Transactional Email Best Practices

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Newsletter/Promotional

Transactional • – – – Note: This is a discussion of common practices, not legal advice. Please consult your attorney.

Transactional Message

Door #1 Door #2 • • • • • • • Source: Jupiter Research “US email Marketing Forecast, 2007 to 2012” Source: Quris, Harris Interactive, Executive Summary Consulting, November 2004 Source: Forrester Research, September 2003

Door #1 Door #2 • • • • • • •

Audio Dial-in: (605) 772-3434, access code 290-690-942

vs. 98% of promotional emails are HTML Source: How top retailers use transactional email, Silverpop, 2006

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Graph Source: Jupiter Research “The Transactional Messaging Imperative,” 2008 n=200 email marketers, US

Assumption Source: Jupiter Research “The Transactional Messaging Imperative,” 2008 n=200 email marketers, US

Not So Good: Subject Line & Copy Vague subject line Devoid of personality

Personality, Scannability & Calls to Action Personalization! Action!! Let users Excellent writing know what they for scannability can/should do next Personality: don’t be afraid of it

Hey, I recognize that logo! “This sender is DomainKeys Familiar site What Happened? verified” navigation Nice use of HTML When including promotional content in transactional Promotional offer in an appropriate messages, make sure the location transactional content gets the prime real estate

Two email sequence Promotional content is below the fold

Promotional Content Doesn’t Have to be Customized Main message clearly communicated in subject line Including and top of photos = message higher avg click- through Great rate (7.1% HTML vs 4.7%) Layout Silverpop’s 2006 study Same “email creative promotional that works” content reiterated

Dynamic Promotional Content Based On Purchase More real estate? More offers!! Customized cross-sell offers

Bad Ratio! Pressing Your Luck Inform me (a second time) that my order has shipped, but with no details LOTS of promotional content The majority of content in transactional messages should be non-promotional

One well placed banner accomplishes: Location and 1) Call to Action prominence 2) List Growth also pushes the 3) Promotion envelope “Banner image” will not show for 1/3 to ½ of recipients”

Find The “Check-in” Link/Button United Check-in Email -7 links - But no check-in

Oops – 2 Images – Link, Logo

Drive Financial Case Study

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Best Practices Checklist

Best Practices Recap/Checklist Organizational Marketing should oversee all emails sent (including transactional) Perform an organization-wide “email audit” to take account of all emails sent out by your organization Technical Use a unique IP address & domain for transactional messages Use Authentication (SPF, DKIM) Make sure messages are sent quickly (preferably <1 minute) Use an informative and easily identifiable “from name” and “from address” Closely track performance metrics like other emails – deliverability, opens, click Different bounce handling(don’t retry soft bounces beyond 24 hours)

Best Practices Recap/Checklist Design - General Use a compelling, relevant and informative subject line Prominently display the details of the transaction Write with personality – don’t be a robot Use “writing for web” best practices - scannability Include a “personal whitelist” request to improve future deliverability Educate customers: anticipate and answer likely questions Include easy-to-find customer support info Let design mirror website experience – include navigation elements Design - Promotional Content Keep it secondary – 20% of content Include photos to increase click-through If capable, customize based on customer info

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Transactional Email Best Practices

by Silverpop on Apr 24, 2009

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