FIELD GUIDE PRO EDITION THE MODERN MARKETER S

With so much data, so many new channels and so much competition, it can be tough for today’s marketers to f ind their way through it all. That ’s why we created this trust y f ield guide. It helps you explore the world of modern marketing (with email at the center) and identif y those tools that make forming a genuine, helpful connec tion with your audience a whole lot easier. No GPS required.

AUTOMATION // MOBILE DESIGN // CALLS TO ACTION // SUBJECT LINES //

LIST GROWTH // DYNAMIC CONTENT

P R O E D I T I O N

THE MODERN MARKETER’S

8 0 0 .5 95 .4 4 0 1

FIELD GUIDE

2015

But really, automation is an easy

(and approachable) way to both save

time and send more personalized

messages.

AUTOMATION

ROBOTICO MA XIMUMRESULTIS

63%

of companies who are outgrowing their competitors

use marketing automation

BEHAVIOR

Yo u k n o w yo u’ ve fo u n d a u to m a t i o n w h e n you come across a feature set t hat sched -u l e s e m a i l m e s s a g e s i n a d v a n ce to re a c h contac t s with the right message at just the right time.

Some marketers might be hesitant to embrace automation because it seems too complicated or impersonal. But really, automation is an eas y (and approachable) way to bot h save time and send more personalized messages. It’s a win-win.

It thrives when fed smar t audience data it

can use as a trigger. This is how automation, despite the images of robots and machines it evokes, actually becomes a more personal way to reach your audience.

The simplest example of this is a thank you email. If someone makes a purchase or downloads

If you’re not incorporating automated messages into your

email strategy, you’re missing out on some of the

best-performing emails that you’ll ever create.

FUN FACTS

Au tomat ion has 119% higher click rates t han broadcast emails (Epsilon).

Marketers who automate see up to 50% conversion rates (eMarketer).

The # 1 repor ted benef it of automation is to create more and bet ter leads (Pepper Global).

WHY MODERN

MARKETERS LOVE IT

Sends more targeted content. Boosts engagement and results.

Subscribers who receive welcome notes show

33%

more long-term engagement with that brand

(chiefmarketer.com).

E M A I L 1 Thanks for signing up and brand introduction. E M A I L 2 Exclusive piece of helpful content.

E M A I L 3 Case study of a customer having success with your brand. E M A I L 4 Special offer with a call to action to buy.

T H E W E LC O M E S E R I E S

a piece of content, that triggers an au tomated email thanking them for doing so. Sav vier m a r-ke te r s w i l l a l s o b u i l d i n a n ex t r a d i s co u n t o r special of fer based on what the cus tomer p u r-c h a s e d t o ke e p t h e m e n g a g e d (and buying). Au tomat ion can be ef fec t i ve w hen exhibi t ing bot h solit ar y and pack behav ior. Soli t ar y au -t o m a -t e d e m a i l s -t y p i c a l l y f i r e i n r e s p o n s e -t o a specif ic contac t milestone, such as bir thdays, anniversaries or when someone spends or do -nates a cer tain amount of money.

But it can also organize itself into packs called au tomated series. A prime examp le of an au-to m a te d s e r i e s i s a welcome series. W h e n a new subscriber f ills out your signup form, that s e r ve s a s t h e t r i g g e r to l a u n c h t h e we l co m e series. Your series could look like this:

I t ’s s u c h a n e a s y w a y t o m a ke a g r e a t f i r s t i m p r e s s i o n – a n d i t g e t s l o n g - t e r m r e s u l t s . Subscribers who receive welcome notes show 33% more long-term engagement with that brand

80%

of people

will simply delete an email if

it doesn’t look good on a smar t phone

– a result no marketer wants to see.

MOBILE DESIGN

RESPONSIVIUS OPTIMIZIUM

BEHAVIOR

The importance of mobile design is impossi-ble to ignore in the modern marketing ecosys-tem. 80% of people will simply delete an email if it doesn’t look good on a smart phone (Blue Hornet) – a result no marketer wants to see. Bu t if t he same email look s beau t iful on a smart phone, tablet and desktop, then you’re in the presence of mobile design.

M o b i l e d e s i g n i s a l l a b o u t m a k i n g e m a i l s easier to scan and engage with on a mobile device. It feeds on content that’s large, easy to see and simp le to consume, so i t loves big , bold images, large font s and t appable call - to - ac t ion bu t tons (see Sec tion 3: Calls to Action).

When in doubt, design for the small screen f irst. An email that looks gorgeous on a smart phone will also look good on a tablet or desk-top. Or to save time, use an email template t hat ’s alread y resp onsi ve. I t au tomat icall y adapts to look great regardless of the device that your audience is using to view email. B u t d o n’ t s t o p w i t h j u s t y o u r e m a i l . M o s t email drives your audience to do something else, like visit a website, make a purchase or watch a video, so make sure those land-i n g p a g e s a re a l s o m o b land-i l e - o p t land-i m land-ize d . Yo u don’t want to lose them right when they ’re ready to do what you’re asking them to do because it ’s too hard to see on their phone.

FUN FACTS

People check their phones up to 150 times a day (kpcb.com). 53% of email is opened on a mobile device (Litmus). By 2018, 80% of email users are expec ted to access their accounts via mobile devices (Radicati ).

Here are some ways marketers can create a mobile -friendly habitat for their emails: >

Arrange content in a single-column layout.

>

Incorporate plenty of white space for easy scanning.

>

Organize content into sections with clear dividers and headings.

Use at least a 16 -pixel font size for readability.

>

Add buttons instead of text links for your calls to action.

1 -M o b i l e - o p t i m ize d e m a i l s a l s o l o o k g r e a t o n d e s k t o p .

2 - The simpler the design, the bet ter. Busy emails are too t o u g h t o s c a n . 3 -U s e l a r g e f o n t s a n d p l e n t y o f w h i t e space for easy reading. 4 - Big, bold and tappable ima ges at tract the eye and boost engagement. 5 -Chunk content into sec tions with headings for those skimming on the go.

WH EN I N DOUBT, DESIGN FOR

TH E SMA LL SCREEN FI RST.

WHY MODERN

MARKETERS LOVE IT

Helps your audience engage with content when they’re on the go.

Increases credibilit y for your brand.

1

2

3

4

Automation helps us provide immediate

value to our guests, bring them into

the restaurant and get them fired up

for our emails.

”

“

A s senior manager of digit al market ing at F i r e h o u s e S u b s , M a t t O l s e n s m a r t l y u s e s a u t o m a t i o n , a u d i e n c e s e g m e n t a t i o n a n d s t rategicall y t imed cups of cof fee to keep F i re h o u s e’s e m a i l m a r ke t i n g h u m m i n g fo r the home of f ice and all of its franchises. M a t t i s we l l aw a re t h a t we l co m e m e s s a g -es have 4 t im-es t he op en rate and 5 t im-es the c l i c k t h ro u g h r a te of n o r m a l e m a i l s , s o h e c r e a t e d a n a u t o m a t e d w e l c o m e e m a i l f o r anyone w ho joins t he Firehouse email lis t . The welcome message gi ves subscrib -e r s a n o f f -e r, a n d t h r o u g h c r -e a t i v -e u s -e o f p er sonalization, automatically generates an expiration date t wo weeks from the day the person signs up.

He also uses automation to send a bir thday message to subscriber s reminding t hem to show their ID on their birthday at a Firehouse l o c a t i o n fo r a f re e m e d i u m s u b. A f te r t h e initial setup, automation does all the work, engaging Firehouse customers without Mat t having to give the emails a second thought. They work, too. The bir thday message has a nearl y 50% op en rate, and t he welcome message has an astounding 76% open rate.

Mat t also used email automation during the Hear t y & Flavor ful Challenge, the campaign to introduce Firehouse’s under-500 calorie menu. Firehouse used their digital channels to post a series of healthy eating and f itness challenges. They asked people to register for the challenge using their email address and then post photos of themselves completing each challenge to the campaign’s website. Matt then set up a series of automated emails to send a special of fer or health tip to each person who completed a challenge.

The campaign was a hi t . There were over 5,0 0 0 photos up loaded from nearl y 2,0 0 0 users, along with strong repeat engagement on the campaign website. Emails per formed ver y well, too. The average open rate of the automated emails was 83%, and the average click rate was 48%.

Let us repeat that. Open rate 83%, click rate 48%!

AUTOMATION IN THE WILD:

Not all CTA buttons behave in

the same way – some attract

way more clicks than others.

CALLS TO ACTION

CONVERSIONEN SK YROCKET Y X

BEHAVIOR

O ne of t he smalles t bu t mos t p ower ful par t s of any email, ef fec t i ve calls to ac t ion (C TA s) have evolved from text links into buttons so fast t hat Dar w in’s head is spinning. W hy? Bu t tons a r e m u c h e a s i e r t o s e e ( a n d t a p ) o n a m o -b i l e d e v i c e , a n d m o r e p e o p l e t h a n e v e r a r e checki n g e m a i l o n t h e i r p h o n e s (s e e S e c t i o n 2: M o bile Design).

But not all CTA buttons behave in the same way – some at trac t way more clicks than others. Here are a few features of t he mos t clickable C TA s modern marketers will encounter in the wild.

Better CTA buttons are the

key to better click rates.

- KE LLI LISZK A , PRODUC T OWN ER

Why is button color impor tant?

85%

of people say

color is the main reason they buy a product

We know our audience is checking email on their phones,

so we include large images that are easy to see and CTAs

that are easy to tap. It’s resonating with our subscribers

too – click rates in recent campaigns have ranged from

17-37%, which is well above industry standard.

” -

“

COLOR

CTA buttons come in a variety of colors, and while researchers haven’t identif ied one color that gets more clicks than others, they have found some interesting trends:

ORANGE provokes immediate action.

RED

increases energy and urgency.

BLUE

builds trust, safety and security.

YELLOW

grabs attention and promotes positivity.

GREEN

is relaxing and symbolizes grow th.

COPY

CTA but tons that just say “Click here” are being ignored into ex tinc tion. It’s general, meaningless and relatively passive. More clickable but tons have copy that’s shor t, specif ic and ac t i ve – copy like “ St ar t my free t rial,” “G et t he guide,” or “ Bu y this outf it.” It’s tight, energizing and tells you exac tly what’s going to happen when you click the but ton.

WHY MODERN

MARKETERS LOVE IT

Easy to A /B test to get bet ter results. Improves conversions from mobile devices.

PLACEMENT

CTAs are solitary creatures that love attention. They can usually be found in highly visible a r e a s o f e m a i l s o r l a n d i n g p a g e s w i t h o u t other content (or worse, other buttons) around them soaking up the spotlight. Surround them with plent y of space and place them above t he fold or in t he mos t logical p lace w h e re someone would be looking to take ac tion. A last word about CTAs: No one button works b e s t f o r e v e r y b r a n d , s o y o u ’ l l o f t e n s e e them engaged in click competitions (aka, A /B tests) against other but tons. Test CTAs with dif ferent colors, copy and placement to see what gets the most clicks from your audience.

SHAPE

R e c t a n g u l a r b u t t o n s a r e b y f a r t h e m o s t c o m m o n s h a p e ( y o u p r o b a b l y h i t o n e t o v i ew t h i s g u i d e) , b u t d o n’ t b e a f r a i d to t r y out other shapes if they work for your brand. For example, a circular CTA just looks like a but ton that’s begging to be pushed.

FUN FACTS

Apple recommends buttons should be at least 4 4 p i x e l s s q u a r e d , t h e s i ze o f t h e h u m a n f inger tip.

Add an image to your email of someone look-i n g to w a r d yo u r C TA b u t to n . E ye - t r a c k look-i n g studies show we’ll look where they’re looking.

Choose images of people looking

in the direction of your CTA.

Place it in the most logical place on the page where people will expect to see it.

Surround it with white space to make it stand out. G i v e y o u r C TA p l e n t y o f r o o m t o m a k e i t p o p , b u t n o t s o m u c h s p a c e t h a t i t doesn’t feel a par t of the overall design. I t s h o u l d a t t r a c t t h e e y e , n o t l o o k l o s t i n t h e d e s e r t .

Place it above the fold. Visitors spend almost 80% of their time there.

T h i s e n s u re s yo u r a u d i e n ce w i l l s e e i t eve n i f t h ey ’re j u s t s c a n n i n g yo u r e m a i l o r p a g e. P l u s , yo u’l l c a tc h t h o s e fo l k s w h o a re re a d y to ac t right away without forcing them to sif t through content to get there.

APPLY NOW

APPLY

NOW

CTA but tons that jus t say

“Click here”

are being

ignored into ex tinc tion.

SU RROU N D IT WITH WH ITE

SUBJECT LINES

DETERMINIZE OPENORDELETEIS

BEHAVIOR

Subjec t lines are one of t he mos t common elements in the modern marketing kingdom. They ’re ever y w here, s tuf f ing ever y inbox . H owever, G RE AT subjec t lines are a much r a r e r s p e c i e s . T h e y ’r e c o m p e l l i n g a n d i r-resistible to open – like the biggest present underneath a Christmas tree.

But they also come in a darker, much more common form…BAD subject lines. Here’s how to tell them apar t:

GREAT Relatively shor t. Any thing over 50 characters can run the risk of being sent to the spam folder.

BAD An epic run-on that’s better off being the f irst paragraph of the email. GREAT Specif ic to the audience, and the

content that’s inside the email.

BAD Pulls the old click-bait and switch.

GREAT Compelling, but not too clever. People are only scanning their inboxes, so they might not take the time needed to get the joke.

BAD Any subjec t line that’s in all caps, has an abundance of exclamation points, or uses the word “free.” If you see these subjec t lines, run. S u b j e c t l i n e s a r e t y p i c a l l y f o u n d h a n g i n g out with preheader tex t and the From name to determine your op en rates. They ’re t he t hree pieces of informat ion your audience uses when deciding whether or not to open an email in a t ypical inbox.

Preheader tex t continues the thought of the subjec t line and teases the content of your unopened email. It then disappears once the email is opened. It’s another opportunity for modern marketers to convince their audience to open their mailing.

The From name should always be re co g n iz-a b l e t o y o u r iz-a u d i e n c e . U s i n g y o u r briz-and name is a safe bet . O r if you want to u s e a p e r s o n’s n a m e a t y o u r o r g a n i z a t i o n , i n -c o r p o r a t e t he brand name in the from name (e.g. Daryl Hall | Emma, Inc.) or in the subjec t l i n e , s o y o u r audience know s right away where it’s coming from.

Subjec t lines are competitive by nature, so m a r ke t e r s s h o u l d t a ke a d v a n t a g e o f t h i s behavior by split testing them against one another. Split testing is when you send dif-ferent subjec t lines for the same mailing to a small percentage of your audience. Then the best- per forming subjec t line get s sent to the remainder of your list . It ’s a suref ire way to learn more about your audience and get the best open rates possible.

Want better open rates? Split test different subject lines

with every email you send. It’s a no-brainer.

- G I LLIA N STE WA RT, ON BOA RDI NG SPECIA LIST

They’re compelling and

irresistible to open – like the

biggest present underneath a

Christmas tree.

Garden & Gun recently sent

an email with the subject line

“

A Mississippi Roadside Marvel.

”

It ’s shor t enough to be read

on mobile phones, it contains

a fantastic, compelling word

like “

marvel

” and it specifically

tells you that you’re going to

see something cool.

FUN FACTS

i P h o n e s c u t of f s u b j e c t l i n e s a t 32 charac ters.

Per sonalized subjec t lines are 22% more likely to be opened ( Adestra). 69% of email recipients repor t email as spam based solely on the subjec t line (Convince & Conver t).

WHY MODERN

MARKETERS LOVE IT

LIST GROWTH

RAPIDUS ACCUMUL ATIO

BEHAVIOR

When encountering any successful marketing program, you can be sure to f ind a healthy email list at its core. So growing that list and keeping it healthy with more of the right kind of subscribers is critical.

In order to thrive, an email list needs to be fed by quali t y content t hat can at t rac t new subscribers and daily promotion of its signup form. Here are some examples of smar t list-grow t h techniques t h a t m o d e r n m a r k e t e r s are seeing out in the wild.

GATED LANDING PAGES

This is w here quali t y content comes in – i t serves as a magnet to attract new subscribers. M os t p eop le are w illing to gi ve t heir email a d d r e s s i n e x c h a n g e f o r h i g h - q u a l i t y a n d helpful content. So say you have a top - notch we b i n a r, a n i n te r a c t i ve co n te n t p i e ce, o r I don’t know, maybe a f ield guide for modern marketer s, gate your content w i t h a signup form asking folk s to prov ide their email ad-dress in order to see it.

LIGHTBOXES

Once on the endangered species list due to overuse and irresponsible deployment, light-boxes (aka, pop - ups) have enjoyed a resur-gence in recent years as a tool to keep email list s on the rise. Why? They work. Big time. Our email signups more than tripled after add-ing a simple lightbox form to the Emma blog. While some marketers worry they might annoy their readers, lightboxes don’t af fec t your site bounce rates. Just don’t overdo it, and make sure to give your site visitors an easy exit if they don’t want to sign up.

A healthy email list is at the core of any

successful marketing program.

We saw a 371% increase

in signups after adding a

lightbox form to the Emma

blog.

FUN FACTS

The average email list churns by about 30% ever y year (industr y standard ).

Lightboxes can increase conversions by over 46% (Crazy Egg).

List grow th = business grow th. The ROI of email marketing is 4,300%

(Direct Marketing Association).

WHY MODERN MARKETERS LOVE IT

Gets a wider reach for your communications and content. Leads to more conversions, and ultimately, more revenue, donations, etc.

SOCIAL PROMOTION

By following you, your social media audience has already shown some interest in your brand. S o e n co u r a g e t h e m to t a ke t h e n ex t s te p by promoting your email signup link on your social channels. O r show t he value o f j o i n -i n g y o u r l -i s t b y o c c a s -i o n a l l y s h a r -i n g y o u r e m a i l s o n y o u r s o c i a l c h a n n e l s a f t e r you s e n d . E v e n b e t t e r y e t , t e a s e t h e c o n t e n t o f an upcoming email a couple days before you send. People love to be in the know, so they’ll sign up for fear of missing out on the big news.

And once someone signs up, be sure to give them an experience wor thy of them inviting you into their inbox. A smart way to do this is through an automated nur turing series with c o n t e n t t a i l o r e d t o h o w t h e y s i g n e d u p i n the f irst place (see Sec tion 1: Automation). For example, if someone signs up to view a webinar, you could follow up with this kind of series: t hank s for watching; Q& A based on the webinar’s content; infographic or guide that distills key takeaways from the webinar; case study of a brand using those takeaways in the real world…you get the idea.

And once someone signs up, be sure to give them an

experience worthy of them inviting you into their inbox.

BEHAVIOR

Dynamic content is the chameleon of modern marketing – it can change itself based on the demographic s or preferences of the person who’s looking at it . It can be trick y to spot , because when done right, the recipient just t h i n k s t h e b r a n d i s r e a l l y, r e a l l y g o o d a t p er sonalizing content . Sounds pret t y cool, right? That’s cause it is.

Dynamic content takes personalization to a whole new level by allowing marketers to tar-get individual subscribers with dif ferent con-tent from the same mailing. Here’s a simple demonstration of how it works.

DYNAM IC CONTENT TAKES

PERSONA LIZ ATION TO A WHO LE

N E W LE VEL.

DYNAMIC CONTENT

TARGETIA NEXTLEVELEM

WHY MODERN MARKETERS LOVE IT

Saves boatloads of time. Just f lat out fun to use.

See how that saves a ton of time? Rather than having to set up, design and schedule s e p a r a t e e m a i l s f o r m e n a n d w o m e n , t h e N i ke m a r ke t e r j u s t d i d i t o n c e ( s e e w h a t w e did there?) and the email automatically a d a p t e d f o r e a c h r e c i p i e n t . P l u s , t h e y ’r e get ting all the huge result s that come with sending highly targeted communications.

Dynamic content is super adaptable – it works w i t h w hatever dat a f ields you’re capturing from your audience, whether that’s location, purchase histor y or spirit animal (sea ot ter, s i n c e y o u a s ke d ) . I t ’s a l s o e a s i l y t r a i n e d – it only displays the content you tell it to in response to the data fields you assign. In this example from Nike, they created and sent a single email, but the image and copy changed

depending on whether or not a male or a female opened it.

Here’s what men saw: And here’s what women saw:

FUN FACTS

56% of people unsubscribe from emails due to content that’s no longer relevant (Chadwick Mar tin Bailey).

Relevant emails drive 18x more revenue than broadcast emails (Jupiter Research). Dynamic content can improve click-to - open rates by as much as 73% ( Avari ).

EMAIL MARKETING FOR THE

At Emma, we’re out to make

marketing better.

And for us that means helping

our clients craft the kind of email

programs that truly stand out in a

crowded, noise-filled world.

It means creating a product

experience that inspires creativity and

anticipates how marketers think.

It means service that feels a lot

less like tech support and more like

adding a new member to your team.

WE WANT YOU

TO DO YOUR BEST

MARKETING.