This document provides tips and strategies for book publishers to use email marketing. It discusses setting goals for email campaigns, such as generating interest, sales, and customer relationships. It also outlines the tools available, including websites, search engines, display ads, email lists, and social media. The document provides best practices for email marketing, including list quality, deliverability, and revenue generation. It gives examples of how publishers can promote new releases, recommend titles, and offer seasonal or discounted promotions through email.

1. Email Marketing
Tips for Book Publishers
March 18, 2009
Moderator: Special Presenter:
John Collier Winston Bowden
Co-Founder & CEO Vice-President of Marketing
FreshNotes Contactology
129 Church Street, Suite 700 | New Haven, CT 06510
PH: 203.773.0177 | FX: 203.903.0325 1
www.freshnotes.com | Toll Free 888.576.3490

2. > EMAIL MARKETING
A Framework for Online Book Marketing
THE TOOLS
THE GOALS
• Website. Retail, news, blog or other content
• Generate interest in a title.
site optimized for computers or mobile
Produce a sale of a title in the
devices.
near (but not necessarily
immediate) future through an • Search engines. SEO, PPC advertising &
offline or online retail channel. Book Search.
• Generate a sale. Convert a • Display advertising. Banner ads distributed
potential customer into an through media purchases or partnerships.
immediate online sale.
• Email. Your list or paid sponsorships.
• Develop a relationship. Form a
• Performance marketing. Affiliate & CPA
relationship with a book buyer
networks.
to facilitate current and future
• Social media. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter,
book sales.
LibraryThing & YouTube.
• Sharable widgets. Book or author widgets
to be placed on blogs or incorporated with
social media.
2

3. > EMAIL MARKETING
Background Reading
GETTING STARTED
3

4. > EMAIL MARKETING
What Matters Most in Email Marketing
http://www.imediaconnection.com/content/9817.asp
20%:
40%: THE LIST 40%: THE OFFER
CREATIVE
1. Make the opt-in visible 1. Be relevant 1. Text vs. HTML
2. Make content 2. Set deadlines 2. Rich media
informational
3. Be timely 3. Get personal
3. Promote viral forwards
4. Strong subject
4. Value related offers
4. Utilize lists from different line
5. Stay on schedule
divisions
5. Partner with other
businesses
4

5. What we’re not: SPAM
We do not send unsolicited email. Spammers
are the bad guys in our industry. We hate
them just as much as you do.
5

6. Why Email Marketing?
• Return on investment
• Real time reporting
• Easy to implement
• Ability to easily test campaign effectiveness
6

7. Email Marketing ROI
• “ ... email [marketing] ROI will hit $45.65 for every dollar spent in 2008, more than
twice the ROI of other mediums including search and display.” - 55 percent expect
ROI from email marketing to be higher quot;than any other [marketing] channel
• 67 percent state quot;email has helped boost sales through other channels.“
• 80 percent indicate quot;email was the strongest performing media buy ahead of search
(70.6%) and display (37.6%).“
Source Datran Media's second annual survey of online marketing professionals conducted in
December 2007
7

8. Instantly Gauge Results with Reporting
• Open Rate – Data on how many individuals opened and who opened
• Click thru Rate – The percentage of your opens who clicked a link. Who clicked
a link?
• Bounce Rate – How many emails on your list couldn’t make it to the inbox
because of an invalid email address?
• Instance Results - Immediately gauge campaign effectiveness with real time
results
8

9. Email Marketing:
It’s Easy to Get Started
• Email service providers offer templates,
deliverability and support.
9

10. What You Need to Know
• CAN SPAM
• Subscriber Lists
• Deliverability
• Building Revenue
• Optimizing Campaigns
10

11. What is CAN-SPAM?
The basics:
Federal Law that regulates email marketing
• Simple opt-out method on your email. Most email marketing service
providers do this automatically.
• Physical address of sender on each email.
• A valid subject line that is not deceptive.
• Warning label for adult content.
11

12. Permission List (Opt-In)
Buying and renting lists is taboo. Build your list organically.
• SEO
• Paid Search
• PR
• Website
• Blog
• Point of Sale
• Trade Show Opt-in (not a list of attendees)
12

13. Example of a Compliant Email
• From: Paste
Magazine
newsletter@pastem
agazine.com
• Subject Line: Paste
Lifeline: Bonnie
quot;Princequot; Billy, Bob
Dylan, plus Festival
Giveaway
13

14. Deliverability:
Getting your marketing to the inbox
• Low spam complaints (opt-in)
• Feedback loops
• Low bounce rate (List quality)
• Remove inactive subscribers
• Reputable Email Marketing Provider
14

15. Drive Revenue with Email Marketing
• Drive subscribers to your products
• Engage advertisers that offer complementary
services and product offerings
• Include value added editorial content to keep
users engaged
15

16. 16

17. 17

18. Use Auto Responders
• When a user subscribes to a list, auto
responders can automatically generate a series
of emails.
• Send automatic emails based on an important
date
18

19. Testing
• A/B Split Testing - Send several versions of
your message to a segment of your list. Once
you determine the most successful campaign,
send to the remainder of the list.
• What to test: Images, subject lines and copy
19

20. Pitfalls to Avoid
• Sending content that isn’t value added
• Emails that aren’t optimized for email clients
• Send to people who didn’t request content
• Send what you promised
20

21. To get started?
• Start thinking about what kind of content you can offer a
potential subscriber. What will interest them and keep
them coming back for more?
• Learn best practices (MarketingSherpa, MarketingProfs,
ClickZ, Email Experience Council)
• Talk to email marketing service providers (Contactology)
21

22. > EMAIL MARKETING
How Book Publishers Are Using Email Marketing
1. Promote new releases
2. Recommend a group of titles
3. Feature a single title
4. Seasonal promotions
5. Offer special discounts
22

23. > EMAIL MARKETING
Promote new releases
23

24. > EMAIL MARKETING
Promote new releases
24

25. > EMAIL MARKETING
Recommendation – highlight single title
25

26. > EMAIL MARKETING
Personal recommendations
26

27. > EMAIL MARKETING
Personal recommendations
27

28. > EMAIL MARKETING
Seasonal promotions
28

29. > EMAIL MARKETING
Special discount
29

30. > CONTACT
Our Contact Information
John Collier Winston Bowden
Co‐Founder & CEO Director of Marketing
FreshNotes Contactology
john@freshnotes.net wbowden@contactology.com
203‐773‐0177 1‐866‐363‐0670 x 103
129 Church Street, Suite 700 | New Haven, CT 06510
PH: 203.773.0177 | FX: 203.903.0325 30
www.freshnotes.com | Toll Free 888.576.3490