emflConf 2016 - Huttig Building Products

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Corey Morris, Director of Digital Strategy, ER Marketing

B2B Email Best Practices & The Huttig Dealer Digest

cmorris@ermarketing.net@coreydmorris

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

About Corey Morris

• Director of Digital Strategy for ER Marketing• 11 years in digital marketing agency roles• Board Member for SEMPO International

(Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization)

• Leader of SEMPO Cities KC• Professional Advisory Council member for

Northwest Missouri State• Past co-host of Tech Circuit on KMBZ

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

• Integrated marketing and communications agency based in KC• Celebrating 15th year as an agency

in 2016• National client base and focus on B2B

including specialization within building materials industry• Enhanced depth of digital focus with

dedicated digital team• One of most award winning B2B

agencies in region

About ER Marketing

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

• Relevancy• Best Practices• Resources• Newsletters

B2B Email Marketing

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

B2B Email Relevancy

• At least 100 billion business emails are sent a day• The number of business email accounts

is expected to be 4.9 billion by 2017• 68% of companies rated the channel as

good/excellent (eConsultancy), credited with bringing in at least 23% of total sales

http://www.choosewhat.com/files/Email-Laptop.JPG

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

B2B Email Relevancy

• We’re not selling pizza• Relationship based selling and

thought leadership via helping,not selling• Impulse is often not a good thing

in B2B• We often actually know the contact

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

B2B Email Best Practices

• Find the right segmentation balance• What they want, when they want it• Ask permission• Handle list with care• Be welcoming• Stay regular• Churn happens• The details matter• Don’t stay in the silo• Re-engage

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

B2B Email Best Practices

Most importantly, you want to build content trust and authority…

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Who’s doing the work?

Number of people on the team

B2B Email Resources

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Use of Content Calendars

B2B Email Resources

Year RoundSome

Seasons Nope

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

How well tested are we?

@coreydmorris

B2B Email Resources

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

B2B Email Newsletters

We know we need to do more with the resources we have and get beyond just the basic B2B email newsletter, but how?

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Huttig Building Products Case Study

• The Company• Situation• Dealer Digest Email Campaign• Content Curation• Deployment• Results

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

About Huttig: The Company

• Publically traded company with 27 locations serving 41 states• Product line availability differs by location/area• They don’t actually ”make” anything. The relationship HAS to add

value as the same products are available elsewhere

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

About Huttig: The Company

The Industry & Channel• Supplier• Wholesale Distributor• Dealer• Pro• Consumer

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Situation: Audience

The Dealer Persona

http://www.economylumberco.com/_image/j-bacon_b-etlin.jpg

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Situation: Content & Communication

• Right content, right time, for the right person• Streamlining communications from Huttig and suppliers• In 2015, 326 email messages were sent to Huttig contacts through

emfluence

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Situation: Program

• Part of the Customer Connections program for suppliers to get their content and promotions further down the channel than they have direct access to• Dealer Digest is the email component with communication to the

dealer (independent lumber yard chain) audience

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Dealer Digest: Data Synchronization

• Huttig ERP and emfluence platform two-way contact data sharing• Replaced manual process of download from CRM, massaging of CSV,

and upload into emfluence

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Dealer Digest: Localization & Personalization• Product availability based

on location• Personalized messaging and

content to the location and region• Corporate or generic message

won’t resonate–this audience associates Huttig relationship with their local branch

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Dealer Digest: Message Content

Nearly All is Variable Content:• From name is custom field for branch• Location banner is custom link to branch web page• GM article and headshot are variable content items• Featured articles (one of few non-custom aspects)• Product spotlight variable content based on location • Supplier feature content based on location relevance• Special offer is custom based on location availability• Special offer can be location-specific• Up to 10 location-specific insert graphics

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Dealer Digest: Content Curation

• Collaboration to create and compile content that is for everyone and content that is right for certain locations• Supplier info and input, corporate input, and local branch

representation in the content development and curation process• This used to be done by hand and still does go out in print form 1-2

times per year as well

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Dealer Digest: Testing & Deployment• Three people must approve messages before deployment

(combination of Huttig corporate and ERM staff)• Each approver receives a different location version• One additional ERM team member receives, tests, and proofs all

location variations

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Results

2015 Dealer Digest vs. Benchmarks

Unique Opens Unique Clicks Click to Open Bounce % UnSub % Complaint %

emfluence B2B 23.84% 5.27% 14.38% 1.18% 0.18% 0.04%

emfluence B2C 21.84% 3.58% 11.68% 0.92% 0.21% 0.03%

IBM All Email 21.00% 3.20% 12.60% 0.55% 0.13% 0.03%

Huttig Dealer Digest 25.00% 4.10% 16.30% 0.96% 0.02% 0.00%

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Wrapping Up

Recommendations• Don’t settle for your current results• Don’t settle for benchmarks

and baselines• Understand and build toward

the consumerization of B2B• Get personal, really personal• Take things one step at a time

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

Wrapping Up

Closing thoughts• We didn’t get to the current Dealer Digest overnight• Weigh out the pros and cons of investment in content and technology and

take the next step (not all the steps)• Like other digital marketing channels, embrace the fact that this is an ongoing

process to optimize• Push your partners for the next step and next enhancement• Don’t underestimate B2B email!

#emflConf2016@emfluence

@coreydmorris

References:emfluence email marketing metrics benchmarks 2016IBM 2015 Email Metrics Benchmark StudyLitmus 2016 State of Email ProductionOracle Marketing Cloud Email Deliverability GuideHuttig (client information)ER Marketing (client data stats)emfluence platform (client data stats)Salesforce Pardot Email Lookbookhttp://www.smartinsights.com/b2b-digital-marketing/b2b-email-marketing/9-b2b-email-marketing-examples/eConsultancy Email Remains the Best Digital Channel for ROI http://autosend.io/blog/email-marketing-best-practices-b2b/

Thanks!