Keeping Your Email Out of the Spam Folder

Amy StarnesNew Media Fundraising & Email Manager

Best Friends Animal Society

amys@bestfriends.org

What Are We Doing Here?

Session Topics•Building a successful email program•Steps to create effective email messages•Tips to measure and grow your program

Why Do We Love Email?

• Cheap• Fast• Easy to reach large

audiences• Measurable• Almost everyone has

email

“Even though they can use some work, I still think e-news gets our message to the most people.”“Email continues to be the top driver of website traffic and event ticket sales.”“Our email newsletter is great to get out a mix of time-sensitive info and some interesting links and resources.” -NTEN Trend Report 2012

Did You Know…

• Email is the second most popular way donors stay in touch with charities

• 27% of donors surveyed will share an email from their favorite charity with friends & family

-NTEN 2012 Benchmarks Study

What Are the Building Blocks?

Email Strategy

• Strategy• Email Platform• Email Lists & Segments• Campaigns & Messages

The Key Questions

• Who is my audience?• What content will I send?• What are my goals?• How often should I send email?• How do I measure my results?

Step 1: Define Your Audience

You may have several!•Donors•Adopters•Volunteers•Advocates•Who else?If you know who you’re talking to, you can customize your messages, send useful information, and instill trust.

Step 2: Define Your Content

Email Content Types•Newsletters•Fundraising appeals•Event registration •Adoption promotions•Welcome series

Ask yourself “Where does this email fit in the strategy?”

Step 3: Define Your Goals

Every email should have one measurable goal•Newsletters: Drive traffic to website•Fundraising appeals: Donate•Event registration: Signups•Adoption promotions: Adoptions•Welcome series: Read/watch/give/share

Make your goal clear- don’t distract people with lots of actions

Email Goal: Shop Now

Email Goal: Make a Donation

Step 4: Set Your Schedule

2013 eNonprofit Benchmark StudyAverage 4.1 emails/month for animal orgs

(Your mileage may vary)

Recommendation: At least monthly as a reminder that they opted in to your list. But if you don’t have anything useful to say, skip a month. Bottom line: Do what works for you and your audience

Days of the Week

-Mailchimp 2014 http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/

Bottom line: Do what works for you and your audience

Time of the Day

-Mailchimp 2014 http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/Bottom line: Do what works for you and your audience

Email Platforms

• Strategy• Email Platforms• Email Lists & Segments• Campaigns & Messages

Picking an Email Platform• Requirements– Easy-to-use interface– Can manage multiple lists– Analytics– Mobile support– Trusted sender reputation– Ideally, an integrated fundraising tool & signup forms

• What is your budget?• What can you manage?

Email Platform Solutions

MailChimp•FREE option for small lists (0-2,000 12,000 emails/mo)•5,000-10,000: $15/mo•Sign-up forms•Easy interface•List segmentation•Testing & reports•Mobile support

Constant Contact•Starts at $15/mo (0-500 emails)•5,000- 10,000: $75/mo•Sign-up forms•Great interface, lots of integration•List segmentation•Testing & reports•Mobile support•Lots of documentation, support•Integrate with Network for Good fundraising tool

Email/Fundraising Solutions

Blue State Digital•0-5,000: $450/mo•Unlimited email sends•Testing & reports•Signup forms•Donation forms•Mobile-optimized Quick Donate•Event registration•Advocacy•Constituent management•Custom domain

Blackbaud Online Express•0-5,000: $275/mo•200,000 send limit/year (~3/mo)•Testing & reports•Signup forms•Donation forms•Reporting dashboard•Event registration (in 2014)•Integration with Raisers Edge•It’s really, really new!

Get More Info @

MailChimphttp://mailchimp.comConstant Contacthttp://www.constantcontact.com/email-marketinghttp://www1.networkforgood.org/for-nonprofits/email-marketing-by-constant-contactBlue State Digitalhttp://tools.bluestatedigital.comBlackbaud Online Expresshttps://www.blackbaud.com/online-marketing/online-express/

Email Lists

• Strategy• Email Platforms• Email Lists &

Segments• Campaigns & Messages

Building an Email List

• Add a signup button on your website right now• Adoption applications• Direct mail• Events• Social media• Add share options to your messages

Offer something unique. Your newsletter, stories, videos, etc.

Building an Email List

How NOT to Build a List•Buy email lists•Take email addresses from anywhere•Trade lists from other organizations

Every email address you have must be opted in to receive mail from you.

Reporting Spam

If people don’t know how they got on your list, they may mark your message as spam.

If enough people mark you as spam, mail servers may block you.

Bottom line: Only send email to people who said they want your email

A Word on Opt-In/Out

Opt-in means you have permission to emailOpt-out means you do not have permission

This is the law. CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 requires unsubscribe option on every email, and prohibits the use of lists acquired without permission and falsifying sender information (and some other stuff)

Email Messages

• Strategy• Email Platforms• Email Lists & Segments• Campaigns &

Messages

Call to Action

Tell me what you want me to do•Take a survey•Register for an event•Make a gift•Read a story

The Call to Action is the goal. Always make sure you have one (and usually just one!)

Some Tips for Great Content

• Send useful information• Show your personality• Keep it short• Make it easy to skim

– White space– Bullets

• Make it easy to take action• Proofread

Subject Lines

• Keep it short, descriptive, and to the point• Less than 50 characters• Be personal (you, your, we, localization) • Avoid salesman language (act now, sale) • Use active words (save, help, act)• Test!

33% of email recipients open email based on subject line alone**Convince and Convert via Salesforce.com, 2013

Subject Lines

Examples from Organizations in December 2013

•A very special video for you from the animals at ______•Still looking for gift ideas for your family?•Amy, your donation will change lives•8 Incredible Things You’ve Done This Year•It’s Not Too Late to Help!

Building Trust

DO:•Use your branding and voice•Say who you are (Use a consistent “from” line)•Personalize your message•Make your point clear•Send relevant information•Include a way to reach you•Use a real “from” address that can be replied to•Test your messages before you send

Building Trust

DON’T: •Have a misleading subject•Forget an unsubscribe link•Write in all caps. Ever. •Use spam words ($$$, free, act now, click here)•Use excessive punctuation!!!•Use red fonts (or a ton of colored fonts)•Have sloppy HTML•Send just one big image

Mobile-Friendly Messages

48% of emails are opened on a mobile device•Write good, concise content•Link to donation forms and websites with mobile layouts•Test on mobile devices•Images are ok, but don’t rely on them

Measure Your Success

How Will I Know If I’m Successful?

Use your mail program to learn:•If you met your goals•If your schedule works for your audience•If your messaging is speaking to your audience

Key Metrics

• Open Rates: How many opened the email• Clicks: How many links got clicked• Conversions: How many people performed the

measured action• Unsubscribes: How many opted out of your

mailing list

Benchmark Metrics

Industry Benchmarks for Animal Welfare•Open Rate: 13%•Click-through: 0.42%•Response Rate: 0.07%

Every org is different. Every type of message is different. Measure and study your results so you know what’s typical for you.

Other Things to Measure

• Performance against your goal• What subject lines and messaging works best for

your audience• What times/dates they are most likely to read

messages

If you can define it, you can test it

Questions?