What if every marketing campaign you deployed earned you $28 for every $1 you invested? Email marketing (still!) rocks the highest return on investment of any marketing medium. That is, if you do it right. Are you getting your $28 return on investment? Do you even know your email ROI? Do you know where your emails are ending up? What percent of your email list has been inactive for longer than a year? Jessica Best, email marketing nerd for emfluence, will show you 3 ways you can guarantee improvements in your ROI: (1) Get into the inbox (and not the spam folder) (2) Re-engage (or clean out) unengaged email subscribers (3) Segment your list and target your messages to drive response rates up. Learn to fine-tune your digital marketing instruments and tactics by testing every step of the way to really get the most out of email marketing and your email relationships. This presentation was given at South by Southwest Interactive in Austin and has good information for even an experienced email marketer.

1. #KCIABCBCS

2. Email ROI
Email drove $67.8 billion in sales in 2012.
Email ROI in 2012 was $28.50, the highest of any
direct marketing medium. (DMA, 2012)
#KCIABCBCS

3. Email ROI
(Revenues-Expenses)/Expenses = Return On Investment
Campaign
List Size
Expenses
Revenues
ROI
Free Shipping offer
100,000
$1450
$31,245
$20.55
Free Product w/Purchase
100,000
$1450
$24,996
$16.24
1,000
$85
$3,513
$40.33
New Customer Bounceback
Got it. Now how do we improve it?
 Increase revenue; OR
 Decrease expenses
#KCIABCBCS

4. IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY
Deliverability = getting into the inbox.
More inboxes means more revenue.
#KCIABCBCS

5. Deliverability by the Numbers
In the U.S., only 86% of valid marketing email ever makes it
to the inbox. 8% never shows up anywhere (never delivered
and not reported).
#KCIABCBCS

6. Deliverability by the Numbers
Reported open rate: 20% | Actual open rate: 25%
Potential boost in response/revenue: 25%+!
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
Sent
#KCIABCBCS
Delivered

7. Deliverability = Your Email Provider + YOU
What your Email Service Provider should do for you:
 Good email template code
 Throttled sending
 Automated unsubscribe & complaint handling
 Built-in CAN-SPAM compliance
Optional:
Pay for “Certified” Sender Status
#KCIABCBCS

8. Improve Deliverability
What YOU can do to improve deliverability:
Create Good Content
&
Maintain a Good, Clean List
#KCIABCBCS

9. Improve Deliverability: Good Content
 Include a “white list”
request in the pre-header
 Balanced text:image ratio
 Spell check
 Avoid spammy words
#KCIABCBCS

10. Improve Deliverability: Good Content
 Pre-Flight check against
common spam filters
#KCIABCBCS

11. Improve Deliverability: Good Content
 Send engaging content
 Send timely content through
automation
 Send relevant content with
segmentation
#KCIABCBCS

12. Improve Deliverability: Segment
#KCIABCBCS

13. Improve Deliverability: Test Content
Test, Measure, Learn & Improve
 Subject line
 Offer/Discount %
 Call to Action
 Layout
 Graphics
 Frequency of emails
 Time of day/day of week
 Balance of images/text
 Number of links in an email
 Length of emails
 Landing Pages vs. full site
 Article topics & order
 Mobile responsive design
The more subscribers engage with you, the better your
sender reputation will be.
#KCIABCBCS

14. Improve Deliverability: Clean List
Maintain a good email list:
 Opt-in (aka permission-based)
house list only.
 Set expectations for frequency
and value to the subscriber
at sign up, and then meet
those expectations.
 Clear out those that don’t exist or bounce back repeatedly
and/or opt-out.
#KCIABCBCS

15. REENGAGE OR TRIM INACTIVES
Reengaging subscribers that haven’t opened,
clicked or purchased.
#KCIABCBCS

16. Reengaging Lost Subscribers
Reaching out to those who once opted in but are now either
held (bounced) or simply inactive.
Marketing Sherpa reports that as much as 33% of your email list
can turnover each year.
Without reengaging these addresses,
you’re left with 16.8% of your original
list after 5 years.
#KCIABCBCS

17. Email Reengagement Campaign
Reengagement/Re-Permission
An email (or series of emails)
with a strong, clear offer to
entice those who haven’t
opened, clicked or converted to
either engage or unsubscribe.
#KCIABCBCS

18. Other Reengagement Outreach
 In-store & point-of-purchase
 Telemarketing follow ups
 Direct mail
 Online ads/social media outreach
Be sure to ask for an updated email address so you can
reconnect via your most efficient medium!
#KCIABCBCS

19. Trim Inactives
Keep those that reengage! Those that don’t, gotta go.
20%
80%
20%
Opened
40%
Opened
Didn't open
Didn't open
40%
NEVER open
Reengage ~ 1% and increase revenues.
Trim the other 40% and save the expense of
sending to inactives.
#KCIABCBCS

20. Trim Inactives
Bonus: increase your email engagement metrics and
improve your sender reputation.
# Sent
# Opens
Open Rate
# Clicks
Click Rate
Pre-Cleanse
100,000
20,000
20%
5,000
5.0%
Post-Cleanse
60,000
20,000
30%
5,000
8.3%
33%
67%
Opened
Didn't open
#KCIABCBCS

21. Rockin’ Email ROI
IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY
REENGAGE OR TRIM INACTIVES
Campaign
List Size
Expenses
Revenues
ROI
Shipping offer
100,000
$1450
$31,245
$20.55
Free Product w/Purchase
100,000
$1450
$24,996
$16.24
1,000
$85
$3,513
$40.33
New Customer Bounceback
Campaign
List Size
Expenses
Revenues
New ROI
Shipping offer
75,000
$1200
$39,056
$31.55
Free Product w/Purchase
75,000
$1200
$31,245
$25.04
1,000
$85
$4,391
$50.66
New Customer Bounceback
#KCIABCBCS

22. 4 Steps to Rockin’ Email ROI
1. IMPROVE DELIVERABILITY
2. REENGAGE OR TRIM INACTIVES
3. TEST TO ALWAYS BE IMPROVING
4. INTEGRATE CROSS CHANNEL
#KCIABCBCS

23. #KCIABCBCS