Email Marketing

by Arash Khosravian & Farhad Beheshti from Anetwork Hello! by Arash Khosravian & Farhad Beheshti from Anetwork

Why Email? 1

PEOPLE HAVE DRAMATICALLY CHANGED HOW THEY LIVE AND WORK.

In traditional marketing, companies focus on finding customers by getting their message in front of as many people as possible.

INBOUND IS ALL ABOUT EMPOWERING VISITORS, LEADS AND CUSTOMERS WITH HELPFUL, RELEVANT CONTENT THAT PROVIDES VALUE.

Inbound Methodology

WITH AN ROI OF 38-1, EMAIL MARKETING IS ONE OF THE BEST INVESTMENTS YOUR BUSINESS CAN MAKE.

Email is a channel that you own Email is a channel that you own. You will always have a 1:1 relationship with your contacts.

THE CORE PRINCIPLES OF EMAIL MARKETING The rise of mobile devices The significance of segmentation The power of personalization The importance of data-driven analysis and optimization

THE CORE PRINCIPLES OF EMAIL MARKETING The rise of mobile devices The significance of segmentation The power of personalization The importance of data-driven analysis and optimization

45% of Email messages are opened in mobile devices

THE CORE PRINCIPLES OF EMAIL MARKETING The rise of mobile devices The significance of segmentation The power of personalization The importance of data-driven analysis and optimization

agree or strongly agree. When asked to rate the statement: “Most of the marketing emails I receive include no content or offers that are of interest to me.” 62% agree or strongly agree.

THE CORE PRINCIPLES OF EMAIL MARKETING The rise of mobile devices The significance of segmentation The power of personalization The importance of data-driven analysis and optimization

JUST BECAUSE YOUR EMAIL WENT OUT TO 10,000 PEOPLE DOESN’T MEAN IT HAS TO READ LIKE IT DID.

THE CORE PRINCIPLES OF EMAIL MARKETING The rise of mobile devices The significance of segmentation The power of personalization The importance of data-driven analysis and optimization

1. Why Email? 2. Lifecycle Marketing 3. Segmentation 4. High-Performing Email 5. Email Design 6. Email Deliverability 7. Lead Nurturing 8. Analytics and Optimization

Lifecycle Marketing 2

LIFECYCLE MARKETING How you communicate with your contacts – from their first point of contact all the way through their lifespan as a paying customer.

LIFECYCLE MARKETING

Inbound Methodology

A sample customer lifecycle Become interested in your company’s type of software Learn about your product Use your product’s demo Love the demo Remove the restrictions on the demo by buying the full version [Months or years in the future] Upgrade to a new version of the software

of your leads will not be sales-ready when first generated 73% of your leads will not be sales-ready when first generated

HOW TO USE EMAIL TO DO LIFECYCLE MARKETING Map the content in your emails to the buyer’s journey Identify key touch-points in your marketing and sales process

THE BUYER’S JOURNEY

HOW TO USE EMAIL TO DO LIFECYCLE MARKETING Map the content in your emails to the buyer’s journey Identify key touch-points in your marketing and sales process

POTENTIAL KEY TOUCHPOINTS Subscribing to your blog Filling out a contact form Requesting a consultation Downloading E-books

YOUR JOB AS A COMPANY IS NOT COMPLETE SIMPLY BECAUSE A CUSTOMER HAS PURCHASED.

as much of their first purchase. Loyal customers are worth up to 10X as much of their first purchase.

THREE CUSTOMER STAGES New customers Ongoing customers Evangelists

Segmentation 3

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE EMAIL MARKETING

Segmented vs. Unsegmented Email Campaigns

WHAT IS A LIST? Lists are the different ways that you break up your contacts into smaller segments based on their similarities.

HOW MARKETERS SEGMENT THEIR CONTACTS

BUYER PERSONAS Semi-fictional representations of your ideal customer based on real data and some select educated speculation about customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals.

EXPLICIT DATA IS INFORMATION THAT IS INTENTIONALLY SHARED BETWEEN A CONTACT AND A COMPANY.

IMPLICIT DATA IS INFORMATION GATHERED FROM USER BEHAVIOR.

EXPLICIT AND IMPLICIT Explicit Data • Contact information • Company Information • Form Submission Implicit Data • Email engagement • Web analytic history • Conversion data

Build separate lists for your subscribers, leads and customer Build separate lists for your subscribers, leads and customer. These lists ensure that you send the right person the right message at the right time. Personas give you a clear picture of who will be receiving your email. Think about business-specific info your company might need to track.

ENGAGEMENT RATES DECREASE AS MAILING SIZE INCREASES

High-Performing Email 4

THINK BIGGER THAN CLICKS AND OPENS.

BEST PRACTICES FOR HIGH-PERFORMING EMAILS Determine a good primary goal for your email Optimize your email for opens Compel your reader to action

BEST PRACTICES FOR HIGH-PERFORMING EMAILS Determine a good primary goal for your email Optimize your email for opens Compel your reader to action

BEST PRACTICES FOR HIGH-PERFORMING EMAILS Determine a good primary goal for your email Optimize your email for opens Compel your reader to action

CRAFTING A GREAT SUBJECT LINE Shorter is better Avoid salesy language Keep it straightforward Personalize

CHOOSING YOUR FROM NAME AND EMAIL ADDRESS Use a company address, not a free webmail account Don’t send emails from no-reply Use an address that indicates the purpose of the send Customer lifecycle should dictate who the email comes from

the snippet of copy that is pulled from the copy of your email. Preview text: the snippet of copy that is pulled from the copy of your email.

BEST PRACTICES FOR HIGH-PERFORMING EMAILS Determine a good primary goal for your email Optimize your email for opens Compel your reader to action

WRITING EFFECTIVE EMAIL COPY Write for scanability Use the right tone Personalize Make it readable on any screen Proofread, proofread, proofread Mix it up

PREVENTING ERRORS IN YOUR EMAIL Send yourself a test. Check it on your computer and your phone Try to read your email without images. Click on all of the links Make sure your unsubscribe link is working Test your email in popular apps and programs

litmus.com

MAKE EACH COMPONENT OF YOUR EMAIL A CALL-TO-ACTION Don’t use vague phrases Link images to your offer’s landing page Hyperlink the appropriate copy in the email Edit alt-text of images and CTAs

Effect of number of images in marketing emails on CTR.

Example of an Uber receipt

Blog update from Zapier

Blog update from Zapier

Email Design 5

Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works. - Steve Jobs

EMAIL DESIGN BEST PRACTICES Pick a primary goal Write and design the copy Create a consistent experience

EVERY PART OF YOUR EMAIL SHOULD SUPPORT THE GOAL YOU’VE SELECTED.

wall-of-text

WRITING EFFECTIVE EMAIL COPY Write for scannability Use the right tone Personalize when appropriate Proofread, proofread, proofread

The Inverted Pyramid

How to reduce information density.

The importance of white space.

EMAIL DESIGN AND WEB DESIGN ARE DIFFERENT.

Campaign Monitor’s ultimate guide to CSS.

EMAIL IMAGES AND STYLING TIPS Add alt-text to your images Avoid creating your email as a single image Define the width and height of your images

Less is more

DESIGNING FOR MOBILE DEVICES Use mobile-friendly templates Move your call-to-action above the fold Font should be minimum 14pt font Avoid the “wall-of-text” by using line breaks Your call-to-action should be at least 44 x 44 pixels

Email Deliverability 6

EMAIL DELIVERABILITY The measurement and understanding of how successful a sender is at getting their marketing message into people’s inboxes.

IF YOU SEND EMAIL THAT PEOPLE DON’T WANT, THAT DOESN’T ACTUALLY BENEFIT THEM, EVENTUALLY YOU WON’T GET INTO THEIR INBOX.

BEST PRACTICES FOR BEFORE THE SEND Sources Permissions

MEASURING YOUR DELIVERABILITY AFTER THE SEND Engagement metrics Contact churn metrics

EMAIL BOUNCE A bounce is an email that for some reason was rejected by the recipients mail server.

MOST COMMON TYPES OF BOUNCES Recipient bounces Content bounces Reputation bounces

BOUNCE CODE CODES THAT START WITH A FOUR MEAN IT’S A TEMPORARY BOUNCE. YOU CAN TRY AGAIN LATER. CODES THAT START WITH A FIVE MEAN THE EMAIL ADDRESS SHOULD NEVER BE TRIED AGAIN BECAUSE IT WILL NEVER WORK

RECIPIENT BOUNCES Have a 500 or 550 bounce code. Their message usually tells you this is either no good or never was good. Also called unknown user bounces.

CONTENT BOUNCES Have a 571 or 554 code. The mail server, anti-spam service, or software protecting the mail server determined that your content was kinda gross.

WHY CONTENT BOUNCES HAPPEN They didn’t like something you linked to You didn’t have enough actual text content in the email Your email copy looks like content that they have previously marked as spam Your email copy was loaded with spelling errors

REPUTATION BOUNCES Some system between you and the recipient’s mailbox made a judgment call based on your reputation and refused to deliver the message. The bounce codes are either 571, 554, or sometimes 471.

GETTING MARKED AS SPAM WILL IMPACT YOUR ABILITY TO SEND EMAILS TO PEOPLE WHO LOVE THEM.

Avoid Sending Spam Email & Improve Your Email Deliverability Don't buy or rent email lists. Don't email people who have bounced repeatedly Don't use all caps anywhere in your email or its subject line. Don't embed forms in your emails. Don't use spam trigger words.

Link shorteners are used by spammers to hide where their links will actually end up. Email service providers will stop showing greymail to subscribers

HOW TO COMBAT GREYMAIL Send re-engagement campaigns, then stop sending emails to the ones that don’t re-engage Increasing segmentation Removing contacts from your database who are no longer engaged

Lead Nurturing 7

LEAD NURTURING The process of building relationships with prospects with the goal of earning their business when they are ready.

of your leads will not be sales-ready when first generated 73% of your leads will not be sales-ready when first generated

MOST MARKETING AUTOMATION IS REALLY EXPERIENCE DESIGN. - SCOTT BRINKER

BEST PRACTICES FOR LEAD NURTURING Decide how to use lead nurturing for your business Learn how to build a great individual workflow Communicate with your leads based on their behavior

BEST PRACTICES FOR LEAD NURTURING Decide how to use lead nurturing for your business Learn how to build a great individual workflow Communicate with your leads based on their behavior

BEST PRACTICES FOR LEAD NURTURING Decide how to use lead nurturing for your business Learn how to build a great individual workflow Communicate with your leads based on their behavior

THE APPROACH YOU SELECT WILL DEPEND ON SEVERAL FACTORS: How many leads do you get each month? Through which channels do you get generate those leads? Do you have a sales force? If so, how many reps do you have? What is your business model? How long is your sales cycle?

Nurturing Email Types

BEST PRACTICES FOR LEAD NURTURING Decide how to use lead nurturing for your business Learn how to build a great individual workflow Communicate with your leads based on their behavior

BEHAVIORAL EMAIL Sending targeted emails to your contacts based on their actions and behaviors.

Analytics and Optimization 8

Inbound Methodology

53% of organizations chose data-driven marketing as their top priority for 2016.

THE TYPES OF METRICS YOU SHOULD TRACK Individual email metrics Email channel metrics Email health metrics

THE TYPES OF METRICS YOU SHOULD TRACK Individual email metrics Email channel metrics Email health metrics

OPEN RATE The percentage of people that received your email who actually opened it.

CLICK-THROUGH RATE The percentage of people who clicked on a link in your email after opening it.

CONVERSION RATE The percentage of people who clicked on a link within your email AND completed a desired action.

THE TYPES OF METRICS YOU SHOULD TRACK Individual email metrics Email channel metrics Email health metrics

GOALS FOR YOUR EMAIL CHANNEL METRICS • How people engage with your emails. • How email impacts your ability to move people through your funnel. • How effectively you can use email to drive traffic to specific events • How your email database is growing or decaying.

of your email marketing database will decay every year, on average 22.5% of your email marketing database will decay every year, on average

THE TYPES OF METRICS YOU SHOULD TRACK Individual email metrics Email channel metrics Email health metrics

MY OPEN RATE IS LOWER THAN EXPECTED. PROBLEM SOLUTION

MY OPEN RATE IS LOWER THAN EXPECTED. PROBLEM SOLUTION Bad subscriber expectations • Give people more options • Set better expectations

MY OPEN RATE IS LOWER THAN EXPECTED. PROBLEM SOLUTION Bad subject line Write a short, to-the-point, non-salesy subject line

MY OPEN RATE IS LOWER THAN EXPECTED. PROBLEM SOLUTION These contacts are not engaged Send them a specific offer that will entice them to re-engage

MY OPEN RATE IS LOWER THAN EXPECTED. PROBLEM SOLUTION Your offer isn’t relevant This is often a function of poor segmentation. Look to the Buyer’s Journey and Buyer Personas to improve your email.

MY OPEN RATE IS LOWER THAN EXPECTED. PROBLEM SOLUTION You have deliverability issues You never made it into the inbox in the first place. Go to Email Deliverability chapter

MY OPEN RATE IS HIGH BUT MY CLICK RATE IS LOW. PROBLEM SOLUTION

MY OPEN RATE IS HIGH BUT MY CLICK RATE IS LOW. PROBLEM SOLUTION The CTA isn’t prominent enough Make sure your CTA is prominent, well-placed, attention-grabbing and action-oriented

MY OPEN RATE IS HIGH BUT MY CLICK RATE IS LOW. PROBLEM SOLUTION Your email is trying to do too many things When someone opens an email, it should be crystal clear what they are supposed to do.

MY OPEN RATE IS HIGH BUT MY CLICK RATE IS LOW. PROBLEM SOLUTION Subject line and content of the email are not aligned Don’t bait and switch you readers

MY OPEN RATE IS HIGH BUT MY CLICK RATE IS LOW. PROBLEM SOLUTION Your email is not optimized for mobile Use mobile-responsive templates, and design your emails with mobile in mind

MY CLICK RATE IS HIGH BY CONVERSION RATE IS LOW PROBLEM SOLUTION

MY CLICK RATE IS HIGH BY CONVERSION RATE IS LOW PROBLEM SOLUTION Poor alignment between content in email and offer on landing page Clearly and accurately demonstrate the value of your offer through the entire user experience, from inbox to conversion

MY CLICK RATE IS HIGH BY CONVERSION RATE IS LOW PROBLEM SOLUTION You have a bad landing page Use landing page best practices • A clear and compelling headline • Visual emphasis on value of offer • No navigation or menu links • A form whose length mirrors the value of the offer

OPTIMIZATION

Setting up a test 1.Segment your database 2. identify opportunitis in your funnel 3. Design experiments 4.Prioritize the experiments

EMAILS ARE NOT GETTING OPENED Hypothesis #1: Your emails are ending up in the Gmail promotions tab Solution: To avoid getting marked as a promotion: • Emails should sound personal • Remove images • Avoid using sales-y language

EMAILS ARE NOT GETTING OPENED https://litmus.com/gmail-tabs

EMAILS ARE NOT GETTING OPENED Hypothesis #2: Your subject line contains characters and words that trigger the recipients spam filter. Solution: Improve your subject line Avoid emojis Remove sales-y words Align subject line with email content

EMAILS ARE NOT GETTING OPENED

EMAILS ARE NOT GETTING OPENED Hypothesis #3: Your emails are arriving at the recipients inbox at a time that does not suit them to open it Hypothesis #4: The subject line is not compelling. Hypothesis #5: You’re sending too many emails.

KISSMETRICS A/B TEST SIGNIFICANCE CALCULATOR

Any questions ? farhad.be@gmail.com Thanks! Any questions ? farhad.be@gmail.com