Turn Your Email Program From Good to Great Justin Helmig & Andrew Kordek
JUSTIN HELMIG VP of Marketing at StrikeIron StrikeIron is the cloud leader with the most mature and reliable Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) platform on the market. StrikeIron offers an Email Verification Solution that is the most innovative and accurate solution, offering a reduction in email bounces and delivery failures by 90% or more. Experiences the same pain points that all email marketers face. StrikeIron increases email deliverability to help marketers avoid spam filters and blacklisting. Solution integrated into retailers, agencies and ESPs: Swarovski, 24 Hour Fitness, Party City, Toshiba, HubSpot, YesMail, Epsilon and MORE. Predicts that Clemson will win the national championship
ANDREW KORDEK Co-Founder & Chief Strategist of Trendline Interactive Trendline Interactive is one of the only agencies in the world dedicated to email marketing. We bring insights from our industry leading research to life through a full suite of strategic, creative and vendoragnostic technical services that drive relevant messaging and maximize subscriber value Leads strategy for Trendline clients, touching all aspects of email programs. Prior to Trendline, managed all aspects of email marketing for Groupon, fostering its success as the fastest growing company in history. Prior to Groupon, was responsible for strategy, execution, and analysis of transactional and trigger-based email for Sears Holdings. Prior to Sears, created and managed all of the global email and interactive marketing for Quest Software In his spare time, he loves to check-in on Foursquare 30 times a day.
Agenda Introductions The Relevancy Challenge More emails. Less email. More revenue. Testing for greatness Importance of being clean Analytics for champions Wrap Up and Q&A
Email is the most used, most valuable, most profitable and highly prized real estate on the Internet today.
58% of online consumers begin the day with email.* *ExactTarget/Trendline Research: Subscribers, Fans, & Followers - exacttarget.com/sff
EMAIL IS THRIVING
Direct Mail Telephone IM Email Direct Mail Telephone IM Email Direct Mail Telephone Mobile Email SMS IM Email Direct Mail Telephone Addressable Voice Mobile Email SMS + MMS IM Email Direct Mail Telephone <1990 1990 s 1999 2000 s 2012 TV Radio Print Display TV Radio Print Display Website Search Online Display TV Radio Print Display Website Search Online Display Paid Search Landing Pages Microsites Online Video Webinars Affiliate Marketing TV Radio Print Display Website Search Online Display Paid Search Landing Pages Microsites Online Video Affiliate Marketing Webinars Blogs RSS Podcasts Contextual Wikis Mobile Web MySpace TV Radio Print Display Website Search Online Display Paid Search Landing Pages Microsites Online Video Affiliate Marketing Webinars Blogs RSS Podcasts Contextual Wikis Mobile Web MySpace Behavioral Facebook Twitter YouTube Virtual Worlds Augmented Reality Flickr Foursquare Google+ Pinterest
TO CUT THROUGH THE NOISE WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT MOTIVATES CONSUMERS
Importance of Being Relevant Email Open Rate Level of Engagement Over Time Relevant Email Batch-and-Blast Email Time > Customer engagement decreases faster and stabilizes later when messaging is: o Not relevant o Low value o Too frequent Keep engagement high by driving all three
Why is it so hard? 1. Consumers want to engage through email, so long as they feel there is something of value for them. Email is great for deals and sales. For example, I like getting information on airline deals. The body of the email tells me which deals are available and where they go from there I can click through and access more comprehensive information online!
2. Your competition in the inbox is every email that is more relevant than your email Email let s me immediately scan subject lines and clean out irrelevant or uninteresting emails, leaving only what I am interested in.
Why is it so hard? 3. People s interests change over time. Sometimes it s really not anything they did, it s just that I lost interest over the years.
Where do you start?
Email Program/ROI Welcome Promotional Email Transactional Triggered Transactional Retention
Abandon Cart 2 Retention Tier C-2 Thank You Browse 1 Welcome Anniversary ereceipts Browse 2 Event Triggered Shipping Confirm Social Welcome Promotional Email Win-Back Tier C-3 Abandon Cart 1 Retention Tier A-1 Win-Back Tier B-3 egift Card Browse 3 Survey Order Confirm Browse 4 Category Post- Purchase On Boarding Series
Case Study Abandon Cart 546%
Only a third of responding companies (32%) carry out a regular amount of testing for email marketing. One quarter of organizations say they infrequently carry out testing, while 13% don t test at all. - Econsultancy Email Marketing Census 2011 (2011)
101 Things you could be testing
Primary Testing Options Scientific Testing for Response Optimization A / B SPLIT (Beginner) MULTIVARIATE (Intermediate) D.O.E. (e.g., TAGUCHI) (Advanced) A B A B C D E F 1 Factor x 2 Op2ons 1 Ad Tested = 2 Test Results 3-4 Factors x 2 Op2ons Each >10 Ads Tested = 100+ Test Results 7-10 Factors X 2-6 Op2ons Each ~ 18 Ads Tested = 2,000+ Test Results
Strengths & Weaknesses Split Tes2ng Strengths Simple to Execute Easy to Understand Fast Results Mul2variate Tes2ng Strengths Mul2ple variables Full Interac2ons Measured Easy to Understand DOE Tes2ng Strengths Test lots of factors simultaneously Best recipe delivered Fast Results Weaknesses Limited Capabili2es Single Factor Tes2ng an extensive set of factors Weaknesses Limited # of factors Analysis time Weaknesses Complex setup Creative time Multiple executions required (2 minimum) Voodoo factor
Case Study: Taguchi Test Test Design 10 key performance factors 18 creative versions 10,368 theoretical permutations Results Click through increased 445%!
Importance of a clean list Define a clean list Define inactive Aged email addresses can cripple you Inactive subscribers hurt deliverability rates Reduce response rates = loss of revenue ISP s view of inactives is different from that of a marketer Re-engagement takes patience and experience Clean list = no trouble on the deliverability front
Analytics that are actionable Making your email analytics actionable can make you a smarter marketer Identifying trends and patterns and knowing when to change is crucial Move beyond the basics of email engagement numbers Never trust your gut..numbers don t lie Make analytics be proactive rather than reactive
Email Engagement Analytics Open Rate CTR Click Thru Rate CTOR Click to open rate Unsubscribe Rate Spam complaint rate Revenue per email Churn rate List hurdle rate Conversion by source Time to inactivity
Email Disengagement Analytics Bounce Rate Soft Hard Complaints: how many people tagged your message as spam Email delivery is dependent on email reputation and inbox placement rate
Email Isn t Black & White Email marketing is many shades of gray Spam Traps vs. Honey Pots Spam s Cousin: Bacn aka Graymail
Start Clean: Properly Acquire Email Lists Double Opt-in Set clear expectations: content, frequency Clear Exit: always have an opt-out
Stay Clean 30% of email addresses change each year Opted-in lists are plagued by: Fatfingering typo mistakes Disposable email addresses Fraudulent addresses Natural degradation people change jobs, names, etc.
How to Clean a List Stay-clean strategy demands an ongoing email verification process at least quarterly Batch vs. Real-Time DIY and Fail.focus on your content & look for a vendor with core competency in data quality and list hygiene
Summary Remember the axiom garbage in, garbage out Outdated lists waste your bandwidth and raise a red flag to ISPs Email verification is critical ongoing process
Q&A e: andrew@trendlineinteractive.com @andrewkordek e: justin.helmig@strikeiron.com @jhelmig or @strikeiron