Communications Email Marketing Overview

1. Communications Email Marketing Overview

2. Introduction This overview relies on standards and guidelines found in the Skidmore Master Brand Style Guide and the Advancement Brand Guidelines. Rely on the Style Guides for information about : • content creation • brand statements • campaign strategy • imagery • colors • fonts • layouts

3. Email versus print Layout Print design is able to take advantage of space in a way that email design cannot, due to the coding restrictions across email platforms. This means that email layouts will interpret designs to make a piece that is thematically related without being an exact copy. Brevity is also key to preserve the clean and bold designs found in our style guides. Colors Our brand standards provide us with an email template which has a greenheader/footer and a white background. Keep this color scheme in mind when choosing images, to make certain they make a good presentation. ADA compliance also limits some of our color and font choices in email design.

4. Desktop versus mobile Email marketing is increasingly being viewed via mobile devices, so it’s important to design with the mobile experience first. • Desktop views are often during work hours, but mobile view times can vary widely, and provide a bigger window for maximizing viewership. • Images should not convey key messaging, because they are often hidden for mobile viewers. • Always proofread your emails on both desktop and mobile. • Make sure that a greeting or introductory text comes before any type of CTA. • When judging the overall length of the email, count how many times you have to scroll down to “read more”. • Links should be on phrases, not on single words – otherwise they are difficult to click on mobile devices.

5. The Goals of Email Marketing Email marketing is one channel that we can use to convey our unique stories to our audiences, and promote brand awareness and engagement. It is often thought of as secondary to printed materials, but email marketing is a powerful tool that can benefit from the same thoughtful planning that our printed communications receive. Every email campaign (or stand-alone email communication) should be able to answer the following questions: • What is the purpose of this communication? • Who is the primary audience for this communication? Are there secondary audiences? • What do we want recipients to do, or feel, when they receive this communication? • When will we be sending this communication? • What follow up will be required?

6. The 8-Second Attention Span Marketing/sales emails have approximately 8 seconds to snag a recipient’s attention. If the content isn’t compelling, or is not easily accessible, your recipients will not receive your message as you might intend. Hubspotbreaks time spent viewing an email with three categories: Glanced (0-2 seconds), Skimmed (2-8 seconds) and Read (8+ seconds.) The goal is to snag the recipient’s attention in that first few seconds, and show that your content is interesting enough to spend more time with. • Use bullet points • Make the subject and preheader do the heavy lifting • Keep the email concise and the CTA prominent • Keep your links to a minimum, and make them easy to click on mobile Campaign Monitor blog post - https://bit.ly/2CuowT0

7. Examine Your Content In crafting the content of the email, consider the following questions: • Does the content represent the Skidmore brand and values, and does it convey the purpose in a meaningful and compelling way? • Is the content tailored to appeal to the recipient group? • Have you used personalization to make the content more appealing? • Do the subject line and preheader work to engage recipients? • Do the images complement the text? • Have you focused on just one call to action? • Is that CTA clear and accessible?

8. Choosing Images • Review the tips and guidelines about photography in the Advancement Style Guide and the Skidmore Master Brand Style guide. • Make sure that your images complement the text, without trying to convey the entire message. • Choose images that fit the area they are placed in – horizontally-oriented images for hero images and vertically-oriented images for placing within the text. • Keep your images small, and saved at smaller file sizes, to avoid slow download speeds. • Do not present text as an image – when the image is resized for mobile, that text often becomes blurry and difficult to read. • Complement image links with text links, so that if a recipient does not download images, they still have access to important links.

9. Set Up Tips The Friendly From name and email are the first selling point for your communication. • Using a generic name can help capitalize on brand awareness • Using a specific name can add personal appeal • Be cautious – an email from an address that the recipient has never received mail from has more chance to be deleted or wind up in the Spam/Junk folders The Subject is the next point where we can influence how a recipient engages with our email. • Front-load the subject line so that the limited preview on mobile still looks compelling • Consider using personalization, but only if you can do so in an authentic way • Avoid spam trigger words (https://blog.clickmeter.com/spam-trigger-words/ ) • Tease the content, in a truthful fashion

10. Set Up Tips Use a preheader on all emails to avoid auto-fill errors • Preheaders work with your Subject and Friendly From to provide additional reasons for recipients to open your email, so a well-crafted preheader can increase your opening rate. • Various email clients will fill in preheaders differently, so it’s better to craft a purposeful preheader rather than rely on what the email client might provide.

11. Email Marketing Best Practices • Keep branding and style foremost as you create content and choose images. • Treat each email as a unique message, and go through the entire creation process. • Plan your layout mobile-first. • Use the Setup/Proofing checklist to make sure you have everything in order before you begin • Proofread your email carefully • Use the Setup/Proofing checklist to be certain to check all aspects of the email • Be sure to check the appearance on desktop and mobile devices (if available.) • Schedule your email delivery carefully, taking the Communications Calendar into account. • Ask for statistics afterward, and keep them on-hand for use when making decisions about future emails.

12. Explore Resources • HubspotBlog - https://blog.hubspot.com/ • Email on Acid Blog - https://www.emailonacid.com/blog/ • Litmus Blog - https://litmus.com/blog/ • Litmus’ Top Email Design Trends for 2019 - https://litmus.com/blog/top-email-design-trends • Litmus’ Top Reports of 2018 - https://litmus.com/blog/litmus-picks-our-favorite-reports-of-2018 • Really Good Emails - https://reallygoodemails.com/ • Accessibility in Email - https://litmus.com/blog/ultimate-guide-accessible-emails Industry Benchmarks • MailChimp - https://mailchimp.com/resources/email-marketing-benchmarks/ • Constant Contact - https://bit.ly/2Ps6GZy