Open Sesame: Email Marketing Strategies That

Work (And Those That Don’t)

Steve DayPresidentMalabar Technologies Inc.

Cory Van HornDirector of MarketingSnapRetail

Attitudes Toward Email Advertisements

Attitudes towards email advertising

• 70% of internet users view email advertising as positive– 54% of internet users view email advertising as positive if it relates to

a specific subject of personal interest– 12% of internet users view email advertising as positive if it relates to

anything

YANG, KENNETH C. C.. and Garland, Caroline Staub Garland. "Predicting Attitudes toward Email and Postal Direct Advertising by Consumers’ Innovativeness,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Aug 04, 2010

Focus

Value

Attitudes based upon technology adoption

• Technology innovativeness includes the consumer adoption of desktop computing, laptop computing, email, mobile phone, iPod, mobile applications, web use– Significant correlation between technology innovation and negativity

associated with postal advertising– No significant correlation between technology innovation and

electronic advertising

YANG, KENNETH C. C.. and Garland, Caroline Staub Garland. "Predicting Attitudes toward Email and Postal Direct Advertising by Consumers’ Innovativeness,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Aug 04, 2010

All people value directed online advertising, but technology savvy people hate printed advertising delivered in the mailAll people value directed online advertising, but technology savvy people hate printed advertising delivered in the mail

Email campaign orientation• Self interest directed campaign

– Win, selected, honored– Highly authentic– Mixed bag

• Consumer / Community directed campaign

– Testimony, discussion, application– Highly altruistic– Consumer oriented and valuable

• Organization directed campaign– Promotion, discount, special sales– Highly discounted– Organizations profit motivation

Lee, Doohwang., Kim, Hyuk Soo. and Kim, Jung. "The Impact of Online Brand Community Type on Consumer’s Community Engagement Behaviors: Consumer-Created vs. Marketer-Created Online Brand Community in Online Social Networking Websites,” Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, Jun 22, 2010

Consumer characteristics that impact effectiveness of directed advertising

• Television usage• Interpersonal skills• Education• Minorities and senior demographics• Income levels• Household size

Lee, Byoungkwan. and Salmon, Charles. "The Effects of Information Sources on Consumer Attitudes toward Direct-to-Consumer Prescription Drug Advertising: A Consumer Socialization Approach" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, New Orleans Sheraton, New Orleans, LA, May 27, 2004

Aloneness Phenomena

1. Age Identity and linkage

2. Entertainment escape and the male consumer

3. Relationships, a sense of belonging

Leung, Louis. "Effects of Motives for Internet Use, Aloneness, and Age Identity Gratifications on Online Social Behaviors and Social Support Among Adolescents,” International Communication Association, Jun 21, 2010

4. Mood management, aloneness

5. Social companionship and the female consumer

6. Affection

Designing for Print is very different than for

Email/Web

Why is electronic different?

• Users interact differently with digital– We don’t read, we scan– We are in a hurry; we

quickly pick most reasonable choice and click

– Usability needs to be taken into consideration when designing for electronic

Heat Map

Best Practices to Great Emails

Best Practice: Trust

• Trust is important for opens– We often feature brand names at top or in

subject lines– We send on-behalf of people as much as we can

• Don’t abuse trust– Limit number of emails to user; make them

relevant– Monitor unsubscribe and sender ratings

From: Pieter.Hegeman@ivystone.com

From: Ivystone Group [info@ivystone.com]

Best Practice: On-Behalf Email Sending

Best Practice: On-Behalf Email Sending Metrics

Open Rate Click Thru

On-Behalf of Specific Person

32% 7%

On-Behalf of Company

17% 5%

Best practice: Integrate Mobile &

Social Sharing

Share This Email:

Best Practice: Focus User

• Users will give you 3 seconds• Few users can process more than 1 offer• Focus on

– one message– one call to action– limited images

Best Practice: Simplicity

• Don’t make the user think!– Use clear hierarchy

• Top to bottom; • Large to small

– Simple language– Use web safe fonts (Arial); no serifs (T vs T)– Make it obvious what to click

• Most viewers won’t look below the fold; guide the user with graphic intention

VERY IMPORTANT

A little less important

Nowhere near as important

Best Practice: Simplicity

Very Important

A little less important

Not near as important

Best Practice: Create a Image/Text Balance

• Emails (especially top of emails) are not for pretty pictures; must use text

• Two big issues:– Image blocking: 70%

use– Preview pane: 70% use

Blocked Content

Blocked Content

Best Practices: Landing Pages Are Important

EmailLanding Page

Best Practices: Subject Lines• Effective subject lines are less than 50

characters – including spaces

• Include an action word like: Introducing, Announcing, Stock-Up, Celebrate, Buy

• Incorporate a sense of urgency with words like: Limited Time, Expiring Soon, Sale Ending, Save Now

• Make your message relevant by using recognizable product names or language

• Avoid using all capital letters, exclamation points and spam words like: FREE, ACT NOW, I NEED HELP

MarketingSherpa research:• Show value in first two words• Watch the hard sell• Brands can be powerful

Case Study of Best Practices in Action

Areas of Focus Around Improvement:

• Design Expertise• Copywriting• List Criteria• Email Distribution• Benefit of Other Industry Best Practices• Tracking/Reporting/Analysis

# of SendsContacts Reached Open Rate Click Rate

2009 w/o BP 9 69,293 23% 2%

YTD 2010 - w/ 27 166,583 28% 8%

Percent Change 200% 140% 23% 234%

More, More, More

• Emails Sent• Contacts Reached• Opens• Clicks

Case Study: Client Email Results OPY

Case Study: Client Web Impact from Email

Unique Visitors

Total Visitors Pageviews

2009 7,588 12,159 56,340

2010 YTD 14,444 21,785 125,107

Percent Increase 90% 79% 122%

Increased traffic in a 10 month period

Integrating Email Campaigns into the

Sales Cycle

Email Ad Campaign B2B

Scripts and Timing

• Scripts for all contingencies• eMail technology• 24 hours• Trust, trust, trust• Never ask a question• Avoid “No”• Schedule event

Electronic Sales Process

Create positive trust, relationship.

Create positive trust, relationship.

Keep apprehension down

Keep apprehension down

Focus on acceptance, and play defense

Focus on acceptance, and play defense

Manage acceptance and keep

apprehension down

Manage acceptance and keep

apprehension down

Summary

• Understand Customer Attributes to connect the message, design & call-to-action with the person receiving the message.

• Trust: Must be built & maintained• Integrate email campaigns into the sales

process to lead to a close.