Email Newsletters Workshop Hertfordshire Funding Fair 2007 17 th October 2007

1. Email Newsletters WorkshopHertfordshire Funding Fair 200717th October 2007 Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

2. Workshop structure • Session 1E-newsletters Do’s and Don’tsThefundamental principles of creating and delivering successful email newsletters.by Maria Diaz E-Communications Manager - CTT • Session 2 Q&A and sharing experiences. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

3. Session 1E-Newsletters Do’s and Don’tsFundamental principles of creating and delivering successful email newsletters. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

4. Why using email as a media? Perceived informational value Low cost to charity Environmentally friendly Not intrusive Quick response to a call to action Drives people to your website Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

5. Email lists Have you got permission to email them? Email and mobile information as well as sensitive data needs to be collected with opt-in. If not, it is never too late to start…. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

6. Collecting permission Use the ‘tone of voice’ of the charity Point out that it is “a cost effective media” Fit the message to the audience (age/demographics etc.) Cover all future uses/channels to market (email, mobile, etc) Be clear about who is collecting the information (NB Trading arms/affiliated companies) Give them a reason to provide information Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

7. Collecting permission - TIPS Don’t use pre-ticked boxes. Email permission is an opt-in. Include a click through to your privacy policy on the data collection screen. Data collected via “viral” promotions may only be used once to gain future permission. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

8. Who is your audience? General interest in your work Donors/Stakeholders Fundraisers Campaigners Trustees Other Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

9. If you don’t know who they are… … ask them: • Do you want to receive emails from us? • What areas of our work are you interested on? • How often do you want to hear from us? • What format do you want to receive your email? HTML – Fancy version with pictures Plain text – No formatting Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

10. Write the content Relevant to the intended audience Personalise the email Be concise – Use click through links to your website for more information Be clear – What do you want the subscriber to do – Call to action Avoid - where possible - spam words/characters Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

11. Spam words/characters Avoid exclamation or interrogation marks as much as possible, in the text and very importantly, on the subject line. Avoid spam words like free, software, save, marketing, click here, etc. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

12. Template Design Template - What is it? Determine your template’s visual identity - Consistent with your online identity? - New for the particular online publication - Similar to your offline publication/s Design it to work for you - Sections on the e-news HTML and plain text version Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

13. Some design tips - HTML Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

14. Template Size The mean size for screen resolution is 1024 x 768pixels The template width should not exceed 750 pixels, ideally 700. Bear in mind the frequent use of email preview pane Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

15. Template Size √Right LengthAvoid vertical scrolling where possible Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

16. Call to Action Place your call to action at the top of the e-newsletteri.e. if you want a donation, place the donation button/link at the top. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

17. Bear in mind graphic blockers Avoid having the call to action inserted only on a graphic (banner or button) If you use a graphic button, remember to add the same link within the text too. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

18. XWrong – Border thickness is 4 pixels√Right – Border thickness is 1 pixel Avoid using tables with thick borders Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

19. Visual balance √Right – Consider image per text ratio.In the example, there is a visual balance between the amount of text and the pictures included Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

20. Use ALT tags on images √Right – Always use ALT tags (mouse over text) on all images. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

21. Warning - Use of colour XWrong – Some colour combinations are tiring to the eye and difficult to read Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

22. Avoid using style sheets Different email clients interpret style sheets in different waysTo achieve best results, avoid using them Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

23. Use a popular font type Use a popular font type (Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica, etc) despite the font on your brand guidelines being different.Most users will not have that font available on their computers and substitution may occur. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

24. Plain text design Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

25. Plain text version Make it as attractive as possible… Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

26. Cheat! Write a brief introduction to the e-news and ask them to click through to a link where the HTML version lives Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

27. Functionality Both version should include: • Personalisation – where possible • ‘Forward to a friend’ link • Subscribe to receive our e-news • Very top – ‘Web Online version’ link • Automatic change your details • Comments or suggestions email link • UN-SUBSCRIBE - Mandatory Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

28. Be original – Experiment! • Don’t be frightened to try new things • Fragment your data and send them different layouts - Note what works best • Use your email call to action to engage your audience with other media (SMS, Video, Audio, etc) Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

29. Test before send • Send a test to various colleagues and ask their opinion (share the guilt!) • Test that all the links work • Test the same campaign on different email clients – Outlook, Hotmail, AOL, Lotus… • Test all the functionality links • When possible, leave it for a while and come back to it Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

30. When to send • Regular publications (monthly, weekly, etc) • Core days of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday) • Core hours of the working day (Mid morning, mid afternoon) • Consider just before lunch time when is raining or when it’s very cold! Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

31. Delivery The mechanism used to send and deliver bulk emailsThree types of email tools - Outlook/Eudora/Lotus/other PC/pop3 based email system- In-House bulk email broadcast software- ASP (Application Service Provider) bulk email broadcast software Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

32. Email tools Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

33. Email tool specification Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

34. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

35. Post send Clean your data • Safely remove un-subscribes • Delete hard-bounce emails – follow up phone call? • Manage changes in existing data – Email address changes, email format, etc. Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

36. Post send Open rates Click through rates Which link was most successful Make a note of what peak time/s % Un-subscribes % Hard-bounce emails % Soft-bounce emails – Correlation with holiday period, half term… Use click through information to further segment your data – Subscriber retention Forward to a friend – Who is promoting you? Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

37. CTTM@ilCTT provides an email marketing service to charities using an ASP system that ticks all the boxes.For a FREE DEMO accountwww.ctt.org / hatfieldor email maria@ctt.org Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

38. Session 2Your questions Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org

39. Thank you!Maria DiazE-Communications ManagerCharity Technology Trust Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org