Gaze into the Crystal Ball: A Look into Email Marketing Strategy for 2011
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In this webinar we discuss how to create an effective email marketing plan for 2011, use reports to improve future communications, and understand upcoming trends and best practices to focus on for the next year.
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Gaze into the Crystal Ball: A Look into Email Marketing Strategy for 2011
- 1. Gaze into the Crystal Ball: A Look into Email Marketing Strategy for 2011 Jeanette Arrighi, MBA Marketing Strategy Manager
- 3. Bullet 2
- 5. What did 2010 teach us? Do more with less. Loyalty needs to be earned. Social media is not taking the place of email marketing. Integrate don’t segregate.
- 6. Challenges faced by marketers
- 7. Email Marketing Budget Trends
- 12. Segmenting Master the art of targeting the right person with the right message, at the right time. Relevancy = Results EMAILBLASTING 10
- 13. Segmenting Benefits Subscribers are more engaged Higher deliverability rate Open and click-thru rates
- 14. Engagement Messages should be short and concise Leverage text messaging and social media sharing Surveys/polls Video messaging
- 15. Engagement Happy with social media’s influence on email.
- 16. Engagement Video messaging Use demos, testimonials, user-submitted videos Length depends on content Reference it in the subject line Easy way to view the video
- 17. Opt-In’s and List Maintenance Create a strong subscription form
- 18. Opt-Ins and List Maintenance
- 19. Benefits Higher engagement of subscribers Better online reputation with ISP’s Increase deliverability Avoid spam traps
- 20. Automation Triggered emails Dynamic content
- 21. Benefits Higher engagement Loyalty of your customers increase And again, deliverability goes up
- 22. Design for mobile first Concise Pre-headers Pyramid writing Test
- 23. Test, test, test
- 25. Thank You for Joining Us! Questions? advisor@informz.com Follow us online: www.twitter.com/informz www.slideshare.net/informz
Editor's Notes
- Before I get into my presentation, I wanted to review what services Informz clients have available to them to help with preparing an effective strategy for 2011. If you have a different email support provider, check with them to make sure they are your partner for success and can help you along the way as well.Informz is committed to making each and every one of our clients have a successful year of email marketing. We can help by providing you with an analysis of how your campaigns overall are doing compared to industry standards, strategies to improve, as well as stepping in to help in different areas of campaign management, including:Creating and implementing surveys and voting campaignsSetting up a text messaging campaignCreate and implement a re-engagement campaign.And much more.We know many of you wear extra hats and could use a helping hand once and a while. We are here for you. In order to make 2011 a success, Informz can guide you and provide you with the tools to reach your goals.Ok, lets get into what we have learned in 2010.
- 2010 was a great year for email marketing. With the economy still not picking up and resources dwindling, email marketing grew and so did the technology.Many people have started to realize your subscribers need a little more than “we build it and they will come” mentality. They want to feel like they belong and that you have something that they want. Their loyalty needs to be earned and then sustained. Over 2010, this was done by segmenting your groups in order to give them what they want, when they want. This trend will continue into 2011 and will be even more important to achieve.Many people thought the growth of social media would kill email marketing and just the opposite. Overall, 2010 taught us there is no one tactic that will out perform others. By integrating and having them complement eachother, your message will become stronger and your results will show it.So this is what we learned from 2010, what type of challenges are marketers still facing?
- Ok, so this chart shows the challenges marketers are facing based on their customer channel. Targeting subscribers with what they want ranked on top. This is no surprise since 2010 we found the effectiveness in doing this was great and for 2011, it is not going away but is actually one of the top trends again. By achieving segmentation to its fullest potential, the remainder of the challenges listed here will reduce. You will be able to improve deliverability, show ROI for email marketing and reduce the risk of being seen by spam by the user and the spam filters.
- Leading into 2010, it was found that email marketing budgets were increase significantly more than they were decreasing. This is sure to hold true in 2011 as technology has become that much more sophisticated, you can target individuals in a concise manner and track the effectiveness with just a few clicks of a button. Email is definitely here to stay and we need to stay on top of the game to be successful.Before moving on to the trends for 2011, lets review a few things you can implement today to end 2010 on a good note.
- Before 2011 rolls around, you want to make sure you have an accurate list and this can be done by implementing an easy re-engagement campaign. Find those who have not taken action on your emails in the past year, whether you choose to do this by looking at if they opened an email or clicked on a link. Send emails inviting them to confirm their subscription, and even offer discounts on products if they update their subscription preferences. From here, you can clean your list of “deadbeat” email addresses and as a result, improve your relationship with ISPs and increase your deliverability rate.If you haven’t reviewed your analytics beyond open and click thru rates, do this today. Spend some time or reach out to your email support provider, to help you analyze the past year and provide you with a strategy to start the new year off right.
- Alrighty, so now that we have covered 2010, it is time to move on and see what 2011 holds for us and get a jump start on it.
- I wanted to share this chart with you before we begin getting into the trends in further detail.In this chart, you will see the tactics that can be used in an effective email campaign, their usage, degree of difficulty and level of effectiveness. So, as you can see, behavioral segmenting has been found to be done more often then the other tactics such as automating emails based on triggers, which require less effort and higher effectiveness.This does not mean you shouldn’t keep segmenting based on behaviors, because as we will discuss later on, that is extremely important in engagement of your subscribers. However, you should look at other tactics to implement that can take your campaigns from being average to being fabulous.This leads us into our first trend for 2011, segmenting.
- A trend we saw in 2010 but will become even more important in 2011 is mastering the art of targeting the right person with the right message at the right time. So what this means is that if you are still blasting your emails to everyone in your database – and blasting is a term we HATE at informz then you are not really doing email marketing. To really have success and achieve a good return on your investment you need to start targeting and stop blasting CLICKSegmenting needs to go beyond just demographics. While this is good, segmenting on past behaviors as well has been shown have a 9-10x more revenue than not. You can pull on past purchases, what types of emails they have opened or even on which links they clicked on. When reviewing your analytics, use this information to plan for follow-up emails or for future email messaging. It may be a little bit of work up front but in the end not only will you have results – but you will make your staff process more efficient.
- The benefits to segmenting are your subscribers will be more engaged by opening and actually taking action on your emails as well as your deliverability will go up. Throughout the presentation we will be referring back to deliverability because this year it is extremely important you pay attention to this statistic. Many email service providers such as Yahoo, GMAIL, and Hotmail, are going in the direction of an ultra managed inbox. This concept is not new but it will become automated and heavily marketed to users. Users will sort their mail by type, such as sale offers or by activity, such as banking, read later. In addition, how engaged the subscriber is with an email, will determine if it stays on the top of the inbox list or not. By having email automatically sorted by type or sender, as well as how often they open up from that sender, if you don’t engage your subscribers then your email will not be ranked as high as others and will be moved into a folder or pushed to the bottom of the list, never to be seen by the subscriber again.And recently Facebook announced a new managed messaging system which will include an e-mail address for facebook users. This messaging system will organize messages by the sender, in a thread, instead of by date, which is how current email providers do. If this popularity takes off, then marketers like yourselves, will need to really think about your “from” address carefully to make sure your email stands out from the rest in an already overflowing inbox.As I said earlier, segmenting will help increase your engagement of your audience and that is the next trend to focus on for 2011, additional ways you can increase engagement.
- Engagement is defined as how active your subscriber is when you send them an email. We all have deleted emails without opening them before and believe or not, so do your subscribers.There is no fool proof method to engagement, what works for one will not work for the other. So, you need to make sure you implement different ways they can become engaged and then track this and possibly, segment out groups based on their activity.Readers only take about 15-30 seconds to read an email so it needs to be to the point, both in the subject line and the body. Encourage them to share your newsletter on their Facebook page, tweet during your conference, or send to a friend. Word of mouth is not dead and you need to make sure you give your subscribers a way to share. In addition, text messaging is a great way to encourage subscribers to opt-in to receive late breaking alerts or discounts that are exclusive to those who opt-in.In addition, surveys and polls are a great way to gauge what your subscribers want to see at a conference, or what they thought about the past year of membership.And lastly, video messaging. I am going to touch on that in just a moment.
- But first, lets discuss social medial.When you hear that social media is taking over email marketing, that is just simply not true. Many of us find out about what is happening on our FB account and twitter account through email alerts.In this chart, it shows 8 out of 10 marketers feel as though social media helps extend the email message reach into new markets, which also will lead to be better brand recognition, growing your email list. The only area in this chart that social media is still out to the jury on is if you receive qualified leads from it. This will lead into another trend, creating a successful opt-in campaign and maintaining your list. But first lets review video messaging and the power this tactic has.
- Video messaging is a great way to encourage your subscribers to interact with your email. Use these to give tips of the day, promote a product, have your members submit their own videos from your annual meeting or why they joined your association. A great resource to use when recruiting new members.Make sure the video is not embedded in the email, but a screenshot of it and an easy to see “play” button. This should redirect the user to where the video is housed, such as YouTube. The length of the video really depends on what the message is. On average, a 45-60 second video is really all you need but if it is informational versus promotional, then it can be longer.When sending an email out that has a video message, make sure you highlight this in the subject line, it is a great way to stand out from the rest.
- Creating a strong subscription, which includes detailed options such as types of mailings, frequency needs, is a great way to build your list and keep it going strong. Collect this information in the beginning, and deliver on them, and you will be on your way to having a trusted mail list.You can encourage individuals to opt-in by offering them discounts or coupons for signing up, but one thing is for certain, you need to have a form in which you can obtain key information.Make sure once the form is created, it is posted for individuals to have easy access to it, on your Web site, in emails and throughout your social media outlets. Easy access to opt-in.As I mentioned earlier when it comes to increasing deliverability, you must have an accurate list.
- Throughout the year, you want to not forget your inactives. Implement a re-engagement plan as I previously reviewed earlier in the presentation. Once you remove those email addresses that have not been active and have a list you are confident in, you will see your results improve overall, including your relationship with ISPs and increase your deliverability rate.
- To review the benefits…Next trend is automation.
- We should all be happy about this one. Set it and forget it, kind of.A little effort up front can produce amazing results. Remember the chart from the beginning, compared to segmentation, triggered emails take less effort and are more effective. Don’t miss out on making a first impression, send welcome emails in real time, triggered. Open rates are 4x higher and 5x higher for click throughs in welcome e-mails. In addition, if this e-mail provides an offer/discount provided higher click-throughs.If you can get them engaged from the beginning, then you can create that base for a positive relationship. The 2010 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report from Marketing General, found that the number one communication method to help engage new members was through a welcome e-mail.In addition, make use of the data you already have. Purchasing information, attendance at a conference and even demographics. Use this information and drop in facts about them in an email, use it segment copy through “If-then” statements. Making it easier on you to set up an email once, with multiple “stories” which are assigned to different groups.
- To review the benefits, higher engagement leads to loyalty of your customers and in the end, deliverability goes up. Are you seeing a trend so far? Each effort for 2010 has a benefit of deliverability. Without deliverability, your message goes no where.
- The number of Smart phone users is said to more than double by 2013. And a survey by Nielsen showed 45% of web mobile usage is spent checking email. So when deciding how to design your emails, think of your mobile users as much as your desktop users. Individuals only spend about 15-20 seconds per email message so you need your key points at the top of the page, making sure it is the first thing they see.Offer your users a way to view the email in a mobile friendly format, one without all of those great graphics that look wonderful on a computer screen but make it really hard to view on a mobile device.So when creating the message, a few tips include, a pre-header, where you state exactly the main message you want to get across – Save 10% on a book, early-bird deadline approaching.You want to institute pyramid writing – The most important information and links on top then additional information below it. Your users should see what you want them to take action on in the beginning.Then testing. This is the next trend for 2011 and one of the most important steps you can take in every campaign to make it successful.
- Test, test test! When I say testing is important I mean test 2 ways.First in terms of your effectiveness you want to routinely try testing different things to see what works best for your audience. Try testing out different types of subject lines and the different length of subject lines. Make sure your subject line stays under 40 characters as inboxes cut them off.Also try testing things like messaging and link placement – this is going to make you aware of the strategies that work best for your audience.Also, you want to make sure that you are testing the rendering of your email to make sure that it renders the way in which you intend. All email programs render HTML code differently, as well as mobile devices. At Informz we have a great tool called the Virtual Inbox where you can test the rendering of your email against the most popular email programs AND mobile devices.Another big one is images – be aware that many email programs have images disabled by default – over half of users have their images turned off, so if you’re using lots of images or one big image – and someone can’t see your images they could just immediately delete your email (Another thing that can impact your delivery!)
- You must track the fundamental reports, click-thru’s, opens and delivery, to ensure you are on target for every campaign. However, to move into a more strategic and sophisticated email program, you must also review additional reports just as conversion rate, forward to a friend/social sharing and revenue per email. The conversion rate is the percentage of those who after they clicked on a link on your email, lets say, to learn more about a publication, actually proceeded to purchase that book right then and there. This takes a little more time to implement and can be done by using Google Analytics, but it will be well worth it when email comes up on the chopping block during budget season.In addition, take a look at those subscribers who are constantly sharing your content with others, these are your biggest fans as well as a key indicator on what information you need to be including in future campaigns. If your content was interesting enough for them to share on Facebook, where the average user has 130 friends, then you need to capitalize on this. Take this knowledge and make changes in future campaigns. Developing email content is constantly evolving task. Your subscribers, without even calling you, are telling you what they are most interested in based on their actions in the emails. Take notice of this and give them what they want.
- Other analytics you should be review should include, time of day, your results from testing subject lines through a/b testing, different offers, media types, such as videos. But one rule that you should always keep in mind, only change one variable at a time. So that concludes todays presentation, I am now going to open it up for questions.