7 email marketing rules you must break

October 18, 2012

7 Email Marketing "Rules" You Must Break

DJ Waldow @djwaldow

Waldow Social

waldowsocial.com/email

DJ Waldow WaldowSocial.com @djwaldow

wa l d o wSOCIAL

slideshare.net/djwaldow

Isn’t email DEAD?

Most emailed article of the day

How many of you have...?

Download Report

91%

ü Email trending down (but still in the lead) ü Text and social trending up

Download Report

77%

Email is not dead. It’s THRIVING. - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12

Good. Moving on …

!!!!!

Email Marketing Best Practices

You should ALWAYS…

Email Marketing Best Practices

You should NEVER…

Flickr: financialaidpodcast

1 Never use

“free” or ALL CAPS in a subject line

Gmail spam “false positives”

Gmail spam “false positives”

FREE?

Which subject line was the winner?

It’s okay to use “free” or ALL CAPS in a subject line - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12

2 Never send an UGLY

email

A

B

A

B

•  Sent 20% old template (A); Sent 20% new template (B)

•  Subject, From Name, content &

date/time of send the same •  Ran for 24 hours

A|B Test Methodology:

•  Old template (A): 25.7% open rate; 4.2% click-through rate

•  New template (B): 27.0% open rate; 4.7% click-through rate

Results:

A VIRTUAL TIE!

YUCK! right?

99.2 40 87

99.2% inbox placement

40% open rate

87% click-to-open rate

Beauty is in the eye of the email subscriber - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12

3 Subject lines

should always be between

30-50 characters

“Off-the-Court Gear in Tournament Colors”

Sesame Street Asks Obama Campaign To Take Ad Down, Anderson Cooper vs. Star Jones, Die Hard Obama Supporter Freaks Out

Sesame Street Asks Obama Campaign To Take Ad Down, Anderson Cooper vs. Star Jones, Die Hard Obama Supporter Freaks Out

Get up to 70% off children‘s fashion

Get up to 70% off children

One Oil Change, Three Oil Changes with Inspections, or a Four-Wheel Alignment (Up to 78% Off) | 10 or 20 Gym Passes (Up to 69% Off) | Salon Package with Cut, Style, and Two-Color Highlights; Shellac Manicure; or Acrylic Nails (Up to 51% Off)

An actual Groupon subject line

One Oil Change, Three Oil Changes with Inspections, or a Four-Wheel Alignment (Up to 78% Off) | 10 or 20 Gym Passes (Up to 69% Off) | Salon Package with Cut, Style, and Two-Color Highlights; Shellac Manicure; or Acrylic Nails (Up to 51% Off)

An actual Groupon subject line

42 words 421 characters

It’s okay to write long (or short) email subject lines - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12

4 Never used a popup to

collect email addresses

nooooooooooooooo.com

Pre-Popup: 80-100 new emails/month

Pre-Popup: 80-100 new emails/month

Once popup was installed: •  Aug – 388 new emails •  Sept – 478 (a 482% increase)

83% list growth from popups; zero complaints!

Popup accounts for 75-80% of list growth!

“To this day, after 4 years, I have not heard anything [negative] about it.” - Patrick Starzan, VP of Marketing & Distribution

ChristopherSPenn.com

ChristopherSPenn.com •  30 signups per month prior

to popup. •  Once installed, average shot

up to 133 •  As of Feb ’11, trending at

250 per month.

733% increase in subscribers.

It’s okay to use a popup to collect email address! - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12

5 Never send an email with one big image

It’s okay to send an email with one big image, but get creative with alt text! - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12

6 Never make your unsubscribe

link obvious

Can you find the unsubscribe?

Can you find the unsubscribe?

Huh?

Unsubscribe

OR

Mark as Spam

It’s okay to make your unsubscribe button/link obvious! - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12

7 Never have fun

It’s okay to have some fun with your email marketing campaigns! - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12

1.  Never use “free” or ALL CAPS in a subject line

2.  Never send an UGLY email

3.  Subject lines should always be between 30-50

characters

4.  Never use a popup to collect email addresses

5.  Never send an email with one big image

6.  Never make your unsubscribe link obvious

7.  Never have fun

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

http://waldowsocial.com/free-email-reviews/

ar.gy/rebelsguide

REMEMBER

Smile. Laugh. Dance. Have Fun.

[Read post & watch video]

waldowsocial.com/email

DJ Waldow WaldowSocial.com @djwaldow