Email Marketing Ambition Digital Carly Rodgers
Open Rates The number of email opens divided by the total number of emails sent
Open Rates
Q. 1 What open rates do you experience?
Click Through Rates The number of clicks on links in an email message divided by the number of messages sent in any campaign
Click Through Rates
Bounce Rates How many emails were returned to the sender because they were undeliverable for some reason e.g. address was invalid, mailbox was Full 0.34%
Complaint Rates The percentage of emails that generate spam complaints Unsubscribe Rates How many users opt out of receiving further messages from you 0.14%
Q. 2 Why do you think the Arts have such a low unsubscribe rate?
Why Market Via Email? Best form of direct marketing...if done properly Hot topic amongst marketers Not always for the right reasons! 88% of marketers expect e-mail marketing effectiveness to increase in the next 3 years Fast, inexpensive and flexible
Why Market Via Email? Brand awareness, retention, acquisition and loyalty Ability to communicate with varied audiences Most measurable form of marketing Personalisation increases relevance and value Website traffic generator
Why Market Via Email?
Benefits Relatively low cost of fulfilment. physical costs of email are substantially less than direct mail Direct response medium encourages immediate action. encourages clickthroughs to a website where the offer can be redeemed immediately, thereby increasing the likelihood of an immediate, impulsive response
Benefits Relationship development, brand engagement and audience participation Integration Faster campaign deployment. Lead times for producing creative and the whole campaign lifecycle tends to be shorter than traditional media
Challenges & Opportunities Opportunities: Build a comprehensive customer profile Attain detailed behavioural data Best e-mail lists are your own opt in lists Monitor most popular elements in the e-mail message Track individual responses and subsequent journeys Advanced analytics tools increase visibility of audience interests...and enhance ability to measure effectiveness of campaigns Data strategy is an integral component - invest time and budget Measure your ROI
Challenges: Challenges & Opportunities Broadcast e-mail marketing increasingly ineffective Lack of relevance and targeting = low response rates Spam filters are becoming more sophisticated E-mail marketing design not the same as website design Lack of behavioural data means repeated failure Limited integration with analytics tools means trends are not identified Most marketers do not employ best practice Inadequate timing, frequency and tardiness
Email Marketing & the Law The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (the "Privacy Regulations"), the most important piece of legislation in this field, regulate the transmission of "communications for the purposes of direct marketing by means of electronic mail. The Data Protection Act 1998 regulates emails which contain personal data (e.g. individuals' names - fred.bloggs@company.ltd.uk).
Email Marketing & the Law Voluntary codes (such as the Direct Marketing Association's Code of Practice) and the contractual terms of hosting companies tend to cover a wide range of communications. Some hosting terms, for example, cover all unsolicited commercial emails. Emails sent to corporate subscribers which do not contain any personal information (e.g. admin@company.ltd.uk) are not specifically regulated under English law.
Permissions / Opt-out & Opt-in Unsolicited emails sent for direct marketing purposes will be unlawful unless the recipient has in some way consented to receive the email. Opt-outs, opt-ins and soft opt-ins An opt-out is where the email recipient has been given, at the point at which the contact information was submitted, the opportunity to opt-out from receiving the emails, and has not done so (e.g. by not ticking a box in an HTML form). An opt-in is where the email recipient has specifically indicated a desire to receive the emails at the point at which the contact information was submitted (e.g. by ticking a box in an HTML form).
Soft Opt-in There is also a special form of consent under the Privacy Regulations called the "soft opt-in". This applies where (i) an email address was obtained in the course of the sale or negotiations for the sale of a product or service to that recipient, (ii) the direct marketing is in respect of similar products and services, and (iii) the recipient was given the opportunity to "opt out" when the details were collected and with subsequent communication.
FACT It DOUBLES your chance of someone saying yes if you give them the option to say no REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY
Consent & Law Under the Data Protection Act 1998 is that opt-out consent is generally sufficient in the case of relevant marketing emails (i.e. those that involve the processing of personal data). However, opt-in consent is required for any direct marketing communications which involve the processing of sensitive personal data, such as data relating to ethnicity, politics or medical conditions. Check the requirements of your email service providers terms and conditions. These often required a more stringent standard of consent than the general law.
Privacy Policy If you are collecting contact information which includes or may include personal data, certain information must be notified to the data subject: the identity of the data controller; the purpose(s) for which the data are intended to be processed; and any further information which is necessary, having regard to the specific circumstances in which the data are or are to be processed, to enable processing in respect of the data subject to be fair. The most common way to meet these requirements in the website context is through the use of fair processing notices and privacy policies.
Info to be contained within emails Companies Act requires all business emails sent by a corporation to include the following information: company registration number; place of registration; and registered office address.
Email Good Practice Information Commissioner good practice advice: Try to go for opt-in-based marketing as much as possible. Provide a statement of use when you collect details. Make sure you clearly explain what individuals' details will be used for. Do not have consent boxes already ticked. Provide a simple and quick method for customers to opt out of marketing messages at no cost other than that of sending the message. Promptly comply with opt-out requests from everyone, not just those from individuals. Have a system in place to deal with complaints about unwanted marketing. When you receive an opt-out request, suppress the individual or company details rather than deleting them. (This way you will have a record of who not to contact.)
Building Your Audience Your audience list must have integrity Try to avoid buying or leasing audience lists Maximise opt in opportunities on your website Give your audience the opportunity to segment Your own list is cheaper, better quality and adds value to your business
Building Your Audience Amazing creatives are wasted if you don't consider the audience Keep registration simple Always send trigger e-mail to acknowledge sign up
FACT On average, 63% of email lists are inactive
Re-engage The Audience
Improving Likelihood of Sign Up Ask people to register specific interests Communicate value of signing up Make sign up element a prominent element across website Indicate sign up means early notification of early promotions/exclusives and offers
Improving Likelihood of Sign Up Integrate sign up into competitions Offer incentive for signing up Include past copies of e-mail campaigns on website Allow people to modify subscriptions
Improving Likelihood of Sign Up FREE content e.g Personalization e.g...
Segmentation Adapting the message to specific audiences will increase conversions Ways to segment your audience Demographic data Profile data Email and website click activity Buying activity
Segmentation Examples Frequent customers Holiday only customers New customers One time customers Lapsed customers Discount customers Recent customers Subscribers that click but don t buy Non Responders Browse Behaviour
FACT You have a 90 day window from sign up to devotee
E-mail Marketing Anatomy Retain brand image in e-mail Contain main message at start of e-mail to appear in preview pane Consider subject lines & length Simple e-mail specific design, not generic website methodology
FACT 47% of all email opens are now mobile opens
E-mail Marketing Design Bump font size up to improve readability Include CTA s above the fold Position tappable elements in the middle of the screen Single column design is best for mobile Ensure accurate picture dimensions so as to avoid pixelation
FACT There is a 58% open rate on emails with a subject line of less than 10 characters e.g - Hey or Wow
Email Subject Lines 70 characters & above = increased engagement/clicks 49 characters or less = increased open rates 50 70 characters = DEAD ZONE
Email Copy Subject line - succinct and not clever or misleading Get to the point Use the preview pane to communicate main message Tone - write accordingly for your audience Avoid lengthy messages - keep copy concise and direct to relevant website pages
Email Copy Ensure the copy is RELEVANT Personalisation is key to develop a relationship Ensure a consistent 'from' and 'reply to' address Avoid repetition - space is at a premium
Sending The E-mail Test, test and test again before sending Test design and acceptance Ensure a relevant intriguing subject line Initiate a spam test Include multi variance testing if available Time and day of week depend on proposition
FACT 8pm 12am is the OPTIMAL time to send emails across the entire web i.e not industry/audience specific
Analysis of E-mail Impact Ensure integration with an analytics tool Extended Trackability Set goals for target audience E-mail opens and click-throughs Monitor most popular links View subsequent user journeys On e-commerce websites, monitor sales volume in relation to the campaign
Unsubscribers Listen to your unsubscribers! They will tell you what they don t want Maybe they just want less emails? Maybe they only want certain information? Maybe they want to change their address? Ask them why they want out
Unsubscribers Give them some alternatives: Sign up to the RSS feed Follow us on Twitter Become a fan Sign up for the catalog
Top Tips Tip #1: sell your email program Tip #2: Show what they can expect Tip #3: tell them why you ask this question Tip #4: ask them what they re interested in Tip #5: welcome them! Tip #6: ask them to update their profile Tip #7: reward them for signing up! Tip #8: introduce them to your offering
Thank You! carly @ ambitiondigital.com @CarlyAmbition 02890 315355