Steve Kessler, Your Denver DataMan
What is Emarketing?
Emaketing refers to marketing efforts done using
electronic means
Websites
Email
Blogs
Online advertising
Social networking
Search Engine Optimization
Email can be an important part of an
Emarketing campaign
To be effective with Email marketing you need to
know:
Who your sending your emails to
Why your sending your emails to them
That they want to get them
Why Email
Tournamentus to stay in touch with our supporters
allows participation receiving our 30% since
Emaildonors say they love has increasedbeautiful e- on a
Our email newsletter provides added value for our we
newsletters It’s a powerful tool forstaff loves how
regular basis.and email reminders to relationship
started sending e-invites, and our our members.
sponsors.
building.
professional they make our organization look.
United States Tennis
- YMCA of the USA Association, Central Arizona
- United on the Tucson
- America Way of Move and Southern Arizona
Why Email?
Because people read it:
91% of Internet users between the ages of 18 and 64 send or
read email
An even higher number of users ages 65 or older do the same
147 million people across the country use email, most use it every
day.
Source: eMarketer
Why Email?
It’s Cost-effective: Direct Mail vs. Email
For the same response, direct mail costs 20 TIMES
as much as email
Source: Forrester Research, Inc.
What is Email Marketing?
Utilizing email to create, strengthen,
and maintain relationships with
stakeholders:
Establishes regular, ongoing
communication
Educates
Promotes identity awareness
Keeps supporters informed
Broadens your audience
“Nonprofits that don't integrate email
into the management of their
relationships remain profoundly
disconnected.”
- "Disconnected: the 2001 Nonprofit Email Survey.“
Michael C. Gilbert, August 2001
Why Does Email Work?
Because people open email
from those they know and trust…
The SPAM Dilemma
Many users tend to think that your Email is SPAM!
Your goal is to differentiate your Email from SPAM
The average user receives 361 emails per week, 70% of
which is perceived as Spam
• Epsilon Interactive
SPAM
SPAM or Unsolicited Commercial Email (no
relationship / no permission)
Legal: Can-Spam act of 2003
Popular: “unwanted or can’t verify” Email
Why not SPAM?
Don’t SPAM--- while tempting, your customer will
decide where the permission line is, and it will
have a negative impact on your business!
The customer will think – if I can’t trust them with my
Email address what can I trust them with
Becoming a Trusted Sender
• Clear title
• Clear opening article
• Valuable content
• Links back to the This Old
House Website
• These features help to make it
clear that this Email is
valuable to the recipient
Federal Can SPAM Act
Disclaimer: This is a summary of some provisions of the new law, and is not a full
analysis of how it may apply to you
If you believe you may be affected, you should consult with an attorney
Federal Can SPAM Act
Nonprofits don’t have to follow all the rules but they
should
Don’t misrepresent subject or from address
The subject of your email must match what is in your email
The email address you send your email from must me valid
Send from a legitimate email address
Must provide a way to opt-out
Depending on your reading of the law this must be done with
no more than 2 clicks
Federal Can SPAM Act
If you get unsubscribe requests you must remove
them from your list within 10 days
Remove means not emailing the person again unless
they re-subscribe
Must include a physical address
A physical address for the sender
Existing relationship
Currently doing business
Opts in to receive the email
Trusted senders use A 5
Ask for permission to send email
Allow safe, easy, and fast unsubscribe
Agree to be honest and truthful
Accept categories of interest
Add a physical address to all emails
Permission – Types of permission
Explicit: Opt-in from your website or storefront
“Join our mailing list”
Sign in books
Web forms
Single vs. Double Opt-in
Give email address -> Get emails
Give email address -> Get conformation confirming interest
Implicit: Requests for information / registration forms,
existing relationship
You can be very explicit with an implicit form to make them
more valuable
Permission & Unsubscribe – be a trusted sender
Handling permissions ads validity to your emails and
your company
Some people like having a reminder at that top of the
message that you can unsubscribe – this is fine as long as
the reader can still easily see your header
Many users have been trained to go to the bottom of an
email to unsubscribe
You should have a simple method for this. Constant
Contact has Safe Unsubscribe
Permission & Unsubscribe – be a trusted sender
Handling unsubscribe immediately is important
Constant Contact removes users from the list as soon as
they are entered and only the user can add their email
back on
If a user marks your Email as SPAM and removes their
email from the list
Keep your email frequency in check
Only email when you have something good to say
Consider biweekly or monthly Emails
Interest Categories
It is also a good idea to break your emails into interest
categories
For example I use my eNewlstter category and then an
open seminar category to separate who I send email to
Constant Contact makes this process very easy
Getting Your Email There in the First Place
Email Filtering & Blocking
Image and Content Blocking
Images are how email applications know that the
47% of consumers say they
emails are read
rely on the preview pane
Individual filters
to view and read emails.
SPAM blocks and the like
Challenge response systemsInteractive
Source: Epsilon
Please click this link to make sure you are a real
person
Getting Your Email There in the First Place
Blocking (industry average is 17%)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) blocking specific
domains
Blacklists (implicit blocks)
Whitelists
The list of sends that you implicitly allow email
form
Next Generation: Sender Authentication
New technologies make it possible to authenticate
(prove) who the sender of any email is
Email Statistics - What can we find out
Tracking
Constant Contact use the images to track what has
been opened. Since the images are stored on a web
server (either your or Constant Contact’s) the server
can identify who opened your emails and when, so
long as they don’t have images blocked
The links that are used by Constant Contact are
wrapped with a special tracking code so you know who
uses your links and when
You can create interest groups by the links that user
open or by those users who open your eNewsletter
More on Tracking
Using the Contact Tab
You can find out information about each of your
contacts
You see the information that you collected as well as
what emails and links they have opened
Managing bounces means that you can see who did not
get your email because of technical problems or being
blocked and then remove them
Getting Email Opened
Getting Emailed opened is a bit of an art
How do you decide what emails to open?
60% of consumers say the
"from" line most often
determines whether they
open an email or delete it.
Source: Epsilon Interactive
The “From” Line
Use a name the recipient will recognize
Include your company name or brand
The clearer the better
Yourname@domain.com is better than
news@domain.com
The shorter the better
Keep it concise so it can be seen
Be consistent
The “From” line and AOL
Outlook
AOL
The “Subject” Line
Keep it short and simple
You have 3 seconds or less
30-40 characters including spaces (5-8 words)
Incorporate a specific benefit
Include your brand
Branding in the subject line can increase open rates by
as much as 60%
Capitalize and punctuate carefully
Test!
Market testing is critical to making Emarketing work
Avoid an “instant” delete
Avoid an “instant” delete or getting caught in SPAM
filters
The words: free, guarantee, spam, credit card etc.
ALL CAPITAL LETTERS
Excessive punctuation !!!, ???
Excessive use of “click here”
$$, and other symbols
No “From:” address
Misleading subject lines
Use the Right Format
Newsletters
Frequency: monthly / quarterly
Lots of educational content
(typically non-promotional)
Promotions
Frequency: bi-weekly / monthly
Focus on promotion / limited content
2, 4, 6 product promotions, coupons
Announcements
Frequency: event driven
Promotional or educational with targeted
message
Invitations, new products, special events
Email Service vs. Outlook
Standard Email Programs
(e.g. Outlook, services
Email marketing Hotmail)automate
bestpractices # of emails sent at one
Limited
time
Provide easy-to-use templates
No formatting control
List break up more susceptible to
Reinforce brand identity
filters
Email addressed to recipient only
No cohesive branding
No tracking – adding new of
Manage lists and reporting
email results
subscribers, handling bounce-
backs, removing unsubscribes
Ensure email delivery, tracks
results and obeys the law
Constant Contact Formats
Constant Contact offers many great template choices
to choose from to make sure your emails have the right
look and feel.
If you are adventurous enough you can create Constant
Contact emails without templates but you need to
have someone who very good at HTML program the
message.