Email marketing essentials are our weekly round-up of best practice advice for email marketers and CRM specialists.
We review the best sources on email marketing which you can see in our post How Advanced is Your Email Marketing. and then summarise them here for you.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: There's no denying this is a great feature for Gmail users bringing their most important emails to their attention.
Implication: The implications for email marketers are well put here by Riaz Kiani but they're not really actionable. We simply need outstanding offers and/or email content that is regularly opened. And a desirable brand. That's what everyone is striving for already.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Ten steps to consider to keep more of your email list active, plus some examples of creative to help reactivation.
Implication: Reminders to manage the substantial proportion of inactive are always helpful and the brief comments here from Jordan Lane are a good way to prompt a change to how you manage less active email subscribers.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: In his post "Email best practice is dead, long live best practice" for the DMA Tim summarises these best practices
But he warns of the danger of being too constrained by best practice and encourages testing and thinking out of the box.
Implication: As Tim says, be Remarkable, don't follow everyone else in your sector. This is something we see all the time and it doesn't help cut-through.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: There's plenty of advice on how to integrate email and social but it's good to see a practical DIY example of how it works.
Implication: The main takeaways for me from this interview are:
1. "Same team that runs the emails campaign run the social networking side of things too".
2. "Create campaigns via email and via the fan pages with the same tone and in sync. We've built a coherent message this way that's worked".
3. "Get involved in key events like the World Cup - even if you're not the sponsor"
4. Run mini promotions to give campaign momentum.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Mark Brownlow comments that email marketers have previously taken solace in the fact that most audiences were BlackBerry-free. Then along came the iPhone and mobile email has never been the same. Keeping your head in the sand is no longer an option.
Implication: The implications for mobile on email are huge, potentially increasing email use not decreasing. So understanding how email viewing and consumption is changing is not only important but critical for email success.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Wendy Lowe on Marketing Profs comments that the start of a great email list is one that is filled with customers and prospects who have said yes to receiving information from you and who will be moved to action if the time or offer is right - but the key is grow it in order to row conversions.
Implication: The ideas in the list are tried and tested, some a bit obvious (but are you doing them!?) so worth checking out, at least as a basis to come up with your own tactics and ideas.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: More recently a new type of online marketing system, marketing automation, has become popular. What is it, how does it work, and should you adopt it? A marketing automation system helps you manage your leads, which is different from lead generation. The goal of lead generation is to get more narketmes in your database; the goal of marketing automation is to transform raw leads into sales-ready leads - almost automatically.
Implication: According to Forrester Research, only 2%-5% of B2B companies use a marketing-automation system today - it has to be even less on B2C. So if you're not using marketing automation yet, don't worry; most of your competitors won't be using it, either. But if you're ready for it, implementing marketing automation today could certainly offer you a significant competitive advantage.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Another reminder of how we can use our email marketing together with social media marketing.
Implication: As well as some theoretical arguments, Brian summarises this Strong Mail research which lists the main practical ways you can integrate email and social in order of popularity:
1. Use email to promote presence on social networks
2. Provide social sharing functionality in email
3. Use email to launch a referral/viral marketing campaign in social networks
4. Integrate user-generated content/reviews and ratings into email marketing campaign
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: This probably overstates the importance of email Smart Phone usage since most web analytics and email research I have seen pegs usage at around 5% of users on average.
Implication: Follow the guidelines in this article including the link to Mark Brownlow's mobile email marketing resources.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: A free Ebook (no signup required) stepping through the steps of a CRM project from business requirements, creating a shortlist, selecting a vendor and change management for implementation.
Implication: CRM projects have a notoriously high failure rate, so if your planning migrating to a new Email marketing or ECRM system it's worthwhile reviewing the guidance of Richard Boardman, an independent CRM expert.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: And now for something completely different"€¦ You can't engage with best practice only as this creative post from Smart Insights Email commentator Mark Brownlow shows.
Implication: If you really want best practice this example shows how short and sweet subject lines work best.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: In last week's update we reported on Ben and Jerry's strategy to end email marketing. A clarification from the US shows that email is still firmly part of their mix of creative comms:
Again, this was a note from our UK team. I believe the rest of the Ben & Jerry"€™s folks around the globe (including us here at the HQ in Vermont who support the U.S. and the globe) are planning to continue to use: email, social media, text messaging, augmented reality, snail mail, vanilla guerrilla marketing, grassroots Social Mission endeavors, sky writers, deep-sea divers and of course"€¦ scoop trucks on the road."€
Implication:
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: In another follow-up to last week's article by Mark Brownlow on improving inbox cut-through, Tim Watson my main contact at SmartFOCUS has written up this test.
Implication: The test comparing two subject lines shows you need to look beyond open rates and look at click and conversion rates only.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: A great "back to basics" post on email marketing discussing how to use subject, from and the new opportunities of pre-headers to gain attention and showcase your premier offer.
Implication: Mark again has some excellent tips - try them out - particular his ideas on email pre-headers.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: A really interesting post and as I said on Twitter, "A sign the times they are a changin". Another sign of this, is that I recently noticed a lorry for the 1st time a "Drive to Facebook" rather "Drive to web". It was Wetherspoon who have a good example of an engaging, campaign-based Facebook page.
Implication: I had a good discussion on this in Twitter and I applauded B&Js decision to focus on a social strategy that clearly works best for them. Why invest in email marketing if it doesn't support their strategy and Facebook/Twitter adoption and engagement is such that the incremental value of email marketing is negative.
I'm not saying this is right for all companies, far from it. Most companies, particularly business-to-business and transactional retail or travel sites will want to build relationships through email based on segmenting, targeting, tracking and following up at an individual level.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: I've advised for years on my email courses to apply the 2 second, 2 metre rule when reviewing email creative - stand 2 metres back from the screen and scan in two seconds since that's what most of your readers will do. So it's nice to see a recent test support this logic? Strictly speaking the research showed that "On average, 51.1% of readers spend less than 2 seconds looking at your email. In the best email campaigns, 77% of people fully read the message.
Implication: KISS!
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Useful summary to encourage testing. Here are the second 5 mistakes to avoid.
Implication: I think the first ten are most important, so make sure your testing follows these guidelines!
Importance: [rating=5]
Commentary: Although this is posted by an Email marketing specialist, this post affects many online marketing tactics, so I think it's essential reading for all email marketers, site owners, advertisers and web analysts. The IAB is fighting this hard but the Facebook story suggests they will fail because consumers are rightly concerned and wrongly frightened by the media scare stories.
The Article 29 group is suggesting that regardless of the information stored in cookies, it must be treated as if it were "€œpersonal"€ data and as such should be subject to explicit, prior consent.
Implication: Since this flags up a law change for 2011, with guidelines to be developed for each European country, there are no immediate implications, but since it could require substantial increases in disclosure of tracking it should be planned for. British Airways is a good model for the level of detail you may need to go into for full transparency and BA even has a "splash page" before entering it's country sites. Could all site soon look this"€¦!
If your using behavioural retargeting you may need this type of explanation - see Google explanation of their Interest-based targeting.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: With some, including the CEO of Facebook stating that email is dead, it's important we're not swept away by the hype and continue to concentrate sufficient resources on email marketing, while using a more integrated approach.
Implication: I've presented these figures since they can help inform your investment in email and social media and help argue against colleagues that have been swept away by the social media hype. Ask them whether they knew that 31% of UK folk don't use social networks at all while only 11% use Twitter. Figures for other countries are reported in the US.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Event-triggered emails are a cost-effective way to drive leads and sales for all types of businesses. They can be particularly effective for Ecommerce site owners who can determine the frequency of purchase and likelihood of time of next purchase for repeat items - print toners spring to mind.
Implication: Review the approaches recommended by US ESP Bronco in this video and accompanying text.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: If you're email marketing is stuck in a rut, here are four suggestions of what you may need to review in your strategy by our expert commentator, Mark Brownlow.
Implication: See which of the 4 challenges are most relevant (I think # 3) and take a look at Mark's suggestions on Dealing with the challenges.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: 58% of online consumers begin the day with email, followed by checking a search engine or portal site (20%), and Facebook (11%). People who check email first tend to be motivated to interact with brands online for the sake of obtaining deals, promotions, or new product information.
People who initially check Facebook tend to become fans of brands for entertainment purposes or to show support"€”not to obtain deals. They're more likely to seek promotions through email.
Implication: The main implication, is the growing use of Facebook by age - there is an interesting chart of the Email : Facebook: Twitter ratio by age.
Value: [rating=3]
Commentary: Something a little different for email specialists. How do you explain the value of Email marketing in 140 characters
Implication: Food for thought on how you explain the value of your work to colleagues, or your challenges (frequency, response). Our favourites:
Email Marketing is like a fire hose. If you turn it on full blast...your customers won't/can't drink from it.
Email Marketing is like lightning"€¦it can be powerful if it strikes in the right place and stands out.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Integration of email with social media has been a hot topic for a while, now, but for many companies direct mail integration is more important.
Implication: Download this whitepaper to get some ideas on improving practice so that you measure email and direct mail approaches holistically to apply right touching, here reaching the right customers with the most effective message.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: Thanks to the Email Moxie blog for highlighting this from earlier in the New Year (it's the first link in Jordan's post on the use of discount codes in subject lines).
Implication: You know that Subject Lines are important to test and refine, hopefully this will give you some inspiration.
Value: [rating=4]
Commentary: If your email creative needs a refresh...
Implication: Make sure your email designers have read this.
By Dave Chaffey
Digital strategist Dr Dave Chaffey is co-founder and Content Director of online marketing training platform and publisher Smart Insights. 'Dr Dave' is known for his strategic, but practical, data-driven advice. He has trained and consulted with many business of all sizes in most sectors. These include large international B2B and B2C brands including 3M, BP, Barclaycard, Dell, Confused.com, HSBC, Mercedes-Benz, Microsoft, M&G Investment, Rentokil Initial, O2, Royal Canin (Mars Group) plus many smaller businesses. Dave is editor of the templates, guides and courses in our digital marketing resource library used by our Business members to plan, manage and optimize their marketing. Free members can access our free sample templates here. Dave is also keynote speaker, trainer and consultant who is author of 5 bestselling books on digital marketing including Digital Marketing Excellence and Digital Marketing: Strategy, Implementation and Practice. In 2004 he was recognised by the Chartered Institute of Marketing as one of 50 marketing ‘gurus’ worldwide who have helped shape the future of marketing. My personal site, DaveChaffey.com, lists my latest Digital marketing and E-commerce books and support materials including a digital marketing glossary. Please connect on LinkedIn to receive updates or ask me a question.
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