2. 5 key factors driving the email revolution
1 Rapid Deployment
email dramatically decreases the amount of time it takes marketers to develop and
deploy a direct marketing campaign.
2 Lower Cost of Delivery
email marketing campaigns eliminate postage, paper and printing that, according to
Forrester Research, account for 60% of the cost of a direct mail marketing campaign.
3 Increased Response Rates
The targeted and personalized nature of permission based email marketing
campaigns generates significantly higher response rates than traditional direct
marketing campaigns.
4 Improved Tracking and Analysis, Flexibility, Manageability
email marketers can easily retrieve and analyze campaign results and frequently
change their marketing campaigns in response to market factors and consumer
feedback.
5 Greater Return on Investment
The cost-effectiveness, speed of delivery and increased response rates associated
with email marketing campaigns result in a greater return on investment than
traditional direct marketing campaigns.
11 October 2012 | 2
3. How to use email marketing?
Sales Generation Traffic Building Relationship mkt
E-MAIL MARKETING
Promo‟s E-newsletters
ACTIVATE THE CLIENT MARKET ACTIVATE PROSPECT MARKET
11 October 2012 | 3
4. Belgian Email Marketing Benchmarks
Absolute metrics and figures delivered by:
WDM/Permesso.be
Neckermann
Mobistar
Concentra
EmailGarage
Rabobank
De Persgroep
Addemar
11 October 2012 | 4
12. The anatomy of an email
The constitution of an email is determined by
3 main parts:
• The address fold
• The Johnson Box
• The body of the email
Every one of these 3 items will have a major
impact on the success of your email campaign.
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13. The address fold
The address fold holds 4 main components:
• The from address
• The from name
• The reply address
• The subject line
Each of these 4 components have a particular impact on the success of your email
marketing campaign.
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14. The from address & from name
The from Address
• The from address is a brand builder
• Using the same from address in every campaign will have an impact on the
reputation of your IP. People will have the ability to white list you according to
the from address.
• Using a personalized from address can have a positive impact on how people
perceive your brand. This is mainly true for B2C campaigns.
The from Name
• The from name is even more a brand builder. It mostly caries the name of the
company.
• If possible, personalize the from name as if it is coming from a real person. This
will have a positive impact on the brand perception.
11 October 2012 | 14
15. The reply address & subject line
The reply address
• It is important to use a valid reply address instead of the well-known no-reply.
People can react via a reply (and you certainly do not want to lose that).
• In the case of a malfunctioning of, e.g. the unsubscribe mechanism, not having a
no-reply is crucial. It is a common practice to ask for an unsubscribe via a simple
reply. A no-reply function will only motivate the receiver to hit the spam button.
This spam function is an important factor on measuring the reputation of your IP.
The subject line
• The subject line is the most important component of your address fold.
• Include a clear call to action in your subject line.
• Using values, discounts, urgency or exclusive deals will increase the effectiveness
of your subject line.
• Consider the subject line as a Twitter post. It has to be short, effective and
teasing.
• The subject line is what makes you open the email and start reading it.
11 October 2012 | 15
16. Measuring the effectiveness of the
address fold.
• To measure the effectiveness of your address fold you will have to look at the
unique opened ratio of your email marketing campaign.
• The easiest way is to take the number of sent emails, subtract the bounces, and
finally measure the number of opens on the remaining number of emails.
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17. The Johnson box
The Johnson box is the aria that is exposed when opening your email and looking at
the preview pane. This space will therefore determine if people will keep on reading
your email message.
• Be aware of the 5-30 rule. You only have 5 seconds to convince your reader to
keep reading your email 30 seconds longer. All this takes place in the Johnson
box.
• The Johnson box must therefore include a clear call-to-action.
Do I have to read, click, fill in a survey, buy or register for an event?
• Be sure to include several links in your Johnson box.
• If possible, start your message with a name personalization.
• Be sure not to use an image only banner, or people will only see a red cross of
images disabled in it.
• Therefore, always include text links in your Johnson box.
• In newsletters, it is also advised to include bookmarks in the Johnson box. These
bookmarks are text links referring to the actual content of the email. They are
also considered to give you an instant impression of the exact content of the
email.
11 October 2012 | 17
18. Measuring the effectiveness of the
Johnson box.
• The Johnson box is typically one of the most difficult areas to measure.
Measuring the effectiveness of your Johnson box will require some analytical
insights on your data.
• To closest you can get in measuring the effectiveness of the Johnson box is to
look to the opened ratio and to look to the actual click-through ratio of the
email. Also the click-through within this area is to be taken into account.
• If your opened ratio is significantly higher than your click-through ratio, this
could indicate that your Johnson box wasn’t clear enough and people weren’t
motivated to go through the actual body of the email, or that the actual content
of the email wasn’t relevant enough.
11 October 2012 | 18
19. The body of the email
The email body is certainly the most important element of your email campaign. It is
this space that will determine the final effectives of your email marketing campaign.
The email body is all about relevance - bringing the right message to the right person
at the right moment and in the right tone of voice.
• The only purpose of the email body is to generate a click; the actual message has
to be written on a landing page.
• Make your body copy scanable by using white spaces and using bold and italic to
emphasis relevant items.
• The body message should fulfill the promise you made in your Johnson box.
• Include several links in your email body.
• When using links, try not to use the “read more” principle, but include a real call
to action in that link.
• Images should only be used with moderation and only if they give added value to
the content
• Your email body content should be readable and make sense even with disabled
images.
11 October 2012 | 19
20. Measuring the effectiveness of email
body.
• The effectiveness of the email body is measured by the actual unique click-
through.
• Take the number of unique opens on your message and compare this with the
unique click-through of the message. If the gap between unique opened and
unique click-through is too high, your message was not relevant enough or the
structure/programming went wrong.
11 October 2012 | 20
21. Email Design Tips
• Keep HTML emails to 500-600 pixels in width
• Design your emails with a minimum of images
• The use of flash and JavaScript in emails is not advised
• Beware of special characters in your emails
• It is not advised to use attachments
• Always use a valid & consistent reply address
• If possible use sniffing
• Do not design and send your email as one big image !!
• Make first URL & CTA visible without scrolling
• Don’t forget the preview pane
11 October 2012 | 21
22. Email Design Tips
Subject line: tell, don‟t sell!
• Is your from name recognizable?
• Is the key message clear in the first 50-60 characters?
• Does it describe what the email is about?
• Does it describe how the reader will benefit when he opens the email?
• Does it entice readers to open the email?
11 October 2012 | 22
24. Creative ways to construct winning emails
There must be a difference
Between high & low click through
Between high & low sales conversion
Between high & low customer brand experience
Between high & low audience email acceptance
What are the tricks?
What makes the difference between “huge success” and “not
bad”
11 October 2012 | 24
25. There must be a difference
Step #1
Look at & learn from magazine
covers
11 October 2012 | 25
26. Learn from magazine covers
Overkill of messages
Attract audience attention
Instant interaction
+ 50 years experience
11 October 2012 | 26
27. Learn from magazine covers
2 key message + a few supporting 6 equal visual messages
“What‟s in it for me”? = anwer at a glance “What‟s in it for me”? = not appealing enough
Design supporting the message One-size-fits-all design
11 October 2012 | 27
28. Learn from magazine covers
Multiple anchors & scanable design Low text accessibility
Only relevant words: facts, figures & benefits Title is not clear enough, not tangible
Good balance between image and copy Less clearer link between image & title
11 October 2012 | 28
29. There must be a difference
Step #2
Treat your email like a magazine
cover
11 October 2012 | 29
31. Construct winning emails
Navigation
including links to high valued sections & CIC
11 October 2012 | 31
32. Construct winning emails
Image + copy + key benefits
- only relevant, differentiating facts &
figures
- use of short headlines
Black & white lifestyle images
of moving people
to support the product
pictures, not distract from them
Support the product offer by
value added messages
11 October 2012 | 32
37. Lessons learned
- Your email = like a magazine cover
Limit copy to the essence
Focus on the key proposition
Invite reader to discover & to participate
Balance between copy & design
- Know who you are talking to
- Create a persona
- Talk to thém
- Define your campaign objective
Sales promo, informational news, emotional product launch,…
Create multiple formats, supporting 1 brand
E 11 October 2012 | 37
38. Always keep in mind…
Step #3
Email your audience.
Not yourself.
Not your boss.
11 October 2012 | 38
39. Legal aspects
In spamming issues, the European legislator has chosen for the
opt-in system. This means that commercial prospection is only
allowed when the recipient has given his explicit permission to
receive such communication.
Email addresses collected before the opt-in law became effective
in March 2003, can be contacted once more to obtain the
permission of the consumer. The preconditions are that the email
addresses were collected in a bona fide way, that the message
itself is non-commercial and that the consumer has the
opportunity to give his prior permission to receive commercial emails until
December 31st, 2003
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40. Legal aspects
Three obligations in Opt-in
• Prior consent
• Mandatory information
• Possibility to be removed from the commercial mailing list
ATTENTION!
The opt-in laws of the recipient's country apply
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41. Legal aspects
Two exceptions in Opt-in:
1. Own clients provided
• The information was collected directly from the addressee as
part of the sale of a product or service
• The contact information is only used for similar products and
services provided by the company itself
• At the moment of collection of the information, the client needs
to be able to object easily and at no cost to any further use of
its information
2. Communication to legal entities provided:
• The contact details are unpersonal (info@emailgarage.com)
• The products or services promoted are intended for the legal
entity and not for any other person
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42. Legal aspects
Mandatory information in Opt-in
• Each commercial mailing needs to be clearly identified as being
« publicity » and identify who send the mailing (you may not hide this
information, nor use the identity of a third party)
• Each addressee needs to be informed that at all times it can object
easily and at no cost to any further mailings; of the electronic means to
object (e.g. via e-mail, via a hyperlink, website)
Example : Text at the end of each e-mail:
“EmailGarage respects your privacy. You can ask not to receive the
EmailGarage communication at any time. You can do this by clicking
here,"Unsubscribe". Thereafter, you will no longer receive any
unsolicited communication from EmailGarage.”
11 October 2012 | 42
43. Legal aspects
Possible sanctions for spam
• Not mentioning the mandatory information: fine of 250 – 10.000 EUR
• No prior authorisation: fine of 250 – 250.000 EUR
(in case of bad faith the fine may be doubled)
• Possible emotional or commercial damages
11 October 2012 | 43
44. Thank you
eTale BVBA
Kenny Van Beeck
kenny@etale.be
tel + 32 476 29 95 49
http://www.etale.be
http://www.linkedin.com/in/kennyvanbeeck
http://twitter.com/Kvanbeeck
11 October 2012 | 44
