1
20
Quick
Tips
for
Improving
Your
Marketing
Programmes
June 25, 2008Presenter:
Paul Bates
Agenda
Introduction
Best
Practices
Overview
20
Quick
Tips
About
StrongMail
What
Makes
a
Best
Practice
for
Email?
Testing & Refining
Customer Feedback Industry
Trends
New Technologies
“Defining our email strategy” is the #1 “top challenge” of email marketers.
Tip
1:
Solve
a
Problem
Identify the business problem first
> Conduct offline research or hire strategic marketing firm
Consider non‐email related metrics
> e.g. increase number of units per transaction
> Verify that offers and content solve the business problem Example: Effect of Shopping Frequency on Rention Rates
>1x Month
1x Month
2x Month
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%
Tip
2:
Optimise Subject
Lines
Keep them direct, relevant, timely and impactful
Insert program name at the beginning or make it
the entire subject
Know whether to recycle or refresh
Avoid ALL CAPS
Consider Initial Caps
Use action words
It’s okay to be “free”
Use the right personalisation
did you know?
It’s the subject line that tells
recipients whether or not to
open an email? When measuring open
rates, look to subject line
copy as a primary indicator
Tip
3:
Pay
Attention
to
Your
“From” Name
Recipients use “From” name to determine whether or not
email gets deleted
Use the name your customers know
Keep it consistent
Don’t bait and switch
Tip
4:
Improve
Rendering
Add more right‐hand white space
Place grey boxes under image cells
Avoid XHTML and out‐of‐line CSS
Use the HTML evaluator at www.w3.org
Consider Campaign Preview Tools
did you know?
AOL does not render broken
image tags, so your
recipients won’t know what
they’re missing unless you
Tip
5:
Test
Your
Template
Code
Use an email code expert to review templates
Test your templates with a rendering tool
Keep master copies separate
Avoid XHTML and out‐of‐line CSS
www.w3.org
Tip
6:
Fine
‐
Tune
Frequency
Number of messages/time period/mailing category
Continually test to optimise frequency
Set standards and frequency caps
Determine the value of an email address to
enforce limits
53%
Email recipients
unsubscribe when
the offer or
content is not
interesting to
them*
Tip
7:
Know
Your
Metrics
and
Apply
to
the
Right
Audience
Identify the metrics that matter to your differing audiences> Boss: metrics on the problem your email program was designed to solved (revenue, site traffic, etc.)
> CRM Mgr.: email address attrition (churn sources and drivers)
> Web Team: size of campaign, type of offers, deployment time
> You: evaluate what metrics are most important, and avoid useless ones like opens/clicks over
Tip
8:
Monetise Service
‐
Based
Higher opens and clicks than marketing email
Introduce HTML into your transactional email
Make the template similar to your marketing email
Keep information and offers relevant
Allowed under UK and intl’ spam laws
Up‐sell message by sku or product purchase history
Dynamic order
management Branded & personalised
Loyalty or special cross‐sell offer Customer
service & acct info
Tip
9:
Leverage
Customer
Data
Effectively
&
Responsibly
Segment lists to improve relevancy, reduce list churn Create message categories, preference centers and email
based on requested content
Employ behavioral targeting
Establish and abide by privacy policies
Protect customer data from security breaches
40%
Marketers who
are unsure if their
marketing
practices protect
personal
information*
2008 Ponemon Email Marketing and Privacy Survey
Tip
10:
Keep
Your
Lists
Clean
Dirty lists affect:
> ISPs – increases blocked and filtered email
> Recipients – increases mail to junk folder
Tip
11:
Test
to
Maximise Results
Insist on having proper tools to manage and test your
programs
Regularly test core marketing elements
Run A/B tests on subject lines, segments or queries
Review reporting in real‐time and make adjustments
Keep up‐to‐date with new technologies,
regulations and recipient behavior
19%
Percentage of
emailers who
believe a
provider’s testing
capabilities are
their most
important
product feature.*
Tip
12:
Improve
Deliverability
Reputation
Check blacklists and blocklists regularly
Track your key performance indicators
Throttling
Determine your top 5 – 10 domains
Set throttling rates to meet ISP requirements
Follow best practices to improve delivery
Feedback Loops
Sign up for feedback loops immediately Auto‐process complaints
Tip
13:
Integrate
with
Other
Marketing
Channels
Send email on the date your catalog is expected to drop to
encourage catalog usage
Send email on day before direct mail is expected to drop to
encourage open and read
Hosted email landing pages should be SEO friendly and
incorporate key words and phrases
JupiterResearch, Road to Relevance, 2007
did you know?
Marketers using
integrated tactics can
generate nearly four
times more revenue,
compared with
marketers using
Tip
14:
Integrate
with
Web
Analytics
32x
Increase in netprofit for targeted
emails that leverage
Web site click‐
stream data vs.
undifferentiated
broadcast
campaigns.*
JupiterResearch, Road to Relevance, 2007 Measure the impact of email marketing campaigns from
click‐tracking to purchase and beyond
Compare ROI across marketing programs
Launch email campaigns based on visitor demographics,
behavior and preferences
Leverage shopping card abandonment
Tip
15:
Accommodate
Mobile
Users
Develop a strategy for handheld users> Identify and send text email messages to mobile users
> Host and link to an html version of your message. Expose link in the email header
Tip
16:
Time
Emails
for
International
Markets
Plan ahead to accommodate translation,
coding, testing, etc.
Test and schedule delivery for optimised
times in each local market
Stick to your timing schedule
16%
thatHandheld triage usersemailon their handheld
device. Up from
8% in 2006.*
Tip
17:
Leverage
Partnerships
to
Build
Your
Lists
Carefully choose the right partner Drive opt‐in through list access
Temper partner data into lists over time to better manage
deliverability reputation
Tip
18:
Evaluate
Appends
Email appends can improve segmentation
Demo/psycho data append for more data points
Be wary of reverse appends
Tip
19:
Keep
It
Legal
Email is regulated internationally
Inventory email programmes and research
applicable legal requirements
Maintaining compliance protects the channel
Tip
20:
Double
Check
Before
Hitting
“Send”
Establish a pre‐send checklist and follow it Double Check:
> Data sources, queries
> Links, unsubscribe, naming and content rendering
> Final count, start and end dates
> Legal compliance
Get the full pre‐ mailing checklist at
strongmail.com Check out spamlaws.com for foreign country
StrongMail
Systems
Founded 2002 and headquartered in
Redwood City, California
100+ employees with account and service
representatives across the US
50 full‐time engineers dedicated to
technical and functional innovations across
StrongMail’s entire product line
Six pending patents in outbound email
technology
300+ customers representing large
organisations across multiple verticals Chair and participate in email industry
standards bodies, driving innovation and
Who
is
StrongMail?
• Enable businesses to better leverage email and messaging to interact with their
customers
• A more powerful and cost‐effective alternative to service‐based products
> Superior control > Tighter integration
> Complete security and privacy
• A more complete solution than “home grown” or point products
> Intuitive email marketing application > Enterprise‐class infrastructure
> Comprehensive services
The leading provider of commercial grade on‐premise solutions
Comprehensive
Services
StrongStart Services
Administration Support Services
Deliverability Services
Professional Services/Consulting
Questions?
www.strongmail.com
> 20 Quick Tips
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Or call:
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