LSC's presentation on e-newsletter best practices given at a recent CRMA conference. Topics include: signups, welcome cascades, campaign follow-through, and auditing.

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

3. USA Today

4. Reader’s Digest / Reiman Publications

5. North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital Network

6. Guthy-Renker (ProActiv Solution)

7. CapGemini North AmericaFounding 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

8. 31 YEARS of direct marketing leadership

9. 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

10. 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

11. Why Should Circulation Take Control?

12. 63% of CRMA members havean e-newsletter*

13. 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

14. Part 1 Signing up

15. 48% have an eNewsletter signup on their home page*

17. Are there multiple subscription options?

20. Easy Preference Center

22. Give your subscriber someoptions.

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

24. 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.

25. Part 2 Saying hello

26. 52% of CRMA members with an e-newsletter have a welcome email, cascade, or auto-responder*

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

28. Performance by Channel*

29. 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?

31. Subject line

32. Link to content

33. Advertising?

36. Web page shows Confirmation Email

37. LSC Digital Approach to Initial ContactNEW MOVER EMAIL CAMPAIGN

38. Welcome Email

39. Welcome Cascade 1

40. Welcome Cascade 2

41. 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

42. Part 3 Your e-newsletter

43. 17%average open rate forpublisher & media newsletters Result from bronto.com

45. Is there a main purpose?

46. Generate website traffic?

47. Promote other products?

48. Upsell print or e-edition?

50. Subject line

51. View online

52. Content is relevant & consistent

53. Content is easy to digest

54. Easy to opt-out

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

58. Part 4 Your E-newsletter in the wild

59. 74% of CRMA member websiteshave social media links*

60. Have Social Links or Refer a Friend Link* 20%

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

62. 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

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

69. Part 5 Adding subscribers

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

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

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

73. Part 6 Maintain your list

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

75. 30%of CRMA member websites have asubscriber preference center

76. Be a farmer. Data management Segmentation Analysis

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

78. 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

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

80. 91%of CRMA members runGoogle Analytics

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

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

83. Pro-Forma Chart

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

85. 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