Download - Writing email copy

WRITING EMAIL COPY Suzanne Kart, M.A., CeP Associate Vice President, LERN

@suzannekart #lern13

Why email?

• It’s effective

• It’s measurable

• It’s cheap

• It’s targetable


eMail does not replace your print catalog!

• Your catalog is still the most important weapon in your arsenal.

• 75% of registrations still originate with the print catalog.


It’s not just our field…

• A recent USPS study looked at the shopping habits of nearly 5,000 visitors after they left 135 retail Web sites, including traditional retailers and manufacturers.

• What they found was: – 57% of online shoppers said that even though they

buy online, they still like to have a catalog on hand – 61% of online retail shoppers reported that when they

have a catalog while shopping online, they may see additional items they would like to buy

– 84% of catalog recipients feel it’s easier to shop online with a catalog in hand.

https://www.usps.com/business/pdf/comScore_Retail_WP.pdf @suzannekart #lern13

Better yet

• The study also found:

– Catalog recipients purchased 28% more items and spent 28% more money than their non-catalog counterparts

– Sending catalogs more than doubled online sales

– Websites supported by print catalogs saw a revenue lift of 163% over those that were not supported by print catalogs


But eMails are still VERY effective


Email promotions that work

• Notices of new courses and events (1 email, several activities)

• Email newsletters

• Single event promotions


Two kinds of email

• Text emails

– Like the kind you send from your computer. All text, no graphics, nothing fancy.

• HTML emails

– Involve graphic design.

– Can have color and graphics

– Can be developed in-house or done by an outside vendor (LERN recommends this).


Text emails

• Good for small lists – up to 200 names

• Get better results when they are coming from an actual person

• Cannot track open rates, click through rates

• Lack visual impression.


But you can make an HTML email feel like a text email

• Doesn’t feel like you’re being “sold” to.

• LERN sees higher open rates (5% higher) & higher click through rates (7% higher) with this type of email.


HTML emails

• Better visual impression: graphic design, color pictures

• Can track open rates, click through rates

• Professional vendor can do the work

• Good for newsletters


Who should it come from?

• When your email comes from a person (i.e. Jane Smith versus Springfield Continuing Ed), it’s more likely to be opened.

• You don’t have to have the reply address be a personal email.


Having a target list is the most important component to success in

email promotions


A smaller, targeted list beats out a large untargeted list every time


Who do I target?

• High-value segments

– Those who are the most recent customers

– Those who are the most frequent customers

– Those who spend the most


Case Studie – 2013 Institutes


Each institute had a two-step drip campaign


When someone did one of these things, they were put on a list then they received two follow up emails.


They were pushed to one of those pages by a mass email

• Watch for the brochure

• Early bird discount to expired

• Etc.


When someone converted, they got two special emails


Second email – personal email


Results

• Institutes Inbound Marketing Campaign • Registrations three weeks out • 2012 - 60 • 2013 - 89 • At the time I pulled the numbers, 650 people were in the

lead nurturing campaign, and 85 registrations were inputted into Hubspot.

• Of the 85 registrations, 38 had converted from the lead nurturing campaign (45%).

• Of the 650 people in the campaign, 38 converted, making the conversion rate 6%.

• As of 3/15/13, registrations were up by 31 people, or 56%


We had even better results with this conference


Once you’ve decided on a list – now what?

• Some parameters for sending out ePromotions


Some tips Make them feel special

• Use the person’s first name, if you have it

Give an exclusive discount

• Tell the person that they are among a select few to receive this discount

Add urgency to offer

• Give them a deadline


Never put names in to: or cc:

• Rule: If you are sending out email promotions, never put the names in either “To” or “CC”

• This disrespects people’s privacy and spammers will get the email addresses

• Always put names in BCC – if you are not using a third-party vendor


Subject line

• Very important. Like the cover of your brochure. Determines whether people read on

• Generally keep the subject line the same

• Create familiarity with your program

• Tell them in the subject line the email is about upcoming courses


Sample subject lines

• Upcoming classes from the Workforce Development Center

• New Dental CE courses

• Next CE class session starts soon!


How many people should be opening your emails?

– Open rate – 20%

– Click through rate – of those who open the email, you want 10-20% to click through

– If you’re not getting the open rate you hope for, look at

• Your list

• Your subject line

• The relevance of the information

• Your bounce rate


Unsubscribe notice

• Rule: always have an unsubscribe notice in every email

• Anytime you get an email address, it means you can send the person email

• BUT anytime a person doesn’t want email, you need to stop emailing that person


Best format for email promotions

• Four paragraphs of copy is ideal. 3-5 is good

• Space between the paragraphs of copy

• Each item needs to be separate

• Have a theme – upcoming courses, new event, etc.

• Graphic or picture with each item gets more attention

• Every item should have a click for more information

• Use the sidebar to promote/sell extra item


Six keys to copy writing for great email promotions


Key #1

• The first sentence/paragraph is critical

• Get right to the point, to the meat, to the core of what the news item (course/event) is about

• No introduction

• No history

• No beating around the bush


Example first paragraph

LERN's Program Review Helps Boost Revenue,

Increase Enrollments

In the 21st Century, competition is greater than ever. If you want to make your program the most efficient and effective it can be, LERN’s Program Review (hyperlink) is the answer.


Key #2

• Use good action verbs in the first sentence and every other sentence

• Don’t have the same verb in each sentence

• Some action verbs:

– Discover

– Create

– Develop

– Win

– Get

– Build

– Satisfy

– Experience

– Enjoy


Example

Nine Shift Strategic Planning Seminar Come experience two days with experts who spend every day on the cutting edge of education. Discover how society is changing as we move from the Industrial Age to the Internet Age. Learn about the implications for repositioning your community or technical college for success in the new century. Then take home our exclusive 21 action recommendations for strategic planning for community and technical colleges, and participate in the adventure to make our education even more successful in the second decade of the century.


Key #3

• Use “you” language.

• Use second person. Don’t say “we.”

• Don’t say “they” (or “participants.”)

• Say “you” (You will get …)


Key #4

• Stress outcomes and results

• Talk about what will happen after they attend your course or event

• “Take home…”

• “Come away …”

• “You’ll find out …”


Key #5

• Don’t “Over Content”

– Less is more

– Small paragraphs


Key #6

Every part of the eMail matters

• Don’t just focus on only the subject line or call-to-action - realize every email walks readers through a progression of steps: – Subject line

– Headline

– First paragraph

– Body copy

– Call-to-action


Next level in email copy

• Segment your audience

• You have 7 primary market segments

• Write different email promotions specifically for each primary market segment

• Send just one of the emails to each customer

• Start with your 2-3 biggest market segments


Finding Your Seven Primary Market Segments

Step 1: Get registration software

Step 2: Run out your best 200 participants

Step 3: Survey your best participants

Step 4: Analyze your demographics

Step 5: Get data for all participants

Step 6: Now you know


There are many ways to segment a market

Age

Grey – Boomers

Purple – Xers

Green – Millennials

Gender

Green – male

Purple – female

Location

Grey – uptown

Purple – downtown

Green – south end


Email newsletters

• Some programs also do email newsletters

• If you have the time, email newsletters are an excellent way to promote your program


Email newsletter definition

• An email newsletter:

– Provides information of interest to your customers

– Comes out on a regular basis

– Is sent to past participants, inquiries, and others who sign up for the newsletter

– Is NOT sent to those not requesting it


Keys to starting an email newsletter

• Use email addresses from your current participants

• Have a sign up on your web site

• Think of something your best customers want to know

• Promote our classes/events in your email newsletter

• Come out once a month


Tips for articles in email newsletters

• Have 3 to 10 paragraphs of copy

• One to 3 sentences per paragraph

• Provide 2 articles for every 1 “ad” for your courses or events

• Look for items of interest to your readers. Trends, news, practical “how-to” tips are some examples of good articles or items

• Link to your web site and registration for events

• Avoid linking to other sites, if possible


Video emails

• Video emails can be a very effective way to engage your key constituents.

• It’s actually quite easy to do.


You don’t really imbed the video, you take a

screen shot of the YouTube screen

(ctrl+print screen), put the picture in your

email, and hyperlink it back to YouTube


Exciting new data – Personalization works

• Using our Inbound Marketing platform, we sent an email from Julia King Tamang last month to everyone who attended the CT last year.

• We used Hubspot and the email came from [email protected] and we’re personalized in both the subject line (i.e. Mary, I hope you can make it to the Contract Training Conference again this year) and the greeting (i.e. Hi Mary,).

• We also mentioned their Institution in the body of the email. (It was great having someone from the University of XYZ at last year’s conference).

• The numbers on this are awesome. – 17 of the 18 people who opened the email clicked on the link. That’s a 94.4%

click-thru (we usually say 10-20% click thru is good.) – Our open rate is 36%, which is quite a bit higher than the 20% we aim for. – Better yet, 5 people registered this week and the brochure wasn’t even

printed yet.


mailto:[email protected]

Last, but not least, planning

• You need an email schedule

• Four emails before the sessions start

– 6,4,2, and 1 week out

• Don’t suspend all emails to everyone because of a couple infrequent complaints – look at the behavior of the recipients as a whole


Thank you!

• SuzanneKart.com

• [email protected]


Download - Writing email copy

Top Related