How to Develop World-Class

Preference Centers

Speakers and Agenda

• Stephen Guerra

– Manager-Strategy Consulting

– Silverpop

• Loren McDonald

– VP, Industry Relations

– Silverpop

• Why now?

• 3 Types of preference

centers

• Best practices and

examples

• Q & A

• Wrap-Up and Survey

Twitter Hashtag:

#SPOPWebinar

Why Now?

Why Preference Centers?

• Demographics & interests

• Up to date/changesData Capture

• “My Email”

• Better retention

Subscriber Empowerment

• Preferred frequency, lists

• Basis of personalization, segmentation

Increased Relevance

Why Now?

More Channels

Relevance / ISP

algorithms

Customer Expectations

&

Control

Centralized

Corporate

Control

Need to Reduce

Churn

No Data, No Relevance

Logical Personalization?:

• Gender• Marital status• Age ranges on signup• Wedding anniversary• Significant other’s birth date

Birth Date – A Simple Example

Deploy Post-Purchase Emails?

Type of Post-Purchase Email Percentage Deploy

Service satisfaction 50%

Product Review Request 43%

Recommendation (since you bought this, you might…) 29%

Do not deploy post purchase emails 26%

Bounceback 21%

Cross sell/Upsell 19%

Happy Birthday Promotion 17%

Reorder/Replenishment 17%

Purchase Anniversary Promotion 12%

Product Review Posted Notification 2%

No Capture – No Use

2009 Birthday Campaign Indexed Results…

The Three Types of

Preference Centers

3 Types of Preference CentersOpt-in

Opt-out

Update PreferenceCenter

Step 1

- Quick opt-in

- Email

address

- Sometimes

includes name

Step 2

- Subscriber

adds info or

not

Step 3

- Subscriber opted in

- Even if no additional infoOpt-in

Change:

- Preferences

- Email address

- Frequency

- Topics

- Publications

Opt-out / Unsubscribe

Promote subscription

change rather than full unsubscribe

CAN-SPAM compliance:

no password/login required

Best Practices

Elements to Consider

Demographics

Interests / Preferences

List / Publication

Channels

Frequency

Capture Key Personalization Data

Clean and Simple Opt-In

- Simple- Obvious

- Logical value to consumer

Single Column Layout

- Eye-tracking studies suggest single columns

are easier to read

- First/Last name, Birth date are

exceptions

Or, Maybe Not

Data Standardization

Verify Email Address

Standardization key to Data Usability

- Drop downs ensure consistent

responses

- But may be hard to use on some

mobile devices

Mobile # for

SMS

Mailing

address for

direct mail

Other Channel Options

Consistent Branding

27

Pre-check Core Email Streams

Question Expansions for Details

Strong Value Offer for Information

Brag if you can

Show Samples of Emails

Avoid Using “SUBMIT”

Convey the value, benefit

Confirm Subscription

Subscribe

Notify

Message

Promote Update in Welcome Email

Capture Additional Data via Surveys

Footers

Design of administrative footers is critical to enabling

preference / subscription updates.

Footers – Make it Obvious

Include links to all 3 main options:- Update preferences

- Change email address- Unsubscribe

Don’t Use Euphemisms

Where’s the “Unsubscribe” link?

Don’t Require Magnifying Glasses

- Use an appropriate font size- Easy to read font color

- Don’t bury key links such as “Unsubscribe” in text

Clearly Differentiate Links

Use simple, plain language –don’t use jargon

Make sure links

are not just

images

Alt tags don’t

appear in all email

clients.

Unsubscribe Preference Centers

So What are the Alternatives?

Alternatives

Frequency

Format

ChangeEmail

Profile/Preferences

Channel

OtherEmails

Typical retention

is 20-30%

Where are the Branding & Alternatives?

Good, but not perfect

Missing:

- Frequency Option

- RSS or catalog option

- Contact info.

Change Email Address

Email Frequency

What You’ll Miss…

Multiple Lists

Why Are You Unsubscribing?

Resources

• Resource Center

– White papers

– Webinars

– Blogs

– Case studies

– Newsletters

– http://www.silverpop.com/marketing-resources/index.html

• Many presentations on SlideShare

– www.slideshare.net/Silverpop

Q & A and Contact Information

• Stephen Guerra, Silverpop

– Manager-Strategy Consulting

– sguerra@silverpop.com

– Twitter:

• @stephenguerra

• Loren McDonald, Silverpop

– VP, Industry Relations

– lmcdonald@silverpop.com

– Twitter:

• @LorenMcDonald

@Silverpop

www.silverpop.com

On Twitter: @Silverpop

www.slideshare.net/silverpop

www.silverpop.com

Today’s Webinar Hashtag: #SPOPWebinar