email marketing: why i hate email blasts and you should too

I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

and you should, too

Mike McDowell, KPS3 Marketing

© KPS3 2014. Not to be reproduced or used without permission. kps3.com

I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

We all love getting bulk email, right?


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Not the proper delivery method.


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

We look forward to emails from friends.


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Emails from corporations, not so much.


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Don't you feel special when you're included

on an email to thousands

of people?


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Email Blasts Tend to Be:

• Impersonal

• Lazy

• Ineffective


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Help me end the madness!


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Want to know the secret?


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Send timely, targeted emails with a relevant

message to people that have asked for them.


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Best Practices

• Segmentation

• Acquisition

• Subject Lines

• Frequency and Timing

• Crafting Your Message

• Mobile

• Measurement


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Segmentation

• Should never have just one list

• Segment based on what you know

• Gender

• Geography

• Activity (past clicks, purchases, etc)

• Geography

• Most and last responsive

• Self-segmentation


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Bad! (although nice)


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Acquisition

• Clear opt-in to receive email

• Double-opt-in keeps list clean

• Do not add your contacts

• Abide by the law (CAN-SPAM Act)

• Always provide an easy and obvious way to opt-

out of mailings


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Acquisition

• Form on your website (do you have one?)

• Provide expectation of what is being sent

– Company updates, sales and specials, sneak peeks, daily deals,

weekly tips…

• Opt in with transaction

• Opt in with survey or evaluation

• This is an informational transaction

• You both have something of value to exchange

• More info = more value


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Acquisition

• Nobody has a shortage of email

• Don’t take for granted that somebody has asked

to receive email from you

• Prove your value continuously


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Open Rates


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Open Rates

• Good open rates are dependent on trust and

expectation

• Many influences that can be adjusted over time

• One factor to experiment with is the subject line


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Subject Lines

• Straightforward beats clever

• Keep it brief – 120 characters

• Articulate the value behind the click

• Happier, more informed, save money, better at business…


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Experiment with Subject Lines

• A/B testing

• Send to winning subject line

• See what your lists respond to


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Frequency and Timing

• Can’t send too much?

• More frequent = less content

• Consistency for regular mailings

• Once a week, Saturday mornings, etc

• Test. Each list will be different

• Weekends are working

• Mobile (more on that in a bit)


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Crafting Your Email


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Crafting Your Email

• What are your objectives?

• Develop an editorial calendar

• Be useful – don’t send needy emails

• Provide value: entertainment, information, etc


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Crafting Your Email

• Make it scan-able

• You do NOT have their undivided attention

• Sub-headings

• Photos/graphics to tell the story

• Short paragraphs (edit, edit, edit)

• “Read More” links to full content

• Links to your website

• Kill the traditional email newsletter


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Crafting Your Email

• Write more conversationally

• Use the word “you” frequently

• Write like a friend

• Have clear calls to action

• If selling, have clear deadlines

• Visually, mirror your brand look and feel

• Readers will feel more familiar off the bat


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Crafting Your Email• Test your email across platforms

• Litmus


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Mobile

• 63% of US consumers: “I delete an email

immediately if not formatted for mobile”

• 88% of people check email on their phone every

day

• More than 50% of consumers that made a

purchase on their phone did so in response to a

marketing email

• Your design should be responsive

• Mobile = more opens on weekends


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Measure and Evolve


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Measure and Evolve

• Set your benchmarks

• http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-

marketing-benchmarks/

• Most 3rd party email companies provide free basic

analytics

• Here’s what you’re looking at:


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Delivery Rate

• The % of people that received the email

compared to the number you sent to

• 90-95%

• Bounce means they didn’t receive it

• Hard bounce = bad email address

• Soft bounce = undeliverable because of receiving email

server (spam, full mailbox, etc)


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Open Rate

• The % of people that opened the email compared

to the number that received it

• 15-20%

• Will vary based on all the things we talked about

today (expectation, subject line, timing, etc)


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Click Through Rate (CTR)

• The % of people that clicked on a link in the

email compared to the number that opened it

• 3-5%

• More links typically lead to more clicks

• Need to have a call to action for people to click on

and content to click to

• Pay attention to what type of content gets the

most clicks


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Opt-Out Rate

• The % of people that elected to be removed from

receiving future email

• 1%

• You want the number of opt-outs to stay low and

be infrequent

• If you’re following best practices, opt outs won’t

be a problem


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Website Analytics

• Filter traffic by those that entered the site via a

link from your email

• Learn from their behavior

• What pages are they going to?

• What are they interested in?

• Are they better customers?


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Who to Use?


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Why Marketers Use Email


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Marketers ruin everything!

Help me salvage email.


I HATE EMAIL BLASTS

Questions?

email marketing: why i hate email blasts and you should too

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