getting to the inbox: email best practices

BEST PRACTICESEmail MarketingGetting to the inbox

www.ascendix.com Conference Call # 866.634.1106

Code 469.916.8280

Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series

• Founded in 1996

• Located in Dallas, TX

• CRM is all we’ve done for the past 13 years

• Over 75 years of collective experience in project management,

development, training and implementation

• 2008 President’s Club Member for Microsoft

• Business partner w/ MSCRM and Sage SalesLogix products

• Developer of Real Estate AdvantageTM and other productivity tools on the

Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform

• Developer of Sponsor AdvantageTM on the Sage SalesLogix platform

A few words about your host Ascendix TechnologiesWes Snow

Co-founder/Partner

Ascendix Technologies, Inc.

Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series

E-Mail Marketing in the CRM portfolio

Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series

Director, Marketing Best Practices and Training @ Eloqua

Email Marketing Best Practices

Guest Speaker – Rhonda Wunderlin

- Thomas Stewart, Editor

Harvard Business ReviewAugust, 2006 Issue Editorial

<<“Customers’ buying

processes have evolved in

our world of ubiquitous,

instant, global

communication

… but companies’ selling

processes have for the most

part stayed the same.”

$Acquisition Retention Development

Marketing Today - Build Relationships

Measured and Managed Cost Effectively

Interest Evaluate Purchase

Marketing Effectiveness Determines Volume and Velocity

Understanding Your Customer

Design and Deliverability

EMAIL

It isn‟t just an email…

From line

Subject line

Header

Personalization

Offer

Creative/Image

Landing Page

Auto Responder

10

The 3 Second Rule

You have 3 – 5

seconds to persuade

your recipient to

take action.

Agenda

Step 1: Optimize Visibility

Step 2: Optimize Relevance

Step 3: Optimize Layout

Step 4: Ensure Compliance

Step 5: Test and Measure

Step 6: Leveraging Marketing Response Activity

Step 1: Optimize Visibility

From Line: Who is it from?

Subject Line: Does it communicate value?

Preview: How does it render in preview pane?

12

Who is it FROM?

The FROM line is single most important element in

building trust with recipient

Opportunity to build brand recognition – always

have the company brand in the FROM line.

If someone will personally be following up –

introduce the person to build name recognition.

TEST and be consistent.From: Eloqua

From: Jane Doe, Eloqua

From: Jane, Eloqua

From: Jane with Eloqua

Leverage Company Brand & Match Signature

14

- Digital Impact Study -

<<From and Subject Lines

Work Together…

“80% of email recipients

open their inbox, read the

„from‟ line and then the

„subject‟ line, and then

delete. Then, they read the

remaining emails in their

inbox.”

Subject Line Guiding Principles

1. Get to the point. Communicate value to recipient

in first 35 characters.

2. Engage. Provide a sense of urgency and prompt

them to open the e-mail immediately.

3. Be relevant. Speak to the needs and interests of

your recipients as individual people.

4. Build trust. Do not over promise or mislead. This

can destroy trust and damage your brand.

Subject Line Examples

What do horizontal and vertical preview panes have in common?

Design for the common denominator!

Preview Panes

Step 2: Optimize Relevance

Value Proposition: Is it meaningful to recipient?

Personalization: Does it match the relationship?

Imagery: Does it engage or repel recipient?

Tone: Does it reduce anxiety or read like fine print?

19

Value Proposition: What is in it for me?

20

Personalization: Build the Relationship

21

Imagery - Engage

Images are visual

clues to engage and

inform recipient

Not just any old image

will do - images must

be relevant to value

prop

Scanning clusters

around discontinuity

– i.e. bolding or

highlighting

Tone – Speak Human not Corporate

23

Tone – Good Copywriting

Write for the customer, not for

yourself!

Get to the point! – use < 100 words

Place primary call-to-action links

above the fold

Write short sentences: easy to

scan, punchier, more active

Use benefit-oriented subheads

Use bullets to capture value

proposition

“So-What?” Use this repeatedly to

help you get to the real message

Step 3: Optimize Layout

Images Off: Can you still identify value prop?

Eye Path: Where does your eye go with images on?

Call-To-Action: Is it clear and accessible?

Layout: How does it render across email clients?

25

Reality: Images Off

Be sure to also communicate

value outside of images.

Add a text-based link to a

Web version of your design at

the top of your e-mail.

Use ALT Text to describe all

images.

Always add the height and

width to the image to ensure

the placeholder doesn't throw

your design out.

Test your design with images

turned off before you send it.

Effective ALT Tags

Effective Designs for Disabled Images

28

What Is Driving Mobile Email Adoption?

Real-time responsiveness

Increased productivity – not better, more convenient

Divided attention

Source: Exact Target, Email Marketing for the Third Screen

View in Mobile Devices

Blackberry

HP / Toshiba

iPhone

Targeting Mobile Recipients

Don’t forget… up to 65% of your audience may be

viewing email on mobile devices

Stay true to permission

Sender and subject lines

Get your message flagged for follow-up

• First screen shows average of 100 characters;

approximately 20-25 words

Leverage the text version

Think about how you use links

TEST!!!

Images On: What is the Eyepath?

Squint Test: Close your

eyes, open, and

immediately identify

first thing you see

above the fold. Is it the

value prop?

Start to identify where

the eye drifts positively

and negatively to

optimize layout.

Rendering Across Email Clients

Step 4: Ensure Compliance

Privacy Policy: Does the email adhere to your

policies?

Reputation: Is the email being received / read?

34

CAN-SPAM http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.htm

1. E-mail communications that are a “transaction or relationship message”

Do not require an opt-out function

Do not have to include the disclosures that apply relationship messages.

2. E-mail communications that are NOT a “transaction or relationship message”

Have Opted-in

• Must include a functioning return e-mail address

• Must contain an opt-out function

Sent to recipient without the recipient’s prior affirmative or implied consent

• Must include clear notice that the e-mail is an advertisement

• Must include a valid physical postal address of the sender

• Must contain an opt-out function

Brand Reputation

Deliverability Best Practice:

Obtain clear consent

List maintenance

Sender Score is like a credit score, it is an indication of

the trustworthiness of an email source.www.senderscore.org

ReturnPath -

http://www.returnpath.net/blog/whitepapers.php

Deliverability Experts - http://blog.deliverability.com

Sender Score Certified - www.senderscorecertified.com

ISIPP (Institute for Spam and Internet Policy) -

www.isipp.com

Goodmail Systems - www.goodmailsystems.com

Pivotal Veracity - www.pivotalveracity.com

Word to the Wise - www.wordtothewise.com

Resources on Deliverability

Step 5: Test and Measure

No absolutes: What’s working and what’s not

working?

Measuring: Are recipients engaging with my

communication?

Testing: How do I optimize results?

38

Important Metrics

Received rates: measure email list

quality, health

Open rates: measure subject / from

line effectiveness

Click-through rates: measure interest

in offer

Click to Open rates: measure

effectiveness of email once opened

Unsubscribe rates: measure interrupt

rule compliance and personalize

effectiveness

Bounce rate: large volumes of hard

bounces can indicate problems like

bad data hygiene, poor sign-up

practices that accept invalid e-mail

addresses, and ISPs blocking your

domains

Benchmarks – Email Delivery

http://bronto.com/stats#

Benchmarks – Email Opens

http://bronto.com/stats#

Benchmarks – Email Clickthrough

http://bronto.com/stats#

Source: eROI. Q3 2007 study

Best day for “opens” is not necessarily the best day for “clicks”.

Analyze your web logs to see when people are choosing to use your

web site. If you look at the last 6 months you’ll discover busy times. It

is a fair conclusion that this is your preferred time to send.

You must be aware that previous email promotions may have skewed

your results.

No Best Time To Send

Testing Answers Questions

Is the messaging easy to understand?

Is the call to action more compelling?

What are barriers for prospects to convert to a

lead?

Do prospects understand the offer and find it

valuable?

Which topics resonates the best with this segment?

Getting Started

Decide WHAT to test

Test each element separately

You can observe to what degree

response differs to that variation

Set up a control group and a

test group

Use 5-10% of your list

Determine which variable

showed the best results

Average responses will come within

24 – 48 hours

Use the variable with the best results

for the remaining list recipients

Email A

Offer A on Landing Page

Offer B on Landing Page

Email B

A Results:

30% Open

5% CTR

20% Inquiries

B Results:

35% Open

7% CTR

25% Inquiries

Sample Testing Matrix

Component Measure

Opens Clicks Unique

Visitors

Form

Submissions

Revenue

Subject Line A B A B A B A B A B

Email Signature

Offer

Alternative Experience

Layout / Design

Day Sent

Time Sent

Headline

Content / Messaging

Landing Page

Step 6: Leveraging Response Activity

Digital Body Language: Are my prospects and

customers engaged with my brand?

Nurturing: How do I help my prospect through the

decision process?

Sales: How do I leverage marketing activity to drive

revenue?

47

Gain Visibility of Marketing Activity in CRM

Simple Nurturing: Auto-Responders

Use Them Everywhere!.

• Stay Top of Mind

• Drive them to related content/ events

• Serves as a good reference for user

Personalized Direct Mail to Landing PageGoal: capture new leads to a “preview

weekend”

Solution: Direct Mail with a PURL

(Personalized URL).

Recipients land on this PURL page as

printed on the DM piece.

Custom content based on segments

(i.e. price specials differ by geo)

Best Practices in Lead Nurturing

Keep it simple to start

Provide value-added content

Relevant – based on lead’s activity / profile

Timely

Automate the program; provide a real-time feed

from different lead sources

Include explicit “hand raise” opportunities as

secondary CTAs

Track online activity to determine when a lead’s

interest has increased

Measure, measure, measure!

Email 1

7 days

Email 2

Direct Mail 3

14 days

Leveraging Digital Body Language

ContactActivity Overview

Expected Results

Improve conversion rate for leads to contacts

(more qualified leads)

Improved quality in all leads worked by Sales

No lead leakage; follow-up to all leads

(after an event for example)

Extracting more value from existing leads database

Source: Forrester Open

rate

Avg.

CTR

Avg.

Conversion

Untargeted broadcast emails 20% 9.5% 1.1%

Lifecycle messaging campaigns 26% 9.3% 2.3%

Clickstream-based campaigns 33% 14% 3.9%

The Power to Succeed

PEOPLE PROCESS

TECHNOLOGY

External

Interactions

Internal

Relevance

FURTHER

FASTER

rhonda@eloqua.com

Twitter: @rhonda

Rhonda WunderlinDirector, Marketing

Best Practices &

Training at Eloqua

Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series

Q &A

Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series

To download the presentation from today’swebinar go to:

ftp.ascendix.net

Please use Windows Explorer or File Explorer, not Internet Explorer. To get to Windows

Explorer, Right Click on Start, then click on Explore.

In the Address type in ftp.ascendix.net

When prompted enter the following:

User: webinar0225

Password: email

For those who were not able to listen in to the audio, please note that this webinar

was recorded and will be made available on the site above.

To contact Ascendix Technologies, please contact Marissa Hernandez at:

mhernandez@ascendix.com or (972)889-8090 ext. 280