Upload
501-commons
View
554
Download
1
Tags:
Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
See which email service provider is best for your nonprofit's marketing and outreach efforts.
Citation preview
SAM KNOXNOVEMBER 12 , 2014
Tech Talks 2014: Broadcast Email Providers
© 501 Commons
About Us
Our mission is to boost the capacity of nonprofit organizations to thrive over the long term and
effectively serve the community.
Programs & Services include:
Management ConsultingTechnology ServicesFinancial ServicesHuman Resource
Services
Leadership developmentVolunteer Management
& Planning Programs Resource Directory
www.501Commons.org
© 501 Commons
BROADCAST EMAILLANDSCAPE OF PROVIDERSCOMMON FEATURESDYNAMICS OF CHOICEEXAMPLES OF VENDORSMOBILE & HTMLDEFINING YOUR REQUIREMENTSQ&A
Agenda
© 501 Commons
Why Email?
Just about all nonprofits use mass email to communicate with their supporters
© 501 Commons
Why Email?
Why is mass email important to your organization?
What kind of messages do you send?
© 501 Commons
Why Email?
What makes a good email message?
© 501 Commons
Why Email?
© 501 Commons
Quick Poll
What brings you to the session today?
Here to just gather information?Unhappy with current provider?Are you evaluating a new one?Other?
© 501 Commons
Permission Based Subscription Model
Email Service Provider – ESP
Elements of CAN-SPAM Act Unsubscribe mechanism Physical mailing address Permission is inferred or directly given Don’t use deceptive subject lines or From Addresses
Determine your own subscription rules
© 501 Commons
Landscape of Providers
© 501 Commons
Landscape of Providers
• Technology is constantly changing• Significant differences about every 2 years• Devices are changing• Email clients are changing too
© 501 Commons
© 501 Commons
Technology: Paradox of choice
“The more options there are, the easier it is to regret.” - Barry Schwartz, Swarthmore College
Graphs from Sciam.com, Schwartz’s Paradox of Choice
© 501 Commons
Technology: Paradox of choice
With too many choices, options are evaluated in terms of missed opportunities instead of the
opportunity's potential.
Decision making process
Classify requirements into
Must-have and Nice-to-have
1. Identify products/ vendors that meet the requirements
2. Plot their offerings against the prioritized requirements
3. Evaluate Total Cost of Ownership
4. Test-drive and obtain feedback
5. Decide
Identify requirements &
Define rough budget
Identify:
1.The biggest pain points
2.The ‘low-hanging fruit’
What would have the biggest impact towards improved service delivery?
2. Discovery 1. Gap
Analysis3. Prioritization 4. Selection
© 501 Commons
Essential Elements
• Template creation system, for creating layouts for your emails. Create custom or choose from a library
• Content editor, for creating the content of your email
• List management, for uploading new subscribers, changing their attributes, unsubscribing them, and other tasks
• List signup forms, for placing on your website to allow people to join your mailing lists
• Reporting tools, for keeping track of your results
© 501 Commons
Important Questions
• How are unsubscribes handled? Global or by list?
• What is the template / content editor like?
• Integration potential
• Automation potential
• Cost – lots of variability in how services are priced
© 501 Commons
Content Editors
Drag and Drop editors are easy to use and aimed at non-technical users.
But you don’t get as much control as you do with HTML
© 501 Commons
Screenshots
Examples of visual editor / template editor / code . . .
© 501 Commons
Screenshots
Examples of visual editor / template editor / code . . .
© 501 Commons
Screenshots
Examples of visual editor / template editor / code . . .
© 501 Commons
Screenshots
Examples of visual editor / template editor / code . . .
© 501 Commons
Screenshots
Examples of visual editor / template editor / code . . .
© 501 Commons
Screenshots
Examples of visual editor / template editor / code . . .
© 501 Commons
Provider Examples
MailChimpVerticalResponseConstantContactiContactCampaign Monitor . . . And Enterprise Providers
© 501 Commons
Provider Examples
These represent some of the “best of breed” providers out there.
501 Commons isn’t endorsing any in particular!
© 501 Commons
MailChimp
© 501 Commons
MailChimp
© 501 Commons
MailChimp
• MailChimp Mobile - Add subscribers, edit content, and send campaigns from your phone
• Spam Filter Diagnostics - Gain more insight into why your email might be nabbed by spam filters
• RSS-to-Email - Queue up content for your emails based on an RSS feed
• Social Pro - An add-on service which lets you target emails based on social media data
© 501 Commons
MailChimp
© 501 Commons
MailChimp
© 501 Commons
MailChimp
• Lots of great features
• Handles differential list unsubscribes well
• Strong candidate for many nonprofits
• Code your own templates or use their library
• MailChimp Template Markup!
© 501 Commons
MailChimp
• List sizes of 2,000 or less are free
• List size of 2,500 is $25.50 per month with nonprofit discount
© 501 Commons
VerticalResponse
© 501 Commons
VerticalResponse
• Free for nonprofits!
• Can edit the HTML directly or use a template editor
• Can send out postcard campaigns
• Event Marketing & Surveys
© 501 Commons
VerticalResponse
Unsubscribes are global
Great if you only have one list
Not so great if you want to manage several
© 501 Commons
VerticalResponse
Free for nonprofits up to 10,000 emails per month
15% off monthly plans above that
© 501 Commons
VerticalResponse
OR
Salesforce IntegrationEvent ManagementOnline SurveysPostcards
Basically the same tool with a different user interface
But – without the features available in Classic
© 501 Commons
Constant Contact
© 501 Commons
Constant Contact
• Large client base
• Well positioned for small businesses and non profits
• Template editing is aimed at non-technical users
• Basic set of features
© 501 Commons
Constant Contact
Price for 2,500 subscribers: $24.50 / mo
- Nonprofit discount and 12-month prepay
No free option like many other competitors offer
© 501 Commons
Honorable Mention - iContact
• Not many features outside of the standard ones
• Message Builder – drag and drop
• Message Coder – custom HTML markup
• But a good integration with CRM, especially Salesforce
© 501 Commons
iContact
• Not many features outside of the standard ones
• Message Builder – drag and drop
• Message Coder – custom HTML markup
© 501 Commons
iContact
They produce great research too!
© 501 Commons
Honorable Mention - iContact
• Not many features outside of the standard ones
• Message Builder – drag and drop
• Message Coder – custom HTML markup
• But a good integration with CRM, especially Salesforce
© 501 Commons
iContact
$24.50 per month for 2,500 subscribers
- Nonprofit discount and annual contract
© 501 Commons
Honorable Mention - CampaignMonitor
© 501 Commons
Enterprise Providers
• ExactTarget
• Pardot
• Marketo
• Eloqua
© 501 Commons
Enterprise Providers
• What makes a provider Enterprise?• Marketing automation• Private IP address• Dedicated support• Multiple users• Internationalization• Dynamic content• Content syndication• Multi-channel marketing• Much more expensive!
© 501 Commons
Mobile Email
Around 40% in the U.S. read email on a mobile device
The trend continues to shift more toward mobile and tablet devices
Subscribers are more likely to interact with your content if it’s been designed with mobile in mind
MailChimp Website – Email on Mobile Devices (2011)
© 501 Commons
Mobile Email
Differences of opinion on layouts
One column or multi-column?
Mailchimp says multiple columns are better
Campaign Monitor says a single column is better
Part of the difference is due to how studies were conducted and habits of the users
© 501 Commons
Mobile Email
In general, web design is moving toward very simple layouts
End users have more control than ever over your presentation
Many large-scale email senders rely on very basic designs with a minimum of images
Usually you need to adjust the stylesheet to get more precise rendering
© 501 Commons
Mobile Email - Takeaways
Simple designs work best
Either one or two columns will probably work fine
Links and buttons should be large enough to tap on
Fine tune with CSS
© 501 Commons
A Word About HTML
• Someone on your staff should know basic to intermediate HTML/CSS
• Almost all issues with formatting / layouts can be fixed through editing HTML
• It’s very hard to get the same level of control using a visual editor alone
• Designing responsive templates requires knowledge of HTML and CSS
© 501 Commons
Content is King
A beautifully rendered design is no substitute for timely, relevant and engaging content!
© 501 Commons
Define your Requirements
• One or Many Lists?
• Number of subscribers
• Frequency and size of sends
• Integration requirements
• Level of staff skill
• Automation
• Dynamic content
• Available budget
© 501 Commons
Tastes Vary!
In working with nonprofits over the years, the subjective impression seems to matter at least as much as features or even cost.
People do tend to choose a platform they just connect with and find intuitive.
© 501 Commons
Resources
MailChimp http://
mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-on-mobile-devices/html/ http://templates.mailchimp.com/development/html/
Campaign Monitor https://www.campaignmonitor.com/guides/mobile/ https://www.campaignmonitor.com/guides/coding/
iContact https://
www.icontact.com/resources/email-and-social-media-marketing-best-practices
501 Commons – 501commons.org 501 Commons events & trainings Statewide Nonprofit Resource Directory Tech Knowledge Center