getting the most from your email marketing

email marketingmaking the most of

By – Darren Hepburn

copyright DesitNet 2009www.newzapp.co.uk

what is email marketing?

“The process of delivering relevant, engaging and timely marketing messages about your products and services to a pre-defined group of recipients via electronic mail.”

email marketing


what’s involved in email marketing?

design

reporting

data

delivery


Its all just spam, isn’t it?

What is spam?


spam

What is spam?


Spam is a luncheon meat product created in 1937 in Austin, Minnesota.

It’s a mixture of SPices and hAM

Why is it called spam?

spam

What is spam?


Spam is a luncheon meat product created in 1937 in Austin, Minnesota.

It’s a mixture of SPices and hAM

Why is it called spam?

The Monty Python sketch in the restaurant with the singing Vikings

1st junk email on record is the 3rd of May 1978

what’s involved in email marketing?

design

reporting

data

delivery


stage 1 - data

the key areas of data:

your current database

building databases

how much should you collect?

segmentation


BAD DATA

your database

if you haven’t cleaned it today - it’s out of date!every time you send you should clean

focus on quality not quantityfull data and clean

can you group it in some way?we’ll come back to segmentation

lose the bad data even if they’re customersbad data e.g bounces need to be deleted or corrected

1

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xcopyright DesitNet 2009www.newzapp.co.uk

building a database

web sign-up form

- easy to find- offer benefit- easy to use- non intrusive

opt-in from your contact form

face-to-face data collection

viral database building – forward to a friend or colleague

to buy or not to buy… don’t know what to buy, then don’t!

“collect data every time

you make contact; both

online or offline”

drive traffic to form – print, announcements, POS, on emails (forwards)


collection and segmentation

how much should you collect?

segmentation

enough but not too much … only what you’ll use or need

greed causes drop outs – split your collection starting with “must have”

ensure your data collection supports your segmentation

1 2

3 4

segmentation should lead to targeting

you can segment based on…

demographic, geography, behaviour, life cycle and more


stage 2 - design

subject line and ‘from’

coding

text and image balance

call to action

spam filters

expectation vs. experience

above the fold


first impressions count

subject line

‘from’ details

above the fold

- fit the preview screen- most important info first- introduce content- engage the reader- avoid personalisation?

- first thing they see on left- most recognisable- brand or person

- check images on and off- easy to see who its from- call to action / Johnson box- ask to add you to safe list- link to online version

first to be seen?


example from my inbox

GOOD• use of Johnson box at top• view online link at top• explains what included


example from my inbox

BAD• image size, what would I see if images were off?• subject line – inspiring?• view online? above the fold? who is it from?


text to image balance

how will your email look without images or in a text only format?

normally you’ll want a 70% - 30% balance in favour of texttoo much text is boring, too many images risk being junked or deleted

try to avoid over using images at the top of the email - remember the fold


spam filters

spam filterswhat they look for…- phrases- coding- header structure- phishing- image/text balance- reputation

ISP filter

corporate filter

inbox filter

some phrases, words and styles to watch out for … (visit spamassassin.apache.org )

‘FREE’‘HOT’ ‘CLICK HERE’

BOLD TEXT ‘STOCK’‘ENHANCED’

SHOUTING( using all caps ) very large &

very small text

font colour


call to action and expectations

if you don’t ask you wont get!

position in top, middle and bottom

use both text and image based links

is your call to action realistic and enticing?

expectations vs. experiences

call to action

does the experience meet the expectation?

no prizes for surprises!

this runs from collection point, through delivery and into response

take everyone on a journey


stage 3 – campaign delivery

the key areas of delivery:

when to deliver?

how to deliver


when to deliver and how

always send from a white listed, recognised server with feedback loops

when to deliverEmailLabs analysis:

• about 80 percent of email opened between 5 am and 5 pm• roughly 62 percent opened between Tuesday and Thursday• business customers most likely to open during working day• personal email accounts are often checked during the day

how

B2B Tue – Thurs10am - 4pm

B2C test to see

if you’re unsure go to a specialist ESP for delivery

consider time to deliver

when do you want the traffic?


and finally…5 things you must remember

be relevant: if it’s not, you won’t succeed

you’re not Barry Scott: HI IM BARRY SCOTT… no you’re not

email data goes out of date: clean regularly, use it or lose it

don’t be afraid: try new things, don’t worry about unsub – test everything

an email lives forever: once it’s out there, it’s out there

shouting can get you junked ( try not to look spammy )


our top ten email marketing tips

1. try to avoid the early morning inbox clutter by sending during the day

2. avoid underlining text if it’s not a link. It’s easy to confuse the reader

3. use an online signup form on your website to collect new opt in contacts

4. always use an automated opt-out system similar to the one newzapp provides

5. test, test, test. The key to finding the right design styles and campaign delivery techniques is to test everything. Test one thing at a time to aid monitoring

6. some recipients cannot receive HTML. It’s important to use a mix of text and images to give the text only recipients something to read.

7. the best response comes from opt-in lists that are built in-house. We strongly encourage you to do this. We offer all new customers an online sign-up tool that will allow people to sign up from your website

8. always have a proof group. Never send an email without sending a proof first. You’ll be surprised what you can miss. Ask your proof group to check links, spellings and email rendering

9. use email marketing to communicate with existing customers. They’re a great source of repeat business

10. use a forward to a friend feature to encourage recipients to share with friends and colleagues


find out more about newzapp

there are three great ways to find out more about newzapp:

1. call us on 0845 612 5544

2. click the live chat option on our website

3. visit our website at www.newzapp.co.uk

take a trial of newzapp and see the power of email marketing….


http://www.newzapp.co.uk/

https://www.newzapp.co.uk/email-marketing/formtrial.asp

getting the most from your email marketing

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