Date post: | 12-Jan-2015 |
Category: |
Marketing |
Upload: | accendeconsulting |
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WELCOME EMAIL REVIEW
Ideas to Make Your Business Flourish
Connie Harrington, Strategist
Accende Consulting
Benefits of Effective Email Welcome Program • Gets customers engaged from
the start which reduces future
list churn and spam complaints
• Introduces customers to entire
email program
• Encourages customers to
perform key functions, such as:
• Confirm preference profile
• Provide additional contact details
• Take advantage of an incentive
68%
32%
Companies Sending Welcome Message
Yes
No
Source:
Silverpop (2011)
Opportunity Companies are using timed series of welcome e-mail series to:
• Provide greater brand insight
• Highlight offerings
• Collect additional customer data via surveys or polls
2
Welcome Email Best Practices • Merge confirmation and/or transaction
into true welcome email
• Send welcome ASAP – the ideal:
within 10 minutes of sign-up
• Include “thank you” in the message to
show appreciation
• Remind new subscribers to add you to
their whitelist
• Include a link to online preference
center
• Tell subscribers how often to expect
emails
• Link to privacy policy and unsubscribe
page
• Consider expanding welcome email
into a welcome series
Source: Email Institute (2010)
3
B2C Welcome Email Metrics
• 77% send welcome emails within the first
24 hours
• 76% explain the benefits of being a
subscriber
• 87% include a home page link
• 24% include progressive profiling (asking
subscribers for more information about
themselves to boost relevancy in future
emails)
• 9% use a welcome series of two or more
emails
• 89% send HTML emails
• 68% ask for address book add
• 71% are fully CAN-SPAM compliant
• 15% include “forward to a friend” link
Source: Responsys and Smith-
Harmon (2009)
4
Key Welcome Email Elements • Content
• Use white space and clear, simple writing to
enhance readability
• Use the same “from” address that will be used
in other communications
• Set expectations of future email deliveries
• Tone • Personalize with customer’s first name
• Extend appreciation for choice to sign-up
• Reflect brand voice to establish consistent
interactions with customers
• Rewards • Reinforce benefits of sign-up
• Surprise new contacts with an immediate
reward for sign-up
• Offer incentive within first 30 days
5
Key Welcome Email Elements (continued)
• Segmentation • Send distinct email stream to new
customers
• Differentiate welcome emails based on
sign-up location and/or product selected
• Solicit data via preference center and
respond with targeted content
• Design • Use HTML and mirror corporate website
• Reflect brand visual identity, but ensure
primary content is accessible in images-
off environment
• Convey email purpose via a pre-header
• Optimize for mobile viewers; include
phone number near top for on-the-go
interaction
Opportunity Welcome emails enjoy
high open and click
rates*
• 57.8% total open rate
(14.7% for all other
messages)
• 14.4% total click rate
(vs. 2.7% for all other
messages)
*Source: Experian
Marketing (2010)
6
Key Elements of Email Engagement
Primary drivers in successful email
engagement include:
• Time – delivering short, easy sign-up
process and timely communications
delivered when expected
• Trust – making customers comfortable
so that they are willing to hand over
personal information and conduct
transactions
• Interest – providing engaging content
that is relevant to customers
• Value – answering the question:
“what’s in it for me?”
7
Source: Email Institute (2010)
WELCOME EMAIL
EXAMPLES
8
Example #1
Features • Employs clean design
and layout style that
reflects brand
• Reinforces benefits of
sign-up
• Links to shopping site
• Asks for address book
add
• Supports key message
delivery in images-off
environment
9
Example #2 Features • Uses content blocks to
differentiate key
message focus areas
• Thanks subscriber for
sign-up
• Sets email content
types and frequency
expectations
• Promotes
complementary
offerings
• Encourages contact list
add
• Provides free offer to
reward sign-up
10
Example #3
Features • Includes letter from key
individual to facilitate feeling
of personal connection
• Identifies benefits of sign-up
• Provides clear action links
• Encourages participation in
social communities
• Highlights mobile
communications opportunities
11
Example #4
Features • Provides navigation that
mirrors web site on top and
bottom
• Highlights relevant new
member gift to encourage
using site
• Includes call-out that details
how to get started using site
functionality
12
Example #5
13
Features • Provides physical store
addresses based on
contact’s location
• Includes brief poll to
solicit preferences
• Outlines sign-up
benefits
• Links to reference
information on site to
address key questions
WELCOME EMAIL SERIES
OPPORTUNITIES
14
Benefits of a Welcome Email Series
• Capitalizes on contacts’ high initial
attention
• Facilitates education on offerings
• Drives contacts to next-level
relationship
• Allows sustained brand reinforcement
• Supports phased data collection to
foster targeted messaging
Email # 1
Email # 2
Email # 3
Opportunity
A welcome series typically sees 2x the lift in terms of welcome
program response.
Source: Epsilon
15
Example #1: Basic Welcome Series (1 of 2)
1
Message #1
Features • Simple,
conversational
message that
welcomes
subscriber to
community
• Includes links to
key web sections
16
Message #2 Features • Provides step-by-step instructions
on site functionality
• Links to web store and blog for
additional resources
2
17
Example #1: Basic Welcome Series (2 of 2)
Example #2: Extended Welcome Series (1 of 5)
Member Mail #1: Welcome 1
18
Features • Sustains member
engagement focus for full
year
• Mixes education, brand
awareness and revenue
generation opportunities
• Features member-submitted
photos to build sense of
community
• Aims to foster member
dialog and collect preference
data to target content
• Member Mail #2: Email Preferences
• Member Mail #3: The Co-op
• Member Mail #4: The Dividend
2
3 4
19
Example #2: Extended Welcome Series (2 of 5)
• Member Mail #5: Visa
• Member Mail #6: Stewardship
• Member Mail #7: More Benefits
5
6
7
20
Example #2: Extended Welcome Series (3 of 5)
• Member Mail #8: Educational Opportunities
• Member Mail #9: Online Adventures
• Member Mail #10: See the World
8
9
10
21
Example #2: Extended Welcome Series (4 of 5)
Member Mail #11: Outlet Shopping
22
Example #2: Extended Welcome Series (5 of 5)
11
Award-winning, year-
long engagement
campaign culminates
with a one-year
anniversary message
(not shown)
Keys to Optimized Welcome Series
• Create distinct email stream for new contacts
• Migrate new contacts to regular communications at
welcome campaign end
• Consider cadence – capture interest without creating
overwhelm
• Use subject line to differentiate welcome emails from
transactional emails
• Focus on one concept per email
• Preview next welcome series email in the current one
• Take a phased implementation approach by
improving current welcome messages while
designing series
• Test quantity of messages, subject lines, designs,
timing, incentives, etc.
• Monitor performance and, if possible, compare to
prior approaches to demonstrate ROI
Opportunity
In 2009, just 9% of
brands used a
welcome email
series.
Source: Responsys
& Smith-Harmon
23
SUMMARY & RESOURCES
24
Recap of Key Opportunities • Capitalize on new contacts’ high
attention level with well-constructed
welcome messages
• Target goals to achieve with introductory
message(s), such as: • Reinforce brand
• Confirm transaction
• Collect contact data
• Maintain top-of-mind visibility with an
welcome series • Build trust-based relationship through meeting
delivery expectations and phased information
collection
• Test parameters to ensure right fit for audience
needs
25
Opportunity
New subscriber email
activity nearly doubles
activity by all other
subscribers (34% vs.
18%)
Source: Epsilon, June/July
2011
Useful Online Resources
Online Research Reports
Retail Welcome Email Benchmark: Results of survey of
112 of the largest online retailers published by Smith-
Harmon (March 2009)
>> View Report
How U.S. Marketers Use Email: Survey of 252 interactive
marketers on email trends and tactics published by Forrester
(May 2011)
>> View Report
26
Online Welcome Email Galleries
Email Institute Email Gallery: Many welcome messages (and other
email samples), searchable by industry and other parameters
>> View Gallery
Email Sign-Up and Welcome Messages: User-compiled welcome
and sign-up messages for both mobile and desktop readers
>> View Gallery
27
Useful Online Resources (Continued)
28
THANK YOU