our open rate is now 22%.

• Unique click-through rates have increased since our redesign.

• Delivery at Yahoo is up since we stopped using one large image.

• Spam complaints are down 15%.

Executives

• How much revenue email generate?

• How has email improved customer retention?

• Has email reduced our costs of communicating with customers?

• What impact is email having on conversions from other channels?

Differentiate Process

from Business Metrics

Process Business

• Opens

• Bounces

• Delivered

• Clicks

• Revenue/Orders

• Downloads/Demos

• Qualified Leads

• Retention

• Cross channel activity

Your mission:

beat the competition

I’ll share some ideas

to keep you ahead of

the pack

Email design must take mobile

into account

Big trend #1

Mobile devices and email

• Last October fewer than 9% of

emails were read on a mobile

device

• Today between 16% and 20%

are read on a mobile device

• You need to re-think design for

the ―small screen‖ or be left

behind

• KISS - stick with your offer, create

something actionable

• Don’t waste valuable real estate on a tiny

screen with clutter

• Proper coding will enable your message

to be seen on iPhone, Droid, Blackberry.

• Avoid slow download times

• Use short subject lines

Advice for email re-design

Advice for email re-design

• Width must be compressed

– Less than 500 pixels

• Columns – no more than 2

– Put the most important information to the left

• The top 2 – 3 inches is valuable

– Put ―click to view‖ and ―click to view mobile‖ at top

– Headers should be short – no more than 120 pixels in height

– Move ―forward to a friend,‖ social icons and ―add to address book‖ below

top of the message

• Use text links, in combination with image links

– The fat finger issue

Mobile Rendering – a handy tool

If a rendering check is not provided by your ESP, Litmus.com offers this capability

starting at $49 per month for 29 different environments.

2 columns

• Easier to read on screen

• Allows for easy organization of content

• If many of your subscribers read emails

on mobile, you may want one column

… at least near the top.

2 columns

• Easier to read on screen

• Allows for easy organization of content

• If many of your subscribers read emails

on mobile, you may want one column

… at least near the top.

• If this email was displayed on a mobile

device, readers would see the upper left

text, but may not see the picture of the

waffle breakfast sandwich.

Maximizing social for sign-ups

and within email

Co

-op

20

12

Big trend #2

Social can be a big gorilla

• Plan to integrate your email and

social strategies

• Today most marketers have yet to

get a return on investment with social

… but it’s coming

– BtoB – 11% see a direct ROI

– BtoC – 15% see a direct ROI

Source: White Horse, ―B2B Marketing Goes Social,‖ 5-18-10

Exploit your social presence

to grow your list

• Promote your email program

Kentucky Fried Chicken created a

separate area on Facebook with an

email sign-up widget

3% of all sign-ups now come from

Facebook

These sign-ups have 70% higher

opens and CTRs

• Post or tweet offers or content from

your email programs

• Promote social via email and email

via social

Email Sherpa – 2/15/11

Moosejaw

Mountaineering

Exploit your social presence

to grow your list

Consider a social sign-up option

Allow people to sign up with their social credentials

A recent study found 90% opted for regular email sign-up and 10% used Facebook Connect

Source: Janrain company blog 4-14-11

Social Network ID that Social Users

Worldwide Use to Sign in to Websites


Source: Gigya, “Multiple Identities” 7-7-10

Profile Data Available on Social Networks

The data you collect

is amazing!


Major implications for

e-commerce!

Source: ROI Research Inc., “S-Net:The Impact of Social Media” 6-7-11

Activities that US Social Network Users Are More

Likely to Do After They Follow a Company or

Products on Facebook or Twitter

Registration and email sign-up

Facebook Connect

Embrace social in your emails

Some marketers

consolidate social

media icons with

forward to a friend


• Create special emails to encourage

social participation

• Subject line: Now You Can Follow

Us on Facebook and Twitter!


An excellent job at explaining why people should follow them on Twitter.

– Share photos of you in your favorite looks by The Limited

Triggered Messaging for relevance

— you’ve got to do it!

Co

-op

20

12

Big trend #3

Relevance

The days of ―batch and blast‖ or

―spray and pray‖ are over

Relevant emails that make each

customer feel special will provide

more leverage and sales

Triggered messages are a great

way to personally touch your

audience

• Trigger sent if customer views

at least 3 products but does

not buy.

• Incentive to purchase

• Address possible customer

service issues

• 30% open rate and 6% CTR

along with increase in live chat

usage

S&S Worldwide – Must Have Triggered Campaigns for Every Business – 1-10

Trigger #1: browsed, but didn’t buy

Trigger #2: birthday messages

Subject Line: Happy Birthday

– Get 10% Off Your Next

Flight

Results:

– 50% open rates

– Revenue per email 360%

higher than average fare

sale

Alaska Airlines 2-3-10

Trigger #3: cross-sell in order confirmation

• Additional selling in message

• Subject Line: Order Confirmation

#092857855452

• Like top navigation & ―You May Also

Consider‖ with dynamic population of

items that complement purchase

• Observes 80/20 rule with most of the

message referring to transaction

Trigger #4: order review request

Purchases featured

Sent 3 weeks after purchase

Nice way to drive site

involvement

Trigger #5: abandoned cart

My favorite – you can recoup

up to 15% of lost sales

Most marketers see up to 50%

of carts abandoned

Consider:

• sending a series

• including a product picture

• no discount in first email


You could sweeten the offer, like the email here

• I like sending a series and NOT including a discount in the first email

Opens Clicks Conversion % Revenue per email

No offer 15% 12% 1.8% $3.20

Offer 17% 13% 2.9% $3.29

Experian CheetahMail- The Remarketing Report – 2/10


Including a picture of the product left in the cart is a consideration.

Opens Clicks Conversion %

Product shown 63.8% 28.8% 2.9%

No product but link to cart 53.5% 24.9% 1.4%

Log in to see your cart 45.1% 17.1% 1.3%


Abandoned cart emails work!


One company’s experience with triggered

messages

*Carolyn Nye- S&S – eROI Virtual Trade Show 11/11/10

Annual email volume Annual email sales

Reactivation

Co

-op

20

12

Big trend #4

Create a win back plan

Up to 50% of most lists are inactive and have not

opened or clicked in months.

Win them back – before it’s too late!

Reactivation

• An important reason to care!

– ISPs are starting to measure non-openers

– It affects your reputation

– A large volume of inactive e-mail recipients is considered junk by ISPs.

– Long-term inactive email addresses can turn into spam traps.

• Remember, your most active subscribers generate all your traffic and revenue

– Inactive do NOT help you reach business goals and you are paying to send to them.

• Your metrics are distorted if you have a significant number of inactives.

Reactivation

And, it is costing you money!

The financial costs of inattention

Reactivation

Cisco Win Back Campaign

Huge database – but, only 25% were active - Some hadn’t been active in 3 to 6 years

- Some didn’t have clear opt-in flag

- Decided to test 14.5% of inactives

Segments and offers to capture updated info: - VPs and above - $25 Starbucks gift card

- Directors & Managers – white paper

- Directors & Managers – no offer

Results: - VPs – Opens 17.1%, CTR 7.6%, Conversions 6.1%

- White paper – Opens 12.1%, CTR 2.0%, Conversions

1.4%

- No offer – Opens 18.3%, CTR 6.5%, Conversions

3.9%

Email Sherpa – 1-11-11

Reactivation

Bed Bath & Beyond Win

Back Campaign

Decreased frequency for

inactives from 7x per month,

to 5x per month and

eventually to 1x per month

Reactivation

Bed Bath & Beyond Win

Back Campaign

Finally, they send a re-

permission email specifying a

date when they would stop

sending emails without

subscriber permission.

When all else fails

Remove dead addresses – your metrics will also improve

Subject Line: We Miss You –

Come Back for 30% Off Your

Next Flight

Entice non-flying members to

book. Tested offer vs non-

offer.

Results compared to usual

promotions: - Opens 55% higher

- CTR 75% higher

- Revenue per email 564%

higher

Alaska Airlines – 2-3-10

Re-engagement of past purchasers

8 Building Blocks for Success

• Make email sign-up visible and ―above the fold‖ on your home

page

• Include sign up on most visited pages

• Or, use persistent sign up to promote on every site page

• And give them a reason to sign up

– Offers and promotions

– Tips and best practices

– Product news and updates

– How to information

1. Leverage your site to grow your list

Sign up above the fold

Upper right-hand

corner draws

attention

Which form position generated higher submissions?

A. Form on the left B. Form on the right

Which Test Won – 1/27/10

2. Registration form placement


Version B generated 24.6%

more form submissions

In western countries we tend

to read from left to right

2. Registration form placement


B. Form on the right

Which Test Won – 1/27/10


3. Work your subject lines Top 100 used words

The larger and darker the words, the more frequently these words were

used, while those that are smaller and lighter were used less frequently.

Source: Mailer Mailer: Email Marketing Benchmarks 7-11

Subject line length

Source: MailerMailer: Email Metrics Guide – 7-11

4. Learn more about your list

Data Capture

Subscriber Empowerment

Increased Relevance

• Demographics and interests

• Up to date/changes

• Personal control

• Better retention

• Preferred frequency, lists

• Basis of personalization, segmentation

Preference centers

Simple preference center

Complex preference center

Preference center email

Subject line: Spring Fever! Introducing New Women’s Styles

Promotes preference center


5. Segment and mine your list

1. Self-selected

2. Demographic

3. Email behavior

4. Transactional

5. Site behavior

6. Lifecycle

7. Modeling

American Meadows sends a weekly email.

Now they send an additional email 3 days after

main email.

- Those who click on a product receive an email with a call-to-

action based on the product clicks

- Those who did not click receive an email based on the most

popular product

Results:

• Behavioral segmentation increased revenue by 14%

Email behavior

Bronto website

National Hockey league

• 800,000 fan database

• Segment on zip & favorite team

• 60% of fans don’t live in the city of their

favorite team

A Boston Bruins fan living in Boston receives an

email with Bruins imagery and the Bruins first 7

home games

eDialog 7-10

Geographic segmentation

A Bruins fan living in Philadelphia receives Bruins

imagery, but the game schedule only has info on

games in which the Bruins were playing the

Philadelphia Flyers in Philadelphia.

The NHL believes this system increased single

ticket game sales by 31%

King Arthur Flour

Currently has 6 segments with the first 4 gained

from registration & preference center:

• Subscribers near their retail store

• Canadian subscribers

• Those interested in wholesale

• Gluten-free subscribers

• Print newsletter subscribers

• Subscribers to their baking school

Email Sherpa 7-12-11

Geographic & preferences segmentation

General opens and clicks – 30% and 27%

Segment opens and clicks – 35% to 50% and

25% to 35%

Involve your readers to build community

7. Engage your readers

Involve your readers to build community

Subject line: Help build the

Best Buy Business District.

It’s a robust site for small

business professionals with

a strong knowledge center

and the opportunity to post

questions and comments.

Engage your readers

8. Use Customer Reviews

• Reviews are altering how consumers make

purchase decisions

• Reviews will increase conversions

• Online shoppers are often willing to spend more

for highly rated products

• Plus, page views increase and customers say

they feel more satisfied with their shopping

experience when it includes customer reviews

Forrester Research says that 87% of consumers tend to write reviews

when they have something positive to say.

Customer Reviews

• Conversions go up

• SEO traffic goes up

• Returns go down

• Customer satisfaction and brand trust increase

Reviews are a fundamental tool where customer conversations become

powerful content.

• Subject line: Shop Dell's Top-rated

Products

• Consider highlighting reviews in your

subject line.

• Dell found if a shopper spent time with site

reviews, conversions doubled. (BazaarVoice)

Customer Reviews encourage site

purchases. If you have them on your site

– try including them in some emails.

Customer Reviews

• A review capability need not be

expensive

• AlpacaDirect.com, a small

business, works with

PowerReviews and pays

$80/month.

• Results:

– Sales grew by 23% for those

items that had positive reviews

–

CNN.com 9/28/09

Customer Reviews

Email & Social likes

Email helped

increase Facebook

fan growth by 700%

to surpass 1 million

fans.

Thank you!

Reggie Brady Email Marketing Consultant

(203) 838-8138

[email protected]

Date post:	12-Jan-2015
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Email Direct Marketing Techniques

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