This document provides tips and tricks for increasing email marketing ROI through performance-driven design. It discusses considering the subscriber experience through each stage of interacting with an email from the from name and subject line to clicking through. It also covers business planning, design considerations for different email types, mobile design, and coding best practices. Resources for design tools and services from ExactTarget are also listed.

1. DESIGNING FOR YOUR SUBSCRIBERSTips and Tricks to Increase Email Marketing ROI

2. PERFORMANCE-DRIVEN DESIGN Design is the visualization of a business plan. More than a pretty picture, great design requires an actionable plan and measureable goals. Design should acknowledge the subscriber experience.Put yourself in your subscriber’s shoes and understand how they will interact with your communications. Design and technology are seamlessly integrated.Emails should be designed and coded to display properly in the various ways a subscriber will view it. A comprehensive testing strategy is essential to ensure success.

3. AGENDA Business Planning Checklist Subscriber Experience Performance Driven Design Design Considerations The Mobile Inbox General Coding Considerations What elements are supported in email? Tools for creating HTML Email client-specific recommendations

9. It all begins with theFrom Name – 73% of subscribers click “Report Spam” or “Report Junk” based on this field. *Email Sender and Provider Coalition FROM NAME IS YOUR FROM NAME EASILY RECOGNIZABLE?

10. SUBJECT LINE 69% of subscribers click “Report Spam” or “Report Junk” based on this line.* IS YOUR SUBJECT LINE RELEVANT AND INTERESTING? *Email Sender and Provider Coalition

11. SUBJECT LINE 69% of subscribers click “Report Spam” or “Report Junk” based on this line.* IS YOUR SUBJECT LINE RELEVANT AND INTERESTING?

12. Images are disabled by default more than 50% of the time.Isyourkey message visible, relevant and enticing in this space? PREVIEW PANE: IMAGES OFF WHAT IS YOUR EMAIL SAYING WITH IMAGES OFF?

13. PREVIEW PANE: IMAGES ON What’s your open rate? Only subscribers that turn images on trigger an open.Are you giving them a reason to keep reading? AVERAGE PREVIEW PANE DIMENSIONS: 300px by 300px

14. CONSIDER THE SUBSCRIBER EXPERIENCE Is this the message you want to convey?

15. ABOVE THE FOLD Does your content above the fold provide motivation to respond? Are you persuading subscribers to scroll? DON’T CRAM EVERYTHING ABOVE THE FOLD… INTRODUCE CONTENT ABOVE THE FOLD

16. COMPLETE EMAIL Seconds – not minutes – to view an entire email Only 11%* of those who open will scroll below the fold! EVEN IN THIS VIEW THE ENTIRE EMAIL IS NOT ONSCREEN AT ONCE *The Nielsen Norman Group

17. Subscriber experience doesn’t end with the inbox CLICK THROUGH Don’t ignore the transition to your website, landing page, or other marketing collateral. Ensure the products in your email are available on your site - better yet, map the individual products from the email to a product page.

18. Brand Synergy • Content Hierarchy•Visual Hierarchy Engagement Techniques • Rendering Results •Tested Quality PERFORMANCE DRIVEN DESIGN

19. Website Email Visual recognition of the brand across all media channels creates a seamless brand experience, creating trust to engage and transact. BRAND SYNERGY

20. Wireframe Preview Pane Above the Fold Create a content hierarchy, arranging each content element (text and/or image) and associated call to action with appropriate weight. CONTENT HIERARCHY

21. Headlines utilizing size and color hierarchy Secondary calls-to-action Primary call-to-action Maximize response by creating a visual hierarchy, using design techniques to guide the subscriber's eye through your email based on the content hierarchy. VISUAL HIERARCHY “Quick Bites” or summaries

22. Preheader Teaser Text Forward to a Colleague In This Issue Read More Link Subscriber Q&A Lifestyle Imagery Use of Background Color Link to External Video Recovery Module Use design techniques to engage the subscriber through a mix of emotive and rational imagery and content. Smart use of images, borders, buttons, links, charts, colored backgrounds, etc.should be applied and tested. ENGAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

23. Optimized Design Non-optimized Design Main call-to-action in prime placement HTML text in web safe fonts If an email is created primarily with images, it will not display effectively when images are blocked. Designed with image-blocking and preview pane viewing in mind. Ensure your design efforts are viewed as intended once they hit the inbox. Emails that are created with the subscriber experience in mind will have a greater chance of success. RENDERING RESULTS

24. *Fingerprint from Litmus, February 2010 Only comprehensive testing will validate successful rendering of design and ensure functional performance prior to sending to the subscriber inbox. TESTED QUALITY *ExactTarget via Fingerprint from Litmus, Feb. 2010

26. Include a 3-4 sentence teaser for articles with a “Read More” link instead of including the full article

27. Introduce your main call-to-action within the preview pane and other important content above the fold

28. Develop a visual hierarchy for headings, subheading, and body copy for easy scan-ability

30. Make that message the Hero in your design

31. Introduce your main call-to-action within the preview pane and other important content above the fold

33. Don’t include too much cross-sell information (follow the 70/30 rule)

34. Use a higher text to image ratio

35. Use font colors and sizes to create a visual hierarchy

37. There are no standards in place for displaying emails on smartphones

38. Most mobile devices display a “stripped down” version of the HTML portion of an email, NOT the plain-text version

39. Optimizing your emails with HTML text in web-safe fonts will benefit smartphone users as well

41. EXACTTARGET DESIGN RESOURCES Design Tipsfor Outlook 2007 Email MarketingDesign & Rendering: The New Essentials Email Design Checklist Visit ExactTarget.com To Download These Resources Email Designfor Lotus Notes CareerBuilder.com Case Study

42. EXACTTARGET DESIGN RESOURCES Design Team Blog New posts weekly! blog.exacttarget.com MarketingExperiments Maximize Agency ROIthrough testing Design Team Tweets @ETDesign twitter.com/etdesign

43. DESIGN CENTER ON 3SIXTY Resources FAQs Creative Library Template Source Code Free Button Libraries 3sixty > University > Design Center

44. DESIGN SERVICES

45. EXACTTARGET DESIGN SERVICES Performance & Design Assessment Strategic Newsletter Design Design Best Practices Training Program-Specific Template Design Branded Template Build Custom Design Packages Visit ExactTarget.com for more info!

46. THANK YOU!