The Good, the Bad, and the BestThe Good, the Bad, and the BestPractices for a Post-Wild West Email Marketing World

Chad White

Principal of Marketing Research at ExactTarget

Author of Email Marketing Rules

Safe harborSafe harbor statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This presentation may contain forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. If any such uncertainties materialize or if any of the assumptions proves incorrect, the results of salesforce.com, inc. could differ materially from the results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements we make. All statements other than statements of historical fact could be deemed forward-looking, including any projections of product or service availability, subscriber growth, earnings, revenues, or other financial items and any statements regarding strategies or plans of management for future operations, statements of belief, any statements concerning new, planned, or upgraded services or technology developments and customer contracts or use of our services. The risks and uncertainties referred to above include – but are not limited to – risks associated with developing and delivering new functionality for our service, new products and services, our new business model, our past operating losses, possible fluctuations in our operating results and rate of growth, interruptions or delays in our Web hosting, breach of our security measures, the outcome of any litigation, risks associated with completed and any possible mergers and acquisitions, the immature market in which we operate, our relatively limited operating history, our ability to expand, retain, and motivate our employees and manage our growth, new releases of our service and successful customer deployment, our limited history reselling non-salesforce.com products, and utilization and selling to larger enterprise customers. Further information on potential factors that could affect the financial results of salesforce.com, inc. is included in our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recent fiscal year and in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the most recent fiscal quarter. These documents and others containing important disclosures are available on the SEC Filings section of the Investor Information section of our Web site. Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other presentations, press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase our services should make the purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce.com, inc. assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

Chad WhiteChad White

Principal of Marketing Research at ExactTarget

Author of Email Marketing Rules

Long-time blogger – 2,500 posts and counting

Email Insider columnist for MediaPost

Former journalist at Dow Jones and Condé Nast

Principal of Marketing Research at ExactTarget

Author of Email Marketing Rules

Long-time blogger – 2,500 posts and counting

Email Insider columnist for MediaPost

Former journalist at Dow Jones and Condé Nast

@chadswhite

What are best practices?

“Best practices are old-school. New-school marketing doesn’t

have best practices.”

Have you heard this?

“The best practice is the practice that is best for your business.”

Have you heard this?

“If there’s one example of a marketer successfully breaking

a best practice, then it’s no longer a best practice.”

Have you heard this?

“The best practice is what most companies do.”

Have you heard this?

“Best practices define mediocrity.”

Have you heard this?

“Best practices are those practices that generally produce the best results or minimize risk.”

“Best practices are those practices that generally produce the best results or minimize risk.”

@chadswhite

Adopting best practices isn’t about ticking boxes.

It’s about execution.

Adopting best practices isn’t about ticking boxes.

It’s about execution.

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

Let’s look at the GOOD, the BAD, and the BEST of

8 email marketing practices…

@chadswhite

Signup ProcessSignup Process

1. 1.

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

Signup Confirmation Pages

Signup Confirmation Pages

2. 2.

Signup Confirmation Pages…

• Confirm opt-in was successful

• Set expectations

• Collect more subscriber data

• Secure additional opt-ins

• Engage with offers or content

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

Welcome EmailsWelcome Emails

3. 3.

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

Preheader TextPreheader Text

4. 4.

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

Defensive DesignDefensive Design

5. 5.

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

Mobile-FriendlinessMobile-Friendliness

6. 6.

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

PersonalizationPersonalization7. 7.

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

Lenovo, welcome email — Chad, thank you for signing up.

Enjoy your exclusive Lenovo offer.

Michael’s, progressive profiling email — Chad, isn't it time we

got to know each other?

Olive Garden, birthday email — Chad, go celebrate your

birthday with a free app or dessert!

ThinkGeek, 5/17/13 — Chad, I am your father

@chadswhite

FragranceNet, 10/7/13 — Just for you, . $10 OFF + Free

Shipping*

Subway, 9/4/13 — Chad, it's time to celebrate! Any regular

FOOTLONG(TM) is a $5 FOOTLONG(TM) all SUBtember(R)

long. (At participating restaurants. Pricing details inside.)

Volkswagen, 2/22/13 — Chad, don't miss out on a limited-time

offer on the 2013 Passat

Chili’s, 7/21/13 — 2 Coupons for Chad

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

Unsubscribe ProcessUnsubscribe Process

8. 8.

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

@chadswhite

“Email marketing’s impressive power obscures an unfortunate truth…”

“Email marketing’s impressive power obscures an unfortunate truth…”

@chadswhite

“Poor practices are blunting email marketing’s effectiveness and keeping its ROI from being truly awesome.”

“Poor practices are blunting email marketing’s effectiveness and keeping its ROI from being truly awesome.”

@chadswhite

Has this session inspired you to make an improvement to

your email program?

@chadswhite

If so, please share it on DFChatter or Twitter.

EmailMarketingRules.comrules.ws

Design Track Resourcespages.exacttarget.com/etdesign

Don’t Forget Your Complimentary Copy of Email Marketing Rules

Don’t Forget Your Complimentary Copy of Email Marketing Rules

@chadswhite