uts: email marketing lecture - 2014

Email MarketingRyan Bonnici - Head of MarketingSalesforce Marketing Cloud, Asia Pacific

Contents

• Introduction• Email strategy and concepts • Email and data • Content and copy• Email performance

EMAIL STRATEGY AND CONCEPTS

Email is the dominant digital channel in Australia

• Proportion of companies ranking as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’• Email consistently top/second top channel for ROI since 2008

SEO 79%

Email marketing 70%

PPC 58%

Social media 44%

Display advertising 8%

Mobile marketing 41%

Affiliate marketing 44%

Offline direct marketing 36%

Online display advertising 28%

Display advertisingEconsultancy

Email is the dominant digital channel in Australia

• Where budget is being spent…

• 71% of Australian consumers check their emails first in the morning

• Email is an active channel and is about getting things done (morning focus), compared to other channels such as social media, which is more about activities and leisure (evening focus).

Developing an email strategy

Source: ExactTarget, 2013


• But email is also the most popular channel used in evening too…

• 47% of Australian consumers check email as their last digital touchpoint during a typical day.

Source: ExactTarget, 2013


Email is 24/7…

… Take action!


Think about mobile - usage is exploding

Returnpath

Email for mobile

• Half of companies don’t know how much email sent is read on mobile

0-10% 11-20% 21-30% 31-40% 41-100% Don't know0%

13%

25%

38%

50%

63%

20%

15%

8%5% 4%

48%

Econsultancy


Nursery programme

Activation programme

Retention programme

Multi-phase “welcome” programme for new (opt-in) customers

Phase 1. Email to confirm registration / collect additional data Phase 2. Email within first week to highlight key products / offer incentives for engagement or purchasePhase 3. Email within first fortnight with stronger call to action / incentive (e.g. free delivery)

Once customer has bought / engaged they move into the “Retention programme. If not active, they move into the “Activation programme.

Targets non-buying / engagement customer to encourage activation.

• Not opening emails - test subject line • Opened but not clicking - Offer incentives / change content to test stronger calls to action • Opened and clicked, but no

action - test remailing impact on conversion

Once a customer has bought / engaged, they move into the “Retention programme” Cycle threshold will be determined, after which, if the customer is still inactive, they will be removed.

Two-tier approach to increasing lifetime value and loyalty

• Monthly newsletter • Content-drive, to include: • New products• Company news• Links to social media • Blog • Data capture • Competitions

Bi-weekly sales cycle Dynamic content via ESP will deliver targeted offers and products based on segmentation criteria. Objective is to drive repeated sales and increase average transaction value.


Nursery programme

Activation programme

Retention programme

Multi-phase “welcome” programme for new (opt-in) customers

Phase 1. Email to confirm registration / collect additional data Phase 2. Email within first week to highlight key products / offer incentives for engagement or purchasePhase 3. Email within first fortnight with stronger call to action / incentive (e.g. free delivery)

Once customer has bought / engaged they move into the “Retention programme. If not active, they move into the “Activation programme.

Targets non-buying / engagement customer to encourage activation.

• Not opening emails - test subject line • Opened but not clicking - Offer incentives / change content to test stronger calls to action • Opened and clicked, but no

action - test remailing impact on conversion

Once a customer has bought / engaged, they move into the “Retention programme” Cycle threshold will be determined, after which, if the customer is still inactive, they will be removed.

Two-tier approach to increasing lifetime value and loyalty

• Monthly newsletter • Content-drive, to include: • New products• Company news• Links to social media • Blog • Data capture • Competitions

Bi-weekly sales cycle Dynamic content via ESP will deliver targeted offers and products based on segmentation criteria. Objective is to drive repeated sales and increase average transaction value.

Landing pages and microsites: Can be used as part of a test-target model to improve click-through and conversion rates (Especially for major product/service categories or seasonal camapigns)

Simple email lifecycle framework

Single view of the customer

• Connect all customer data

Create relevancy for customer

• Prospect & customer get content they need at that time based on their data & profile

Manage Frequency

• Manage the amount of communication customers receive

Ratio commercial & non-commercial content

• Don’t only take, but help & give back to customer

Email planning (ECRM fallback)

Welcome Development Retention

Customer Value Enhancement

KPIRegister for portal

and manage expectation

KPIDevelop customer: Inform, interact and

cross-sell

KPIRetain

Createrelevancy

for customer

Manage Frequency

Ratiocommercial and non-commercial

content

Email planning (ECRM fallback)

Catch me

Welcome me

• First touch point as customer with your brand

• Set expectations

• Deliver on them

Teach me

Renew me and Keep me

5 Steps to achieving successful strategy

1. Communicate with existing customers differently to potential customers

2. Go beyond broadcast emails by considering campaign objectives, setting suitable metrics and segmenting your list

3. Build customer lifecycle campaigns with alerts and event based emails

4. Assess campaigns to lower churn and keep down costs

5. Make sure your ESP and data will allow you to achieve your strategic objectives – think long term

Measuring objectives

Objective Engagement Direct Response Brand Building

Measurement • Opens• CTR• Page

Impressions• Sign ups• Downloads• Video Play• Engagement

Ratios

• Opens• CTR• Purchase• Registration

• Opens• CTR• Page

Impressions• Length of

Stay• Video Play

EMAIL AND DATA

The “Value exchange”…

Why should a customer give you their data?

• ExactTarget

Data collection

Using data: Segmentation

Untargeted “Spray and Pray”…

OR

… Highly targeted and relevant?

Segmentation based on open rates

Av.CTR

Av. Open%

CTR (=click through rate)

Open%

These recipients open more then average but click less

Email champions

This group opens less than average but they are more likely to click

Opens and clicks of this group are below average

Possible action: stimulate CTR

Possible action: Reactivation or Switch channels

Possible action: stimulate open rate

Possible action: Raise frequency (controlled)

1.

2.

3.

4.

Using data: Personalisation

Personal referencing

Segmented Content

One to One

“Dear Bob”

Preference, Behaviour, Gender

Unique, dynamic communication


Disney : Digital Accelerator 2013

It can be as simple as Male vs Female…


Sourcing data: Email lists

• Use your existing list data

• (Or part of your list)– Segmentation coming up

• Gain permission if unsure– Opt-in Rules

• Rent or Buy a list

Sourcing data: List providers

• Opt-in process• Rent or purchase• Freshness of data• Cost models

Data issues

CRM ESP

Potential ISP Blocking Issues

Whitelisted Sending

Synching to Prevent

Data Duplication Opportunity to

offload all data management

Bouncebacks

Unsubscribes

Segmentation data

Targeting will require data synching

35

1. Look at touch points to assess where data can be collected

2. Improve data collection at appropriate touch points both online and offline

3. Put process in place to check penetration against benchmark

4. Allow users to register preference through your site

5. Collect data based on behaviour

List growth and subscription management

CONTENT AND COPY

Email context

We don’t read emails… We only scan them.

Triangle of attention

E-L-F are general patterns

www.useit.com/alertbox/ reading_pattern.html

Creating an email campaign

We don’t read emails… We only scan them.

• Use headlines• Images• Calls to action• Contextual links

“From” name

• Use person name or company name or both• Maximum of 20 characters • For B2B email, a known contact often works best

‘From’ Clickthrough ratePriceMinister Advice Baseline

Sophie at PriceMinister + 56%

PriceMinister Info + 21%

“Subject” field

• Grab attention• Inspire customer to

open• Be compelling• Promote benefits• Highlight content

• Use keywords• Maximum of 45

characters• Test alternatives

• (A/B testing or multivariate testing)

‘Subject’ Entries

Get a pampering treat of a lifetime worth $10,000 Baseline

Spa break worth $10,000 + 36%

A trip to Lilianfels Retreat worth $10,000 + 64%

A pampered new you worth $10,000 + 59%

Creating an email campaign: Format

• Be concise• Break content up• Short sentences, short paragraphs• Provide summaries with links to ‘read

more’• Use headlines• Use captions• Include navigation links

Creating an email campaign: Content

Make content valuable– Offers– Advice– Information

• State benefits early• Explain why your content, products or services are

worth attention• Make it clear what problems you are solving • Make it clear what wants or needs you are meeting• Make it obvious what action is required


What you need to say: – Provide supporting information:– Social proof– Contact information– Web links– Incentives– Images


Calls to action: • Use ‘action’ words:

– Buy– Order– Call– Visit– Download– Read– Print

• Add subject, place and time for stronger calls to action:– Download this item online before the end of the month


Calls to action: • Make call to actions as clear as possible

• Ensure your primary CTA is at top of email, so it can be seen without scrolling

• Ensure it is in HTML rather than an image, so it can be seen even if images aren’t downloaded

Creating an email campaign: Design

• Keep it simple and to the point• Make it immediately recognisable who it has come

from – logo and branding• Hyperlink the logo – users are familiar with this from

web browsing• Main message and majority of text should sit on solid

background colours – so you can read them without downloading images

• Targeting mobile clients? – email no more than 600px wide to hit majority

Creating an email campaign: Design

• Select ESP that allows easy sending of HTML emails• Put ALT tags and snippets in place for when images

switched off• Test deliverability of HTML template in inbox inspector

and include mobile devices• Create different email templates for different forms of

communication• Monitor effectiveness of design by setting benchmarks

and build review into process• Use ESP to create dynamic content

EMAIL PERFORMANCE

Version testing

• Try different subject lines, “from” address, content, etc.

• Identify best response– Open Rate– Click Through Rate

• Send to rest of list

Things to test

1. Subject Lines

2. From Address

3. Headings

4. Image/Placement

5. Copy Length

6. Call to Action

7. Links

8. Time of Day

9. Day of Week

Splitting your list

www.mailchimp.com

Testing: 5-step process

1. Test all links and functionality in multiple email clients using an internal/external test list

2. Test visibility of images and layout using inbox inspector

3. Test deliverability using automated spam testing– A/B test subject lines– A/B test content

4. Multivariate testing of content variations

5. Landing page multivariate and A/B testing

Deliverability

Deliverability

• Send emails from separate IP using ESP• Send text/html multipart messages• Make sure ESP has whitelist protocols in place and

that you are adhering to terms• Clarify ESP relationship roles and responsibilities• Use ESP to handle automatic bounce management• Use star rating / past behavior to cleanse list on

regular basis

Spam check

Timing of an e-mailout

• After 10am• Late morning ideal• Tuesday to Thursday recommended• Friday afternoon effect• Consider activity spikes immediately following

delivery• International considerations

• What have you done?

Analytics and email

• If you don’t add tracking code, email traffic looks like direct traffic

• Email System has reporting but no end to end

Email performance: KPIs

• Agree campaign objectives and metrics with internal stakeholders

• Use ESP to have access to CTR, Open rate, Bounce and Unsubscribe

• Set up ESP to allow reporting of these metrics by segment• Add campaign tracking code to emails to allow tracking through

analytics

• Look at heat maps to assess popular content

• Set up conversion tracking on your site and look at path analysis

• Set up ESP to integrate data from analysis back into data

Key measurements

• Source of traffic– Search engine, email campaign, direct?

• Volume of traffic– Visitors, unique visitors, page views

• Quality of traffic– Returning visitors, length of stay, bounce rate

• Goal conversion of traffic– Sales, enquiries, advert clicks, sign-ups

Bounce = visitors who enter and exit site on same page

Example….

Visitor clicks on an email link

Visitor enters

on landing page

Visitor leaves

site without visiting another

page

Email performance: Bounce rate

Process and organisation

• Set up internal responsibility for email• Document current process and identify current steps

and responsibilities• Attempt to remove issues in process that slow down

the ability to launch a campaign• Improve processes to include spam and inbox

inspector checking• Improve process to include data cleansing on an

ongoing basis• Build A/B testing into the process • Include analytics analysis as part of process

uts: email marketing lecture - 2014

Education

email strategy email

concepts email

morning email

good email

email performance

email strategy source

email strategy think

mobile marketing