key email marketing actions 2010

Key Email Marketing Actions to Take in 2010

Loren McDonaldVice President, Industry RelationsSilverpop

2US Attendee: (641) 715-3222, access code 452-796-774UK Attendee: 0870 733 0707, access code 452-796-774

Email Marketingis not

Dead


Bad Email Marketingis, however

On Life Support

Free Shipping, 20% Off – “So What”

Competition With Alerts/Social Notifications


Are you pounding or

engaging your subscribers?

6 Actions for 2010

1. Capture and Use the Right Data2. Create a World Class Welcome

Experience3. Use Personality/UGC4. Create Value Through New Message

Streams5. Re-engage and Retain

1. Capture and Use the Right Data


Do your emails stand out?Do they involve the

subscriber?Do they talk to, or at

customers?

No Data, No Relevance

Logical Personalization?:

• Gender• Marital status• Age ranges on signup• Wedding anniversary• Significant other’s birth date

No Recognition of Their Value Proposition

How About Product Selection & Content that recognizes I’m:

• Male• Married• Kind of old guy • Married 25 years

26th Anniversary…and I get This?

Progressive Sign Up

My Expectations:• Birthday wish and/or coupon

• Age-based content/offers• Gender-based content/offers

Now for that haircut, I’d Pay More Than $16!

Loren

What I Get

• No birthday wish

• Content does not

reflect age or gender

Net-a-Porter

Society of London Theatre

Targeted Communications Based on Age

• Under 26 targeted mailings – Age centric subject

line – Sent to recipients

under 26 years– Open rates around

double average open rates

• Mailing for the over 50’s– Targeted discount

offer– Open Rates 75%

above average open rate

Preference Center Touch Points

• At opt-in• Welcome email• Normal email stream• Transactional emails• Web site/Transaction process• At opt-out

2. Welcome Emails – Start the Relationship Right


What is the first email your subscribers receive?

Do you throw them in mid-stream, or “welcome”

them into the relationship?

Research by marketing publisher MarketingSherpa shows email subscriber

interest begins to disintegrate as soon as two weeks after the opt-in, as measured by the

open rate.

Within two months, the open rate typically falls 20% to 25%.

The Honeymoon is Over!

Williams-Sonoma 3-Part Series

Welcome Email Ecommerce Case Study

• Text• Single email• IT Generated• No marketing messaging

• HTML• 2-part email series• Marketing generated• Promotions, education

75% increase in conversions

3. Incorporate Personality/UGC


Do your emails stand out?Do they involve the

subscriber?Do they talk to, or at

customers?

Ratings, Popularity, Top Sellers

Incorporating Social Aspects Within Emails• Comments• User ratings• Top read, top purchases,

etc.

Leveraging Member Reviews in Email Content

We Like Personalities

Jim Cramer – Mad Money

Keith Olbermann – MSNBC

…Not Faceless Corporations

Can we talk?

• More than ever, we want to connect with brands via real people– Think Twitter

• We want a personal note, not a direct marketing promotion

A Dash of Personality

• Tone• From a real person• Humor• Employee,

customer stories/comments

• UGC• “Relatable”

Can You Say Mimes in Portland?

Woot is a Hoot

Like, Awesome Dude!

• Personal reviews/ comments from staff members

• While not objective, puts real people behind the products and emails

Fun Subject Lines

One-of-a kind content

4. Move to Lifecycle / Behavior/ Trigger / Event-Based Messaging

Free Shipping20% off

20 Emails in 22 Days

You Know Who You Are…


Have you calculated the long-term impact of

increased frequency?

Do your emails create value for subscribers?

What’s the Potential Impact of Over Mailing?

5 times per month

5 times per month

12 times per

month

12 times per

month

Revenue – Churn – Reputation….

Retailer – Increased Frequency

Unsubscribes and spam complaints went through the roof

Financial Impact of Increased Mailings

Pinball, Earrings, Shredder…

Relevant – Based on Purchase Data

Cross-Sell/Upsell

Behavior-Based Programs

Cataloger shifted to behavior-based

series after key purchase:- Warranty

- Accessories- Related products

Customer Lifecycle Series Emails

• Thanks• End Of Lifecycle Series

– We Miss You– We Want You Back– Last Chance

• Birthday Email• Anniversary Email

Prospect Lifecycle Series Emails• Conversion Series

– Give Us a Try– Please Give Us a Try– Survey*

• End Of Lifecycle Series– We Miss You– We Want You Back– Last Chance

• Birthday Email

Big Results after One Month:(compared to all previous email

campaigns)

48% lift Click through rate

129% lift in Net Conversion rate

Accounted for 10.4% of the total revenue from email marketing

while representing only 2.7% of the total email volume.

Break Through the Clutter With New Message Streams

• Triggers• Notifications• Alerts• Reminders• Aggregators• Updates• Closeouts• …and more

Date/Event-Based Emails

•Birthday•Anniversary•Holiday•Season/Weather•Renewal•Replenishment•Sale/Special•Service due

•Special Event – e.g., Super Bowl•News event•Recent purchase•Abandoned shopping cart•Status or preference change

Wine of the Day - Cadence

Consistency – Every Tuesday

5. Re-engage & Retain Unsubscribers

List Churn and Inactives – The Good and Bad News

The bad news…

• A typical list will lose 1/3

of its members each year

– Bounces + spam

complaints +

unsubscribes = 2-4% /

month

• 25% to 80% of your list is

inactive

– Subscriber has not

opened or clicked in

specific time frame (e.g.,

6, 12 months+)

The good news…• Churn can be reduced• You control most of your

destiny• Some inactives can be

reengaged


Do you know what your list churn rate is?

What percentage of your list is “inactive”?

Why Recipients Go Inactive

Never fully engaged - just wanted the incentive

Interests have changed

Content did not meet expectations

Emails are being routed to junk folder

You send too often

You send un-personalized, irrelevant emails

Why Recipients Unsubscribe

• Too Frequent

• Irrelevant Content/Offers

• Also, lack of email address change functionality

Don’t Wait, Be Proactive• Preference centers• Surveys, ask for feedback• Behavioral dataData

• Identify inactive subscribers• Determine root causes, patterns• Test frequency, content, personalization

Monitor/ Analyze

• Use the data – segment, personalize• Deploy triggers, act on behavior• Offer alternatives

Increased Relevance

Don’t Wait, Be Proactive

• Monitor inactive subscribers– Look for demographic, list source, etc.

patterns

• Test different frequency, content• Promote preference updates• Survey subscribers• Obtain feedback• And of course, send more relevant

emails

Ask for Feedback

Dell Survey/Preference Reminder

Value Proposition Reminder

Alternatives Are Promoted In the Email

50% of Art.com subscribers presented with alternative to unsubscribing stay!

Preference Center/Unsubscribe Pages

Q & A Email: [email protected]:@LorenMcDonald@Silverpop

key email marketing actions 2010

Business

bad email marketingis

email marketingis notdead

key email marketing

right datacreate

new message streamsre

loren mcdonaldvice president

howeveron life support

industry relationssilverpop