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Email marketing best practices, including the 10 things you should always do in email marketing and the 10 things you should never do. Plus, examples from those who get it right!
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Email Marketing:The Good, the Bad and the Wow, That Kicked A$$
Jessica [email protected]@bestofjess or @emfluence
What you’ll learn if you stay awake
ROI and Conversion Rates– Email ROI in 2012 will be $28.50, the highest of any direct marketing medium. Email is expected to drive $67.8 billion in sales in 2012. (DMA, 2012)
– 39.4% of marketers report that email delivers their strongest ROI, beating out #2 Search & #3 Offline. (Datran Media Survey, 2010)
What you’ll learn if you stay awake
ROI and Conversion Rates– Email conversion rates have “stabilized” in the past year at just over 5% (DMA, 2011)
– Retailers cite email 2nd only to Paid Search as top digital marketing budget priority for 2012.
What you’ll learn if you stay awake
Accepted by marketers– 88% of Business‐to‐Consumer firms and 71% of Business‐to‐Business firms use email marketing in their marketing mix. (Forrester, 2011)
Accepted by consumers– 94% of daily email users subscribe to marketing messages. (The Social Profile, 2010)
– 57% of internet users say they are more apt to buy a product in store after getting a marketing email. (e‐Dialog, 2010)
What you’ll learn if you stay awake
The Good = YES10 things you should always do
The Bad = NO10 things you should never do
The Wow That Kicked A$$
What you’ll learn if you stay awake
The Good = YES10 things you should always do
The Good10 things you should always do
Get permission.
Spam sucks, even if it’s from a brand you know.
Always opt‐in or double opt‐in.
The Good10 things you should always do
Get permission.
The Good10 things you should always do
Get permission.
The Good10 things you should always do
Get permission.
Get permission.
Opt‐out vs. opt‐in
List quality will suffer.
Complaint rates will be high.
Welcome to the bulk folder.
The Good10 things you should always do
The Good10 things you should always do
Be CAN‐SPAM law compliant.
The Good10 things you should always do
Be CAN‐SPAM law compliant.
Accurate Identity = YESOpt Out Mechanism = YES
Physical Address = YESClear Intent = YES
Fraud = NO
The Good10 things you should always do
The Good10 things you should always do
Be CAN‐SPAM law compliant.
The Good10 things you should always do
Have a Plan. Set goals, define measurement & plan content.
The Good10 things you should always do
Personalize – one‐to‐one.
The Good10 things you should always do
Use a pre‐header
The Good10 things you should always do
Keep your list clean.Don’t look like or act like a Spammer…
‐ Grow a permission‐based (opt‐in) list.
‐ Stop sending to hard bounces & opt outs.
‐ Re‐engage or trim inactive contacts.
The Good10 things you should always do
Keep your list clean.
Opened
Didn't open
Opened
Didn't open
NEVER open
Trim the 40% that are persistent, known inactives to save on costs.
80%
20%20%
40%
40%
Opened
Didn't open
33%67%
Email Campaign List Size Expenses Open RateRevenues ROIPRE‐cleanse 100,000 $2,000 20% $7,500 375.00%POST‐cleanse 60,000 $1,200 33% $7,500 625.00%
The Good10 things you should always do
Keep your list clean.
67% increase in ROI!NOTE: inactives should be measured for any
online or offline purchase, too.
The Good10 things you should always do
Pre‐flight – rendering.
The Good10 things you should always do
Pre‐flight – rendering.Gmail with images off
The Good10 things you should always do
Pre‐flight – SPAM filters.
The Good10 things you should always do
Pre‐flight – check your content.
The Good10 things you should always do
Track.Views = GoodClicks = Better
Conversions = Best
Bounces, Suppressions & Complaints
The Good10 things you should always do
Use an Email Service Provider. Subscribe to Feedback Loops.
Clicks “This is Spam”
Notifiesthe Marketer
Stops Sending to
the Subscriber
The Good10 things you should always do
Use an Email Service Provider.Stay CAN‐SPAM compliant.
Most ESPs automatically include your physical address and unsubscribe link in emails and remove unsubscribes immediately.
The Good10 things you should always do
Use an Email Service Provider.Throttle delivery.
Easy with the SPAM cannon, Sparky!
Too much email sent too quickly to an ISP looks like SPAM.
The Good10 things you should always do
Test.
Subject linesDay of weekFrequencyPersonalizationPrice sensitivity
What you’ll learn if you stay awake
The Bad = NO10 things you should never do
The Bad10 things you should never do
Email “BLAST!” Don’t send the same version to everyone.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Send too frequently or too infrequently.
Doubling frequency doesn’t necessarily mean doubling revenues.
Your list will “tell” you when it’s too much with increased unsubscribes.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Send too frequently or too infrequently.
If you let your list age, you can expect a higher bounce rate...
Like 25%+ after a 2‐year collection period!
The Bad10 things you should never do
Include everything in the email.
Keep emails to about 2 pages printed (or 1‐2 “scrolls”).
Include snippets or teasers and link out to full posts or more content on your website or blog.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Include everything in the email.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Start from scratch. Email = Blog + Social
The Bad10 things you should never do
Start from scratch. Curate expert content from others.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Use a giant graphic.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Use a giant graphic.
Use at least some HTML text.
Use Alt Tags so text will replace missing images.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Include an attachment.
“I’m a spammer! I’m a spammer!”
No, wait…
“I’m a virus!, I’m a virus!”
The Bad10 things you should never do
Buy a list.
List buying is not illegal.
List buying is not best practice.
Monitor list sources and quality.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Get on a blacklist.
Work with a deliverability expert to help figure out how you got there.
ReturnPath, Pivotal Veracity, 250ok
The Bad10 things you should never do
Fail to monitor your reputation.
The Bad10 things you should never do
Forget to seed your list.Set up email accounts at all the major ISPs and check to see if your message makes it into the inbox.
Without this, you can’t truly judge the effectiveness of your campaign.
What you’ll learn if you stay awake
The Wow That Kicked A$$
Kicked A$$Try this
Cross Promote & Grow
2 emails garnered
60K new likes!
Kicked A$$Try this
Referral program
Ongoing 9‐13%conversion
Kicked A$$Try this
Automated Series
“Drip” or automated campaigns do the work for you.
Kicked A$$Try this
Time Sensitive Offers & Reminders
A last call to register the day registration closes garners a
185% lift in click‐throughs!
Kicked A$$Try this
Initial Permission
Kicked A$$Try this
Initial & Re‐permission
Kicked A$$Try this
New Customer SurveysAutomated bounceback + offer + survey
Kicked A$$Try this
OOPS…It’s (better than) ok to admit you oops’d
Email Marketing:The Good, the Bad and the Wow, That Kicked A$$
Jessica [email protected]@bestofjess or @emfluence
