Email Marketing Trends 2009

Email 2009: Trends and Solutions in a Tough Economy AMA Reno-Tahoe Chapter Luncheon Loren McDonald VP, Industry Relations Silverpop

Obama Inauguration Speech

The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works - whether it helps families find jobs at a decent wage, care they can afford, a retirement that is dignified.

Where the answer is yes, we intend to move forward. Where the answer is no, programs will end.

Email Change Begins Today!

The question we ask today is not whether our list is too big or too small, but whether it delivers - whether it helps your company increase revenue at a decent cost and retain customers .

Where the answer is yes, we intend to increase our spend . Where the answer is no, marketing programs will end.

There are many challenges,

but YOU can build a better

email marketing program!

Trends Shaping Email in 2009

7 Key Trends Affecting Email Marketing in 2009

Beyond Customer Control – to Customer Expectations

Channel Explosion and Consumer Preferences

The Email Volume Overload

Customer Churn and Inactivity

Most Prospects Are Long Term

Consumer Adoption of Multiple Email “Devices”

Growth of Social Networks and Social Media

1. Beyond Customer Control to Customer Expectation – The Amazon Effect

Choose if They Want to Opt-in …

Determine If, When,/Where, What, How They Read … If What When/Where How

Determine If/When to Change Their Preferences

Email Address

Format

Frequency

Which Emails

When to Report as Spam …

When They’d Prefer Another Channel … C

And When They Want the Relationship to End …

… and now – SUPER EXPECTATIONS

Your Competitors Are Creating Great Expectations

“ Spray-N-Pray”, “Batch-N-Blast” – Low Relevancy = Goodbye NO

Frequency is out…

Behavior is in…

Lifecycle

Trigger

Click Stream

Move to Behavior-Based Programs

Cataloger shifted to

behavior-based

series after

key purchase:

Warranty

Accessories

Related products

Control & Expectations = Potential for More Engagement

Embrace subscriber

power

Enable users to

design and control

the communications

“ My Email” is powerful

concept

2. Channel Explosion and Consumer Preferences

Communications/Marketing Channel Explosion = Choices and Preferences To 1990 Newspapers Direct Mail Telephone Radio TV Fax Mobile Phones 1990-2000 Internet Email Instant Messaging Search 2000-2008 Webinars/Webcasts RSS feeds Blogs Podcasts Social Networks SMS Video Sharing (YouTube) Mobile Applications Twitter

Changing Demographics When was the last time any of you rode your skateboard to work?

Monthly Text Messages

Daughter 700+

Dad 20-

Text Generation is About to Hit the Workforce…

Facebook generation (18-24) = 10% of U.S.

… But Newspaper Generation Still Rules 72% of U.S. population will be 20+ in 2010

And Email Still Rocks for Business Communications

Shifts - Not The End of Email

Demographics and channel preferences will cause some shifts in email

Flight alerts

Phone > Email

Email > Text

Again, preference centers are KEY!

3. The Email Volume Overload

What’s the Total Impact of Frequency 5 times per month 12 times per month Revenue – Churn – Reputation….

Retailer Case Study – Increased Frequency Unsubscribes and spam complaints went through the roof

Financial Impact of Increased Mailings

4. Your List Is Shrinking & Going Inactive

List Churn and Inactives – The Good and Bad News

The bad news…

A typical list will lose 1/3 of its members each year

Bounces + spam complaints + unsubscribes = 2-4% / month

25% to 80% of your list is inactive

Subscriber has not opened or clicked in specific time frame (e.g., 6, 12 months+)

The good news…

Churn can be reduced

Some inactives can be reengaged

You control most of your destiny

Engage and Delight…Every Step of the Way

Dating

Build trust with transparency

Preferences on opt-in

Engagement

Welcome programs

Bring the flowers

Marriage

Deliver on expectations

Preference updates

Move to lifecycle, trigger and behavioral-based programs

Divorce

Provide alternatives to unsubscribing

Enable Preferences…Manage Expectations

Get Them Started Right Away

Welcome Email

Reiterates value proposition

Communicates when first email should be expected

Offers opportunity to start getting engaged with the brand

Win Inactive Subscribers Back

Update their preferences

Survey subscribers their interests

Try a new approach to your subject lines

Best of content/offers

Behavior-based emails

Why Recipients Unsubscribe

Too Frequent

Irrelevant Content/Offers

Make Unsubscribing & Staying Easy

Missing:

Frequency Option

RSS or catalogue option

Contact info.

5. Most of Your Prospects Are Long Term – The Unconverted Majority

B2B: 70% of Leads are Long-Term Opportunities

82.5% are ready to buy or will buy

70% are long-term opportunities – Marketing Territory

An estimated 70-90% of leads generated by marketing are never followed-up with by sales Source: MarketingSherpa

B2B Email Drip Programs Nurtures Prospects Email 1 Telesales Email 2 Direct Mail Email 3 Telesales Day 1 Day 8 Day 12 Day 14 Day 2 Drips: CTRs of 3X

PPC: 95%+ Don’t Convert Immediately If avg. PPC conversion rate is 2%-5% - what happens to the other 95%+?

Most Common Mistake: No Easy and Obvious Sign Up

6. Your Emails Are Being Viewed in a Growing Number of Environments

Same Email… May Be Read In Multiple Environments Web Browser PC client Mobile Client Social Network RSS Feed Web Version

An Email in Every Pocket

Global mobile market subscriber base reached 3.25 billion in July 07

Current world population is 6.7 billion

Sources: The Mobile World, June 07; The Yankee Group; IDC, Gartner, Canalys 2006

BlackBerry Email & Browser Experience Browser Version BlackBerry Browser Email Version BlackBerry IS installed email client Original Email

7. Email Becomes “Social” – The New Forward to a Friend

Evolution of Viral Email …

Recipient Taken to Social Site Email Subject line becomes “Title” and “Mailing Notes” become the Meta teaser-text to be displayed. Email recipient can add their own comments or endorsements Users can select a thumbnail from some of the images in email, or opt to not include a picture

Friends Are Notified in Their “News Feed” Whit Lanier posted a link: Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week “ This Looks Like a lot of fun” No tickets and no coupons! During Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week, simply make a reservation, show up, and ask your server for the Restaurant Week 3-course prix-fixe menu http://www.opentable.com/blahblahblha_linkypoo%tracking%

11% of the message clicks were on the social share buttons

Generated an additional 1,250 “new” opens.

Assuming that each sharer had 100 friends, we estimate the summary was viewed an additional 61,000 times.

Share to Social in Action

Do Your Emails Need Ketchup?

Ketchup can make almost any food edible, or even pretty tasty!

DISCOUNTS…! are Ketchup!!!!!!!!!!

Messages tailored to individual recipients based on their demographics or behavior

Are your emails personalized?

2. A welcome program that sets expectations and creates value for new subscribers out of the gate and confirms that their decision to opt in to your email program was a good one.

3. Creative subject lines that motivate people to take the action they (and you) want, not just open the email VSL // See a fantastic sixties rock movie you've never heard of VSL // The best classroom drama since 'The Breakfast Club' Best Buys on Ready to Assemble Furniture (Crate & Barrel) Announcing the January White Sale (Kirkwood Mountain Resort) Intriguing OK, and so ….

Cross-Platform Design Tips 4. Emails designed to render well on multiple environments and platforms—PC, Web and mobile

5. Creative and compelling copy that motivates people to want to know more and act

6. A competitively positioned email program, which serves a clear need to recipients relative to your competitors’ offerings.

7. Emails with genuine personality that provide a reason for subscribers to anticipate your next message

8. Emails designed from a user perspective, making it easy for subscribers to find the information and links they need to take the action they want, anything from changing their preferences to buying your latest widget.