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EM@IL Essentials –

Driving event revenue through email marketing

By Cliff Seltzer, General Manager

September 22nd 2010

Event Director’s Best Practices Webinar Series

In collaboration with Puresend, presents

Today’s Speakers

Moderator Guest Speaker

Rohan Lawton

Industry Manager, Sports

Active Network

Cliff Seltzer

General Manager

Puresend

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, some

20 million emails entered cyberspace.

Email Essentials Agenda

The Power of Email

Six Critical Phases for Email Success

1. Strategy and Planning

2. List Building and Segmentation

3. Design and Content

4. Deliverability

5. Analysis and Reporting

6. Test, Revise and Repeat

What’s Next?

Q&A

The Power of Email

Cost effective

Improved customer engagement and service

Timeliness and quick deployment

Broad reach

Targeting capabilities

Measurable results

6 Critical Phases for Email Success

Strategy &

Planning

List Building &

Segmentation

Design &

Content

Deliverability

Test, Revise,

& Repeat

Analysis &

Reporting

em@il

essentials

Design & Content

Strategy and Planning

Establish measurable goals

Incorporate your brand

Dedicate budget and resources

Internal and external (ESPs)

Integrate with other marketing efforts

Implement metrics to track results

Strategy and Planning (cont.)

Develop an email campaign plan, process, timeline and

milestones

List Building & Segmentation

Building Your Database

Leverage all opportunities to grow your email list

Your website (not just the home page)

During registrations

In person, point-of-sale

On the phone

Partner websites

Forward to a friend

Social media

Offer promotions, discounts, incentives

Focus on quality of your list

List Building Best Practices

Permission-based emails

Opt-in, double opt-in, unsubscribe, privacy policy

Set expectations and send only to those who want to hear from you

Compliance

CAN-SPAM and other email regulations

List hygiene

Update and scrub your database regularly

Remove duplicates

Collect data to segment and target your audience

Subscriber Opt-in Preferences

Targeting – Know Your Audience

Segment and target for best results

Age

Gender

Interests

Prior registrations and activities

Geo-targeting

Other characteristics

Design & Content

5 Stages of Viewing Emails

Source: ExactTarget

Subject

Preview Pane

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Full Email

FromFirst Impressions

Subject

Preview Pane

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Full Email

From

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: From Name

The “From” field is what people use most often to

determine whether to delete an email

Ensure your “From

name” (“friendly

name”) is instantly

recognizable

“From email address”

should also be legitimate

and recognizable

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Subject Line

The “Subject” line is what actually

motivates people to open the email

80/20 Rule 80% will scan your subject line, less than 20% will

read or take action on your email

At least 40% of the reader’s decision

to open or take action is based on the

“from” field + the “subject” line

Source: Email Sender and Provider Coalition

Subject

Full Email

From

Preview Pane

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Full Email

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Subject Line

Subject

Full Email

From

Preview Pane

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Full Email

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Subject Line

Subject

Full Email

From

Preview Pane

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Full Email

Personalized

Time-sensitive &

offer to save

Call-to-Action

Question

Time-sensitive

69% of recipients

decide whether to

report email as

spam based on the

subject line.

Source: ESPC

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Subject Line

Do

Keep it concise and descriptive

– 40-50 characters (7-8 words)

Make it relevant and compelling

– Offer value, benefits

– Include a call-to-action

– Make it time-sensitive

– Ask a question, teaser

Don’t

Mislead or make it vague

Use words or characters blocked by spam filters

(words like “free,” excessive CAPS and punctuation!!!,

etc.)

Subject

Full Email

From

Preview Pane

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Full Email

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Preview Pane

Top left 4-5-inch square is key

Between 288-360 pixels

Ensure your call-to-action is visible

Test in various email clients

Preview panes vary widely across ISPs

Vertical vs. horizontal preview panes

Image-blocking

Fewer than one-fourth of people (21%)

turn on images in email messages.

Source: Jupiter Research

From

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Full Email

Subject

Preview Pane

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Preview Pane

No preview pane

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Open Email

Headline

Salutation

Content (Body)

Pre-Header

Header

Anatomy of an Email

Open Email (Above the Fold)

From

Preview Pane

Full Email

Subject

Fold

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Open Email

Pre-Headers

Very valuable real estate

Align left for vertical preview panes

Consider using it for your main messaging, calls-

to-action, content summary

Other functional uses

Link to a web or mobile version

Forward to a friend

Unsubscribe link or update preferences

Open Email (Above the Fold)

From

Preview Pane

Full Email

Subject

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Open Email

Pre-Headers

Open Email (Above the Fold)

From

Preview Pane

Full Email

Subject

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Open Email

“Above the Fold”

Headline

Call-to-action and links

Salutation – personalisation

Image-blocking

59% of online customers

routinely block images.

Source: MarketingSherpa

Open Email (Above the Fold)

From

Preview Pane

Full Email

Subject

Anatomy of an Email

Calls-to

Action

(links) Branding

Graphics

(links)

Open Email (Above the Fold)

From

Preview Pane

Full Email

Subject

Anatomy of an Email

Anatomy of an Email (cont.)

LinksContent

Footer:

Organizational Info

Privacy Policy

Unsubscribe

Branding

Full Email

From

Preview Pane

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Subject

Anatomy of an Email

5 Stages of Viewing Emails: Full Email

Scrolling

Length

Image-blocking

Actions

Download

Register

Visit Website

Forward, Share

SaveFull Email

From

Preview Pane

Open Email (Above the Fold)

Subject

Types of Emails

Different tone and content based on goals of email

News, updates, informational, eNewsletters, offers, promotional,

transactional, receipts, etc.

Getting Results

Simple, timely text emails work!

Getting Results

Driving action and participation

Learn what resonates with your customers

Calls-to-Action

Active voice

Links

Multiple, descriptive links (not just “click here”)

One click to registration or your website

Viral

Forward to a Friend, Share on Facebook, etc.

Reminders, resends

Confirmations, receipts

Additional opportunities for actions and interactions

(e.g., thank you coupon, survey, etc.)

Getting Results

Triggered Emails

Based on a specific action, behavior or event

Getting Results

Triggered emails based on an action, behaviour or

event

Memberships

• Welcome message to new registrants

• Renewal emails

Birthday greeting

Participation or Attendance

– Automatically send a reminder to attendees of the previous year’s event

– Send special early bird e-mail invitations for future events to participants

who attended previous ones

– For those who registered for an event, send an email reminding them that

they can purchase event merchandise

Tip: Considering

adding discounts or

other incentives

Getting Results

HP Welcome Email with Offer

Followed by Campaign Track

Getting Results

Campaign Track

Scheduled campaigns, drip campaigns

Content Best Practices

Concise, clear copywriting

Relevant, informative

Build relationships with participants (loyalty)

Links and calls-to-action

Personalisation, dynamic content

Testing

Design Best Practices

Consistent branding and clean layout

Multiple links

No attachments

Web, text and mobile versions

Templates

Landing pages

Use standard HTML

More HTML, fewer images

Validate your HTML code

Use W3C standards

Avoid CSS

Design Best Practices

Images

Host images

Use Alt tags

Define the image size

Alt Tags & HTML coding None

Design Best Practices

Test content rendering

Design Best Practices

Test content rendering

Deliverability

Manage Your Online Reputation

Follow CAN-SPAM laws and stay compliant

ACMA in Australia: www.acma.gov.au

DIA in NZ: www.dia.govt.nz

SSCRC in Singapore: www.spamcontrol.org.sg/

Provide an opt-out method

Provide a valid postal address

ISPs determine what is considered spam to

a large extent

Authentication

Pay attention to bounces and unsubscribes

Timing

When should you send emails?

80% of emails you send are opened within 48 hours of delivery. Source: MarketingSherpa

Analysis & Reporting

Metrics: What Should You Track?

Delivered

Bounces

Opens

Click-thru rate

Unsubscribes

Reporting

Advanced Reporting

Listed by specific click-thru urls

Advanced Reporting

Test, Revise & Repeat

Test, Test, Test

A/B testing

Test only one element at a time

Test different elements to see what works in your environment Timing

Subject lines

CTA’s

Links

Layout / Graphics

Landing pages

What’s Next?

What’s Next?

Relevancy

Dynamic targeting and dynamic content relevant to each subscriber

Content based on interests and actions

Improved landing pages

Mobile email

Social media integration

Leveraging Social Media

Build email subscriptions through

social media

Links within emails to grow fan base

and followers

Enable sharing opportunities

Questions?

Email Essentials Webinar Contacts:

Cliff Seltzer

CEO, Co-Founder

Puresend, part of the Active Network

cliff.seltzer@activenetwork.com

Rohan Lawton

Industry Manager

Active Network

Rohan.lawton@activenetwork.com

Resources

Email Industry Resources:

Email Experience: http://www.emailexperience.org/

MarketingSherpa: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/

Marketing Profs: http://www.marketingprofs.com/

Deliverability and Reputation

Return Path: http://www.returnpath.net/

Deliverability.com: http://blog.deliverability.com/

CAN-SPAM

ICO: https://www.ico.gov.uk

EuroCAUCE: http://www.euro.cauce.org

Active Network Contacts for Products:

Puresend (Email Service Provider):

inquiry@puresend.com

Active Network

Online event management services

Marketing.global@activenetwork.com

Thank you for attending!

Questions or suggestions for future webinars?

E-mail them to:

marketing.global@activenetwork.com

Special thanks to