Best Practices for Publisher E-Newsletters

Publisher’s Best Practices forE-Newsletters
Presented byList Services Corporation for the Audience Development Summit April 2011

Who We Are
List Services Corporation (LSC) was founded in 1980 offering the direct marketing community innovative and exciting data-driven solutions.
LSC Digital has key experience in the fields of marketing automation, campaign analysis and execution services to some of the largest and most prestigious companies in the world including:
Washington Post Companies (Kaplan)
USA Today
Reader’s Digest / Reiman Publications
North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital Network
Guthy-Renker (ProActiv Solution)
CapGemini North America
Founding Member
Awards & Accolades
DMEF Educational Leadership Award (Edward N. Mayer, Jr. Award)Robert B. Clarke Outstanding Educator AwardDMEF Corporate Leadership AwardDMEF Rising Star AwardsDMEF Corporate Commitment AwardDMEF Vision Award

31 YEARS of direct marketing leadership

The Brick Versus the Mortar
List Services Corp.
List Management
List Brokerage
Data Processing
List Fulfillment
Data Enhancement
Modeling
Database Marketing
LSC Digital
Email Management
Website Development (CMS)
Search Engine Marketing
Online Advertising
Banner Display
CPA
CPL

Key Statistics
31 year old business
Business doubled in 2010
1000% growth in banner display, CPA, CPL advertising
500% growth in email services
300% growth in SEM, web development, CME
200% growth in marketing database engagements
75% growth in data processing (merge, NCOA)
50% growth in non-publishing mail volumes
25% of our overall business is in publishing
75% of our email business is in publishing

Why Should Circulation Take Control?

63%
of CRMA members havean e-newsletter*

Roadmap to Success
Signing up
Saying hello
Your newsletter
Your newsletter in the wild
Growing your list
Maintaining your list
SEO, testing & analysis
Your competition

Part 1
Signing up

48%
have an eNewsletter signup
on their home page*

Good Sign-Up Criteria
Is it easy to find the eNewsletter / Content sign up link?
Are there multiple subscription options?
Does the e-subscriber get your print magazine?

Elements of a Successful Signup
Easy to findon the Home Page

Easy to find on the Home Page
Easy Preference Center

Easy to find on the Home Page
Easy Preference Center
Short signup form

Use a SHORT subscription form.

Give your subscriber someoptions.

Of CRMA members with e-newsletters…
0%
Ask their eNewsletter signups if they are also a print subscriber*

Takeaways
Keep your signup easy & highly visible
Provide subscribers with easy to use preference center
Find out if the signup is also a print subscriber.

Part 2
Saying hello

52%
of CRMA members with an e-newsletter have a welcome email, cascade, or auto-responder*

Of CRMA members with e-newsletters…
8%
send a welcome email or cascade*
0%include a subscription offer in their welcome email or cascade*

Performance by Channel*

Criteria to Say Hello
Is there a confirmation email?
Is there a verification of signup,aka double opt-in?
Is the welcome a single email or a cascade?
Are there offers, promotions, or upsells?

Elements of a Successful Welcome Email
From name
Subject line
Link to content
Advertising?
Promotions?

Confirmyour subscriptions.

Web page shows
Confirmation Email

LSC Digital Approach to Initial ContactNEW MOVER EMAIL CAMPAIGN

Welcome Email

Welcome Cascade 1

Welcome Cascade 2

Takeaways
Set subscriber expectations
When will the email be received?
Who will be sending the email?
Subscriber Benefits
Single email or email cascade?
Opportunity to engage
Opportunity to sell

Part 3
Your e-newsletter

17%average open rate forpublisher & media newsletters
Result from bronto.com

Main Criteria
Does the e-newsletter meet subscriber expectations?
Is there a main purpose?
Generate website traffic?
Promote other products?
Upsell print or e-edition?
Does it demonstrate elements of an effective e-newsletter?

Elements of a Successful E-Newsletter
From name
Subject line
View online
Content is relevant & consistent
Content is easy to digest
Easy to opt-out
CAN-SPAM compliance

Elements of a Successful E-Newsletter

Takeaways
Make content easy to digest.
Bring readers into the brand.
Give readers more than just another article to read.

Part 4
Your E-newsletter in the wild

74%
of CRMA member websiteshave social media links*

Have Social Links or Refer a Friend Link*
20%

Every
Like is worth $3.60
From New England Mail Order Association

A study by online ticket seller Eventbrite looks at the value - in terms of conversions to sale - of a variety of online social interactions. The study showed that one share on Facebook equals $2.52 in sales on Eventbrite where as a share on Twitter equaled $0.43. On Eventbite a share on LinkedIn equaled $0.90, and a share through their ”email friends” application equals $2.34.
Every
Like is worth $2.52
From Eventline .COM

Takeaways
Include social media and refer a friend requests on all communications - Build your brand by connecting your assets.

Part 5
Adding subscribers

More eyes equals more dollars.
Email Append carefully
CPA / CPL
Create brand advocates – get Likes

Empower Brand Advocates
Enable readers & encourage sharing.
Activate Like buttons, +1 buttons, etc.
Add signup pages to your social media profiles.

Takeaways
Revenue lies in numbers – add subscribers profitably. Test:
Email Append
PPC
CPL / CPA
Your readers have the power – likes = revenue

Part 6
Maintain your list

Nurtureyour subscribers.
Aged subscribers & re-engagement
Re-activation
Behavioral Triggers

30%of CRMA member websites have asubscriber preference center

Be a farmer.
Data management
Segmentation
Analysis

Image from smashingmagazine.com
Testing content is a fast, reliable, and accurate way to improve your content, your brand, and your presence.

1st subject line (1,1)
2nd subject line (1,2)
3rd subject line (1,3)
Creative 1
Non openers move to 1,2 move to 1,3 move to 2,1
Openers
Non clickers move to 2,1 move to 2,1 move to 2,1
Clickers send to landing pg 1 send to landing pg 1 send to landing pg 1
2nd subject line (2,2)
1st subject line (2,1)
Creative 2 (Follow Up)
Non openers move to 2,2 end process
Openers
Non clickers end process end process
Clickers send to landing pg 1 send to landing pg 1
NTM hosted
Landing page 1
Landing Pages
NTM hosted
Landing page 2
Complete new subscription new subscription
Incomplete send reengagement email end process
Reengagement email
Reengagement email
Non openers end process
Openers
Non clickers end process
Clickers sending landing page 2

Analysis
Track Opens, Unique CTR’s, Page Views, Shopping Cart Interactions, Abandons
Email-to-web
Follow the trail

91%of CRMA members runGoogle Analytics

SEO Evaluation Criteria
Meta tag usage
Code quality
Code accessibility
Header tag usage
Element attributes (images, links, etc.)
Keyword usage

SEO Quality of CRMA Member Websites
Levels of Good, Fair, and Poor are roughly equal.

Pro-Forma Chart

Multi-Channel Analysis
• Track sources for traffic, quality, conversions
• Use match-backs for print
• Analyze house file for size, age, activity

Multi-Channel Analysis
Abandonment by Channel - Email-driven traffic is showing significant signs of weakness, particularly in View Bag and Order Complete stages of checkout
Abandonment
Rate

http://news.listservices.com	22
http://feeds.feedburner.com	5
http://lsc.accessionmedia.com	1
http://www.listservices.com	1

Best Practices for Publisher E-Newsletters

by List Services Corporation on Apr 27, 2011

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Best Practices for Publisher E-Newsletters — Presentation Transcript