eMarketing: The Essential Guide to Marketing in a Digital World Email Marketing What you’ll learn The basics of email strategy How to structure and design an effective marketing email How to plan and execute a successful email marketing campaign Techniques for measuring and optimising your email campaigns

Email Marketing is a tool for CRM and can deliver one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) Extremely cost effective due to a low cost per contact Highly targeted Customisable on a mass scale Completely measurable Furthermore, email marketing’s main strength is that it takes advantage of a customer’s most prolific touch-point with the Internet – their inbox. Many of the principles covered in this chapter can be applied to any type of permission marketing – especially SMS communication via mobile phones. Email marketing is a tool for building relationships with both existing and potential customers. It should maximise the retention and value of these customers, which should ultimately lead to a greater return on investment. Email is being used not only to drive retention, but also for acquisition, mobile strategies, and even social media.

Email strategy and planning Promotional emails will usually have an immediate goal: Users make a purchase Users download some content Users request further information The first part of any email campaign should involve planning for the goals you need to achieve. Email marketing can be used as a tool to help you achieve your business and website goals. As with all tactics, email marketing should be considered in line with your overall business, marketing and digital strategy.

Email strategy and planning Newsletters are geared at creating and retaining a long-term relationship with the reader

KPIs for newsletters Open rate Clickthrough rate Number of emails forwarded ROI Number of social shares Database growth Conversion rate (activity on your site generated by the email) Delivery or bounce rate

Email for mobile More smartphones, 42% of emails viewed on mobile Smaller screen Different operating systems Many devices Your content must be easy to skim, with clear Calls to Action Design for touch

Rules and regulations If someone requests to be unsubscribed from your communication, you have to meet their request or face penalties in many jurisdictions

Grow a database A successful email campaign needs a genuine opt-in database Permission must be explicitly given Abusing this affects your reputation Legal action can be taken Track subscriptions to protect against spam complaints and potential legal action Legal action can be taken against companies that send unsolicited bulk email – also known as spam. Track permissions that are generated for each user – a time stamp is a key part of the data capture and opt-in process and helps to protect you against spam complaints and potential legal action.

Grow your database while keeping it targeted Don’t ask for more information than you need. You can collect: Name, surname and title Date permission granted Source of permission Gender Country Telephone number, preferably mobile Date of birth Frequency (how often they’d like to hear from you)

Getting people to sign up An email sign-up form on a company website is vital Encourage people to sign up on your: Company blog Email signatures Facebook page Mobi site At presentations you deliver Offline marketing channels such as flyers, posters or in-store displays

Ask at every interaction Every interaction can be used to ask permission to send emails Offer something valuable, and ask for signups at the same time with a: White paper Gift voucher Music track Or something else of value Add a subscribe box to the checkout process of your retail site. Use interactions at trade shows to ask for email addresses. Ask for email addresses in store.

Email design Text emails are the small, plain ones – text only HTML emails are the emails with more complex design. Give your subscribers the choice Emails should be created and viewed as HTML for desktop and most mobile devices. Simpler phones require basic text emails. HTML emails can contain images, different fonts and hyperlinks.

The anatomy of an email Sender information Subject line Preheader Personalised greeting Body Footer Unsubscribe link

Design to delight your database Online, people tend to read in an F-shape Design also refers to how it is built, which can impact on whether the email is delivered and on how likely users are to interact with it. Cluttered inboxes and busy subscribers mean an email that’s lengthy and difficult to get through probably won’t be read. Help your subscribers by structuring your email content into segments, making use of borders or colour blocks to accentuate and divide content. It’s important to balance image and text in your emails. Make a point of placing images next to the relevant text.

Emails and images Emails that make sense without images render correctly across all platforms …and are more likely to persuade a reader to load the images as well as click through to the website. Use alt text for all images Many email clients are set by default not to display images

The call to action In order for your campaign to be effective, your goals and KPIs should be supported by the email layout and design Text links and CTA buttons are effective for generating clickthroughs A well-crafted and enticingly written CTA gets results for a campaign Test, test, test…

Creating content with value Readers determine if content is relevant and valuable, addressing problems and needs. Newsletters can offer: Humour Research Information Promotions Exclusive content

Email content Is an important part of content strategy. Some helpful guidelines: Use or create a brand voice guide Consistency builds trust and audience relationship Start with the most important information first Write scannable copy

Email content Any links in your email copy will lead readers away from your email Many users decide whether or not to open an email based on the subject line. Use a recurring content structure If your newsletter contains a lot of content, it is advisable to include enticing snippets with a link to the full article displayed elsewhere, such as in your company blog. Sending out too much long content in your newsletter can be daunting for time-starved readers, and they may not make it all the way through your newsletter. However, if your newsletter consists of only one article, it may help to publish it in full.

Segmenting your database Even simple personalisation can see improved results Customisation covers: Using the recipient’s name Sending the correct email version Sophisticated measurement of a recipient’s preferences Tailoring content

When should I send emails Sending at consistent times builds trust and fulfils expectations The best days of the week to send emails are between Tuesday and Thursday, but this varies by audience Test it for yourself!

What is your email reputation? A score given to you depending on how well your emails are regarded by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and your subscribers

Protect your reputation score Use authentication standards Keep a tightly maintained, smaller database. Clean as you go Ensure that email broadcast rates are not too high Respond to complaints and unsubscribe requests Educate users about white lists

Understand email performance Key measurables: Number of emails delivered Number of bounces Number of unique emails opened Unsubscribes Pass-on rate Clickthrough rates and conversion

A/B split testing Send one version of your newsletter to a percentage of your database, send a modified version to the rest Open rates Optimal number of links Copy styles and copy length Video Balance of text and images The most common form of email testing is to conduct an A/B split test  Open rates across different subject lines and delivery times. Optimal number of links in an email for clickthrough rates and conversions. Different copy styles and copy length. The effect of video on delivery rates, open rates and conversions. Balance of text and image ratio.

You can also test your: Subject lines Send times Best day to send Layout Text vs. button links Database segmentation Call to Action

Why email is great Higher return on investment than other marketing activities Mass customisation through technology = personalisation Good relationships can increase the lifetime value of that customer Highly measurable

Email fatigue It requires ingenuity, focus and dedication to maintain an email database and consistently deliver useful quality emails that will be read.

Zando achieves a 78% open rate

What happened? 5 000 new visits to the Zando website through a viral sharing Reasons for success: A well-managed and filtered email contact database Striking design Effective copy A strong call to action An enticing incentive The entering mechanism where the reader and a friend’s details were requested

That’s all folks You can also read about: User Experience Design , Web Development and Design, Writing for Digital, CRM, SEO, Search Advertising, Online Advertising, Affiliate Marketing , Video Marketing, Social Media Channels, Social Media Strategy, Mobile Marketing, Data Analytics and Conversion Optimisation.