#SherpaEmail

Ask questions and join the conversation

Email Summit 2015: Top Takeaways from #SherpaEmail

497 Applications

15 Hours

of Content 3 Award Winners

30 minutes distilled from …

#SherpaEmail

Ask questions and join the conversation

Daniel BursteinDirector of Editorial Content MarketingSherpa

@DanielBurstein

Jessica Lorenz Event Content Manager MarketingSherpa

@JessicaPLorenz

7

Lesson 4

You are not your customer

What We Learned: You are not your customer

Mary AbrahamsonEmail Marketing SpecialistFerguson Enterprises

8

From first-time attendee …

9

… to award winner.

IN FERGUSON REWARDS

ONLINE SALES

Results When She Applied:

A Deeper Look at the Results (Now):

Mismatched opportunities

Segmentation

• Mobile friendly

• The one-click wonder

• This campaign, along with other efforts, has grown our

segmented population from 52% to 67%

• We saw an 81% increase in effective rate from our

typical preference-center emails

• Data accuracy — customers self-select who

they are

How we build lists for segmentation

Before

How we build lists for segmentation

After

Know thy customer

Not this

This

In-person events

• Educate on features and benefits

• Customers self-select necessary customer information

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World-class customer service

Trade show app provides sales associates with weekly reports on tradeshow attendees

Provide customers with email follow-up, while Sales works on the ground

“The report is easy to use, clean, and email is nice to have for invoices, bids — saves money on faxes and printing.”

— Ferguson associate

What We Learned: Align all marketing efforts for a multichannel approach

Aaron BuchananDigital Personalization ManagerFinish Line

Sample Targeting Personas: Basic segmentation

Casual-athletic Technical Runners Fashion-forward

Segment subscribers

Targeting based on:

• Gender

• Past purchase behavior

• Traffic source

• On-site browse behavior

• Brand affinity

• Geolocation

• Teams/schools

• NFL- and NCAA-related offers

Unify multichannel efforts

Caution:

• Do not isolate shoppers into an experience because they qualify for a campaign

• Provide the opportunity to explore other campaigns and content

• Recognize that the user’s behavior changes during a session, and serve up relevant offers

50% increase in email revenue for trigger-based programs

Top takeaways

• Having the right conversation can extend value

• Do not alienate customers with hyper-segmentation

Honor the conversation the customer is having with your brand via their actions across all of your channels. “ “

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Shawna DahlinSenior Email Marketing ManagerMicrosoft Store

What We Learned: Leverage the data you have to connect with your audience

Until we reach perfection …

… use existing resources

Customer service reps

Post-purchase surveys

In-store associates

Cross-company product groups

Personalizing the brick-and-mortar receipt

BEFORE AFTER

Order details

Order details Order details

Personalizing the brick-and-mortar receipt

AFTER

Exchange info

Exchange info

BEFORE

Exchange info

Personalizing the brick-and-mortar receipt

AFTER

Related products

BEFORE

Related products

The new customer journey

Sales and promotion/General awareness

In-storeawareness

SMB segment

Sale email resends /Last chance

Promo code reminders

Post-purchase reinforcement

Holidaylifecycle

Non-holiday shopper

Post-purchase cross-sell

Post-purchase warranty

“We miss you”

Receipt Shipment confirmation“Tell us how

we did”Ratings and reviews

Promo code reminders

Post-purchase reinforcement

Holidaylifecycle

Non-holiday shopper

Post-purchase cross-sell

Post-purchase warranty

“We miss you”

Receipt Shipment confirmation“Tell us how

we did”Ratings and reviews

We’ve come a long way

Sales and promotion/General awareness

In-storeawareness

SMB segment

Sale email resends/Last chance

Kate EllisMarketing AnalystKentucky Derby

What We Learned: Use content to collect data on your customer segments

Jeff KolebaVP Marketing and ProgrammingKentucky Derby

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No customer details

Limited windowof relevance

All content is not relevant to everyone

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The Kentucky Derby Insider

3939

Why would you enjoy live horseracing?

“I don't get to spend as much time with my friends and family as I’d like to, so when we do spend time together, I love unique activities that let us have fun while connecting with each other.”

“The majestic horses, skillful riders and meaningful traditions make racing one of the most exciting sports, so I follow and attend live racing as much as I can to be a part of the racing experience.”

“Wagering on horses is a game of skill that can be won, so I look for the best information to give me the best chance of turning a profit.”

Social Segment

Equine Enthusiasts

Handicappers

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The Kentucky Derby Insider

Three main content sections:

Purchasers Non-purchasers

Segments:

Utilize click data to learn more about customers

Time until Derby Story 1 Story 2 Story 3 Story 4 Ad Unit

10 weeks Featured Contender - Candy BoyUpcoming Road to the Kentucky

Derby RaceDerby Fashion Taste of Derby KentuckyDerbystore.com

5 weeksFeatured Contender - We Miss

ArtieKentucky Derby Future Wager

Road to the Kentucky Derby video Episode 5

Which Comes First - Hat or Dress? Vineyard Vines

2 weeksHorses Arrive and Workout at

Churchill DownsExpert Picks Celebrities Expected Behind the Scenes Ram

1 week Pick Your Favorite Horse Weather ReportWhat You Can/Cannot Bring in

to the TrackGet Connected with Social Media Yum!

Developing a content plan: Calendar

• Content specific to each consumer segment

• Content relevant to the time period

• Opportunities for promotional integration and ad units

Subject Lines: Purchaser: “Start Planning your hat” Non-Purchaser: “Start Planning your party and your hat”

Equine content

Gaming content

Social and lifestyle content

Quality content on clickthrough

Sales and partnership content

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Equine

Gaming

Social

Gained insight into consumer segment size

36%

52%

12%

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Significant improvements in reader engagement

Read Rate CTR Opt-out

42.15% 23.43% 0.13%

35.35% 14.6% 0.23%

2014 Purchasers

2014 Non-purchasers

27.95% 19.84% 94.11%Over 2013:

What We Learned: Incentives can work for list building, if you truly serve subscribers’ interests

Diana PrimeauDirector of Member Services CNET

Sweepstakes engagement rate

8.63%

13.03%

24.29%

18.10%

26.66%

46.10%

1-30 Days 31-60 Days 61-90 Days

New Users Who Entered Sweeps Current Users Who Entered Sweeps

Subject Line:Welcome to CNET! Let’s get started

Welcome Email — Control

Product reviews

Tech news

More newsletters

Forums

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Experiment: Welcome email

Test Design — A/B split including:

• Content• Subject lines • Advertisements

Subject Line: Welcome to CNET! Let’s get started

Simplified content, picture of editor

Subject Line: Welcome to CNET! Let’s get started

Simplified content, no picture and ad

Subject Line: Thanks for joining! Let’s get started

Simplified content, ad and new subject line

Subject Line: Thanks for joining! Let’s get started

Simplified content, big picture and no ad

Subject Line: Thanks for joining! Let’s get started

Simplified content, big picture and ad

Welcome Email: Results

Email Version Open Rate CTR

Control – Lots of content 32.66% 12.18%

V2 – Simplified content, picture of editor 45.46% 20.25%

V3 – Simplified content, no picture and ad 43.20% 16.08%

V4 – Simplified content, ad and new subject line 44.74% 19.91%

V5 – Simplified content, big picture and no ad 46.63% 20.64%

V6 – Simplified content, big picture and ad 46.70% 21.23%

Increases in Opens and CTR in Each TestEach version of the Welcome email outperformed the Control.

Nurturing: Social network email

VideoSocial Mobile

Nurturing: Social network email

53.85% 15.83% 37.15%

Mobile SocialVideo

Nurturing: Social network email

53.85% 15.83% 37.15%

Mobile SocialVideo

So we reverted back …

Order really matters

SocialVideoMobileVideoMobileSocial

What We Learned: Use email and content to guide potential buyers through the decision-making process

Stephen BrunerMarketing Manager, Vertical MarketsPrecor

12-month situational awareness

Whitepaper

Email Campaign Launch 1

Email: video testimonial

Campaign for Owners Launch

Send owners informational video

Infographic Send

Campaign for cardio machines

Cardio Exclusive Discount

Twitter CampaignInstructional

video

New Year Follow-Up

Social Campaign

Email Campaign Follow-Up

Campaign Savings

Month Date, 2015Month Date, 2015 Month Date, 2015 Month Date, 2015

Blog Post

Membership

Equipment Newsletter

Membership Follow-up Testimonial: Gym Owners

Social Push

Blog Post: Hospitality

Follow Up: Owners

Infographic

Infographic/Strength

Email Follow-UpWhitepaper: Gym Ownership

Month Date, 2015Month Date, 2015 Month Date, 2015 Month Date, 2015

Contract/Ownership

Whitepaper Send

Launch Session

Blog Post on Strength

Newsletter Send

Follow Up: Strength

“Start Planning” Follow-Up

End of Year Blog Post

Social Contest

Follow up for Gym Owners

BuildPromoted Tweets

Month Date, 2015Month Date, 2015 Month Date, 2015 Month Date, 2015

Campaign for strength machines

Traditional club gyms

Education

Hospitality

Jim

First-time gym owner

Lisa

Partner in university gym

Robert

Hotel General Manager

12-month situational awareness

Whitepaper

Email Campaign Launch 1

Email: Video testimonial

Campaign for Owners Launch

Send Owners Informational Video

Infographic Send

Campaign for Cardio Machines

Cardio Exclusive Discount

Twitter CampaignInstructional

Video

New Year Follow-up

Social Campaign

Email Campaign Follow-up

Campaign Savings

February, 2015January, 2015 March, 2015 April, 2015

Blog Post

Membership

Equipment Newsletter

Membership Follow-up Testimonial: Gym owners

Social Push

Social: Hospitality whitepaper

Follow-up: Owners

Infographic

Infographic/Strength

Email Follow-upWhitepaper: Gym ownership

June, 2015May, 2015 July, 2015 August, 2015

Contract/Ownership

Whitepaper Send

Launch Session

Blog Post on Strength

Newsletter Send

Follow-up: Strength

“Start Planning” Follow-Up

End of Year Blog Post

Social: University ellipticals

Email Follow-up BuildInfographic/Strength

October, 2015September, 2015 November, 2015 December, 2015

VISITORS

PROSPECTS

MQLs

SQLs

Content Marketing: Asset map/gap analysis

Social example

John

First-time gym owner

Email example

First-time gym ownerPartner in university gym

Lisa

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Customer Service Info

Service Level Interaction

Whitepapers — Research

Buyers Guides and InfographicsTOP OF THE FUNNEL

MIDDLE

LOW

CLIENT

Turn off Dynamic Content

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Results after integrating behavioral approach:

What You Need to Understand: By taking a behavioral approach and giving the marketing team the tools they need to effectively nurture leads with relevant messaging, the Precor team more than doubled their lead volume.

!

74% increase in raw leads

3x the engagement from the previous year

67% increase in MQL to SQL velocity

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Lesson 6

Get back to basics

What We Learned: Don’t overlook the basics

Selecting Technology Elements of Email

Charles Nicholls

SVP Product Strategy

SAP

Charles Nicholls is SVP, Product Strategy for Marketing Solutions, SAP, and serves as part of SAP’s drive to reinvent customer experience and commerce across channels.

He founded the website conversion company SeeWhy, which was acquired by SAP in June 2014, and served first as CEO then as Chief Strategy Officer.

Nicholls is a market analyst, blogger, commentator and contributor to ecommerce and analytics publications including Mashable, Forbes, ClickZ, Practical Ecommerce, CustomerThink and BusinessWeek.

@webconversion

Understanding and qualifying each other

Qualifying your seller:• What does their ideal deal look like?• What is their ideal timing?• What’s their selling process?• Who will actually negotiate the deal?• Who has to approve any discounts?• Are they profitable? • How are they funded / owned?• When does their financial year end?

How your ESP will qualify you:• What’s your timeframe?• Is there a compelling event?• Who is your competition?• Do you have an approved budget?• What is your pain?• What is your ‘buying vision’ (criteria)?• Is the vision agreed across

stakeholders?• Do you have the authority to make a

decision?• Who would actually sign the contract? • What's your buying process?

Negotiating levers you can use

Tangibles:• ‘Deal this quarter’• Upfront vs. monthly• Contract term• CPM• Additional value (e.g. API’s, modules)

Intangibles:• References• Speaking at events etc.• Doing innovative stuff• Become a ‘development customer’

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Session speaker

Justine Jordan

Marketing Director

Litmus

An email design critic and fervent advocate for table-based layouts, Justine is a regular industry speaker and marketing director for Litmus.

@meladorri

Surround something with white space to make it stand out.

Use white space …

• Around graphics and images

• To create a margin or “gutter”

• As line spacing in blocks of copy

• Between columns

• On buttons

Use “the rule of thumb”• 40–60 pixels between elements

Speaker

Jeffery Anderson

Digital Marketing Manager

A Place For Mom, Inc.

Jeffery Anderson is a digital marketing manager at A Place for Mom, a senior care and senior housing referral company based in Seattle. He manages A Place for Mom’s promotional email program, which has seen steadily increasing engagement over the three years since its inception. Anderson largely attributes this success to an ongoing focus on list hygiene and smart list-pruning.

A Place for Mom’s email program received awards from WhichTestWon in 2013 and 2014, including “Best in Show” in WhichTestWon’s 2014 email testing awards.

@FossilSpark

Our newsletter before list cleaning:

• List Size: 1.7 million• Opens Per Week: 70k (5% rate)• Block Bounce Rate: 5% + (often

exceeding 10%)

Our newsletter today

•List Size: 450k•Opens Per Week: 115k (25% rate)•Block Bounce Rate: 1% or less

The relationship between sends and opens

Thank you

Daniel BursteinDirector of Editorial Content

MarketingSherpa

Jessica LorenzEvent Content Manager

MarketingSherpa