Email MarketingEmail MarketingThe Power of PermissionThe Power of Permission

John White

www.4T2.co.uk

AgendaAgenda

What is permission?

The legal minefield

Strategy: the four corners

How to win permission

Anatomy of an email

Testing and measuring

What is permission?What is permission?

What is permission?What is permission?

What is permission?What is permission?

Permission is non-transferable

Permission is selfish

Permission is a process, not a moment

Permission can be cancelled at any time

Seth Godin

Permission Marketing

The legal minefieldThe legal minefield

Outside UK: differing regulations e.g. CAN-SPAM in USA

UK: Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 20031. Can’t conceal identity2. Must provide a valid address for opt-out requests3. Can’t email individual subscribers without prior consent unless:

Email collected during negotiations for a sale ANDMessage relates to similar products and services ANDRecipient initially given opportunity to opt-out

Individual: residential subscriber, sole trader or unincorporated partnership

Business-to-business: no consent restrictions

UK details from Information Commissioner’s Office: http://www.ico.gov.uk/eventual.aspx?id=35

The legal minefieldThe legal minefield

Our advice:

Opt for opt-in!

Strategy: the four cornersStrategy: the four corners

1. Segment your audience– Value to your business– What motivates them?

2. Decide objectives:– Attention, Interest, Desire or Action (AIDA)?– Acquisition or retention?– Budget (time as well as costs)

Strategy: the four cornersStrategy: the four corners

3. What’s in it for them?

MoneyEmail only offers

Nearly moneySweepstakes or points: but does the recipient value them?

Information

HumourHow does this fit your objectives?

4. Plan frequency and personalisation

Strategy: is information powerful?Strategy: is information powerful?

Is your newsletter newsworthy?

What do your readers really want to read?

What level of content can you afford to create?

Can you recycle your content?– Email marketing– RSS– Blog / website resource centre– Marketing literature

How to win permissionHow to win permission

DO NOT BUY: permission can’t be transferred

Website

Telesales

Face-to-face:– Trade shows, in-store, meetings

Advertising

Correspondence: – Email signatures, invoices, order confirmations

‘Refer a friend’ schemes

How to win permissionHow to win permission

Prompt to sign-up on every page of siteMinimise fields and clicks required to sign-upShow benefits (sample content) and state frequencyBrief explanation & link to privacy policy:XYZ will not use your email address or information for any purpose other than distributing our Industry Review and related special reports. View complete Privacy Policy.

Allow them to set preferencesPiggy-back sign up: e.g. during online purchase

Anatomy: from/senderAnatomy: from/sender

50% of readers delete based on sender or subject line

From/sender is the first thing people look at

Use a relevant email address:– E.g. offers@xyz.co.uk

Sender description: 16 characters or less

No named individual (unless readers know you)

Connect ‘sender’ to subscription type chosen:– XYZ Offers

Anatomy: subject lineAnatomy: subject line

Be intriguing but avoid tricks50 character maximum - prioritise wordsDon’t repeat sender detailsTips to avoid spam filters:– Don't make “free” the first word– DON’T USE BLOCK CAPS– Or multiple exclamation points!!!

Sender & subject line checker: http://www.emaillabs.com/from_subject_line_tool.html

Anatomy: preview pane painAnatomy: preview pane pain

69% of readers frequently use the preview pane

Hotmail to evolve to ‘Windows Live’ with preview pane. Gmail already uses snippets

45% of readers rarely or never download images within preview pane

75% of preview pane users preview 2–5 inches in horizontal format

Source: emaillabs.com

Anatomy: preview pane painAnatomy: preview pane pain

Avoid deep image headers Use single column, horizontal layouts‘In this issue’ teasers in the top sectionMost popular links first Move non-critical information to footer

Anatomy: HTML v text contentAnatomy: HTML v text content

No such thing as personal HTML email

Images blocked by default by 53% of email software or ISPs

Offer plain text option with full functionality

‘View web version’ alternative

Validate HTML: http://validator.w3.org/

Use standard link colours and no Click Here

Host images on website

Anatomy: content styleAnatomy: content style

Learn from the web:– Read 25% slower on screen– Jakob Nielsen web usability research:

Concise: 58% improvementScannable layout:: 47% improvementObjective language: 27% improvementCombination: 124% improvement

Learn from direct mail:– Personalise– Repeat calls to action– Give a deadline– Develop a personality

Anatomy: spread the wordAnatomy: spread the word

Include ‘forward to a friend’ and ‘print options’

Include sign-up for new recipients

Cross-promote different email campaigns

Testing & measurementTesting & measurement

Test on different email softwareTrack click throughs and actionsBe sceptical about:– ‘Read’ statistics– Conversion benchmarks: ‘messages sent’ to ‘responses’

Split testing– 100 responses gives 95% predictive accuracy– Testing an option with a likely 5% response requires 2,000 emails

Tracking bounce-backs:– 30% of consumers change their email addresses annually– High bounce backs may be regarded as spam

In summaryIn summary

Permission:– Earned not bought– Selfish– Easily squandered

Content:– Valuable– Clear – Consistent

The tools:– Understand limitations of email software– Use e-marketing tools to automate the process

Email MarketingEmail MarketingThe Power of PermissionThe Power of Permission

John White

www.4T2.co.uk