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Creating Killer Emails and Email
Templates
Customer Success Webinar

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About the Presenter
Bill Kent
@ResponseCapture
Current:
• Act-On Professional Services Team
• Account Manager at Response Capture, Inc.
• Demand Generation Strategy; Deep Experience
Creating Lead Nurturing with Marketing
Automation
Past Life:
• Headed up Demand Generation Strategy at the
Linux Foundation and Software Company Axium

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Chat

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Agenda
1. The Fundamentals Always Apply
2. Anatomy of a Great Email
3. Emails That Render Well

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Email is Another Marketing Channel
“Proper list growth and management, alongside engaging, consistently delivered content
are the keys to maximizing email effectiveness.”
- 2013 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Report

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Anatomy of a Great Email
Email Strategy
1. Be Relevant
• Explain Quickly
• Good Segmentation
• Offers that Resonate
2. Get to the Point
• CTA in 1st Sentence
3. Create Urgency

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Anatomy of a Great Email
“From Name” Usage
1. Company Name
• Transactional items
2. Sales Reps
• High-value targets
• Later stages
3. Use Your “Celebrity”

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Anatomy of a Great Email
Subject Lines
1. Useful, Clear, Specific
2. Short & Sweet: 50 Characters or Less
3. Suggest Action
4. [Visually Unique]
5. Exclusivity
Examples:
{Exclusive Webinar Download} Email Best Practices
[Private Act-On Event] Renowned Speaker
Source: Litmus

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Exclusivity in Subject Lines: % Increase
Source: Worldata

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Anatomy of a Great Email
Headlines
Capture Interest in 15 Words or 2-8 Seconds*
1. Valuable Offer / Proposition
2. Keywords for Target Market
3. Incentive to take action
*MarketingSherpa
Example:
Free eBook – Download 12 Secrets to Building Better Email Lists
Offer
KeywordsIncentive

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Anatomy of a Great Email
Content Strategies
1. The Five Bs
2. Digestible Content
3. Be Human
4. Back it Up:
• Market Data
• Testimonials
5. Humor

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Anatomy of a Great Email
Call-to-Actions
1. Verbs / Action Words
2. Make it Personal Get Your Free eBook
3. Curiosity
4. Quantify Time
5. Sprinkle Throughout: 3-5 Links
6. Repeat

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Anatomy of a Great Email
ALT Tags
Emails without ALT text
for offers have a 14%
lower click-rate
Source: Worldata

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Anatomy of a Great Email
Styled ALT Text
Source: Litmus

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Mobile Opens Continue to Climb
“Nearly half of all emails (48%) are
now opened on a mobile device and
80% of consumers delete emails that
don’t render well on mobile.”
Source: Litmus

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Greatest Impact on Email Marketing
Pervasiveness of Mobile Smartphones and Tablets
Source: 2013 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey

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Barriers to Top Challenges
Source: 2013 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey
Inadequate Staffing Resources and Expertise

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Strategies for Tackling Mobile

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Emails that Render Well on Mobile
Thinking “Mobile First”
1. Larger Fonts: 14px body; 22px headlines
2. Email Size: 320-550px wide
3. Buttons: Big, touch-friendly (44x44px)
4. Streamline: Less is more
5. Images: Use sparingly
6. Brevity: Be brief, brother
7. Layout: Single column
Source: Litmus Mobile Email Infographic

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Re·spon·sive de·sign (noun)
A collection of techniques such as media queries, fluid grids, and
fluid images that aim to provide the optimal viewing experience
across various platforms
Source: Campaign Monitor

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Responsive Design: Where to Start
Stack columns for a more vertical layout; increase button width
Source: Matt Byrd, Litmus

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Conclusion: The Revolution Is Here

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• Email and Landing Page Design
• Content Creation: Email, Landing Page, Whitepaper, etc.
• Database Building; Data Hygiene
• Marketing Strategy
• Automation Program Strategy and Building

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Tools and Stuff
• Act-On: Creating Bullet Proof Buttons
• Worldata: Subject Line Tester
• TechRepublic: How to Create Media Queries in Responsive Design
• Litmus: 7 Free Responsive Email Templates
• Litmus: Mobile and Responsive Design Resources

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Questions?