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EMAIL MARKETING WITH

BLACKBAUD NETCOMMUNITY

Presented by:

Kaine Costello, Enterprise Account Manager

Chris Bell, Web Developer & NetCommunity Consultant

Email Design and Deliverability

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L E T ’S GE T S TART E D…

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S IMP L E , E F F IC IE NT, AND E F F E CT IV E E MAIL

DE S IGN

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• Email Clients, such as Outlook, Hotmail and Gmail still often render

their emails in very different ways

• There are web standards set for Browsers by the W3C but this has not

extended to email clients

• Therefore one must expect a large degree of variation in the rendering

of your emails across various email clients

• The easiest way to mitigate this is starting with a simple design and

only adding what you need

• Then test, test, test!

WHY KEEP IT SIMPLE?

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EXAMPLE *PROVIDED BY CAMPAIGNMONITOR.COM

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• Use tables to build the layout of your email as divs and style sheets

are not fully supported

• Keep things simple but err towards nested tables to create complex

areas of the email

• Use inline styles as CSS style sheets are still not fully supported.

• If you choose to use CSS style sheets consider how the email will

display if the style sheet is stripped out.

• Understand that the email clients will make many presumptions about

anything you do not specify

EMAIL CODE BASICS

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• Branding – usually your logo and colours

• Reasonable, relevant subject line. Don’t be caught as Spam!

• Short content with images to engage and multiple links to entice click-

through

• Contact information

• Opt out

• Test it!

WHAT ARE THE DESIGN BASICS?

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A SIMPLE, EFFICIENT EMAIL DESIGN

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• You will be in many situations where you need more than the simple

template

• Plan ahead

• Add only what you need to avoid problems. An email newsletter is not

the same as a printed newsletter.

• If you can, code the html instead of using the WYSIWYG

• Keep it even simpler if you are using the WYSIWYG or use a template

• Know the limitations of emails and plan for them

• Test!

BEYOND THE BASICS – CODE AND COMPLEXITY

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• Use tables, support for divs is limited

• Use inline styles, support for style sheets is limited

• Keep email width 600px or less

• Err towards nesting tables in creating your layout but only do this as

needed or you will overcomplicate things

• Do NOT use JavaScript – your email will end up as spam

• Avoid shorthand

• Avoid spacer images

• Do not use floats

• Test, test, test!

A SHORT SAMPLE OF THE LONG LIST EMAIL

LIMITATIONS

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A COMPLEX

BUT USABLE

DESIGN

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• Do you need it? If not, get rid of it.

• Do you really need it? If not, get rid of it.

• This includes colours, fonts and formatting

• Simplify, simplify

• Allow complex features to degrade gracefully

• Examples include alt text for images that do not show and

background-colours for background images that do not show

• Understand that someone, somewhere will not see it the way you

intend and work to make the email communicate anyway

IT DOESN’T WORK!

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YOU DON’T

WANT THIS:

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• The average email metrics for associations include a 98.15% delivery

rate, 32.36% open rate, 21.08% click rate, and a .051% unsubscribe

rate

• Shorter subject lines continue to outperform lengthier subject lines.

Subject lines with fewer than 10 characters saw the highest open rates

at 51%

• Emails containing more links had higher click-thru rates

• Email engagement decreases as the list size increases

• Statics above and below provided by informz

A FEW EMAIL DESIGN STATISTICS

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WHERE IS EMAIL READ?

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• Can be complex. There are technical considerations for creating a true

responsive email design that are beyond this presentation. Many

require style sheets or access to the body tag for which there is not

broad client support.

• But there are some simple considerations:

• Decrease you width. Even a small decrease in width can make

elements fit easier into narrower windows.

• Reduce your content. Many mobile devices cut off content.

• Increase font size and give links space.

MOBILE AND RESPONSIVE CONSIDERATIONS

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E NS URING Y OUR ME S S AGE IS S E E N

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DELIVERABILITY

• Sender Reputation

• Spam filtering

• Blacklist Operators

• Smart Inboxes

What impacts deliverability?

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STEPS TO IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY

• Rise in sender reputation means data quality is of the utmost

importance

• Permission System – Make sure they want your email

• Verify data

• Validate

Improve Data Collection

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STEPS TO IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY

• Explosion in Phishing and Spoofing

• Create Subdomain/Email Domain for Email Send

• Implemented Sender-ID/Sender Policy Framework (SDF) Record

• Domain Keys Indentified Email (DKIM)

Authentication

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STEPS TO IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY

• ISPs use external companies for data to screen lists against

• Metrics used:

• Broadcast Volumes

• Spam Complaints

• Bounce Activity

• Spam Trap Activity

• Blacklisting

Monitor Your Reputation

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STEPS TO IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY

List Hygiene

• Data Audit before first send

• Bounce Management Programme

• Spam Traps

Complaint Feedback Loops

• Allows senders to retrieve spam complaints from each ISP

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STEPS TO IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY

• Monitor Blacklists

• Reduce Complaints:

• They didn’t subscribe

• They didn’t recognize you

• They forgot they signed up

• You send too many emails

• Information isn’t interesting or relevant

• The unsubscribe function isn’t easy to find

• Reactive vs. proactive

Monitor Blacklists/Reduce Complaints

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STEPS TO IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY

• Monitor Inbox vs. Spam folder

• Ideal time to monitor display in different inboxs

• Email on Acid

• Split Testing

• Analysis and Segmentation

Pre-Broadcast Screening

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THANK YOU FOR ATTENDING! Be sure to check the website for the recording posting

Let your Account Manager know if you have any questions or

would like to schedule a session with one of our BBNC experts!