$25
Estimated
Value
SmS interactive group Presents
an inSider’S guide to
email
marketing
Your guide to navigating the
evolving email landscape.
Call randi morris or tobi milgram today at
201.865.5800 x2037 or visit www.specialistsms.com
AN INSIDER’S GUIDE TO OPT-IN OR PERMISSION-BASED
EMAIL MARKETING EMAIL MARKETING:
marketing via email is an extremely powerful email marketing is most successful when you
tool. However, it can be as tricky as it is use- have permission from the recipient to contact
ful. it is easy, yet easily abused. the success them electronically.
of your email campaign relies on effectively
handling every detail. there are different degrees of permission ranging from neg-
ative option requiring the individual to unsubscribe or “opt
let this guide make using email marketing out” from receiving future mailings, to a verified “opt-in”
powerful and easy for you and your business. where the individual has sent you an email confirming their
desire to be contacted, which is verified with a follow-up
email. there is a direct correlation between response levels
and the degree of permission that the recipient has given.
it is important that you respect the commitments you have
made regarding privacy and honor your side of the agree-
ment with your customer or prospect to keep information
private and confidential unless you have specifically received
permission to do otherwise:
1. Provide a clear and simple way for the consumer to opt-
out of the receipt of future mailings.
2. make it a practice to obtain information including email
addresses from prospects and customers at every possible in-
teractive point. let the individual express their specific needs.
the use of spam or unsolicited email is not only ineffective
but can damage your organization’s reputation. People are
sensitive to what they receive in their electronic mailboxes. if
you are renting outside lists, you must confirm that individu-
als have given their consent to receive email. in most cases,
you can actually go to the list owner’s website and get on
their list yourself.
remember - the only way for an email address to get onto
a list is by explicitly requesting it and having the consumer
opt-in.
ThE SUBjEcT AND MORE: ing personalized content in the body of the email. this will
help to build a relationship and increase response rates.
email users are very quick with the delete key
if the subject line is to long, wordy or seems 4. Be concise. a long email can be very discouraging to the
irrelevant. make it compelling and meaningful prospect and, in turn, the mailer. many email recipients still
with real information. the subject line is critical will not scroll down to read past the bottom of the screen.
to the success of the email campaign. it is the keep that in mind when placing hot links in your message.
first link between you and the prospect:
5. use proper spelling, grammar and punctuation and try
1. in about 40 characters or less, convince the recipient to not to use abbreviations such as btw (by the way) and lol
open the email. (laugh out loud.) the same goes for emotion icons like the
smiley face. these are common in computer communica-
2. avoid using words like “free” and “save,” or “urgent” and tions, but are not professional and the recipient may be
“important.” these words along with nearly anything in all unaware of their meaning.
caps may make your message look like spam. also, many
online portals, like aol, use filters to block mail that they 6. if sending an Html formatted message, make sure that
identify as spam. the recipient can access a text format as well. give the recipi-
ent a choice as to what they prefer. this will ensure that
3. Steer clear of placing dollar signs ($$$) in the subject line everyone can easily read the email.
or the body of your message. this too may make your mail-
ing appear like spam. 7. reading from a screen may be more difficult than reading
off of paper, so the structure, layout and formatting are cru-
4. make use of the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field or do a cial to conveying your message. use short paragraphs with
mail merge. this avoids publicizing others’ addresses and blank lines between each one and choose your colors care-
puts the mailer and recipient on a one-to-one basis. fully as different browsers may display the email differently.
5. Just like the subject line, the “from line” will instantly 8. Place the most important, compelling content in the first
communicate whether your email is quality or spam to the few lines of the email. Similar to a newspaper article, if these
recipient. lines attract the reader’s attention, they will read on.
9. include urls in each message so prospects can easily ac-
cess your web site. typically, three links are standard. Create
EMAIL cONTENT: a clear call to action for the recipient and place a hyperlink
early in the message. repeat the hyperlink in the middle and
Here are some tips for creating successful towards the end of the message as well.
email campaigns:
1o. always include a clear-cut way for the user to opt-out
1. Create an email strategy first. answer questions such as: of future mailings. this will help you comply with anti-spam
who is my target audience, why is email the best channel guidelines.
to reach this audience, how often should i send emails, and
what is my ultimate goal for the campaign?
2. design a clear call to action. this is crucial to the email
campaign. imagine exactly what you want the recipients
of your message to do, and design the message to make
that path clear and easy to follow. Personalize your emails
by using the recipient’s name. email should be considered a
one-to-one mass marketing tool.
3. in addition to using the prospects’ names, consider plac-
11. Send your message in the middle of the week in the af- direct mail/email combination. many marketers have learned
ternoon. this will avoid a lot of the clutter. it’s a good idea to that a multi-channel marketing approach yields the greatest
test different days and delivery times to see how they impact results cost effectively.
your response.
make sure you are able to pull the appropriate selects and
12. test and retest your message. that the list covers your target audience.
13. de-dupe your file to avoid sending multiple emails to one Consider the source of the email list. lists may be compiled
recipient. from web sites such as freebies, sweepstakes, publications
and newsletters. one source may be better than another
depending on the target audience. if the list comes from a
after the mail is sent: web site, find out how long the site has been around. You
want a list with longevity of respondents. Check out the web
1. tracking and measuring the results of the campaign can site. does it look reputable, complete, maintained?
be useful in targeting consumers in future mailings. unlike
conventional mail, responses can come within minutes of the make sure the names on the list are on there because the
blast. most click-thrus will occur within a day or two of the prospect opted-in. determine if at sign up, people used opt-
blast. in, double opt-in, forced opt-in or if there was no method
used and it is spam.
2. if some addresses come back undeliverable, most service
bureaus will send out the message until the quantity ordered request competitive usage on potential rental files to see
is met with replacement addresses. what other mailers have used the list for in the past. Be
sure there are enough names in the file for continued use.
3. Have a follow-up message prepared ahead of time and Smaller files should have enough names for rollout.
reply in a timely fashion. don’t forget to send a follow up to
those who did not respond as well. a list should be well maintained. the list owner should
“clean” the list often to assure accurate addresses and de-
4. automate your system. the less manual intervention, the mographic information.
better. as the list grows, the updates become very time con-
suming and a good system will pay for itself. also, be very conscious of your budget. lists are rented on
a cost per thousand basis and this cost varies depending on
the list. look out for minimum requirements and find out if
chOOSING ThE BEST LISTS: tracking is supplied and if not at what cost it is available.
in general, email lists are characterized as be-
ing large (many have hundreds of thousands
of names and several have millions,) with re-
cency available but hard to target. there are a
limited number of actual proven “online buyer
lists” or email addreses to proven postal lists.
knowing what end results you are looking for will help you
determine what type of list to rent. For example, looking
to increase web traffic, a less expensive sweeps file may be
good whereas a file of qualified buyers may generate more
leads if your goal is actual sales.
if a specific postal list is working well for your campaign,
repeat your message via email. You may want to consider a
GROWING YOUR IN-hOUSE DATABASE: ThE DETAILS:
nearly 70% of u.S. households have internet When sending out an email campaign, normal
access and many in-house databases still do turnaround times range from 2-5 business
not contain email addresses. days as long as all the necessary specs are
ready.
gaining these addresses from customers will not only accel-
erate business transactions but will foster a stronger one-to- leave ample time between your order data and blast date.
one relationship. Whether asking for it outright, making an Some lists run on schedules where they only allow a certain
offer, or persuading the customer, numerous methods exist number of emails daily. Spots are given out on a first come,
to obtaining email addresses and growing your database. first serve basis.
Call prospects and customers and ask for email addresses as the text/Html that is sent over must be the final copy and
a means to update your database. Find out their preference the links need to be live at test time. Changes may be made
for receiving information. ask for it at the end of all inbound after the test is sent out, however the list owners usually
customer service calls. also, try matching postal lists against charge a fee for each modification.
lists of known email addresses.
Html is available on a number of lists, with the count grow-
ask for email addresses all over your website! offer pros- ing daily. the charges vary for Html and range from $50/m
pects free information, coupons or gifts for their address. - $150/m depending on the file.
Put a line on all order forms, comments cards and registra-
tion pages requesting email addresses. keep your future there is no real standard pricing of email lists. therefore,
customers up to date with an email newsletter. make use of the transmission charges vary. Some base prices are a little
customer surveys, service evaluations and comment cards. higher, but
ask “how are we doing and while you are at it, give us your include the transmission, while others charge on a per thou-
email.” sand basis.
When holding seminars request that attendants fill out Billings are based on the number of emails that are actually
information requesting email addresses. offer copies of sent out.
the presentation or speech in return for the address. make
it worth their while. in addition, gather email addresses at most email lists require a 10,000 name minimum order.
workshops, trade shows, job fairs, etc. Some lists, because of their small universe will only require
5,000 name orders or will charge a flat fee.
remember, once you gather the addresses, you still need the
customer/prospect to opt-in to future mailings and promo-
tions. Simply remind them of how they will benefit from
receiving your email and always provide a way to opt-out.
LEGISLATION (cAN-SPAM AcT:) cOMMERcIAL EMAIL:
the Controlling the assault of non-Solicited Purpose is to promote a product or service or advertise a
Pornography and marketing (Can-SPam) act website run for commercial purposes
of 2003 seeks to control the dissemination of
unsolicited email, which makes up over 80% of if sending Commercial email, you must comply with the
all email traffic annually. following rules:
even if you already send permission based emails, you may 1. must have an opt-out/unsubscribe mechanism
need to change some of your methods to ensure compli-
ance. 2. recipient must be able to reply to message or there
should be a link to an unsubscribe page
Your email messages will most likely fall into one of two
categories (transactional or Commercial); most marketing 3. requests must be removed within 10 days
related email will fall into the later.
4. must provide a valid, physical postal address for the
sender on all commercial email messages
TRANSAcTIONAL EMAIL: 5. must provide clear notice that it is an advertisement
1. messages sent to complete a sale or deliver 6. must provide an active, functioning return email address
goods/services for at least 30 days after message is sent
2. Warranty, upgrades, updates or recall information 7. must have valid header information
3. account balance information 8. You can’t disguise the origin of the message
if sending transactional email, you must 9. the From: and Subject lines cannot be deceptive
comply with the following rules:
10. You can’t promote a business or allow your business to
1. You can’t create an email account or domain with false be promoted through false information in the headers of
information emails
2. the From: or the Subject line can’t be deceptive 11. must make sure that only valid, authorized people can
or misleading send mail through your server (no open relay mail servers)
3. You can’t promote a business or allow your business to be 12. do not use lists that were built from harvesting email ad-
promoted through false information in the headers of emails. dresses (email addresses grabbed from chat rooms, weblogs
and other sources without permission)
13. must use a warning label if contents of email is sexual in
nature
BEST IN cLASS PRAcTIcES TO ENSURE IN cONcLUSION:
cAN-SPAM cOMPLIANcE:
email marketing is an incredibly powerful
1. educate employees on the rules and regula- medium, ripe with potential. the market is
tions and enforce Can-SPam companywide. constantly changing, growing and improving,
all it takes is one bad email - organizations and their agents providing great opportunity to those who seek
(employees, contractors, consultants) must “honor the recipi- it. With the proper guidance and expertise
ents request” to stop further mailings, and legal ramifications your email campaign will prove to be a huge
can result from just one employee deciding to send an email. source of revenue.
2. Create and enforce a standard to have the team at SmS interactive group be
opt-out process. your guide and assist you in making email an
make sure you have the procedures in place to manage integral part of your marketing mix, contact
multiple suppression lists, determine if a subscriber has opted randi morris at randimor@specialistsms.com
out of all of just some future communications, and imple- or 201.865.5800 x2037 today.
ment these changes in 10 business days or less as required
by Can-SPam.
3. Capture an affirmative opt-in, rather than a
negative opt-out.
While Can-SPam is setup as an opt-out law, many long term
benefits can be derived from an affirmative opt-in or permis-
sion based marketing.
4. do not use misleading subject lines.
adopt the concept of whether or not a “reasonable person”
would misinterpret the subject line and avoid using teaser
copy.
5. avoid mailing to harvested email lists
use opt-in lists from reputable sources. a good list broker
can help you distinguish the legitimate lists from the web
harvested names.