newsletter & promotional email review
DESCRIPTION
Email newsletters are a great way to keep in touch with customers and prospects. Still, certain key principles drive the greatest results. Get to know essential e-newsletter best practices to make your message stand out in your readers' crowded inbox.TRANSCRIPT
NEWSLETTER & PROMOTION
EMAIL REVIEW
Ideas to Help Your Business Flourish
Connie Harrington, Strategist
Accende Consulting
2011 Internet and Email Trend Highlights
2
Sources: *Research and Markets
**Harte-Hankes
• Still, U.S. Internet penetration
continues to grow with an estimated
of 230 million users (70% of the
population) in 2011*
• Research** shows that today’s email
inboxes are growing increasingly
crowded and open rates are falling
• Deliverability rates reached to 95% with
retailers achieving an average 98%
deliverability rate
• Open rates dropped to just 17% in 2010,
down from 26% in 2009
• Click rates maintained an average of 3%
between 2009 and 2010
PROMOTIONAL EMAIL
OPPORTUNITIES
3
Key Promotional Email Creative Considerations
• Use strong borders, colors and white space to
build structure and focus readers on key content
• Construct messages for mobile users by placing
key message in pre-header text, using alt-tags
for images, and keeping emails less than 600
pixels wide
• Design for touch by effectively spacing links
• Strive for at least 3,200 bytes of text and text-to-
image ratio of 30:70 to optimize for deliverability
• Support social-sharing by crafting focused,
single-subject messages centered on sharing
concept
• Spotlight user-generated content – such as
testimonials and reviews – to capitalize on
growing peer-to-peer interaction and heighten
brand credibility
4
Source: Silverpop
5
Promotion
Example #1
Features
A sale blown in on a breeze
Subject Line
• Focuses on striking, artistic
design with no specific product
promotions
• Engages subscriber interest with
thought-provoking subject line
and headline
6
Promotion Example # 2
Features
Be first to shop our sale
Subject Line
• Includes compelling,
humorous photo that
reflects brand
personality
• Highlights subscribers’
exclusive insider
knowledge of
upcoming sale and
exclusive, time-limited
shopping opportunity
• Provides discount
code and link to site
7
Promotion
Example #3
Subject Line
Heavy snow is forecasted in your area
- be prepared!
Features • Directs relevant, timely content to
select, geo-targeted audience
• Highlights wide-range of seasonal
offerings to address imminent needs
• Provides clear calls-to-action with
shopping and coupon download
buttons
8
Promotion Example #4
Subject Line The World’s Dirtiest Hotels
Features • Captures reader
attention with compelling
subject line and central
photo
• Offers call-to-action that
is cleverly tied into
campaign theme
• Notes that data is from
members to instill
community and promote
participation
9
Promotion Example #5
Features • Highlights clear, above-the-fold call-
to-action
• Details benefits of conversion to
mobile email and IM
• Exploits segmentation to target
promotion directly to active and
lapsed mobile users*
Results* • Mobile users converted at 433%
higher rate than non-mobile users
• Lapsed mobile users converted at
311% higher rate than non-mobile
users
*Source: Microsoft & MarketingSherpa
NEWSLETTER EMAIL
OPPORTUNITIES
10
2011 Email Newsletter Key Practices
Source: Email Newsletter
Resource Center
11
• Link newsletters to social media
channels
• Create valuable content that is not
strictly sales-driven
• Ensure the design and delivery
system is mobile friendly
• Draw on current blogging and
social media trends to identify
relevant content
• Re-use the content in
organizational blogs or other
interactive channels
12
Newsletter
Example #1
Features • Inspires subscriber
community
participation through
challenges in subject
and content feature
• Separates content with
vibrant, color-block
design
• Promotes social
network participation
Subject Line
Have you ever had a SoBe Snowball
fight? We dare you to
13
Newsletter
Example #2
Features • Aligns very closely
with “old fashioned”
visual identity of
familiar brand
• Employs creative,
story-telling copy
• Creates newspaper-
style feel via subject
line, masthead and
article datelines
Subject Line Extra! Extra! It’s the Country Crock
Chronicle
14
Newsletter
Example #3
Features • Uses sub-headers as
content dividers
• Identifies content types
and call-to-action with
of iconography
• Includes tabbed
elements on the main
image to support
additional engagement
Subject Line
Camping Cuisine & So Much S’more
15
Newsletter
Example #4
Features
Subject Line
Your Energy e-Magazine for October
• Provides creative,
story-telling copy to
foster personal
engagement
• Spotlights current
promotions
• Highlights corporate
social responsibility
message
16
Newsletter
Example #5
Features
Subject Line
Your July Equifax Newsletter
• Includes poll question
to solicit subscriber
input and highlight
new feature
• Cross-promotes
company blog by
highlighting recent
article
• Spotlights useful
interactive tool on
website
SUMMARY
17
Recap of Key Opportunities
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Opportunity** 58% of people start their
online day reading emails.
Sources: *Pluggd.In
**ExactTarget
• U.S. Internet penetration continues
to grow, with consumers becoming
increasingly accustomed to
transacting online
• Email remains an important tool to
drive website traffic and results in a
more engaged audience
• Email-to-website visitors spend,
on average, 30% more time
viewing site content than other
visitors*
• Well-crafted email promotions and
newsletters can overcome inbox
clutter and boost conversion rates
19
THANK YOU