Publisher’s Best Practices forE-Newsletters

Presented byList Services Corporation for the Audience Development Summit April 2011

Who We AreList Services Corporation (LSC) was founded in 1980 offering the direct marketing community innovative and exciting data-driven solutions.LSC Digital has key experience in the fields of marketing automation, campaign analysis and execution services to some of the largest and most prestigious companies in the world including:• Washington Post Companies (Kaplan)• USA Today• Reader’s Digest / Reiman Publications• North Shore Long Island Jewish Hospital Network• Guthy-Renker (ProActiv Solution)• CapGemini North America

DMEF Educational Leadership Award (Edward N. Mayer, Jr. Award)Robert B. Clarke Outstanding Educator AwardDMEF Corporate Leadership AwardDMEF Rising Star AwardsDMEF Corporate Commitment AwardDMEF Vision Award

Founding Member Awards & Accolades

31 YEARS of direct marketing leadership

The Brick Versus the Mortar

List Services Corp.List ManagementList BrokerageData ProcessingList FulfillmentData EnhancementModelingDatabase Marketing

LSC DigitalEmail ManagementWebsite Development (CMS)Search Engine MarketingOnline Advertising• Banner Display• CPA• CPL

Key Statistics

31 year old businessBusiness doubled in 2010• 1000% growth in banner display, CPA, CPL

advertising• 500% growth in email services• 300% growth in SEM, web development, CME• 200% growth in marketing database engagements• 75% growth in data processing (merge, NCOA)• 50% growth in non-publishing mail volumes

25% of our overall business is in publishing75% of our email business is in publishing

Why Should Circulation Take Control?

63%of CRMA members have

an e-newsletter*

Roadmap to Success

1. Signing up2. Saying hello3. Your newsletter4. Your newsletter in the wild5. Growing your list6. Maintaining your list7. SEO, testing & analysis8. Your competition

SIGNING UPPart 1

48%have an eNewsletter signup

on their home page*

Good Sign-Up Criteria

Is it easy to find the eNewsletter / Content sign up link?

Are there multiple subscription options? Does the e-subscriber get your print

magazine?

Elements of a Successful Signup

Easy to find on the Home Page

Elements of a Successful Signup

Easy to find on the Home Page

Easy Preference Center

Elements of a Successful Signup

Easy to find on the Home Page

Easy Preference Center

Short signup form

Use a SHORT subscription form.

Give your subscriber some

options.

Of CRMA members with e-newsletters…

0%Ask their eNewsletter signups if they are also a print subscriber*

Takeaways

• Keep your signup easy & highly visible

• Provide subscribers with easy to use

preference center

• Find out if the signup is also a print

subscriber.

SAYING HELLOPart 2

52%of CRMA members with an e-newsletter have a

welcome email, cascade, or auto-responder*

Of CRMA members with e-newsletters…

8%send a welcome email or

cascade*

0%include a subscription offer in their welcome email or

cascade*

Performance by Channel*

Channel Rev/message

Standard campaigns $0.04

Auto-responders $0.76

Welcome Cascade 1 $0.32

Welcome Cascade 2 $0.22

Welcome Cascade 3 $0.18

Website reengagement (cart) $0.88

Website reengagement (other) $0.36

Widgets $0.22

Criteria to Say Hello

• Is there a confirmation email?• Is there a verification of signup,

aka double opt-in?• Is the welcome a single email or a

cascade?• Are there offers, promotions, or upsells?

Elements of a Successful Welcome Email

From nameSubject line Link to contentAdvertising?Promotions?

Confirmyour subscriptions.

Web page shows

Confirmation Email

LSC Digital Approach to Initial ContactNEW MOVER EMAIL CAMPAIGN

Welcome Email

Welcome Cascade 1

Welcome Cascade 2

Takeaways

• Set subscriber expectations

– When will the email be received?

– Who will be sending the email?

• Subscriber Benefits

• Single email or email cascade?

• Opportunity to engage

• Opportunity to sell

YOUR E-NEWSLETTERPart 3

17%average open rate for

publisher & media newslettersResult from bronto.com

Main Criteria

Does the e-newsletter meet subscriber expectations?

Is there a main purpose? Generate website traffic? Promote other products? Upsell print or e-edition?

Does it demonstrate elements of an effective e-newsletter?

Elements of a Successful E-NewsletterFrom nameSubject lineView onlineContent is relevant &

consistentContent is easy to

digestEasy to opt-outCAN-SPAM

compliance

Elements of a Successful E-Newsletter

Takeaways

• Make content easy to digest.

• Bring readers into the brand.

• Give readers more than just

another article to read.

YOUR E-NEWSLETTER IN THE WILDPart 4

74% of CRMA member websites

have social media links*

20%

Have Social Links or Refer a Friend Link*

Like is worth

$3.60

Every

From New England Mail Order Association

A study by online ticket seller Eventbrite looks at the value - in terms of conversions to sale - of a variety of online social interactions. The study showed that one share on Facebook equals $2.52 in sales on Eventbrite where as a share on Twitter equaled $0.43.

On Eventbite a share on LinkedIn equaled $0.90, and a share through their ”email friends” application equals $2.34.

Like is worth

$2.52

Every

From Eventline .COM

Takeaways

• Include social media and refer a

friend requests on all

communications - Build your brand

by connecting your assets.

ADDING SUBSCRIBERSPart 5

More eyes equals more dollars.

• Email Append carefully

• CPA / CPL• Create brand

advocates – get Likes

Empower Brand Advocates• Enable readers & encourage sharing.• Activate Like buttons, +1 buttons, etc.• Add signup pages to your social media profiles.

Takeaways

• Revenue lies in numbers – add subscribers

profitably. Test:

– Email Append

– PPC

– CPL / CPA

• Your readers have the power – likes =

revenue

MAINTAIN YOUR LISTPart 6

Nurtureyour subscribers.

• Aged subscribers & re-engagement

• Re-activation• Behavioral Triggers

30%of CRMA member websites have a

subscriber preference center

Be a farmer.

• Data management• Segmentation• Analysis

Testing content is a fast, reliable, and accurate way to improve your content,

your brand, and your presence.

Image from smashingmagazine.com

1st subject line (1,1)

2nd subject line (1,2)

3rd subject line (1,3)

2nd subject line (2,2)

1st subject line (2,1)

Reengagement email

Creative 1

Creative 2 (Follow Up)

NTM hostedLanding page 1

Landing Pages

Reengagement email

Non openers move to 1,2 move to 1,3 move to 2,1 Openers

Non clickers move to 2,1 move to 2,1 move to 2,1Clickers send to landing pg 1 send to landing pg 1 send to landing pg 1

Non openers move to 2,2 end processOpeners Non clickers end process end process Clickers send to landing pg 1 send to landing pg 1

Complete new subscription new subscription Incomplete send reengagement email end process

NTM hostedLanding page 2

Non openers end processOpeners Non clickers end process Clickers sending landing page 2

Analysis

• Track Opens, Unique CTR’s, Page Views, Shopping Cart Interactions, Abandons

• Email-to-web• Follow the trail

91%of CRMA members run

Google Analytics

SEO Evaluation Criteria

• Meta tag usage• Code quality• Code accessibility• Header tag usage• Element attributes

(images, links, etc.)• Keyword usage

32%

30%

38%

Good Fair Poor

SEO Quality of CRMA Member Websites

Levels of Good, Fair, and Poor are roughly equal.

Pro-Forma Chart# Subscribers Type Value Return10,000 E-Newsletter

Welcome EmailWelcome Cascade 1Welcome Cascade 2Welcome Cascade 3Social SignupWebsite Signup

50,000 E-NewsletterWelcome EmailWelcome Cascade 1Welcome Cascade 2Welcome Cascade 3Social SignupWebsite Signup

Multi-Channel Analysis

Marketing Channel Orders 2010 Orders 2009 % Var Revenue 2010 Revenue 2009 Rev 2010 as % of total

Rev 2009 as % of total % Var AOV (Rev /

Orders)AOV (Rev /

Orders) % Var

Email 255,548 285,478 -10% $ 43,443,160 $ 44,249,090 29.2% 29.8% -1.9% $ 170 $ 155 8.8%

SEO 90,371 77,036 17% $ 17,441,603 $ 13,635,372 11.7% 9.2% 21.8% $ 193 $ 177 8.3%

PPC 102,492 85,002 21% $ 19,883,448 $ 14,960,352 13.4% 10.1% 24.8% $ 194 $ 176 9.3%

Banner 10,047 5,033 100% $ 1,667,802 $ 1,082,095 1.1% 0.7% 35.1% $ 166 $ 215 -29.5%

Social network 2,225 - n/a $ 373,800 $ - 0.3% 0.0% 100.0% $ 168 $ - 100.0%

CPL 2,348 - n/a $ 274,716 $ - 0.2% 0.0% 100.0% $ 117 $ - 100.0%

Other Websites 63,166 35,022 80% $ 11,433,046 $ 6,479,070 7.7% 4.4% 43.3% $ 181 $ 185 -2.2%

Mail 265,288 288,754 -8% $ 54,118,752 $ 50,820,704 36.4% 34.2% 6.1% $ 204 $ 176 13.7%

TOTAL Totals 791,485 776,325 2% $ 148,636,327 $ 131,226,683 100.0% 100.0% $ 188 $ 169 10.1%

• Track sources for traffic, quality, conversions• Use match-backs for print• Analyze house file for size, age, activity

List Subscription Date Subscribers % of Total List Size

0-3 Months 101,355 5.12%

3-6 Months 75,908 3.84% 6-9 Months 62,437 3.16% 9-12 Months 55,664 2.81%

12-24 Months 250,614 12.67%

>24 Months 1,432,232 72.40% List Total 1,978,210 Grand Total 1,978,210

Multi-Channel Analysis

View Cart Billing/Shipping Shipping Method Order Summary Order Complete0

0.01

0.02

0.03

0.04

0.05

0.06

Direct LoadNatural SearchEmailPaid Search (Google)Paid Search (Yahoo)

Abandonment Rate

Abandonment by Channel - Email-driven traffic is showing significant signs of weakness, particularly in View Bag and Order Complete stages of checkout