Email marketing still matters and doing it right will set you apart in a crowded inbox. We'll give you actionable tips on:
how to write headlines
effective calls-to-action
design best practices
how to grow your list
how to keep them engaged
how to measure your results
6. DELIVERABILITY
ISPs (service provider) are keeping an eye on what you send,
and to whom.
They know how much of it bounces, and
how many complaints it generates.
If you send unwanted mail, or send to bad lists…
it will get blocked.
An undelivered email is business lost.
Me?
8. Email Marketing programs
need a home. There are
basic services & low-cost
solutions – the white buns.
If you plan on a more
robust program or high-
volume sending, consider a
service that’s more whole
wheat or brioche.
Hamburger Bun
INFRASTRUCTURE
9. Cheese
An IP identifies a sender
and builds trust in the
inbox.
Once in place, it should
stay where it is, keeping
your email program
together.
Try removing the cheese
that’s melted onto the
burger…
IP PERFORMANCE
10. Tomatoes
An old, mushy tomato
will ruin a burger!
Old, bad data is exactly
the same. Gain
permission – not
everyone likes tomatoes
– and keep lists healthy.
Scrap the old tomatoes!
LIST HYGIENE
11. Sauce
A high amount of spice
(spam traps/spam words)
won’t sit well with some
people – spam filters are the
same.
Thresholds and tolerance
should be factored when
creating your burger.
CONTENT
12. Pickles
There’s an optimal
amount of on a
hamburger -too many and
it ruins the overall taste of
the burger.
Likewise with Complaints,
too many will lead to poor
sender reputation.
COMPLAINTS
13. Meat
The meat of the burger –
engagement with your
program – is the single
most important part.
Engagement is exactly
the same, without it,
deliverability suffers.
ENGAGEMENT
17. WEBSITE PLACEMENT
• Make opt-in prominent,
compelling, and everywhere
• Footer is OK, header is
better
• Persistent on every page
• Eliminate friction in the opt-in
process
• Provide an incentive to act
• Briefly explain your why
18. POP-OVERS
When done right, pop overs can be
extremely effective.
Key success factors:
• Simple and easy forms
• Compelling reasons to sign up
• Smart interactive
coding/business rules
19. SOCIAL SIGN-UP
Facebook email signup:
• CTA on page
• “Housekeeping” posts
• Sponsored posts
Twitter email signup:
• Test posts with and without images
• Lead Gen cards
• “Housekeeping” posts
23. HAVE LIST. WILL SEND.
Design considerations
Optimizing content through testing
Subject Lines
Email examples
24. CONSIDER THE AUDIENCE
Design for your audience – for how
they’ll experience your email and
what you want them to do with it.
25. PERFORMANCE DRIVEN DESIGN
Guide the subscribers’ eyes through the email, and get the conversion with clickable link styling
Primary call-to-
action
Adds prominence
with
Secondary
calls-to-action
using
Linked text
Headlines using
size and color
to create
hierarchy
“Quick Bites” or
summaries for
easy
consumption
Text wraps at
less than
400px wide
for legibility
Social
options
Preheader Teaser
Text
Background color
offsets content
for legibility
26. MOBILE AWARE
Plan the mobile
experience without a
specialized setup.
Highlights: single
column hero, big
images, text &
buttons.
27. NAIL THE SUBJECT LINE
• Pique curiosity. State the facts.
Don’t bury the lede.
• Ideally a subject line would be
less than 50 characters, mobile
truncates at 40 characters
• Vary subject lines to avoid fatigue
• Use caps and symbols. Sparingly.
• Consider your pre-header as an
extension of your subject line,
especially for the mobile user
Look at emails on
your phone for
inspiration!
28. TESTS ARE YOUR FRIEND
• Personalization
• Short vs. Long
• Symbol vs. No Symbol
• Overt CTA vs. No CTA
• Button Placement, Color, Language
• Images / Video
29. WELCOME
Messaging
Here's who I am,
here's why you signed up,
here's what you can expect from me,
here's the ongoing value you'll receive from our relationship,
and here's how to get more out of our interactions.
34. MEASURING RESULTS
• Remember the Why?
• Measure to THAT
• Comparison is the kiss of death.
• Is your program meeting your goals?
• Plan the Review
• Monthly, quarterly – put it on the calendar
• There is no “set it and forget it”
• An email program takes ongoing maintenance
Decide what you want to accomplish with email – from your overall program to every single email you send, and build the program to that goal.
Sales? Event attendance? Community newsletter? Informative update? Regulated communications…on and on..