Five tactics to personalize your message for better results

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Introductions

Daniel Burstein, Director of Editorial Content

MECLABS/MarketingSherpa

@DanielBurstein

Courtney Eckerle, Reporter

MECLABS

@courtneyeckerle

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4

Chart 3.30 Tactics utilized to improve email relevance and engagement Which of the following tactics is your organization using to improve the relevance and engagement of email content delivered to subscribers?

39%

37%

36%

28%

21%

18%

14%

12%

11%

Automatically send email based ontriggers

Segment email campaigns based onbehavior

Dynamically personalize email content (eg first name in subject line, geo-…

Segment email campaigns based on salescycle

Allow subscribers to specify emailpreferences via a robust preference…

Include surveys, trivia or games

Use loyalty / reward programs

Dedicate resources to produce contentfor each stage in the buying process

Make use of animated GIF images orvideo in design

Source: ©2013 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded December 2012, N=626

Dynamically personalize email content (e.g. first name in subject line, geo-

location content)

5

Chart 4.21 Email campaign element testing and optimization Which of the following email campaign elements do you routinely test to optimize performance? Please select all that apply.

86%

62%

58%

48%

47%

46%

44%

44%

42%

32%

26%

Subject line

Call-to-action

Message (eg greeting, body, closing)

Days of the week sent

Layout and images

Time of day sent

Landing page

Target audience

Personalization

From line

Layout and images specifically formobile viewing

Other

None of the above

Source: ©2013 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded December 2012, N=264

2%

2%

Message (e.g. greeting, body, closing)

Self- assessment…

How often do you test personalization tactics?

What you are going to learn…

• Creative ways to add a personal touch to email sends

• Personalization in subject lines

• Why you should extend personalization to the landing page

• Tips on quickly personalizing a template

• How to get just enough information from the consumer

The “batch and blast” approach

Not this…

Many marketers fall into the pattern of sending general emails to an entire database over and over again – batch and blast – because they are unsure of how to move to a more targeted approach.

But this….

Humanize content

With the rise of social media, your customers expect more than information; they expect personality.

To increase the odds that your emails will find a receptive audience, add human elements

to your email.

These elements make emails seem more personal, even if you don’t necessarily incorporate any personal

information.

Three key ideas:

1

2

3

Personalize your template

• Personalized with full name

• Comes from an actual person (“From:” field)

• Signed by an actual person

• Conduct A/B tests by sending different versions of

an email to different segments of your list

With an already created template, it is often easy to personalize it with a few quick changes:

*

13

Chart 3.34 Subscriber segmentation attributes Can you segment subscriber data into separate lists based on the following attributes?

55%

53%

38%

38%

28%

29%

30%

43%

43%

49%

16%

16%

19%

19%

22%

Email engagement behavior

Purchase history

Location in sales pipeline

User-declared personalpreferences

Email viewing device habits

Yes No Don’t know

Source: ©2013 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded December 2012, N≥115

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Challenge

• Marketing team was moving away from batch and blast in favor of trying targeted marketing for the first time.

Campaign

• Chose a group of subscribers who were one-time big spenders on the site.

• Sent this audience a one-time promotion to generate revenue, as well as test the viability of the audience as an email segment

• Instead of the generic, vague messaging common to batch and blast emails, they focused on a personal connection.

Case Study

•Source: Email Marketing: 208% higher conversion rate for targeted emails over batch-and-blast

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Case Study

• Aweber knew that personalization in subject lines and greetings improved results at other companies. However, they were skeptical it could work with their audience.

• Marketing team decided to conduct a test to find out if

personalization really made a difference.

• Rather than testing one email, the team chose to test seven consecutive emails throughout the month.

• Team sent basic A/B test on each of the designated days. A random half of its list would receive a normal, unaltered email (A) and the second half would receive a test email (B).

Challenge

Campaign

•Source: Email Marketing: 17.36% higher average clickthrough rate in 7 personalized subject line tests

A/B subject line tests

Email B:

Email A:

Email Marketing Advice From 2 Guys (Who Know What They’re Doing)

[First Name], Email Marketing Advice From 2 Guys (Who Know What They’re Doing)

Results

higher average open rate for personalized subject line over regular email 5.13%

higher clickthrough rate for personalized subject line over regular email 17.6%

! What you need to know: Focusing on a single change to a single part of the email across multiple sends allows a definitive conclusion to be drawn from results.

What you need to know:

Never lose sight of keeping a compelling offer

and clear call-to-action when developing

creative, eye catching email content.

!

Case Study

• Helzberg’s charms jewelry were such a strong seller that customers were almost too familiar with the product.

• The online marketing team wanted to promote them, but needed to find a way to make them catch customer’s attention again, and speak to them directly.

• The team designed a promotional campaign that addressed the customer directly, by having the charms spell out their name as a greeting.

Campaign

Challenge

•Source: Email Marketing: Helzberg Diamonds garners 288% sales lift with animated, personalized promo

Subject:

This free bracelet has your name on it

Personalization:

Charms spelling out the subscriber’s name were animated to swing back and forth on the chain

Results

increase in sales compared to the

previous week promoting the same collection to the same audience

higher open rate than Helzberg's average for

promotional emails

higher clickthrough rate

288%

55%

85%

Case Study

• Moosejaw wanted to find a creative way to insert a human element that would help them stay relevant and sell an experience to their customers.

• Moosejaw used “madness” campaigns centered on things such as a break-up service, a kissing service that helped customers kiss their crush on New Year’s Eve, and a pizza bribe service that helped subscribers motivate friends and family through food.

• They actually performed these services, and posted several videos of their representatives on YouTube having these conversations.

Campaign

Challenge

•Source: Email Relevance: 8 tactics for leveraging timing, segmentation and content

For Moosejaw, this approach was both human, and reflective of the brand. The tone of the campaign mirrored the personality of the company.

Results

As many disengaged subscribers opened the “100% madness” emails as opposed to those

featuring product information or special offers. 2X

The electronic communications were a translation of customer interactions and experiences in-store.

Once you personalize your email message, you can see even more benefit by following through with a personalized landing page.

Following through with personalization from email to landing page can

distinguish even mundane sends.

!

What you need to know:

Case Study

• HP Education Services sent out print catalogs for their IT pro courses, but began testing web and email as costs mounted.

• Needed to convey huge amounts of information in an email campaign, and have a long life.

• The team merged their most powerful resources – an online course catalog at HP.com and a database of thousands of past customers.

• Instead of speaking generally, the email sent suggested one course based off of one they had taken in the past, and the location was chosen to be near to their office.

• The customer’s first and last name were in the URL of the landing page they were directed towards.

Campaign

Challenge

•Source: HP Tests Personalized Web Landing Pages for Email and Direct Mail Campaigns -- Data & Samples

HP’s personalized landing page, featuring: • Recommended class • Value proposition • Location • Registration • Full course catalog

HP’s personalized email, featuring: • Call-to-action to go to personal landing page • A recommended course • Information on that course • Ability to browse full schedule

Results

email recipients went to their personal landing

pages.

of those visitors clicked again to either register

or surf other course options on the site.

16.5%

63%

of those who visited the site converted into purchasing courses 31%

Collect information gradually

It is a delicate balance for marketers to obtain

necessary customer information, without

asking for so much that it creates friction for

the customer. "

*

36

Chart 3.24 Form data collection Which form data do you collect in the registration process for your email program?

100%

70%

35%

35%

33%

29%

26%

22%

12%

12%

8%

3%

Email address

Name

ZIP code

State

Telephone Number

Country

Street Address

Other

Age

Gender

Salutation

Fax Number

Source: ©2013 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded December 2012, N=347

Don’t Go Overboard

Don’t go Overboard

• If you ask for too much information, you can kill the conversion rate on the registration page. If you ask for too little, it can be difficult to segment your database.

• One effective tactic can be to gradually ask for information from a customer, as they become more comfortable with your company.

Effective email marketing goes back to relevancy

– catering to the needs and interests of

individual customers. This should be the

foundation of a marketing campaign.

• Scotts Miracle-Gro, a lawn and garden products company, wanted to use their email newsletter to deliver locally relevant content to their subscribers.

• Once a consumer registered on Scotts’ website, Scotts invites the consumer to become a subscriber to their email newsletter, Lawn Care Update, to receive expert advice and special offers.

• By using one simple request of a subscriber’s zip code, Scotts was able to provide valuable product information based on that region’s soil or climate.

• By providing specific links in the newsletter, the email can lead the consumer back to website for further information and help.

Case Study

Challenge

Campaign

•Source: Email Marketing How-to: 5 steps to improve your email newsletter

Case Study

• Marketing team wanted to keep the barrier to sign up for their list as easy as possible.

• Still wanted to capture all the information they needed, but they only captured email addresses, so until a purchase was made and they could begin targeting based on purchase behavior, they had nothing else.

• The marketing team bypassed the challenge of asking for too much

too fast through what they called “progressive profiling.” • Launched a three part new series of welcome emails that would be

sent out over the space of seven days. • Helped improve segmentation without hurting conversion rates,

increased revenue by 27%.

Challenge

Campaign

•Source: Email Marketing: New tactics for display ads, segmentation and discount promos

Freshpair.com welcome series

Sent at sign-up

Email #3 Email #2 Email #1

Sent day four Sent day seven

New subscribers first receive an email that asks them to select which types of products they prefer, men’s or women’s – gave them a first datapoint for segmenting their list.

Capture product preference

This send emphasized the value proposition surrounding Freshpair’s email program. Noted that subscribers would receive: first notice of sales, product information and expert knowledge, first notice of new products.

Reassure subscribers

If subscribers had not yet purchased, they received this third and final welcome email three days after the second (seven days after the first) that offers them a discount.

Discount offer

Thank You!

Daniel Burstein, Director of Editorial Content

MECLABS/MarketingSherpa

@DanielBurstein

Courtney Eckerle, Reporter

MECLABS

@courtneyeckerle