How To Improve the Value of Your Email ListBased on research by MarketingSherpa

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W. Jeffrey RiceSenior Research Analyst, MarketingSherpaEmail: jeffrey.rice@MECLABS.comTwitter: @WJeffreyR

Meghan LockwoodResearch Analyst, MarketingSherpaEmail: meghan.lockwood@MECLABS.com Twitter: @meghanllockwood

Introductions

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Attendees will receive a link of today’s slide presentation after the event

Presentation slides

A research-based webinar

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Annual research-based process leads to improving email marketing performance

• Benchmark Report - Find what really works for

thousands of email marketers

• Handbook - Identify best practices and

formulate a methodology

• Knowledge transfer - Teach email marketers how to

apply best practices

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• The collective wisdom of more than 48,000 marketers

• Nearly 5,000 pages of analytical commentary and marketer insights

• More than 6,000 charts and data tables to validate what’s working – and what’s not – in marketing today

Benchmark Research Library – since 2008

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I. The state of email list growthII. 3 key findings about email

marketing from research with 2,735 organizations

III. Case study showcasing the use of mobile ads to selectively and affordably target new email opt-ins

IV. Top takeaways and questions

Today’s agenda

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2,735 organizations surveyed on:

• Challenges and goals for email marketing programs in 2012

• Email tactics, list growth, relevancy, deliverability, and metrics

• Testing and optimization methods for 2012

• 170 charts and tables

Research background

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Which statement best describes your organization's email list growth trend for the past 12 months?

Our list is rapidly growing Our list is slowly growing The gains balance out the losses Our list is slowly shrinking Our list is rapidly shrinking

Poll question:

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• Reassuring to find 57% of lists growing slowly

• The size of the list is secondary to the quality

Chart: Email list growth continues positive trend

Very negative, our list is rapidly shrink-

ing

Somewhat negative, our list is slowly

shrinking

Neutral, the gains balance out the

losses

Somewhat positive, our list is slowly

growing

Very positive, our list is rapidly growing

1%

5%

18%

57%

17%

Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded July 2011, N=2,735

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Walking away

The Email Experience Council reports that each year corporations lose roughly 1/3 of their email addresses

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What amount of new subscribers do you need to overcome attrition?

Subscribers in

2011

x .33

= New

subscribers

needed in 2012

Share results at #SherpaWebinar

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• The definition of spam is no longer shouldered solely by the permissibility of sender; rather the message itself has a responsibility

• An unwanted or untimely communication can be condemned as spam

• Permission is the foundation and relevancy is the low water mark

Beware of rising expectations

Engaging

Relevant

Permissible

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Return Path’s findings in North America

20% of email goes undelivered • 7% is classified as junk

• 13% goes missing

“Spam folder placement jumped 19% to 7.4% in the second half 2011, and missing, or blocked email, increased a whopping 38% (13.3% missing rate) during the same time frame.”

- The Global Email Deliverability Benchmark Report, 2H 2011.

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Address the problem

How do I develop and maintain an email list that meets the stringent delivery requirements of my subscribers and ISPs?

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Step 1:

KEEP YOUR LIST EXCLUSIVE

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“Growing subscriber base through content distribution. Firm has strong belief in the long-term, long-tail value of a subscriber list and is putting resources towards building that aspect of our sales funnel.”

– Survey participant

Top 5 priorities for 2012

Integrating email with other market-ing tactics

Increasing email engagement metrics

Achieving or increasing measurable ROI

Delivering highly relevant content

Growing and retaining subscribers

35%

38%

41%

69%

71%

Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded July 2011, N=2,735

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Three cornerstones to building quality lists

Exclusivity

Uniqueness

Humility

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“The game theory pushes us into one of two directions: either be better at pump and dump than anyone else, get your numbers into the millions, out mass those that choose to use mass and always dance at the edge of spam, or…

Relentlessly focus. Prune your message and your list and build a reputation that's worth owning and an audience that cares.

Only one of these strategies builds an asset of value.” – Seth Godin

Exclusivity is essential

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Content

TimeSegmentation

Relevancy is more than a buzzword

Relevancy

Send the right message to the right person at the right time

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Think and act different

Offer subscribers something they cannot get anywhere else

Vs.

Think how your brand’s personality or expertise can be a differentiator in a cluttered in box

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• Have a slice of humble pie

• Keep your promise to deliver exactly what the subscriber requested and nothing more

• Email messages should contain valuable information, not endless self-promotion

Reality check

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Be selective in who you empower to become brand evangelists

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• The Company: Paper Hat Press

• The Marketplace: Publishing

• The Product: Personalized children's books

• The Channel: Email, Mobile

• The Campaign Objective: Develop a relationship with each customer and facilitate the buying process through interactive channels

Case Study – Mobile Adverting

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Step #1 - Go to your target market

Mobile marketing offered two important features: 1. It allowed them to target their

ideal customer - mothers

2. The company could use mobile platforms to complete sales

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Required access to their email addresses for a database and knowledge about where and how these customers were opting-in to the relationship

Step #2. Build a relationship with the customer

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Mobile sign-up ads process

• A mobile user launches a third-party app

• Before the app fully launches, the user is presented a screen to sign up for relevant lists

• Whether or not any lists are signed-up for, the app launches as normal

Step #3. Use the mobile channel to drive relevant list building

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• Allowed Paper Hat Press to engage with its audience on the mobile channel while collecting contact information

• Mobile users aren't required to completely leave their chosen app to interact with Paper Hat Press

• Paper Hat is able to grow its list with relevant and opted-in members

Transparent opt-in

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• Send an auto-response with a code to claim the discount

• Paper Hat Press appreciated its access to a potential customer who has clearly opted-in to the offer in the ad

Step #4. Plan and deploy the mobile ad

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• Controlled costs by only paying for qualified, new sign-ups

• Quadrupled email database, reaching 13,597 members.

• Learned more about its target segment of mothers mobile habits• News and entertainment 35%• Health and fitness 19%• Games 19%• Music 14%

Results

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Exercise: Plot new opt-in tacticsHigh Cost/ Less Authentic High Cost/ More Authentic

Example: Boston Celtics 3 Point Play

Low Cost/ Less AuthenticExample: NYC Library Transactional Email

Low Cost/ More AuthenticExample: Paper Hat Press Mobile Ad

Brand Authenticity

Avai

labl

e Re

sour

ces

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Step 2:

MAINTAIN QUALITY LISTS

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Chart: The accuracy of email subscriber data

Approximately what percentage of your email marketing subscriber data is correct and current?

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Maintain quality relationships

• Promote preference center

• Offer opt-down subscriptions

• Make it easy to unsubscribe

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Offer a preference center• Update subscriptions,

content and frequency, and set expectations

• Offer alternative communication channels; RSS, social media

• Be proactive. Ask to update frequently

• Only ask for what you need. Unused information is disingenuous

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Encourage opt- downs or pause subscriptions

• Give options to opt-down vs. opt-out• Reduce frequency, change formats,

content or channel• Give option to pause subscription or

press snooze with delivery stop and restart dates

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• 47% of email recipients click the spam button in their email client rather than looking for the unsubscribe link

• Don’t hide your unsubscribe link

• Have a simple unsubscribing process

Make it easy to unsubscribe

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Ask why

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Audience Question:

“What are some of the ways to reengage subscribers to an email list that has waned

in viewership in the last year?”- RebeccaThomas

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• The Company: Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra

• The Marketplace: Arts and Entertainment

• The Product: Classical music concerts

• The Channel: Email

• The Campaign Objective: Improve list quality and response rate

Case Study - How Cutting a House List 95% Helped Double Sales: 4 steps

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• Ask every subscriber to declare they want to continue receiving emails from the Orchestra

• Have each subscriber specify the type of content they wanted to receive

• Those who did not reply were removed from the database.

Step #1: Launch re-engagement campaign

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• Establish two-week delivery schedule

• Create new segments with targeted content:• Classical• Pops• Family• Yuletide• Outdoor summer series• Happy hour (for young professionals)• Educational and community activities

Step #2. Plan new content strategy

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• Offer: Free ticket to a performance

• Subject line: "Email never sounded so good with SymphonEmail! Confirm Now!

• Big "Yes" and “No" buttons

• Click "no" and automatically removed

• Click "yes" and brought to an account preferences page

Step #3. Send re-engagement email to most-active subscribers

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• 6 months later• Second email sent to subscribers who had not

yet received the re-engagement email, and those who did not respond to the first

• 12 months later• Third and final send targeted the remaining

subscribers who had not received the re-engagement email, as well as those subscribers who had not responded to previous sends

• Those who did not respond were removed from the database

Step #4. Send re-engagement email to other subscribers

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• Online sales• Customers buying tickets online were

asked for their email addresses and to opt-in to one of the newsletters

• Ticket giveaways• Contestants were asked to fill out an entry

slip with their name, contact information and email address. Winners announced via email with opt-in request.

• Phone calls• Callers into the box office were asked if

they would like to provide an email address and opt-in to receive a newsletter

Step #5. Respect and grow the list

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• List initially cut 95.9% in size

• List grew by more than 500% afterward

• Online sales more than doubled to 35% of all purchases

• 40% of subscribers have purchased tickets

Results: The sound of sweet success

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Step 3:

SET EXPECTATIONS FOR

NEW SUBSCRIBERS

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Audience Question:

“What frequency do you market to your lists, how much is too much and how much

is not enough?”- Jeff Linton

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• WHAT - Clearly state what type of content you will be sending

• WHEN - Identify how often you will be sending email communications

• WHY - Spell out the features and benefits to crystallize your value proposition

• WANE WORRY- Add a link to your privacy policy

Establish explicit expectations

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A consistent brand image, language and tone will cause the potential subscriber to find comfort in knowing he or she landed on the correct page

Review registration page design

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• Similar to homepage, sets expectations

• Single minded focus to capture email address

• No distractions, only

reinforcement of the value proposition

• Testimonials and third-party endorsements reduce anxiety

Review registration page design

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Chart: Marketers asking for more than an address

Email address only

Short form (1-5)

Long form/ Full preference center

6%

78%

11%

24%

60%

12%

6%

75%

19%

38%

59%

0%

Retail or E-commerce

Professional or Financial Services

Software or Software as a Service

Education or Healthcare

Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded July 2011, N=2,735

What is the average number of fields your organization asks a new subscriber to complete in order to register for your email program?

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Confirm registration with welcome email

• Thank you and welcome emails confirm the opt-in

• Continue to set content expectations

• Subscribers know what to look for in their inboxes

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Ask for more

“…And finally, to nurture our Friendship, I’m keen to hear what offers and events you’d like to be invited to. Please take 2 minutes of your time to tell me what you’d like to see.”

Research summary

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Our research indicates email marketers extract the greatest value from their email lists when they…

Keep lists exclusive

Maintain quality lists

Establish explicit expectations

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2012 Email Marketing Benchmark Report

Visit MECLABS.com/100-bronto and

use the promo code 226-BM-4006

This benchmark report includes:

• 170 charts and tables• 2,735 companies surveyed• Top email marketing challenges for 2012• Special sections on email tactics, list growth,

relevancy, deliverability, and metrics• Testing and optimization methods for 2012 and

much more

Get your copy for an additional $100 off

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W. Jeffrey RiceSenior Research Analyst, MarketingSherpaEmail: jeffrey.rice@MECLABS.comTwitter: @WJeffreyR

Meghan LockwoodResearch Analyst, MarketingSherpaEmail: meghan.lockwood@MECLABS.com Twitter: @meghanllockwood

Thank you!