e-mail marketing best practice
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Email Marke+ng Best Prac+ce Guide
Who is WhatCounts?
Company Snapshot
• Our Vision – Recognized for our flexible technology and
solu7ons for marke7ng professionals. • Our Mission
– To change the marke7ng game through innova7ve technology and service
• Background – 75+ Employees – HQ: Atlanta, GA – Offices: Bal7more, DC, SeaNle, NYC,
Sydney AUS – Proven customer focus with > 90%
reten=on rate
“WhatCounts offers the most complete array of deployment op7ons including self-‐service, collabora7ve service, and full service as well as an on-‐premises appliance that runs on the same applica7on code base as does its hosted offering.”
David Daniels
“Outstanding service, knowledgeable staff, cost-‐effec7ve solu7on. Beyond their easy-‐to-‐use applica7on, Blue Sky Factory con7nues to impress for their excellence in client sa7sfac7on. From live chat to personal account management, they ac7vely listen and con7nually respond with enhancements to their product. I would recommend Blue Sky Factory to anyone in the market for a powerful and affordable email service provider.”
Rose Norred
Components of a Successful Email Marke+ng Program
Proper planning and cri=cal thinking are the keys to increasing campaign performance. • Coordinated campaigns • List growth techniques • Deliverability best prac7ces • Proper feature usage and automa7on • Strengthening customer loyalty & reten7on • Successfully launching new products & services • Recipient engagement • Customer lifecycle development • Crea7ve cri7quing • Increasing campaign metrics • Social media strategy
Best Prac+ces Checklists
Client List Opt-‐In Form – Checklist Opt-‐In Form-‐ Best Prac=ces Checklist: WhatCounts recommends using this checklist as a guide to opt-‐in form prac=ces. Decide on fields to be included on opt-‐in form
Build form and integrate into email marke7ng deployment pla_orm
If deployment pla_orm is different than email storage pla_orm, set up an API to connect the
two systems
Add strong calls-‐to-‐ac7on for email sign up on every page of the website
Ensure sign-‐up page showcases details about your email campaigns: types and frequency
Set up opt-‐in form or subscriber preference center to allow subscribers to choose which
campaigns they will receive
Ensure form features privacy pledge
Consider social features such as Facebook Connect (for ease of sign-‐up)
Put a Thank you page in place Set up an automated ‘Welcome’ email
Opt-‐in Form Checklist
Deliverability -‐ Best Prac=ces Checklist: WhatCounts recommends using this checklist as a guide to delivery best prac=ces. Email is DKIM signed • A digital signature (DKIM – domain keys iden7fied mail) helps to verify the sender of the message while also ensuring that the email has
not been altered in transit.
SPF and Sender ID records are published for the MAIL FROM domain(s). • Sender ID and SPF (sender policy framework) both help verify your iden7ty to the ISPs. Entering these TXT files into the
appropriate DNS allows the ISPs to verify that the email engine you are using is allowed to send email on your behalf.
Sending IPs are whitelisted with major ISP and enrolled in ISP provided feedback loops.
Role accounts (abuse@ and postmaster@) need to be set up and ac7vely monitored for complaints
Opt Outs and Feedback Loop complaints are removed on a 7mely basis.
Test email rendering across mul7ple email clients to ensure proper rendering.
Test email content and subject lines for possible spam filtering.
Seed distribu7on with large list of monitored email addresses to ensure inbox vs. bulk delivery
Deliverability– Checklist
Deliverability – Best Prac+ces
Client List Crea=ve -‐ Best Prac=ces Checklist: WhatCounts recommends using this checklist as a guide to crea=ve best prac=ces.
Keep email width under 650 pixels
Design above the fold
Keep it short and simple
Code by hand when possible Avoid the use of Javascript, Flash, etc. in email campaigns
Avoid background images
Use image alt tags
Make your design compelling Test your email design in all email clients and through spam evalua7on services 2011 WhatCounts email Design Guidelines
hNp://www.blueskyfactory.com/resources/bsfemaildesignguidelines.pdf
Crea=ve – Checklist
Crea+ve – Best Prac+ces
Social Media & Email Integra=on -‐ Best Prac=ces Checklist: WhatCounts recommends using this checklist as a guide to successfully integrate your social media and email efforts
Ask people to follow you on social networks via email links, landing pages and your
website
Include links to your social media pages in all email communica7ons
Include a Share With Your Network tool in all emails, and encourage sharing with
valuable, share-‐worthy content
Men7on your social presence in all marke7ng channels
Include an email opt-‐in link whenever you share content on social sites
Remember to be consistent to your brand across all channels
Iden7fy your objec7ve for each social channel, and tailor your message on that channel to
your audience there
Social Integra+on – Best Prac+ces
Performance Metrics -‐ Best Prac=ces Checklist: WhatCounts recommends using this checklist as a guide to easily and effec=vely monitoring your email marke=ng performance metrics.
Keep tabs on all metrics but pay close aNen7on to:
delivery rate
clickthrough rate open rate
opt-‐out rate
Ensure your email campaigns are performing their best by:
A/B split tes7ng
segmen7ng
s7cking to the expecta7ons you set for subscribers during opt-‐in
Performance – Best Prac+ces
Best Prac+ces Checklists
Client List Poor Delivery If your bounce rate is increasing, it is important to evaluate the following aspects of your program: 1. Authen=ca=on. Are your Sender ID and SPF records set up properly? These important measures can help you communicate your legi7macy to the ISPs (Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, etc.). 2. Make sure you are adhering to the expecta=ons you set for your subscribers originally. It is impera7ve that send the type of content your subscribers signed on to receive at the 7me of opt-‐in (e.g.-‐ if you originally only sent event emails but now send a weekly newsleNer, as well, subscribers may become unengaged). Frequency evalua7ons should also be made (e.g.-‐ are you sending a lot more frequently than you or you were originally?). Once you begin straying from the expecta7ons you originally set, the complaint rate typically begins to rise and blocks can occur. 3. Age of list. As subscribers switch companies or email clients, their email addresses omen change. Therefore old lists omen contain many inac7ve addresses. Sending to an old list with many inac7ve (no longer ac7vely used) addresses can lead to a high bounce rate.
Poor Delivery
Client List
Low Click Through Rate To address a decreasing click through rate, implement the following: 1. A/B split tes=ng-‐ Test calls-‐to-‐ac7on used and call-‐to-‐ac7on placement, as well as overall messaging used. 2. Segmenta=on-‐ Send more targeted emails to increase user engagement (e.g.-‐ include topics subscribers have historically shown interest in by clicking). 3. Stronger calls-‐to-‐ac=on-‐ Consider changing the verbiage used to generate interest/ac7on. To visibly make the callouts more no7ceable and aNrac7ve, consider replacing links with HTML buNons. 4. Crea=ve check up-‐ Check with your email Service Provider to ensure that your design is up to current industry best prac7ces. WhatCounts’s basic design guidelines -‐ hNp://www.blueskyfactory.com/resources/bsfemaildesignguidelines.pdf
Low Clickthrough Rate
Client List Low Open Rate A low or decreasing open rate is typically indica7ve of the following:
1. Lack of tes=ng-‐ WhatCounts recommends A/B split tes7ng the subject line for each campaign to garner the highest open rate possible. 2. Poor engagement-‐ Poor engagement is omen a result of untargeted campaigns. To increase your recipients’ desire to open each email, make sure the content is relevant to them by segmen7ng based on subscriber data and previous repor7ng metrics. 3. Ineffec=ve subject line-‐ A poorly constructed subject line increases the chances that your subscribers will pass over without opening. Use a subject line structure that seems to work for your specific list (which can be revealed through A/B split tes7ng). And follow these best prac7ces: Keep it 35 characters or less; Consider using your brand/company name; Avoid “spammy” words and phrases; Per the CAN-‐SPAM Act, avoid decep7ve subject lines; Make it ac7onable by providing a sense of urgency and call-‐to-‐ac7on (think verbs!).
Low Open Rate
Client List
Rising Opt-‐Out Rate Similar to complaint rate, the opt-‐out or unsubscribe rate may increase if you do not s7ck to the expecta7ons originally set for your subscribers. Below are the top 6 reasons people choose to unsubscribe from email campaigns:
Rising Opt-‐out Rate
