EDM strategy from theEDM strategy from the
“Digital Marketing Gurus”“Digital Marketing Gurus”
1
Authored by Preetha Prasad , SEO Expert @ TobocBizAuthored by Preetha Prasad , SEO Expert @ TobocBiz
Contents:Contents:
 What is an EDM?
 EDM Strategy
 EDM Best Practices
 DB Quality
 Anti-Spam,Assured Landing in Inbox
 EDM Process Flow
 Creating a Campaign
 Strategies for landing page design
 EDM Benefits
 Branding,Target Marketing
 Email deliverabilityTechnology
 Importance of eDM Testing checklist
 Email Marketing Glossary
 Reporting andTracking
 Email Marketing Facts
 Email Marketing Strategy Checklist for 2013
Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate 2
What is an EDM?What is an EDM?
Electronic Direct Marketing or Email Direct Marketing, another term used is E-mail
marketing.
EDM is a highly valuable & effective direct marketing tool
Types of E-Mail marketing:
Newsletter Email
Catalog andVideo Email
Press Release Email
Invitation and Survey Email
Thank-You Email
3Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
EDM StrategyEDM Strategy
 GiveYour Subscribers valuable Content
 Create a Clear Call to Action
 Be Aware of When and How Often to Send your Email
 Use a Consistent Format forYour Email Newsletter
 Offer Both HTML and Plain Text Email Formats
 MakeYour Email Readable with Images Disabled
 Address Recipients by Name
 Use appropriate, relevant landing pages
 Domain/IP Backlisting
 DB (Email) Segmentation
 Testing
4Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
EDM Best PracticesEDM Best Practices
 Keep the Main Message and Call-to-Action Above the Fold
 KeepYour Email 500-650 Pixels Wide
 Targeted Devices:They are mainly Desktops,Tablets and Mobiles
 Resolutions: Desktops: 500-650 pixels wide;Tablets: 500-650 pixels wide;
Mobiles: Portrait mode 320 pixels
Landscape mode 480 pixels
 PutYour Logo in the Upper Left-Hand Side of the Email
5Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
EDM Best PracticesEDM Best Practices
 Write Compelling Subject Lines: not more 30-50 characters
 Set Expectations right
 Make your Subject Line count
 Appropriate, relevant landing pages
 Prominent opt-out links
 Email Footer – clear unsubscribe link , Privacy Policy
 Conduct a 5-SecondTest
 Words to Avoid – Free,Act Now,All New, 50% Off, Call Now, Subscribe Now,
Discount, DoubleYour Income
6Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
DB QualityDB Quality
 How to Build a quality email marketing DB(database) list:
 Identify the value of an email address
 Set objectives for building an email marketing list
 Never miss a chance to ask for permission to email a customer
 Always ensure the 'Subscribe' form on your home page is easy to find
 Ask for the minimum of information at the time of sign up
 State your privacy policy clearly
 Avoid third party data
 Keeping your database clean
 Using your database to improve profitability
 DB - Email List Segmentations
7Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
DB Quality(cont…)DB Quality(cont…)
 Reasons WhyYour Domain/IP Got Blacklisted
 Your company didn’t respond to spam complaints lodged against it.
 Your domain is hosting malware or a compromised website
 You bought a bad mailing list
 You spammed!
 If you use a third-party company to send mailers for you
 Your IP falls in the range of addresses that are suspected of spamming and already
blacklisted.
 If your subject line or sender's address does not give the impression of being
legitimate.
 Your content is all crammed with nothing
substantial to talk about.
8Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Anti-spam,Assured Landing in InboxAnti-spam,Assured Landing in Inbox
 The Spam Act:
 By sending out emails to potentially hundreds of people you run the risk of being reported
as a spammer
 Key to the Spam Act is that you must have the person's permission to send them an email
 To avoid being mistaken for spam when sending email:
 Don’t use money patterns in the subject line
 Don’t include advertising words: best selling, cash, free, guaranteed, money, satisfied and so on
 Don’t leave the subject field blank
 Don’t send unsolicited attachments
 Don’t use all capitals
 Don’t use words/phrases that have adult meaning
 Do use a repeated pattern in the subject line
 Do use a familiar name/email address
9Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
EDM Simple Process FlowEDM Simple Process Flow
10Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Creating a CampaignCreating a Campaign
 There are a million ways to make your newsletter look sharp and effective with
images, fonts, layouts and color schemes but the overall makeup needs to have the
following:
 “From” Address: Ex- reply@company.com
 Subject Line: should be clear and prompt so readers open the email
 IncludeWebVersion: include a web link where the entire email or newsletter can be
viewed online.
 Header: Always try to include a company logo at the top of your email
 Call to Action: Every good email has a strong call to action in which you clearly state what
it is you want the reader to do
 The design of your email sets the tone for your entire project. It is the heart of
the newsletter.
 Content : that is relevant to your business but, more important, content that will
be relevant to the recipients
11Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Creating a CampaignCreating a Campaign
 Links: some point you will need to offer some kind
of escape, whether it is to your website, blog or a
login page if you offer a service.
 Pictures: Reading plain text with no images is just
boring. Even one picture can jazz up an email to the
point of making it readable.
 Composing: Your newsletter can have the best
design, snazzy images, and killer navigation but if
your copy is boring, it won't matter. Engage and
influence your readers.
 Testing: Test your template first to make sure it’ll
work in all the different email applications out there.
Once you’ve found all the little bugs and your
template is fully optimized, then you can start
sending.
12Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Strategies for landing page designStrategies for landing page design
 Design Promotion - Specific Landing Pages
 MakeYour Headlines Connect
 Keep the Copy As Short & Simple As Possible
 Create Credibility
 Focus on “Eye -Tracking”
13Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
EDM BenefitsEDM Benefits
 Highly Targeted
 Immediate
 Test and Refine
 Measurable
 Reach
 Better conversion rates
 Cost effective
14Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Branding,Target MarketingBranding,Target Marketing
 Think of a branded email marketing campaign as a virtual billboard
 Personality andVoice
 A ConsistentTemplate
 A Branded Preview Pane
 Branded Landing Pages
 A Consistent Style of Imagery
 Branding email marketing campaigns are all about reaping long-term rewards.
 Target marketing is most effective when used to market the same product or
service to different target markets.
 For instance, a restaurant can pursue different target markets by tailoring its message:
 For senior citizens - the marketing messages can focus on early-bird specials and
menus for special dietary needs.
 For families - the messages can highlight what makes the restaurant the ideal kid-
friendly destination.
15Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Email deliverability TechnologyEmail deliverability Technology
 An ESP’s MTA (mail transfer agent) may not be able to support some essential features
that are required for enhancing deliverability.
 Static/Dedicated IP address (Dedicated for higher volumes)
 Multi-part emails (text & HTML)
 Throttling
 Sign outgoing messages with DKIM
 Retry feature for temporary failures/greylisting
 IPWarming
16Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Importance of eDM Testing checklistImportance of eDM Testing checklist
 Testing is essential for an email campaign, no matter how experienced you are.
 Email deliverability testing goes further than just seeing if the email has a good inbox
placement.You also want to stimulate good email marketing results.
 Design: Customers will see across all devices and email clients is very important for
your emails results
 Content: Email providers check content of emails as another step in fighting the war
against SPAM.
 Data: It is all about keeping the list clean.This involves some process, reporting and ESP
services at every stage of a campaign.
17Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Email Marketing GlossaryEmail Marketing Glossary
 Open Rate: In the simplest form, open rates tell you how many people opened your email.
 CTR :The percentage (the number of unique clicks divided by the number that were
opened) of recipients that click on a given URL in your email message.
 Landing Pages: A web page that is linked to an email for the purpose of providing
additional information directly . It is best to send online users to a landing page to sign up or
follow your call to action.
 Hard Bounce/Soft Bounce: A hard bounce is the failed delivery of an email due to a
permanent reason like a non-existent address.A soft bounce is the failed delivery of an email
due to a temporary issue, like a full mailbox or an unavailable server.
18Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Email Marketing GlossaryEmail Marketing Glossary
 Call-to-Action: What you’re asking your subscribers to do in your email: click a link,
forward to a friend, watch a video or cash in a promotion.
 Conversion Rate: The number or percentage of recipients who respond to your call-to-
action in a given email marketing campaign or promotion.This is the measure of your email
campaign's success.
 Bounce Rate: In email marketing bounce rate refers to the percentage of email addresses in
your subscriber list that didn’t receive your message because it was returned by a recipient
mail server.
 A/B testing: Also known as split testing.This is when the list is divided into two parts, each
of which is tested with a variation of the message.
19Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Reporting and TrackingReporting and Tracking
 The only way you will ever truly know how your email marketing campaigns are
doing is by tracking results, analyzing statistics and comparing the numbers after
each sent campaign.
 There are several areas of your email message that you can adjust to help improve
open rates.
 Monitor overall website traffic so you can determine what percentage is coming
from your email marketing efforts.
 There are two kinds of bounce rates, soft and hard.You want to avoid as many
hard bounces as possible as it hurts overall deliverability rates.
20Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Email Marketing FactsEmail Marketing Facts
 92% : of all marketers employ email marketing campaigns
 58% : of people start their online day by reading emails
 83%: Used the Report Spam button
 80%: Use it without opening the message
 73%: Base decision on the "from" line
 69%: Base decision on subject line
 20%: Use the spam button to unsubscribe
 In just one-twentieth of a second, less time than it takes to blink, people make
judgments that will influence their experience of your landing page.
21Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
Email Marketing Strategy Checklist for 2013Email Marketing Strategy Checklist for 2013
 Segment your email lists
 Optimize your emails for mobile
 Integrate your email marketing with social media
 Write copy that converts
 Pay attention to your confirmation emails and thank you emails
 Use A/B split testing to improve your email campaigns
 Optimize your landing pages
 Be sure your email design drives conversions
 Do NOT Neglect Reporting and Testing
 Measure your email ROI
22Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
To know more, feel free to write to usTo know more, feel free to write to us
interact@tobocbiz.cominteract@tobocbiz.com orVisitorVisit
www.tobocbiz.comwww.tobocbiz.com
23Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate

eDM Strategy

  • 1.
    EDM strategy fromtheEDM strategy from the “Digital Marketing Gurus”“Digital Marketing Gurus” 1 Authored by Preetha Prasad , SEO Expert @ TobocBizAuthored by Preetha Prasad , SEO Expert @ TobocBiz
  • 2.
    Contents:Contents:  What isan EDM?  EDM Strategy  EDM Best Practices  DB Quality  Anti-Spam,Assured Landing in Inbox  EDM Process Flow  Creating a Campaign  Strategies for landing page design  EDM Benefits  Branding,Target Marketing  Email deliverabilityTechnology  Importance of eDM Testing checklist  Email Marketing Glossary  Reporting andTracking  Email Marketing Facts  Email Marketing Strategy Checklist for 2013 Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate 2
  • 3.
    What is anEDM?What is an EDM? Electronic Direct Marketing or Email Direct Marketing, another term used is E-mail marketing. EDM is a highly valuable & effective direct marketing tool Types of E-Mail marketing: Newsletter Email Catalog andVideo Email Press Release Email Invitation and Survey Email Thank-You Email 3Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 4.
    EDM StrategyEDM Strategy GiveYour Subscribers valuable Content  Create a Clear Call to Action  Be Aware of When and How Often to Send your Email  Use a Consistent Format forYour Email Newsletter  Offer Both HTML and Plain Text Email Formats  MakeYour Email Readable with Images Disabled  Address Recipients by Name  Use appropriate, relevant landing pages  Domain/IP Backlisting  DB (Email) Segmentation  Testing 4Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 5.
    EDM Best PracticesEDMBest Practices  Keep the Main Message and Call-to-Action Above the Fold  KeepYour Email 500-650 Pixels Wide  Targeted Devices:They are mainly Desktops,Tablets and Mobiles  Resolutions: Desktops: 500-650 pixels wide;Tablets: 500-650 pixels wide; Mobiles: Portrait mode 320 pixels Landscape mode 480 pixels  PutYour Logo in the Upper Left-Hand Side of the Email 5Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 6.
    EDM Best PracticesEDMBest Practices  Write Compelling Subject Lines: not more 30-50 characters  Set Expectations right  Make your Subject Line count  Appropriate, relevant landing pages  Prominent opt-out links  Email Footer – clear unsubscribe link , Privacy Policy  Conduct a 5-SecondTest  Words to Avoid – Free,Act Now,All New, 50% Off, Call Now, Subscribe Now, Discount, DoubleYour Income 6Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 7.
    DB QualityDB Quality How to Build a quality email marketing DB(database) list:  Identify the value of an email address  Set objectives for building an email marketing list  Never miss a chance to ask for permission to email a customer  Always ensure the 'Subscribe' form on your home page is easy to find  Ask for the minimum of information at the time of sign up  State your privacy policy clearly  Avoid third party data  Keeping your database clean  Using your database to improve profitability  DB - Email List Segmentations 7Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 8.
    DB Quality(cont…)DB Quality(cont…) Reasons WhyYour Domain/IP Got Blacklisted  Your company didn’t respond to spam complaints lodged against it.  Your domain is hosting malware or a compromised website  You bought a bad mailing list  You spammed!  If you use a third-party company to send mailers for you  Your IP falls in the range of addresses that are suspected of spamming and already blacklisted.  If your subject line or sender's address does not give the impression of being legitimate.  Your content is all crammed with nothing substantial to talk about. 8Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 9.
    Anti-spam,Assured Landing inInboxAnti-spam,Assured Landing in Inbox  The Spam Act:  By sending out emails to potentially hundreds of people you run the risk of being reported as a spammer  Key to the Spam Act is that you must have the person's permission to send them an email  To avoid being mistaken for spam when sending email:  Don’t use money patterns in the subject line  Don’t include advertising words: best selling, cash, free, guaranteed, money, satisfied and so on  Don’t leave the subject field blank  Don’t send unsolicited attachments  Don’t use all capitals  Don’t use words/phrases that have adult meaning  Do use a repeated pattern in the subject line  Do use a familiar name/email address 9Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 10.
    EDM Simple ProcessFlowEDM Simple Process Flow 10Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 11.
    Creating a CampaignCreatinga Campaign  There are a million ways to make your newsletter look sharp and effective with images, fonts, layouts and color schemes but the overall makeup needs to have the following:  “From” Address: Ex- reply@company.com  Subject Line: should be clear and prompt so readers open the email  IncludeWebVersion: include a web link where the entire email or newsletter can be viewed online.  Header: Always try to include a company logo at the top of your email  Call to Action: Every good email has a strong call to action in which you clearly state what it is you want the reader to do  The design of your email sets the tone for your entire project. It is the heart of the newsletter.  Content : that is relevant to your business but, more important, content that will be relevant to the recipients 11Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 12.
    Creating a CampaignCreatinga Campaign  Links: some point you will need to offer some kind of escape, whether it is to your website, blog or a login page if you offer a service.  Pictures: Reading plain text with no images is just boring. Even one picture can jazz up an email to the point of making it readable.  Composing: Your newsletter can have the best design, snazzy images, and killer navigation but if your copy is boring, it won't matter. Engage and influence your readers.  Testing: Test your template first to make sure it’ll work in all the different email applications out there. Once you’ve found all the little bugs and your template is fully optimized, then you can start sending. 12Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 13.
    Strategies for landingpage designStrategies for landing page design  Design Promotion - Specific Landing Pages  MakeYour Headlines Connect  Keep the Copy As Short & Simple As Possible  Create Credibility  Focus on “Eye -Tracking” 13Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 14.
    EDM BenefitsEDM Benefits Highly Targeted  Immediate  Test and Refine  Measurable  Reach  Better conversion rates  Cost effective 14Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 15.
    Branding,Target MarketingBranding,Target Marketing Think of a branded email marketing campaign as a virtual billboard  Personality andVoice  A ConsistentTemplate  A Branded Preview Pane  Branded Landing Pages  A Consistent Style of Imagery  Branding email marketing campaigns are all about reaping long-term rewards.  Target marketing is most effective when used to market the same product or service to different target markets.  For instance, a restaurant can pursue different target markets by tailoring its message:  For senior citizens - the marketing messages can focus on early-bird specials and menus for special dietary needs.  For families - the messages can highlight what makes the restaurant the ideal kid- friendly destination. 15Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 16.
    Email deliverability TechnologyEmaildeliverability Technology  An ESP’s MTA (mail transfer agent) may not be able to support some essential features that are required for enhancing deliverability.  Static/Dedicated IP address (Dedicated for higher volumes)  Multi-part emails (text & HTML)  Throttling  Sign outgoing messages with DKIM  Retry feature for temporary failures/greylisting  IPWarming 16Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 17.
    Importance of eDMTesting checklistImportance of eDM Testing checklist  Testing is essential for an email campaign, no matter how experienced you are.  Email deliverability testing goes further than just seeing if the email has a good inbox placement.You also want to stimulate good email marketing results.  Design: Customers will see across all devices and email clients is very important for your emails results  Content: Email providers check content of emails as another step in fighting the war against SPAM.  Data: It is all about keeping the list clean.This involves some process, reporting and ESP services at every stage of a campaign. 17Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 18.
    Email Marketing GlossaryEmailMarketing Glossary  Open Rate: In the simplest form, open rates tell you how many people opened your email.  CTR :The percentage (the number of unique clicks divided by the number that were opened) of recipients that click on a given URL in your email message.  Landing Pages: A web page that is linked to an email for the purpose of providing additional information directly . It is best to send online users to a landing page to sign up or follow your call to action.  Hard Bounce/Soft Bounce: A hard bounce is the failed delivery of an email due to a permanent reason like a non-existent address.A soft bounce is the failed delivery of an email due to a temporary issue, like a full mailbox or an unavailable server. 18Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 19.
    Email Marketing GlossaryEmailMarketing Glossary  Call-to-Action: What you’re asking your subscribers to do in your email: click a link, forward to a friend, watch a video or cash in a promotion.  Conversion Rate: The number or percentage of recipients who respond to your call-to- action in a given email marketing campaign or promotion.This is the measure of your email campaign's success.  Bounce Rate: In email marketing bounce rate refers to the percentage of email addresses in your subscriber list that didn’t receive your message because it was returned by a recipient mail server.  A/B testing: Also known as split testing.This is when the list is divided into two parts, each of which is tested with a variation of the message. 19Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 20.
    Reporting and TrackingReportingand Tracking  The only way you will ever truly know how your email marketing campaigns are doing is by tracking results, analyzing statistics and comparing the numbers after each sent campaign.  There are several areas of your email message that you can adjust to help improve open rates.  Monitor overall website traffic so you can determine what percentage is coming from your email marketing efforts.  There are two kinds of bounce rates, soft and hard.You want to avoid as many hard bounces as possible as it hurts overall deliverability rates. 20Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 21.
    Email Marketing FactsEmailMarketing Facts  92% : of all marketers employ email marketing campaigns  58% : of people start their online day by reading emails  83%: Used the Report Spam button  80%: Use it without opening the message  73%: Base decision on the "from" line  69%: Base decision on subject line  20%: Use the spam button to unsubscribe  In just one-twentieth of a second, less time than it takes to blink, people make judgments that will influence their experience of your landing page. 21Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 22.
    Email Marketing StrategyChecklist for 2013Email Marketing Strategy Checklist for 2013  Segment your email lists  Optimize your emails for mobile  Integrate your email marketing with social media  Write copy that converts  Pay attention to your confirmation emails and thank you emails  Use A/B split testing to improve your email campaigns  Optimize your landing pages  Be sure your email design drives conversions  Do NOT Neglect Reporting and Testing  Measure your email ROI 22Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate
  • 23.
    To know more,feel free to write to usTo know more, feel free to write to us interact@tobocbiz.cominteract@tobocbiz.com orVisitorVisit www.tobocbiz.comwww.tobocbiz.com 23Tobocbiz.com Act Alleviate Accelerate