6 WAYS TO INCREASE PARTICIPATION THROUGH EMAIL Datis Mohsenipour 1
ABOUT ME MY ACTIVE IS Kickboxing Snowboarding Travel Friends Family 2
3 MY EXPERIENCE
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DO YOU RECEIVE DO EMAILS YOU ON OWN YOUR A SMART PHONE? PHONE? 5
77% of consumers over the age of 15 prefer receiving promotional messages to their email inbox over direct mail, text messages and Facebook. Source: Marketing Charts 6
BENEFITS OF EMAIL Email marketing: Is easy to use Can reach thousands of people Helps highlight individual programs, program categories and special events Communicates updates about facilities and community happenings Drives traffic directly to your website or registration portal 7
FOUNDATION Understanding the purpose of your email + list segmenting 8
FOUNDATION Ask yourself two questions: 1. What is the purpose of your email? 2. Who is the audience? 9
YOUR EMAIL S PURPOSE What is it? To inform customers about 1. Closures & holidays 2. Upcoming events 3. Facility improvements 4. Upcoming programs 5. Program registration and deadlines 10
11 Limit the focus of your email to one topic Don t drown your customers in information!
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LIST HYGIENE More contacts doesn t always = more opens Ask your self the following questions: 1. Is the email general enough for it to relate to everyone on your list 2. Is the focus on specific program categories 3. Is your list actually interested in your email? Segmenting your customers into lists is a fundamental step in email marketing. 14
LIST HYGIENE Why create lists? 1. Makes email content more relevant to the recipients 2. Helps increase open/click through rates 3. Shortens lengthy emails by allowing you to focus on less topics 4. Reduces number of unsubscribes Connect the right people with the right content and you will find greater success in your email marketing initiatives. 15
LIST BUILDING Segmenting Your Lists Broad Top-level categories: Fitness, Aquatics, Arts & Crafts Age: Children, Youth, Adult, Senior Medium Age + Broad Category: Youth Fitness, Seniors Aquatics etc. Program categories: Baseball, Tae Kwon Do, Zumba 16
LIST BUILDING Segmenting Your Lists Detailed Program Categories + age group: Kids soccer, Adult co-ed football, Teen Swimming Instructor/staff Keep your instructors/staff in the loop by forwarding them copies of your outbound emails 17
LIST EXAMPLES Filter by Age Groups Children Youth Adult Senior Filter by Activity Categories Arts & Crafts Aquatics Fitness Outdoor Camps Special Events Technology 18
19 CONTENT IS KING
64% OF USERS OPEN 247 EMAILS BILLION BASED EMAILS ON THE ARE SENT SUBJECT EACH LINE DAY (RADICATI GROUP) (HUBSPOT) 20
21 Your email s subject line is a critical component as it is the first and possibly the last impression your customer will get of your email.
SUBJECT LINES Good or bad? 6 programs to get you fit this summer Summer time is here! Did you hear about our new fall programs? Only 2 spots left in our amazing fall fitness programs - register TODAY!!! Reserve your spot for these exciting new programs 22
SUBJECT LINES What you should be doing: Ensure subject line is relevant to email content Keep subject lines below 59 characters Include CTAs (calls to action) Add quantifiable measures in subject line 23
INCLUDE COMPANY 73% NAME OF IN USERS FROM FIELD OPEN EMAILS BASED ON THE SENDER (HUBSPOT) Datis ACTIVE Network 24
SUBJECT LINES Things you shouldn t be doing: Adding unnecessary p.u.n.c.t.u.a.t.i.o.n Using spammy terms such as act now, amazing, call now, free offer etc Create vague subject lines 25
SO THEY VE OPENED IT NOW WHAT? 26
EMAIL CONTENT Text, images & buttons - Avoid multi-column formats - Keep emails short & sweet - Never forget about the topic at hand - Your first paragraph should highlight the most important points of your email - Try to include a text link CTA as well as a button CTA in top portion of your email 27
EMAIL CONTENT Text, images & buttons - Make the button one of the first things seen when the email is opened - Avoid using button as images - most email clients will block them by default - Instead use table cell with a different colored background and larger text - Include CTA in multiple locations throughout the email 28
EMAIL CONTENT Images Follow this rule: 75% text 25% images Images don t appear by default on most email clients. Avoid placing large images at the top of your email Don t rely on imagery to get your point across 29
EMAIL CONTENT Get Personal! Use merge fields to add a touch of personalization to your email Hi [First Name], Dear [Title] [Last Name], etc.. If using ACTIVE Net Email Application Login Name merge field can be used to remind users about their credentials 30
OPTIMIZING FOR PREVIEW PANE Outlook preview pane - Outlook users can set their preview pane in 2 default settings - Horizontal - Vertical 31
OPTIMIZING FOR PREVIEW PANE Outlook preview pane - 53% of email viewers first see your emails in the preview pane 32
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34 MOBILE OPTIMIZATION
80% OF USERS READ EMAILS ON A MOBILE DEVICE Source: Hubspot 35
MOBILE OPTIMIZATION Design Single and Double column designs work best with mobile Don t include too many links side-by-side (makes it difficult to click on mobile) Avoid including lots of images All phones except ios phones block images by default Want to know how it looks? Test it! 36
CHECK CHECK TESTING CHECK!!! CONTENT 37
TESTING ALWAYS TEST BEFORE SENDING One of the most crucial steps in any email marketing campaign Always send a copy to yourself to ensure everything is tip top Try sending to multiple email clients as well (Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo Mail) (http://www.emailonacid.com/) Test all links (5 10 15 times) 38
TESTING Testing in ACTIVE Net 1. Create test email list that includes your Outlook email & personal Email 2. Create email template 3. Once complete, save email template 39
TESTING Testing in ACTIVE Net 4. Send to your test email list 5. Go through the email with a fine tooth comb 6. If everything looks good, reopen email and send to desired list 40
41 SPAM
CAN-SPAM ACT - Only send emails to people who opt in to receiving emails - Your email HAS TO have an unsubscribe option on it. It s the law! - Include your physical mailing address - Never, ever, ever email someone who has unsubscribed from your list 42
You can be fined up to $300 per email and could face criminal charges 43
SPAM FILTERS Refresher Subject lines are crucial : avoid exclamation marks, unnecessary punctuation & all caps Avoid spammy terms such as: act now, amazing, call now, free offer, Dear Friend, Weight Loss, Affordable, Save $ Symbols in general Topic in subject line must match content of email 44
SPAM FILTERS Other things to keep in mind Never send mass emails by copying lists into your mail clients BCC or CC Avoid purchasing customer lists Be careful never to use white fonts on white backgrounds 45
SPAM FILTERS Other things to keep in mind Use spell check! Avoid including attachments Don t bombard people 46
47 CHECK OUT WWW.EMAILSPAMTEST.COM/
48 LINK TRACKING
ANALYZING RESULTS Stats Matter! Paid third-party applications such as MailChimp, Constant Contact & Vertical Response give you analytics such as: Open rate (percentage of people who opened your email) Clickthrough rate (percentage of people that clicked on a link) Bounce rate (percentage of emails that did not receive the email) Unsubscribe rate 49
INDUSTRY BENCHMARK MailChimp Industry benchmarks for Government sector: 45.8% open rate 3.6% click through rate 0.139% unsubcribe rate 50
ANALYZING RESULTS ACTIVE Net Email App Use www.bitly.com to track links within the ACTIVE Net email application Bit.ly is a Free URL shortener that allows you to track click through rates and sources Determines if the source was through email, social channels, website etc. Can tell you location of person who clicked and other great information 51
52 WRAP-UP
All successful email campaigns begin with a solid foundation 53
54 Content is King!
Cater to the mobile world 55
56 Always Test your content
57 Don t be a spammer!
Measure your success! 58
59 THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME!
ONLINE SERVICES TEAM We re here to help! The Online Services Team is dedicated to helping you fill your classes and increase your revenue using the latest marketing best practices for Parks & Recreation Organizations. This is a free service available to all Hosted Class users and ACTIVEnet users. This complimentary service includes: 1 on 1 consultations Website reviews Free marketing materials Email campaign planning & more Contact OnlineServicesTeam@ActiveNetwork.com and book your meeting today! 60
I m here for the remainder of the conference If you would like to discuss or review any of your strategies in-person 61
LEARN. CONNECT. GROW. 3 CLOSING THOUGHTS 1. Ask us questions 2. Schedule a 1:1 3. Let us know what you think! 62
63 THANK YOU!