2. creative: creating exceptional email marketing messages: part 1
TRANSCRIPT
Creating Exceptional Email Marketing
Messages
The Recipe For Brilliant Creative
Deliverable Readable
Relevant Email Message
Offer
Architecture
Format Optimization
Graphics & Visuals
#1: Offers
NEW New RuleIEEO
Old New Rule
AIDA
The Traditional Psychology of Advertising
• AIDA Model
Attention
Interest
Desire
Action
AIDA Examples
The New Approach to Selling
• The IEEO Model
Invite
Engage
Educate or Entertain
Offer
IEEO Examples
Offer Optimization: Understand Types• Certain offers are optimal for specific stages of the
customer lifecycle and not others
Entice to Subscribe
• Exclusivity• Sweepstakes• Free content/gift/access
Welcome
• Thank• Familiarize, orient• Preview, alert
Purchase
• $ Savings• Free shipping• Sale deadline
Cross-sell/Up-sell• Bounce-back• Segment-specific exclusivity• Behavior-related offer
Retain/Grow • Education, tools• Tier-exclusivity• Loyalty/rewards programs
Reactivate• New Information• Extra savings, $ incentive• Behavior-driven reward
How and If People Respond is Evolving• Consumers tired of being beat over the head with solicitations
everywhere, all the time
• Inclusion, invitation and community valued over promotion
• People want relationship & temporal relevancy– Recognize appropriate stage at right time (you don’t go from first date
straight to proposing marriage)
• Give in order to receive
• Social/service orientation resonating more than outright sales
Offer Key Takeaways
• There’s still a place for both AIDA and IEEO
• Variety and an ongoing mix of offer types is key– Begin with IEEO; progress into AIDA
• Brand, product, and price can influence but do NOT DEFINE the approach you select
• If in doubt, head-to-head test
• Offer performance tracking important– Measure effectiveness and point of diminishing returns especially on
AIDA style offers
#2: Subject Lines
NEW New RuleLonger and More Specific
Old New Rule
Short and Simple
Average Marketing Email Open Rates• According to Epsilon's Email Trends & Benchmarks Report
New Research on Subject Lines
• In 2011 Alchemy Worx tested and analyzed common assumptions about subject lines– Short (< 35 characters) outperform long– Single vs. Multi-proposition
• Analyzed 205 million delivered emails across their entire client base
• Total of 646 subject lines examined
Source:
Subject Line Length Analysis
• The longer the subject line the lower the open rate, but the higher the click-to-open rate
Source:
Subject Line Length Findings
• Subject Lines (SLs) under 60 or more than 70 characters generate the highest response
– Shorter SLs generate higher open rates, an initial measure of interest, but much lower click-to-open ratios
– Longer SLs generate a higher click-to-open ratio, an indication of ongoing interest and true response
– Open and click-to-open rates intersect at about 60-70 characters, a “dead zone” where neither metric is optimized
Source:
So if Longer Might Be Better . . . What Do You Say?
• Multiple vs. Single Propositions (topics)– Longer subject lines can accommodate multiple vs. single
propositions, which increase relevancy
• Get detailed (about the offer, benefit, or content)– Use length to get specific enough for subscribers to decide how
relevant each message is to them• The more relevant they consider the message, the more likely they are to
take response action beyond the open
• Use separators between major points if multi-proposition
Single vs. Multi-PropositionSingle – often but not always shorter; longer can work for specificity
Multi – can be short, but at any length must get to the point
v
v
Subject Line Key Takeaways
• They act as a relevance filter– The more information you can get into the subject line, the higher the
percentage of your relevant target market will open
• Length not as much an indicator of response performance as specificity
• Keep them in perspective– With “average” open rates around 22%, the vast majority of email does
not get opened no matter who you are or what you do
#3: Format and Layout
NEW New RuleOptimized for Multi-Environment
Viewing and Renderability
Old New Rule
Optimized for Desktop Viewing
Email Receiving Environments
10 Years Ago
5 Years Ago
Today
Proper Message Rendering a Growing Issue
• Proliferation of hardware, software and physical place for receiving and viewing email create infinitely different and changing view-ability
• Image blocking ongoing in Google, Outlook, corporate environments
• No uniform standards across receiving email clients– Some like iOS resize message, others don’t
• Anti-spam measures disable images, links
• Format and layout need to enable, not hinder
How They See Your Carefully Crafted Messages
• Fully opened on desktop/laptop
• Preview pane
• Tablet PC
• Smartphone
Format and Layout Tips for Today
• Single vs. Multi-Column Message Layouts– Single-column easier for mobile viewing and enables larger font sizes
• Vertical still viable, but horizontal emerging– More common on Web pages making it’s way to email
• Plain text still viable, but shrinking in use for commercial vs. functional email
• HTML5 will accommodate video, but not yet universally supported
Single vs. Multi-Column Design
Vertical vs. Horizontal Scroll• Food blog Tablespoon did a holiday greeting email
that scrolled horizontal
Switch it Up
• This design approach fits the brand image and product name perfectly
• What aspect of your brand/store/product image would translate to email?
Format and Layout Key Takeaways• Design with a “mobile in the mainstream” mindset
– Where once only a small percentage of your total list ever viewed email on a mobile device, it will become the new norm
• Assume partial vs. full view– Optimize for preview pane viewing – position key elements to pop in
order to stimulate full open• Plan Layout to stimulate both open and click• Simplify content organization (layout)
– Too many columns, small print, too long not being read– Link to extended content on web
• Form should support function– Layout should enable vs. hinder response
#4: Graphic Design
NEW New RuleImages & design support both
rendering and response optimizationOld New Rule
Balance to achieve message rendering
Design in Terms of Building Blocks
Pre-header•Main offer•View as web page•Mobile link/text
option•Whitelist/address
book request•Social media
connections
Headline (Graphic Header)•Large enough to
show in preview or mobile
•Not so large as to dominate usefulness
•Relates to offer
Body•Sub headline(s)•Images•Copy•Links•Call-to-action
buttons, icons, arrows
•Create as a mosaic
Admin Area – Bottom•Unsubscribe•Postal address•Link to Preferences
Center or Account•Other useful links•Offer T&C•Share with
Social/FTAF
Ensuring Viability: The Pre-header and Its Components
• Link to Render Images or View as Web Page• Rendering or layout issues averted when viewed through browser
• Link to view on Mobile Device
• Add to Address Book/Whitelist request
• “Pre-header Message”• Image-proof your offer with a plain text restatement of it at top of
message or one-word link to landing page
Pre-header Example
• Pre-header message restating offer is front and center
• Link to view as Web page
• Mobile option to view as text
• Social media connections