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EMERGING EMAIL TACTICS & TRENDS: WHERE TO FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS
Mike SnuszSr. Internet Marketing Consultant
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• 10 years working at or with nonprofits
• Email, fundraising & online strategy consulting
• Strategist for Guide Creative
• Blog: www.npENGAGE.com
• Twitter: @mikesnusz
• Based in D.C.
ABOUT ME
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1. Mobile (including 10 ways to create mobile-friendly emails)
2. Email testing
3. Multi-channel integration
4. Triggered emails
5. Personalization
AGENDA: 5 EMERGING EMAIL TACTICS & TRENDS
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E ME RGING T RE ND # 1 : MOBIL E
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IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T HEARD..
•5 billion mobile users 5x more than PC-based
•More time spent on mobile apps than web last year
•Average person carries smartphone 23 hours per day.
Source: Yext Infograph
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TIPPING POINT?
Knotice predicts: End of 2013!Knotice’s Mobile Email Opens Report: 1st Half of 2012
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YOUR INBOX: A CLUTTERED, COMPETITIVE PLACEMOBILE DEVICE
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MOBILE EMAIL OPENS BY TIME OF DAY
Source: Knotice’s Mobile Email Opens Report: 1st Half of 2011
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MOBILE EMAIL CLICK-THROUGH BY TIME OF DAY
Source: Knotice’s Mobile Open Report: 1st Half 2011
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CLICKS LACKING ON MOBILE DEVICES
Source: Knotice’s Mobile Open Report: 1st Half 2012
Education Retail Entertainment Associations0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
Desktop Open %
Mobile Opens %
Desktop Click %
Mobile Click %
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EMAIL OPENS INCREASING, CLICKS DECREASING
Source: Epsilon and Email Experience Council “Q3 2012 Email Trends and Benchmarks,” June 20, 2012
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READING EMAILS LATER?
98% of emails are only being opened on one type of device
Source: Knotice’s Mobile Email Opens Report: 1st Half of 2012
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Images Blocked By Default:
Hotmail YahooGmail
Blackberry Android Default Android Gmail
Outlook 2003 Outlook 2007 Outlook for Mac 2011
Windows Live Hotmail Windows Mobile 7 AOL Webmail/Desktop
Images Not Blocked By Default:
iPhone/iPad Outlook Express Apple Mail Lotus Notes
Source: http://awe.sm/5y5lA
WHY ARE OPEN RATES INCREASING?
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MOBILE DEVICES RESPONSIBLE FOR MOST OPENS?
Source: Knotice’s Mobile Email Opens Report: 2nd Half of 2012
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FOCUS ON IMPROVING CLICKS
The largest difference between high and low
performing nonprofit email programs was in
email click-through rates*
*2010 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, NTEN & M+R
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E MAIL RE NDE RING ON M OBIL E DE V ICE S
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EXAMPLE – DESKTOP RENDERING
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IPHONE RENDERING
•Scales down email to fit in screen
•Initial text size controlled by width of email
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ANDROID RENDERING•Cuts off right side of email •Inability to pinch/zoom on some devices
•Does not scale email to fit•About 320px width shows
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ANDROID RENDERING
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1 0 WAY S TO CRE AT E MOBIL E - F R IE NDLY E MAIL S
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1. USE RESPONSIVE DESIGN
Desktop view
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1. USE RESPONSIVE DESIGN: MEDIA QUERIES
iphone view
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1. RESPONSIVE DESIGN: MEDIA QUERIES
iphone view
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2. WIDTH
600 PIXELS
500 pixels
500 PIXELS
: 320PX – 550PX
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3. TEXT SIZE
Apple minimum:13px
Apple can automatically resizes text under this
Android: 16-18px are medium-large text size
Headlines: 22px+
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4. KNOW YOUR PREHEADER
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5. SUBJECT LINE: UNDER 34 CHARACTERS
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6. BUTTON SIZE
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7. KEEP IT SIMPLE
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8. LINKS
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9. MOBILE-FRIENDLY LANDING PAGE
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10. KEEP EMAIL SIZE UNDER 102KB
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BONUS TIP: PREVIEW EMAIL RENDERING AT LITMUS.COM
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MOBILE: WHERE TO FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS
1. Understand where you’re at
2. Simplify
3. Get ahead of the game by using media queries
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E ME RGING T RE ND # 2 : E M AIL T E S T ING
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WHICH SUBJECT LINE TEST WON?
Red Shoe Shindig Celebration of 30 Years Helping Families
vs.
Grab your Red Shoes and Join Us at Hangar 10 to Celebrate 30 Years!
Click-Through Rate 7% Higher
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WHICH SUBJECT LINE TEST WON?
You Can Help the Next Generation of SVA Artists Today
vs.
Support the Talent
Open Rate 6% Higher
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WHICH SUBJECT LINE TEST WON?
Sunbeam News - Adult Education Returns to Tamassee
vs.
Sunbeam News - Awards Date Announced
Open Rate 7% Higher
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WHICH SUBJECT LINE TEST WON?
Make a Difference This Year! Join WVF
vs.
Invest in Yourself, Join WVF Today
Click-Through Rate 5% Higher
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WHICH LINK WAS CLICKED MOST?
60%
20%
20%
0%
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WHY TEST?
According to top email programs:
• 82% test and measure everything*
• Email testing is the most important value driver*
*2011 Gleanster survey on Email Marketing
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MOST EFFECTIVE ELEMENTS TO TEST
1. Target audience
2. Landing page
3. Subject line
4. Call-to-action link
Source: 2011 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey
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IDEAS FOR TESTING CALL TO ACTION
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HOW TO TEST?
1. A/B or multi-variate?
2. Send 2 tests• Over 10,000 10%• Under 5,000 20%
3. Review test results and check statistical significance
eMarketingDynamics.com calculator
4. Send “winning” message
5. Repeat
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RECORD TEST RESULTS
• Simple spreadsheet• Date• Audience/List• Variable tested• Open rate• Click-through rate• Conversion rate• Unsubscribe rate
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TESTING: WHERE TO FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS
1. Subject lines
2. Call to action links
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E ME RGING T RE ND # 3 : MULT I - CHANNE L
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E MAIL P ROM OT E OT HE R CHANNE L S
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MULTI-CHANNEL INTEGRATION
Which channels are most often integrated with email?
86% - Website
78% - Social media
50% - Events
45% - Blogs
33% - Direct mail
Source: 2011 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey
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INTEGRATING EMAIL AND WEB PAGES
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INTEGRATING SOCIAL MEDIA INTO EMAIL
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INTEGRATING SOCIAL MEDIA/BLOGS INTO EMAIL
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PROMOTING CHANNELS FROM EMAIL SIGNUPS
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PROMOTING CHANNELS FROM EMAIL SIGNUPS
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PROMOTING CHANNELS FROM EMAIL SIGNUPS
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OT HE R CHANNE L S P ROM OT E E M AIL
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TOP TACTICS TO GROW EMAIL LIST
• 75% - Website registration page
• 47% - Offline events
• 47% - Social media sharing buttons
Source: 2011 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey
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EMAIL LIST GROWTH
Source: The Relevancy Group LLC Executive Survey 4/12
Most used & Most valuable channels
Website Social Sites
Paid Search
SMS Text Opt-in
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Use
Delivers most valuable sub-scribers
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DRIVING EMAIL SIGNUPS FROM PINTEREST
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PROMOTING EMAIL SIGNUP ON YOUR WEBSITE
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PROMOTING EMAIL SIGNUP ON YOUR WEBSITE
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AGAPE
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GO PROUD
http://www.goproud.org/
*As Seen in the Inbox, Forrester Research, 2009
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SHADOWBOX/POP-UP
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EMAIL SIGNUP FROM SEARCH?
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EMAIL INTEGRATED INTO SEARCH RESULTS?
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MULTI-CHANNEL: WHERE TO FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS
1. Make email signup a priority on your website
2. Drive channel engagement from email
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E ME RGING T RE ND # 4 :T R IGGE RE D E MAIL S
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WHAT IS A TRIGGERED EMAIL?
An email, or series of emails, automatically sent in response
to a certain action
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WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?
What is the most effective way to improve relevancy of email Messages?
1. Automatically send email based on triggers*
2. Send email campaigns based on behavior*
*Source: 2011 Marketing Sherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Report
Sending the right message to the right constituent at the right time can be almost impossible to
manually organize!
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4X MORE OPENS AND 5X MORE CLICKS
Source: Experian: The welcome email report: benchmark data and analysis for engaging new subscribers through email marketing
4x MORE OPENS
5X MORE CLICKS
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10X MORE REVENUE & 10X HIGHER TRANSACTION RATES
Source: Experian: The welcome email report: benchmark data and analysis for engaging new subscribers through email marketing
10x MORE REVENUE
10X HIGHER TRANSACTION
RATES
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EMAIL #1: PERSONAL GREETING
Remind
Feel-Good
Thank
Website
Expecta-tions
Educate
Give
Share
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EMAIL #2: WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
RemindFeel-Good
Give Monthly
Donate
Add Address
Events
Volunteer
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TYPES OF TRIGGERED EMAIL SERIES
•Email signup welcome series
•Donation welcome series
•Event registration welcome series
•Community signup welcome series
•Membership purchase welcome series
•Membership expiring series
•Monthly donor credit card expiring series
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KEY DETAILS
Involvement:•Time and effort to initially setup•Monitor ongoing results and adjust campaign •Coordinate with other emails
Benefits:•Deliver extremely targeted, timely, relevant messages•Automated!•Limited time commitment after setup
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TRIGGERED EMAILS: WHERE TO FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS
1. Email subscriber welcome series
2. Donor welcome series
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E ME RGING T RE ND # 5 : P E RS ONAL IZ AT ION
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• Top tactic to deliver relevant and engaging content*
• Open rates increase 7% & click-through rates increase 80%**
• Click-through rates twice as high first 30 days***
*2011 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey
**MailerMailer 2010 Email Marketing Metrics Report
***MarketingSherpa "Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008”
*2009 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study, NTEN & M+R
**MailerMailer 2010 Email Marketing Metrics Report
WHY DOES PERSONALIZED CONTENT MATTER?
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• Provide value
• Connection
• Without relevant content, risk:- Level of engagement- Level of attention- Decreased response- Weakened relationship
WHAT DOES PERSONALIZED CONTENT DO?
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AMAZON
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SPCA ERIE COUNTY
Campaign Emails Click-through rate
Email #1 1.68%
Email #2 1.98%
Email #3 (personalized) 3.50%
2010 participants
2009 participants
2008 participants
2007 participants
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UDM ALUMNI NEWSLETTER
Audience Open rate
School of Architecture 23.5%
Engineering Grads 18.9%
Everyone Else 11.9%
School of Architecture
Engineering Grads
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DELIVER RELEVANT CONTENT
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DELIVER RELEVANT CONTENT
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HIDDEN WAYS TO PERSONALIZE ANY EMAIL
Cultivate• Thank recent donors• Tell how donations were used• Thank recent event attendees• Thank recent volunteers
Provide value• Deliver relevant content• Reminders (membership, event reminders)
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CULTIVATE: THANK DONORS & TELL HOW DONATIONS WERE USED
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HIDDEN WAYS TO PERSONALIZE ANY EMAIL
Solicit• Match areas of interest to funding opportunities• Provide past gift info• Planned giving prospects
Data Integrity • Missing information• Verify information
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www.3dayz.com/subscribe
PROVIDE VALUE: ASK FOR INTERESTS
d
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PERSONALIZATION: WHERE TO FOCUS YOUR EFFORTS
1. Make it a priority to ask people what they’re interested in
2. For appeals, pick main audiences and connect with them
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A F INAL W ORD ABOUT … CONT E NT
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QUESTIONS?
3 Additional Resources:
1. npENGAGE.com
2. Blackbaud.com/Nonprofit-Events
3. GuideCreative.com/Blog