Basics of Successful E-mail Newsletters
Jeanne S. Jennings
Director, E-mail Product Development Cahners Business Information
Cahners Business Information
Division of Reed Elsevier Publisher of 100+ B2B Print Magazines Prior to August 2000, ‘Home-grown’ Internet and E-mail Efforts Cahners Digital established in August 2000 to make Cahners’ brands the premier source of B2B info on the web, as they are in print
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
My Background
Online/Internet Realm Print/Online Publishing Realm Business-to-Business Product Development Product Management Direct Marketing / Circulation
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
E-mail
Growth Inexpensive Communication E-mail Promotions/Marketing E-mail Newsletters (e-letters) Ad Revenue Drive Traffic to Site Create long-term relationships
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Opt-in vs. Opt-out
Opt-in
User takes action to receive e-mail User clicks to check subscription box Permission marketing Relationship based on trust and value
Opt-Out
User must take action to avoid getting e-mail Subscription boxes pre-checked Not ‘bad,’ but not considered as ‘good’ as Opt-in by e-mail thought leaders
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
SPAM
By many definitions, any unsolicited e-mail is spam Pre-existing relationship doesn’t necessarily make it okay, even in B2B Higher frequencies magnify the problem Issue of trust and building a long-term relationship with the recipient
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Where to Start
Legacy e-mail addresses Registration Pages Acquisition Getting opened E-letter format (text, HTML) Metrics
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Legacy e-mail Addresses
Give them the opportunity to opt-in (sample e-mail)
Subject: We don't mean to bother you... Somewhere along the way, you gave us your e-mail address. To be honest, we are uncertain about whether or not you asked to receive e-mail updates about new products and special offers from PC Connection and/or MacConnection. We'd love to share these announcements with you, but your privacy is important to us. If you'd like to receive these special announcements, you'll need to respond to this e-mail.
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Registration Pages
JckGroup.com Registration Page
http://jckgroup.com/subscribe.asp?webzine=jck&publication=jck
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Acquisition
Online
Bug on home page Direct marketing via e-mail Ads in e-letters Ads on websites Others
Offline
Reference in print publication Ads in print publications Mention at trade shows Direct marketing via snail mail Others
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Getting Opened
‘From’
First thing people read to decide whether or not to open Actual: jejennings@cahners.com, newsat2@wirelessweek.com Display: Jeanne Jennings, News@2Direct
Subject Line
Put most important information first
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Format
Text
No fonts, sizes, colors, italics, bold Plain vanilla All e-mail programs can read Key for wireless Internet users
HTML
Looks like a web page Keep the file size small Judicious use of graphics 50-70% of e-mail programs can read
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Text E-letter
News@2direct e-letter
(see file)
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
HTML E-letter
Variety.com HTML e-letter New Design (see file)
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Metrics
Sends
# attempted # successfully sent
Click-through Rate (CTR)
% of recipients who clicked on a link overall e-mail and for specific links All formats Perspective
Open Rate
% of recipients who opened the e-mail HTML only Good but not perfect
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Resources
‘Permission Marketing’ by Seth Godin Jakob Nielsen
Books useit.com & Alertbox
Good E-letters
WSJ.com NYTimes.com TheStandard.com
ClickZ.com WilsonWeb.com
Put yourself in the recipients’ shoes Test, test, test
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001
Thank You!
Jeanne S. Jennings
Director, E-mail Product Development Cahners Business Information
jejennings@cahners.com 703-918-6983
Jeanne S. Jennings, SIIA, March 2001