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How to Create Great Emails that Get Opened and Clicked January 16th 2014
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Who Am I?
Justine Jordan Marketing Director, Litmus
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@meladorri @litmusapp #KISSwebinar
Twi!er
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1 Making a good first impression
We’ll cover…
2 Creating an excellent subscriber experience
3 A/B test ideas + examples
#KISSwebinar
4 Lots of best practices along the way
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1 Effective
Why Email?
2 Inexpensive
3 Immediate
4 Measurable
5 (Relatively) easy
#KISSwebinar
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Email gets more clicks . . .
#KISSwebinar
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. . . and conversions
#KISSwebinar
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You get the point.
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Email Works. Duh!
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Email is: A unique medium with unique considerations
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Email is not: A JPG A print ad A banner ad A one-page web site
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Emails are not weapons of mass destruction
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Every email should have a purpose.
➡ What do you want the subscriber to do?
➡ How are you going to measure success?
➡ What are the business goals behind this communication?
➡ Is email the best way to communicate your message?
➡ Who should should receive the message?
➡ Is the message relevant to your subscribers?
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Every email should have a purpose.
Why are you sending this email?
✓ Lead generation
✓ Brand awareness
✓ Is it relevant?
Who are you sending to, and what do you know about them?
✓ Internal vs. external
✓ B2B vs. B2C
✓ Demographics
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Every email should have a purpose.
What do you want subscribers to do once they receive your email?
✓ Register for a webinar
✓ Read an article
How are you going to measure success?
✓ Open/click data
✓ Leads generated
✓ Conversions
What do you want the subscriber to do?
✓ Is email the best way to communicate your message?
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The email experience
???
From Name
Subject Line
Preheader
Preview/Open
Tap/Click
Page/Site
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
First impressions ma!er
From Name
What is recognizable, trustworthy and relevant?
Does the subscriber have a relationship with a person or the brand?
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
no-reply is a no-go
From Name
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
Be on-brand and relevant
From Name
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Symbols in subject lines
Can increase open rates. Use carefully to support your message rather than detract from value.
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No such thing as a perfect subject line
1 Free is OK
2 Shorter=be!er?
3 Relevance!
4 Useful + specific
5 Test, test, test
h!ps://litmus.com/blog/how-to-write-the-perfect-subject-line-infographic
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject LineFrom Name
Preheader = tertiary inbox content
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Preheader Best Practices
1
2
3
4
Support your subject line with a creative, useful or helpful preheader.
Call to action
Reminder
Special message / value prop
Clickable/measurable
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These are bad preheader examples
Repetitive content, unhelpful, potentially negative brand impact
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These are good preheader examples
Helpful, smart, funny, engaging
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Optimizing the “Envelope Fields”
From Name~25 characters
Subject Line ~35 characters
Preheader~85 characters
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
Don’t count on images showing up
From Name
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
Convey your message without images
From Name
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
Be aware, not afraid, of the fold
From Name
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Content and visual hierarchy
➡ Prioritize important information
➡ Prune extraneous & irrelevant content
➡ Use color, weight, size & placement for emphasis
➡ Bullets are your friends
➡ Use a mix of rational & emotional appeals
➡ Utilize background colors, lists & borders
➡ Use strong & clear calls-to-action
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
Create click opportunities
From Name
➡ Linked imagery
➡ Video
➡ Bu!ons
➡ Charts
➡ Colored backgrounds
➡ Preheader text
➡ Forward & share
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
Tell the subscriber what to do!
From Name
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
What is the message?
From Name
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
What should I do?
From Name
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
What should I do?
From Name
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Call to action best practices
1 Bu!ons!
2 Context
3 Active language
4 Size
5 Placement
h!ps://litmus.com/blog/designing-the-perfect-call-to-action
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Bulletproof bu!ons are visible when images aren’t
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
Don’t forget the landing page
From Name
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???Page/SiteTap/ClickPreview/OpenPreheaderSubject Line
Is this a positive experience?
From Name
Where’s the download?
… add to cart?
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Don’t forget the text version
1 Create hierarchy with symbols
2 Avoid hard breaks
3 Put links on a new line
4 Tabs, spacing and CAPS to organize content
5 Convey imagery with text
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Don’t forget the text version
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Designing for purpose
Email is the ideal environment for fast, easy and cheap testing BUT what works for one person (or one email) won’t necessarily work for another
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Testing ideas
Time of day Day of week Subject Lines Creative look and feel Imagery Call to action
Pre-Header Navigation Content Layout Length of content Personalization Segmentation
Be sure your test is repeatable. You need a hypothesis.
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Some tests we’ve run…
Subject lines • Specific vs. vague • Buzzy vs. straightforward !Bu!on language / call-to-action • Product vs. content • Additional bu!ons (more click
opportunities) !Video thumbnail imagery • Person vs. product !Content • Headline vs. no headline !Bu!on colors • Green vs. blue
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Some tests we’ve run…
Version A: Green bu!on Version B: Blue bu!on
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Some tests we’ve run…
Version A: Green bu!on Version B: Blue bu!on
no change
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Some tests we’ve run…
Version A: Start testing Version B: Read our overview
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Some tests we’ve run…
Version A: Start testing Version B: Read our overview
2x clicks
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Some tests we’ve run…
Subject line A: Don’t forward this… !
Subject line B: The best way to share emails
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Some tests we’ve run…
Subject line A: Don’t forward this… !
Subject line B: The best way to share emails
54% more clicks
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Testing can be simple . . . or complex.
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Which test won?
Design A Design B Design C
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Which test won?
Design C
➡ Outperformed Control CTR by 26%
➡ Outperformed Projected revenue of 2nd place by 4%
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Which test won?
Design A Design B Design C
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Which test won?
Design B➡ Outperformed 2nd place by < 2%
➡ Outperformed control CTR by 26%
➡ Outperformed unsubscribe rate by 15.9%
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The uniqueness of email goes beyond design . . .
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HTML coding / rendering
➡ HTML for email is not HTML for the web
➡ Code like it’s 1999!
➡ Use HTML tables for layout
• Specify widths for table elements
• Images should be in their own table cell
➡ Avoid CSS for positioning or layout
➡ Proper syntax is key
➡ Use ALT text
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HTML coding / rendering
➡ No JavaScript
➡ No Flash
➡ Limited support for HTML5 or CSS3
➡ Use inline CSS instead of embedded
• (Gmail doesn’t support embedded CSS)
➡ HTML forms (not supported everywhere)
➡ Background images (not supported in Outlook 2007+)
➡ Web-based email clients behave differently based on the browser (IE vs Firefox)
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Rendering
➡ TEST TEST TEST
➡ Only comprehensive testing will ensure
that your email appears the way you
want it to in your subscriber’s inbox
➡ Subscribers view emails in many
different environments: desktop email
clients, web-based email clients and
mobile clients.
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Avoid this
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1 Design for your subscribers
2 For every email, ask: What am I trying to say?
How will subscribers take action?
Where are they going next?
3 Institute a culture of testing
-TAKEAWAYS -