Email Marketing

Slide 1: Email Marketing Making It Work For You Lars Helgeson Co-Founder

Slide 2: Overview • Define email marketing • Why email marketing works • Email and your marketing mix • Design & sending tips • Choosing a vendor • Tracking & feedback • Case studies

Slide 3: What is Email Marketing? • Targeted, relevant communication • Goals – Generate sales – Improve awareness – Provide valuable information – Strengthen your brand – Build relationship with clients

Slide 4: What is Spam? • Opt-in Marketing vs Spam Courtesy Hormel Corporation – Spam = Negative perception of spammer • Comprises 8% of emails in 2001, 32% in 2002 • Estimated 50% in 2003 – Opt-in = Higher responses, builds relationship • 100-1000x ROI vs spam • Spam is illegal in most states – Now a felony in Virginia Spam Example Courtesy “Just For You Network” (Dirty SPAMMER)

Slide 5: Applications of Email SPAM COOL No relationship Existing relationship No permission Permission to contact Harvesting Weak relationship Opt-in record Stale contact No relationship 3rd party permission Existing relationship Permission to contact

Slide 6: Why Email Marketing is Effective • Automation = low deployment costs – Design time (custom vs templates) – Database management – Email delivery – Tracking and analysis • Targeting = better responses – Reads = 30-60% (average is 38%*) – Clicks = 2-10% (average is 7.1%*) – Average online conversion rate is 4.3%* * Source: DoubleClick Email Marketing Trend Report, 2Q2002

Slide 7: Customer Acquisition Cost • Example • Example 10,000 email recipients 10,000 direct mail recipients – Build = 4 hours x $90/hr – Build = 4 hours x $90/hr = = $360 $360 – Send = $100 – Send = $6,000 (60 – Tracking & Analysis = 2 cents per mail piece) hours x $90/hr = $180 – 2% action, 10% – 5% click, 4% conversion conversion = = 20 sales for 20 sales for $6,360 $640 – Acquisition cost = $318 – Acquisition cost = $32

Slide 8: Your Marketing Mix • Develop brand, strategy (marketing is a means to an end => sales) • Print (brochures, pamphlets) • Direct mail • Radio/TV Generate awareness • Networking Positive perception • Event sponsorships Overcome risk of purchase • Email Satisfy the customer Get feedback

Slide 9: How do you Email Market? • Decide in-house vs outsource • Gather client / prospects list • Develop strategy, combine with other efforts • Build email • Send email • Track email • Refine marketing strategy

Slide 10: Email Marketing Visually Clients Website Strategy Content Master List Lists Distribution Tracking

Slide 11: In-House vs Outsourcing • In-House Infrastructure • Do-It-Yourself Tools – Designers – Templates – List management – Easy-to-use interface – Email servers & ISP • Managed Services – Tracking & analysis – Experienced designers – Analysts to improve marketing strategy • MarketingSherpa.com • In all cases, look at track record & clients! Custom Design Template

Slide 12: Choose the Right Vendor • Examine features – Building tools (templates, libraries, personalization) – Integration (website, CRM, surveys) – List management (segmenting) – Sending (capacity, automatic bounce / unsubscribe) – Tracking (detail and summary in realtime) – Private labeling – Account management (multiple users, access rights) • Ease of use is important!

Slide 13: Choose the Right Vendor • Time to set up account and send emails • Costs – Setup – Cost-per-email or CPM vs Storage • Customer support – Email, phone, business hours – Dedicated account manager? • Reputation (Privacy/Anti-Spam Policy) – SenderBase.com, DNSstuff.com

Slide 14: Email Marketing Tips • Do not rent lists from someone you don’t know and trust – high risk of spam • Carefully choose subject line (call to action, targeted) • Recognizable to recipients (“From” line) • Make content relevant to audience & personalize • Don’t use spam-trap words • Time of day, day of week • Frequency of communication • Short, concise messages

Slide 15: Using Tracking & Feedback • Watch your email campaigns – Read rates – Click-thru rates – What users click on – Follow post-click if possible • Generate new lists based on recipient behavior – Send targeted follow-ups

Slide 16: Case Study #1 Get Connected Breakfast • Marketing goals – Create awareness about event – Who / What / Where / When / Why – Promote value in coming to event • Focus on what customers want – Valuable information

Slide 17: Case Study #1 Campaign 1 - Simple Design Call to action

Slide 18: Case Study #1 Campaign 1 Results 4200 Recipients 40.8% Read 1.8% Clicked - 95 flyer downloads 2 Send-to-Friends 0.2% Unsubscribed

Slide 19: Case Study #1 Campaign 2 – Improved Design Consistent branding { 3 calls to action

Slide 20: Case Study #1 Campaign 2 Results 4700 Recipients 42% (2000) read 1.8% (87) clicked - 51 registrations - 48 flyers - 10 maps 3 send-to-friends

Slide 21: Case Study #2 Yahoo! Resumix • Marketing goals – Increase attendance at seminar (Campaigns 1-3) – Increase awareness of Resumix services with newsletter (Campaign 4) • Campaign results – 11% total response rate (phone/email) – 42% response by company

Slide 22: Campaign 1 Colorful Simple call to action in 2 places 2% click-through

Slide 23: Campaign 2 Simpler format Single call to action 4.6% click-through

Slide 24: Campaign 3 Attendance Interest via Email Survey 4.3% confirmation Used more successful design

Slide 25: Campaign 4 Newsletters generate interest 3.5% click-through

Slide 26: The Bottom Line • Email marketing works • Coordinate with marketing strategy • Use feedback from campaign performance • Stay current on marketing technology – Anti-spam issues – Economic conditions – Networking groups (Chamber of Commerce, Connect, SDiMarketers)

Slide 27: Thank You Presentation online at: http://www.cooleremail.com/emailoverview.ppt

Slide 28: Key Points Goals of email marketing Vendor Selection I (Technology) Email Marketing Tips I - Build relationships with clients - Templates and/or upload your own HTML - Integrate email with overall strategy - Improve brand awareness - List management & segmentation - Don’t rent suspicious lists - Communicate valuable information - Sending capacity - Carefully consider your subject line - Generate revenues - Summary and detail-level tracking - Be honest with your “From” line - Don’t look like spam (avoid keyword traps) Opt-In (GOOD) vs. Spam (BAD) Vendor Selection II (Business) Email Marketing Tips II - Established relationship with client - Blacklist reputation (SenderBase.com and - Relevant, informational content - Permission to send to recipient DNSstuff.com) and anti-spam policy - Clear call to action, if applicable - Honor unsubscribe requests - Privacy policy and data protection - Don’t make email too long, or too busy - Maintain opt-in/opt-out records - Client list - Customer service Vendor Selection III (Pricing) Email Marketing Tips III - Setup fees - Send during the week, during the day if - Price per email sent vs stored targeting businesses - Long-term contracts, minimum billing - Be conscious of your sending frequency - Consulting services - Test your lists (random sampling) Email Marketing Tips IV - Learn from your tracking information - Segment your lists by recipient demographics and behavior - Gather surveys from your recipients - Send follow-up emails © 2003 CoolerEmail Inc., http://www.cooleremail.com