HOW TO USE EMAIL MARKETING TO GROW YOUR BUSINESS April Mullen

About Me @aprildmullen http://www.linkedin.com/in/aprildmullen Sr. Marketing Strategist, StrongView Adjunct Instructor, UMSL

Getting Started •  Why Implement an Email Program? •  Laws and Regulations •  Technologies to Get Started •  List Growth Strategies for Success •  Welcome Emails •  Segmentation •  Design and Content •  Measurement Innovations

Agenda

GETTING STARTED

WHY IMPLEMENT AN EMAIL PROGRAM?

Email’s Relevance

Q: How do you rate the following channels in terms of return on investment? (company respondents)

Source: https://econsultancy.com/blog/64614-email-remains-the-best-digital-channel-for-roi#i.179m3ypqnif7qs

Investment Shows Priority

•  52% of marketing executives planned to increase spend on email marketing in 2014. 46% on social media.*

• Email is more relevant today than ever before as consumption continues to grow on more platforms.**

*Strongview’s Marketing Trends Survey Results **Return Path’s “Mobile, Webmail, Desktops: Where are we viewing email now”?

Effective in Acquiring Customers

Effective in Retaining Customers

Email Plays Well With Other Digital Channels •  Increases engagement in social media and vice versa • Optimizes well for mobile experience • Operates more effectively when working with other digital

channels vs. in a silo

LAWS AND REGULATIONS

CAN-SPAM Act (U.S.) Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003 (CAN-SPAM) • Regulated by the Federal Trade Commission • Applies to Commercial Email Only

CASL (Canada) Canadian Anti-Spam Law is stricter than the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act and the penalties are much stiffer for violations.

Privacy and Data Protection Laws Email marketers must be aware of privacy laws that affect their particular business: •  Affiliate sharing between brands •  California and Vermont •  European Privacy Laws

•  Data Protection Directive •  Etc…

RECOMMENDED TECHNOLOGIES

Technologies to Get Started

LIST GROWTH

List Growth All subscribers are not created equal. • Add only engaged subscribers • Unengaged subscribers can cause deliverability issues.

Best acquisition sources are always close to your brand and shopping experience. Tell subscribers why they should sign up for emails with your brand.

List Growth

31% of consumers in a recent Forrester study said, “I often wonder how companies that send me email offers got my name and email address”.* Stay away from purchased or rented email addresses. Only acquire your list through opt-in practices and remind subscribers of the value they’ll be getting by providing their information. That will ensure that you have engaged subscribers and not just a larger list for the sake of having a larger list.

*Forrester study: Consumer Email Attitudes Continue to Improve (2013)

List Growth Tactics • Website registration page

List Growth Tactics • Embed email opt-in forms on Facebook.

List Growth Tactics • Ask for email opt-in during website purchase.

List Growth Tactics • Create a popup on your homepage.

List Growth Tactics •  In-store personnel opt-in purchasers at the point of sale.

List Growth Tactics • Ask for permission at in-person or online events.

STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS

WELCOME EMAILS

Welcome Emails Send the email immediately: After a customer has made the effort to sign up for an email newsletter it’s a good idea to send a welcome email as soon as possible to acknowledge their interest.

Welcome Emails 75% of brands are sending their Welcome Message the same day the subscriber opts-in. 13% send it one day after, 7% send two or three days later, and 5% send the email more than three days later. - ReturnPath "The Email Subscriber Experience 2008-2013" (2013)

SEGMENTATION STRATEGIES

Segmentation Strategies The days of “batch and blast” are over in email marketing. Email marketers must segment lists in order to ensure that the message is relevant.

Segmentation Criteria

Responsys Confidential

There are many different types of information to segment off of. Marketers vary on their most effective forms of segmentation, likely due to how evolved their approach is. Isolating the most important segmentation criteria is key to driving an optimized digital communications program.

Reasons to Segment • Out of the 91% of consumers opting out or unsubscribing

from email programs, 46% do so because the messages are not relevant.

•  41% of consumers would consider ending a brand relationship because of irrelevant messaging, and an additional 22% would definitely end the relationship because of irrelevance. -Marketing Sherpa

DESIGN AND CONTENT

Mobile is Here Among 18-54 years olds, 79% of smartphone users check email more than making calls on their device.* 80% delete a mobile email when it doesn’t render properly and 30% unsubscribe.** The web is no longer just a desktop experience.

*2013 Digital Publisher Report by Adobe **Blue Hornet’s Consumer Views of Email Marketing, 2013

Responsive Design Responsive design allows for superior rendering on desktops, tablets and smartphones. This provides a great user experience for subscribers.

Design 1.  Enlarge fonts •  Minimum of 13px

2.  Know your Scale •  Consider trimming your emails to

between 320-550px wide to reduce scrolling

3.  Call to Action •  Make it tappable. Minimum of 44x44

px

4.  Streamline •  Simplify! Content real estate is even

more valuable

5.  Cut to the chase •  Be short, concise and to the point

Design 7. Layout •  Optimize responsive layouts

8. Be Obvious •  Visually indicate that links and buttons

are clickable. Hover states aren’t supported

9. Finger Targets •  Bigger is better. Use white space to

reduce ‘fat-finger’ errors

10. Ergonomics •  Remember mobile users are often

holding the device in their hand. Keep important buttons, images, and links within easy reach.

Email Process Micro-Conversions

FROM NAME

SUBJECT LINE

PREVIEW PANE

ABOVE THE FOLD

COMPLETE EMAIL

CLICK THROUGH

EMAIL

HEADLINE

FIRST PARAGRAPH

BODY

CALL-TO-ACTION

LANDING PAGE

SUB-HEADLINE

Open

•  From Line •  Subject Line •  Preheader Text

Engage •  Email Body

Act •  CTA Button

• Write subject lines that are 25 characters or less

• Keep 2-2-2 Principle in Mind •  First 2 seconds are critical to

compel subscribers •  First 2 words of subject line

determine if subscriber will read the rest of it

•  Why does your email matter “2”day?

Subject Lines

Three purposes of a good pre-header: • Continuation of a message that led to the open • Support the primary Call-to-Action •  Transition smoothly into “view

with images” text

Pre-Headers

Subject Line Pre-Header

• Scannable copy •  Bullet points •  Top 5 lists

•  Just enough copy to answer “Why?” • Be relevant • Write the headline last, but spend the most time on it

•  Front load, prove credibility and accurately summarize content • Promote social presence

Body Copy

Email Measurements Distribution

Sent

Delivered

Total Opens

Unique Opens

Total Clicks

Unique Clicks

Unsubscribes/Spam Complaints

Cleanliness of List and

Deliverability

Brand and Subject Line

Creative and Content

Irrelevant emails

INNOVATIONS

Context is the Opportunity

Let your audience know that it's time to act now. Showcase the days, hours, minutes, and seconds remaining until a certain event by using a countdown clock.

Countdown Timers

“Device Targeting allows you to display a different image for each device you would like to target. It also offers the ability to launch any mobile app recipients might have on their smart phone or tablet.” •  iPhone •  Android •  Blackberry •  iPad •  Android Tablet •  Kindle Fire •  Other Mobile •  Windows Mobile •  Desktop

Device Targeting

Live Social Feeds can be put into emails to pull in Twitter, Instagram and Facebook results for any search term(s) you select.

Live Social Feed

You can now play full video and audio for subscribers opening in HTML5 email clients. The app also automatically generates an animated GIF from the original video file to show in all other email clients.

Video in Email

Gmail Engagement Through Innovation

Source: https://litmus.com/blog/6-gmail-changes-every-email-marketer-should-know

QUESTIONS?