CCT356: Online Advertising and Marketing

1. CCT356: Online Advertising and Marketing Class 3: Email Marketing

2. Administration • Wiki signup • Articles? • First assignment (online ad critique)? • Note terms at the beginning of every chapter – they are potentially testable.

3. Email Marketing • Old, but still a key component of CRM • Very cost effective • Can be targeted and measurable • Inbox is still a common access point to Internet • Can adapt to mobile access

4. Again, some history • Email still relatively new for mass market (again, less than 20 years) • Interaction patterns change, as well as etiquette around unsolicited email • Allows for direct marketing at a far cheaper cost than snail mail • Also more viral – no one passes around pamphlets, but might forward/post email

5. Types of customer outreach • Transaction emails – e.g., requesting quote, confirming purchase • Newsletters – e.g., regular updates on corporate activities, or push reminders to posts on blogs (e.g., SheridanInsider) • Promotional emails – new sales/services, for immediate action • Retention – building long term relations/loyalty

6. Email Marketing KPIs • What do you want users to do? Open email? Click links? Refer friends to grow customer database? Buy things? See if they’re still alive/interested? (30% email churn a year a good estimate.) • How will you measure if this is successful? Some measures easier to trace than others • Conversion and bounce/unsubscribe rates

7. Email Service Providers • Manual email sending obviously not very efficient – doesn’t handle customer DBs well, often done poorly (e.g., 300+ cc’s, which is a privacy and info overload problem.) • ESPs registered with certification authorities avoid automatic identification of email as spam • Often based on ISP reputation – do not run email campaign through free ISP account. • Ease of use, database integration, reporting built in • Look at MailChimp later.

8. Establishing a Database • Genuine, opt-in databases best • Email important but other factors can be important for targeted marketing: e.g., name, nature of relationship, demographics, frequency of communication requested • Take care to limit info request – too much info on signup = less signups • What kind of targeting information would you include?

9. Best practices for signups • Make sign-up location obvious • Make privacy/anti-spam policy clear • Make call for action and benefit clear • Estimate frequency of communication (and stick to it!) • Ideally link submissions directly to database (reduces manual entry/error) – an iPad/laptop on site would be better than a paper form.

10. Text vs. HTML? • HTML – allows for richer content/branding • Text – quicker download, more compatible with some mobile devices • Allowing both options (and changing options) best practice

11. Email segments • Preheaders – can be useful instructions (e.g., click here for mobile version) but also might be confusing (e.g., http://blog.mailchimp.com/time-to-reconsider-preheaders/) • Header – standard to, from, reply – from should be personal (even if it’s really not.) • Subject – most important part, and a target for spam filters (e.g., Sheridan’s banning “report”); consistent format/language builds rapport

12. Segments #2 • Greeting – can be personalized if you have that information • Body – finally, your message – where text/HTML issues are key, esp on mobile devices • Footer – Further contact info, policy info – but most important part is unsubscribe. Making it hard to unsubscribe = junk status.

13. Template Design • ESPs allow for design of emails (esp HTML emails). • F-pattern: where should your key ask be?

14. Design #2 • Email design != web page design – e.g., HTML5 or advanced CSS might not work as intended or at all • Design for preview window – is your identity and ask obvious on quick view? Put logo/call for action early on (subject header or top left of body for preview panes…) • Use alt text for images – some clients (esp. mobile) only load text unless requested • Test, test, test – on as many platforms/devices as possible.

15. Design for mobile • What technological/contextual limitations exist with mobile email access? • How do you design around these issues? • Consider email as a means of bridging to web page, blog, Facebook profile, Twitter account, video channel, etc. • Effective CRM reaches customers through whatever medium they wish to use at the time

16. Email Analytics • What’s delivered? • What’s bounced (and why?) • Unsubscribed? • Pass on rate? • Conversion? • Test around subject lines, time/day of delivery, copy style, media use etc. – further segmentation

17. Avoiding being spam • 80-85% of email identified as spam • Spam filters imperfect but powerful • What can you do to avoid being spam?

18. MailChimp hints • 600px width for all devices • Simple layout – consider email clients as bad web browsers, and KISS. • Avoid background images – use solid colors –complex CSS, and interactive bits (e.g., Flash) • Keep privacy, spam, and unsubscribe obvious to avoid being spam • Design text emails as much as HTML – assume 60 char width, and don’t assume consistent wrapping

19. MailChimp hints #2 • Avoid absolute URLs – use relative • Be careful with sneak opt-in (e.g., random contacts at tradeshows, other people’s lists, fishbowls, etc.) – just because it’s in the fine print, doesn’t mean they like you. Tread carefully. • Avoid spam filters – key spam phrases/words, colors, etc. (http://spamassassin.apache.org/tests_3_0_x.html) • Be aware of corporate firewalls • Avoid domain being blacklisted • Test, test, test – in many clients/platforms

20. Sharing Tips from Mailchimp • Links to FB, Twitter, Reddit, iTunes, Eventbrite, etc. prepped with proper tags, titles, URLs, etc. – easily customized in default interface • Time sharing to days/times compatible with audience • Track likes, tweets, retweets

21. Next week • Affiliate Marketing