When it comes to email marketing, most marketers focus on opt-ins, open rates, clickthroughs, and conversions. It’s time to shift that focus to your customers because they are begging you for better emails. Session insights will include email trends, research, strategy, planning, execution, integration (content, social, offline). We also dive into specific examples of email branding, acquisition, loyalty, and retention strategies, covering best practices as well as advanced tactics. Originally presented at 2015 Digital Summit Phoenix Updated February 2, 2016

1. CUSTOMERS TRUMP ANALYTICS
WHY EMAIL MARKETING IS ABOUT PEOPLE NOT METRICS

2. #vacationbrain

3. Want these slides?
barberandhewitt.com/digitalsummit
Want to relive this presentation?
medium.com/@michaeljbarber
Say hello.
@michaeljbarber
But, first…

4. Close your eyes and imagine…

6. On balance, [email is] maybe 10%
pleasure and 90% fear of missing out.
“
Larry Rosen, Psychologist

7. 78%
of email is spam

8. 94 billion
spam messages per day

9. $20 billion
cost to the global economy

10. MEANWHILE
People love email, a lot, like, a lot, a lot.

11. 4.1 billion
email accounts across the globe
Source: Radicati Group, 2015

12. MOBILE FIRST
Source: Litmus, 2016

13. WE READ EMAIL EVERYWHERE
Source: Adobe, 2015

14. AND, I MEAN EVERYWHERE
Source: Adobe, 2015

15. PEOPLE PREFER IT
Source: MarketingSherpa

16. EMAIL IS AWESOME, AGAIN

17. EMAIL IS HUGE FOR US.
{Said like Trump. Emphasis on the “huge.”}

18. EMAIL DELIVERS THE HIGHEST ROI FOR MARKETERS
Source: VentureBeat

19. REGARDLESS OF INDUSTRY
Source: GetResponse, 2016

20. EMAIL BEATS SOCIAL BY 40X FOR CUSTOMER ACQUISITION
Source: VentureBeat

21. PROVIDES HALO EFFECTS ON PURCHASE

22. ASSISTS OTHER CHANNEL INTERACTIONS
Source: Salesforce Marketing Cloud

23. AND, INCREASES REVENUE OVER TIME
Source: Salesforce Marketing Cloud

24. EVERYONE WANTS US
OUT OF THE INBOX
No surprise.

25. SPAM FOLDERS

26. MARK AS SPAM & INSTANT UNSUBSCRIBE

27. LAYERED AUTHENTICATION & REPUTATION DATA
Sender ID
Framework
(SPF)
Inbound
Mail Server
Authentication
Pass
Fail
DNS
SPF Record
Lookup
Inbox
Junk
?
Quarantine
Block/Delete
Reputation
Data
1 2 3 4
Sender
Internet

28. LAYERED AUTHENTICATION & REPUTATION DATA
Sender ID
Framework
(SPF)
Inbound
Mail Server
Authentication
Pass
Fail
DNS
SPF Record
Lookup
Inbox
Junk
?
Quarantine
Block/Delete
Reputation
Data
1 2 3 4
Sender
Internet

29. MOVED PROMO EMAILS OUT OF THE INBOX

30. REDEFINE THE INBOX

31. “EMAIL IS DEAD” AND/OR “HATED”

32. GOVERNMENT GETS SMART

33. CASL GONNA GET EM

34. Marketers are slowly losing
our real estate in the Inbox.

35. SHOULD WE BE SURPRISED?
Nah, bro, just look at these examples…

36. UMMM, SUBJECT LINE & WHERE DO I CLICK?

37. TOTAL HIERARCHY MESS

38. SHARING TESTING IS CARING

39. NOTHINGNESS

40. SUBJECT LINE #FAIL

41. URL CRAZINESS

42. CAN YOU READ THIS?

43. WE DON’T WANT TO TALK TO YOU

44. THE REST JUST SUCKS BECAUSE…

45. 9
the number of emails I received from
one brand on Cyber Monday…WTF?

46. HOLIDAY EMAIL AVERAGES
July to Sept. Halloween
to Dec. 15
Black
Friday
Cyber
Monday
Daily
average
7
9
11
12

47. 80.8%
of holiday email was ignored

48. SO, WE SUCK.
Now what?

49. Let’s go back to the P’s.

50. Product, price, place, and promotion.
Let’s try some new ones.

51. PORTABLE
“The thumb is in charge.”
Email must be able to go where people go. If it
can’t follow people through his or her day, it's
no longer relevant.

52. SINGLE COLUMN “SKINNY” LAYOUTS.

53. FONTS & BUTTONS, OH MY!
>

54. GET TO THE POINT

55. LET IMAGES DO THE TALKING

56. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THINGS HOLY, ELIMINATE CLICK HERE
X

57. DUDE, GIFS FTW

58. PREHEADERS FOR EVERYONE

59. TIM JUST MADE TEXT RELEVANT

60. NEED INSPIRATION?

61. TOOLS FOR PORTABILITY

62. WHERE DO WE EVEN START?

63. ALL HOPE IS NOT LOST

64. PERSONAL
The promise of digital was always and will always be its
potential for personalization. Your email must cater to
the individual needs and desires of every user—and
the experience must be unique to each individual.

65. SEGMENTED CAMPAIGNS CAN DRIVE A 760% INCREASE IN REVENUE

66. PERSONALIZATION INCREASES OPEN RATES BY 26%

67. ARE WE REALLY TRYING THAT HARD?

68. HAVE DATA, WILL USE IT

69. LEVERAGE DYNAMIC CONTENT

70. DATA FROM THE MY CROWD

71. TRIGGERS BASED ON DATA / THE WELCOME

72. TRIGGERS BASED ON DATA / BIRTHDAY OR EVENT

73. TRIGGERS BASED ON DATA / BIRTHDAY OR EVENT

74. TRIGGERS BASED ON DATA / PURCHASE INTENT

75. TRIGGERS BASED ON DATA / PURCHASE HISTORY

76. TRIGGERS BASED ON DATA / WEATHER

77. TRIGGERS BASED ON DATA / DYNAMIC

78. TRIGGERS BASED ON DATA / TRANSACTIONAL

79. TRANSACTIONAL EMAILS MATTER

80. ALWAYS GIVE ME MORE

81. ALWAYS GIVE ME MORE

82. ALWAYS GIVE ME MORE

83. ALWAYS GIVE ME MORE, INCLUDING MINI HORSES

84. TOOLS FOR PERSONALIZATION (AND AUTOMATION)

85. PRESCRIPTIVE
Brands are no longer in control of their email
conversations with people. Let people take control or
risk destruction of a valuable channel.

86. ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

87. ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE

88. CONFIRM OUR RELATIONSHIP

89. TELL YOU WHEN I WANT IT

90. GIVE ME REASONS TO SAY HELLO

91. LET’S GET ENGAGED AGAIN

92. LET’S GET ENGAGED AGAIN, BUT DON’T EVER STOP EMAILING THEM.

93. IF I WANT OUT, MAKE IT EASY

94. GIVE ME REASONS TO STAY

96. DIE PURCHASE LISTS, JUST DIE

97. LET’S RECAP
Three P’s, Not the Old Four

98. PORTABLE
DESIGNED FOR OUR LIVES OR JUST STOP.

99. PERSONAL
BE RELEVANT OR BE DELETED.
PORTABLE
DESIGNED FOR OUR LIVES OR JUST STOP.

100. PRESCRIPTIVE
PUT PEOPLE IN CONTROL.
PERSONAL
BE RELEVANT OR BE DELETED.
PORTABLE
DESIGNED FOR OUR LIVES OR JUST STOP.

101. BUT, WHY CARE?
Three reasons…

102. ENGAGEMENT MATTERS
#1

103. We do not use clicks as a measure of engagement.
We track replies, moves, mark not as junk, delete without open.
Email Experience Counsel, 2015
“

104. Engagement is measured at the subscriber-level and
based on metrics we aren’t tracking.

105. THE FUTURE MATTERS
#2

106. “MAILABLE MICROSITES” VIA @CHADSWHITE

107. GOOGLE’S PONY EXPRESS

108. THE INBOX IS THE CART

109. We won’t be able to take advantage of
email’s future if we’ve screwed up its past.

110. FAMILIARITY RULES.
#3

112. The Inbox is the one digital place everyone understands.

113. www.barberandhewitt.com
hello@barberandhewitt.com
Los Angeles, CA
THANKS. QUESTIONS / COMMENTS.
Updated February 9, 2016
Want these slides? barberandhewitt.com/digitalsummit

114. SOURCES
• Smart Insights - http://www.smartinsights.com/wp-content/uploads/
2013/06/emailInfographic-EvolutionofEmail.jpg
• Symantec - http://www.symantec.com/about/news/release/article.jsp?
prid=20110125_01
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/
20131212125736-1816165-the-new-four-ps-everything-you-need-to-
know-about-your-customers?trk=mp-reader-card
• MailChimp - http://blog.mailchimp.com/how-gmail-tabs-affect-your-
email-marketing-an-update/
• Huffington Post - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/08/cost-of-
spam_n_1757726.html
• Email Marketing Rules - http://www.emailmarketingrules.com/
jcpenneys-mobile-aware-email-makeover/
• Teach to Fish Digital - http://teachtofishdigital.com/email-mobile-
social/
• Mashable - http://mashable.com/2012/09/20/evolution-email/
• Mashable - http://mashable.com/2011/01/26/e-mail-facts/
• Candicreate - https://twitter.com/candicreate/status/
446841800439787521
• Think with Google - http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/tools/customer-
journey-to-online-purchase.html
• Smart Insights / Gartner - http://www.smartinsights.com/wp-content/
uploads/2013/10/digital-marketing-hype-cycle.png
• MailChimp - http://blog.mailchimp.com/a-purchased-list-is-a-dead-list/
• Really Good Emails - www.reallygoodemails.com
• Denver Post - http://www.denverpost.com/Business/ci_27174618/
Taming-the-deluge-of-holiday-sales-emails-is-part-art-science
• ExactTarget - https://secure.sfdcstatic.com/assets/pdf/datasheets/
mc_2015stateofmarketing.pdf
• VentureBeat - http://venturebeat.com/2015/03/05/why-email-
marketing-is-still-in-style-and-thriving/
• Adobe - https://blogs.adobe.com/conversations/2015/08/email.html
• Campaign Monitor - ://www.campaignmonitor.com/resources/guides/
email-marketing-new-rules/