Archive for News & Articles
More Marketers Using Email for Prospecting: Survey
Source: Beth Negus Viveiros, Chiefmarketer.com
Eighty-five percent of respondents to this year’s annual Chief Marketer Lead Generation Survey plan to use email in 2011 as a prospecting tool, compared to 80.2% in 2010.
The highest portion of respondents—44%—said they will use email to focus on retention as well as building awareness outside their customer base in an effort to prospect; 41.5% of respondents will focus primarily on finding new customers in their email efforts, while 10.1% will primarily focus on retaining current customers or reactivating former buyers.
Over half of respondents—57.6%— currently generate new customer leads via email. Nearly a fifth (18.5%) will try email prospecting for the first time in 2011, while 6.6% have used email in the past but will stop or reduce those efforts this year.
Email has never been part of the prospecting plan for about 17% of respondents, and they have no plans to try it. The biggest reason given for not using email for lead generation was a fear of looking like a spammer to prospects and ISPs (37.4%).
Other reasons for avoiding email prospecting included a feeling that open rates were too low to be effective (18.1%), too expensive/not enough ROI (22%), too hard to cut through mailbox clutter (26.4%), can’t deliver effectively to mobile devices (4.7%), other lead gen options more appealing (30.3%) and can’t acquire sufficient email contacts to be effective (19.9%).
Companies that do use email to prospect are overwhelmingly getting those names directly from prospects via Web registrations or other opt-ins (76.1%). Twenty-five percent are renting names from brokers or compilers and 23.2% are using lists controlled by third-party affiliates. Only 6.6% said they used addresses collected via automated harvester software.
Why are companies using email for prospecting? Not surprisingly, the ability to track and measure response and the low cost were the most popular responses (51.7% and 73.7%, respectively).
Other popular reasons included the ability to test and optimize content and offers (29.2%), mass reach (33.8%), personalize offers and content (44%), target by geography, demographics and other criteria (27.1%), trigger by user behavior like cart abandonment (10.9%), drive Web traffic (35.3%) and share via social networks or forward to a friend (17.5%).
To download the complete results of the 2011 Chief Marketer Lead Generation Survey, click here.
Image credit: Salvatore Vuono
Building email subject lines to increase revenue
Subject lines may be the most crucial factor to the success of your email marketing campaigns…they are also easy to change, test and analyze. Building an effective subject line takes effort, patience and creativity. Many marketers spend the bulk of time building the actual look and feel of an email first and then throw together a Subject Line. We suggest you spend the majority of your time building a compelling and RELEVANT subject line first and then design your creative from there. This post outlines the topic of Subject Lines and how to best optimize them for better revenue. You can also download 2 reports below from Epsilon with more detailed information on Subject Lines.
Source: Jim Sinor, Net Imperative
Top tips: Optimising email subject lines to increase revenue
Most commentators will tell you that the subject line of an e-mail is the only part which will be read by the recipient without actually opening the message. But the logical next step is to test, analyse and ultimately optimise this crucial element to improve the performance of e-mail marketing campaigns.
If the recipient doesn’t use a preview pane, the from and subject line are the only elements of your lovingly crafted message that will grab a readers attention and compel them to open the message. Therefore, the subject line has a huge impact on opening rates and campaign performance metrics.
Subject lines should be evocative and compelling, while clearly conveying the content and purpose of the e-mail. Analysis and optimisation of the subject line can lead to better open rates and ultimately higher conversion rates. Simply put, getting the subject line right means more revenue.
So what makes a good subject line?
It is considered best practice to include a unique offer in the main body of any marketing e-mail. Mentioning it in the subject line communicates the value of the message to the recipient and will encourage them to open it. Consumers like getting more than they bargained for.
Try and avoid using words or phrases commonly found in spam such as ‘save now’, ‘special offer’ and ‘free’. This will help ensure your marketing materials, bypass filters, land in inboxes and maximise the chances of catching the consumer’s attention.
It is very important to future deployments that your subject line is not seen as misleading. This could lead to a high opt-out rate among recipients and cause issues with ISPs who may prohibit future mailings.
Try and keep it short. There is still debate over the ideal length for subject lines, but it is acknowledged there is a correlation between low open rates and long subject lines. 55 characters is generally seen as the very top end of the scale, but analysis has shown that anything over 40 characters will see a drop in the open rate.
Turn off caps lock. Most filters will capture and bounce subject lines using excessive capital lettering, and even if this type of e-mail does land in an inbox, research has shown consumers react badly and quickly delete them.
Use numbers. Newspapers and magazines use numbers in headlines to boost sales and this also applies to subject lines. Consumers love lists, such as the ‘Top 10 Bars’ in their city, and this can be used to encourage e-mail recipients to open the message.
Try and personalise the subject line of an e-mail by using data unique to the recipient, the most common example being their name. This practice could backfire if the cleanliness of your customer data is not what it should be. But when done well, it creates an instant connection with the reader and makes a compelling reason to open the message.
Be prepared with fallback entries for fields without complete data. The terms ‘customer’ and ‘member’ are decent fallback entries and should seamlessly fill the gap.
This list is by no means exhaustive and every organisation is different, so none of the guidelines discussed here are set in stone. What works for a retailer won’t necessarily have the same effect for a not-for-profit charity.
How can you identify what works best for you?
Testing, testing and more testing. Testing various options on a segmented database simultaneously is traditionally thought to be the best way to optimise your subject lines. First segment your data; it’s important to do this randomly so that the only variables are the subject lines you’re going to test.
Then apply a subject line to each part of the data, with each subject line utilising a different factor in the tips outlined above. You then deploy, at the same time on the same day, and after 24 hours have a look at your open rates; this will give you an insight into what works best. Perform this exercise regularly, and always try and do things in the testing phase; this way you can keep your initial engagement fresh and your response metrics high.
Read Epsilon’s Published documents on Email Subject Lines here:
Download Part 1: 11 Steps to Subject Line Testing here
Download Part 2: Avoiding 11 Common Pitfalls here
Image Source: jscreationzs
no comments
posted in: Creative | News & Articles | Subject Lines | Testing | Writing Effective Copy Email Marketing as Relationship Marketing
The idea that the start of every good relationship begins with one single step–and that one step being acquisition email where marketers are making the first initial contact trying to build recognition, improve clicks/opens and drive conversion. Perhaps the goal is (and should be) paving the way to the start of a long-lasting relationship and this post highlights ways to take your acquisition campaigns to the next level and focus on building a strong foundation for success. This ERC site focuses on acquisition email, but it never hurts to think ahead and plan your next move, so read on…
Source: Mark Brownlow, Email Marketing Reports
Today’s online marketing world is full of lovely words like engagement and empowerment, communication and conversation, interaction and integration, friends, fans and followers. Many of these keywords go back to the age-old idea of building a strong relationship between your organization and the members of your audience.
Little of this is truly new: email was one of the first digital relationship builders…a regular touchpoint that strengthened the bond between sender and subscriber. However, this idea of email marketing as relationship marketing has become an all-pervading truism worthy of little comment or analysis.
Shame.
Because if we gave real thought to this relationship idea, we wouldn’t make half the mistakes we do. Relationship neglect sees many marketers led astray by their assumptions or failing to make appropriate adjustments to how they use email.
Here are four examples…
[This post was inspired by Sharon Long of the We Know Words group of freelance copywriters, who kindly asked me to muse briefly on these issues for a book she's writing.]
Problem 1: Showing a lack of interest in starting a relationship
If email relationships are important, we need to make the effort to start them.
The first step in the relationship is simply to inform a potential subscriber of the very existence of the email list. Yet many organizations still insist on, for example, inviting website visitors to play “where’s the list?â€
Any contact point with customers and prospects is an opportunity to pitch for a sign-up. But at the very least, a sign-up form or link needs to be on every page of your website, in as prominent position as you can give it.
If other website pressures prevent this, then at least provide a sign-up opportunity at key website points, such as:
- Typical exit pages (identified through your web analytics)
- During or after purchase/download processes
- At the conclusion of other interactions indicating strong interest, such as a sign-up form at the bottom of a long article
- Paid search landing pages (you paid to get them there: if they don’t take the desired action, an email address at least gives you a chance to keep the communication going)
But it’s not just about making people aware of your email list. Potential subscribers need encouragement to…um…subscribe, and thus begin the email relationship. Sign-up forms and pages need to demonstrate the benefits of doing so. And they need to set expectations to avoid later remorse and disappointment.
Problem 2: Not all relationships are equal
Our personal relationships have different strengths. I don’t talk to the postman like I do to my wife (I sincerely hope she feels the same way). And I don’t talk to the postman now like I talked to him five years ago. So it is with email subscribers.
Yet we tend to use the same voice, content, style and design for everyone.
It seems an obvious argument for segmenting subscribers by relationship. Which brings the problem of definition: segment how? (Not to mention costs.)
Possibilities might be:
- length of time on list (a topic touched on in this article on template changes)
- purchase history
- open/click history
- website browsing history
- propensity to share
If the data challenge seems daunting (it does to me), the segmentation by relationship approach begins simply with the welcome message.
New subscribers tend to be thrown into the same stream of email messages that long-time subscribers are getting. It’s like conducting a first date as if it was the twentieth. Instead, new subscribers first need to get one or more welcome emails which, for example:
- thank them for joining the list (possibly with an unexpected gift, like a free download or coupon)
- remind them of the benefits of joining
- inform them of any important administrative functions (like a subscriber preference center)
- introduce them to the kind of content or offers they’re likely to get in future
Other examples of segmentation by relationship include lifting email frequency to your “best†subscribers, or specific emails designed to re-enthuse subscribers as they approach the threshold “time on list†when response fatigue sets in significantly.
Problem 3: If it’s not mutually beneficial, it’s not going to work
The strength of any relationship largely depends on the benefits received by each side: you can’t expect selfless love from your subscribers. Email marketing is a value exchange.
The subscriber gives you an email address and attention and, in return, you deliver value to them. Either through useful, timely and/or entertaining content or with relevant offers and promotions.
If subscribers don’t get enough value out of this relationship, they leave (unsubscribe) or ignore you. Nothing revolutionary there. However…
Many of us play lip service to this concept, but our obsession with technology and numbers leads us to lose sight of the fact that subscribers are people, with human needs and wants.
And we’re often hitting a targeting glass ceiling. We look to squeeze a few percentage point increases to opens, clicks and/or conversions by fiddling with subject lines, or refining the offer or topic content in our standard broadcast emails.
But if the email relationship is to really blossom, we perhaps should look to additional new ways of delivering value and increasing relevancy, for example by:
- using trigger emails that respond directly and relevantly to subscriber actions
- looking to increase the emotional value we deliver through style, personality, voice, etc.
- investing in content marketing
Problem 4: It’s not actually a relationship
I’ve had a brand’s beer but not a beer with a brand.
One of my favorite topics is overestimating the strength of an email relationship: for most subscribers it’s an extremely tenuous commitment. Marketers who forget this often assume unconditional love, meaning subscribers will always forgive the occasional (or regular) transgression.
Some may, but all subscribers have their limits. Particular traps here are:
- Abusing permission by assuming implied permission: sending the kind of email that subscribers aren’t expecting.
- Abusing the privacy needs of those subscribers. As Rick Buck wrote recently:
“Getting permission from your customers means more than getting an opt-in to receive your e-mail and texts. Conditionally, it is about presenting them with a value proposition that instills confidence that you will respect and protect the data they choose to provide…â€
- Coasting: assuming that loyalty, response and the sender’s image remain unaffected by a long break between emails, thin content, irrelevant offers, sloppy writing, etc.. Unfortunately, the typical subscriber is not a forgiving partner. Delivering value is important, delivering consistent value also.
Image credit: Salvatore Vuono
no comments
posted in: Creative | News & Articles | Targeting & Planning | Trends | Writing Effective Copy Study: Gmail users younger, better-educated than AOL, Yahoo! users
Customer Profiling has never been more necessary than right now given that marketers are looking for the very best ways to target better prospects who are more likely to respond to their offers and messages. This is directly related to improving return on marketing investment since a targeted strategy increases the likelihood of turning prospects into buyers. This recent post from Digital Trends just goes to show that segmenting can be done on many levels from domain and gender, to behavior and lifestyle.
Source: Andrew Couts, Digital Trends
Do you judge people by what email address they use? If so, a study by Hunch.com may be able to back up your stereotyping with actual statistics.
Users of Google’s Gmail are thinner, younger, better-educated, more well-traveled and more likely to be male than AOL or Yahoo! email users, according to a new report from Hunch.com.
This potentially-offensive blanket statement is based on a newly-published study from Hunch, a site that makes a wide variety of recommendations to its users based on answers to survey questions.
Hunch analyzed 75 million answers from its approximately 700,000 users to determine the demographics, lifestyles and personality traits of people who use email addresses from Gmail, AOL, Yahoo! and Hotmail/MSN, the four most widely-used email domains.
According to the study, 72 percent of Gmail users are under the age of 34, with 68 percent falling in the 18- to 34-year-old range. That compares to 57 percent under 34 for Yahoo! and 42 percent for AOL. Hotmail users were the second youngest demographic, with 64 percent under age 34.
When it comes to gadgets, the largest percentage of users of all four email domains said they “love them.†But as you might expect, the greatest number — 66 percent — came from the Gmail user category. AOL users came in last, with 42 percent admitting affection for newfangled contraptions. Gmail users were also more likely than any other group to be early-adopters of technology.
Other categories explored were family life, relationship status, political affiliation, religiousness and fashion preferences.
Here, a more in-depth overview of Hunch’s “snapshot findingsâ€:
•   AOL users are most likely to be overweight women ages 35-64 who have a high school diploma and are spiritual, but not religious. They tend to be politically middle of the road, in a relationship of 10+ years, and have children. AOL users live in the suburbs and haven’t traveled outside their own country. Family is their first priority. AOL users mostly read magazines, have a desktop computer, listen to the radio, and watch TV on 1-3 DVRs in their home. At home, they lounge around in sweats. AOL users are optimistic extroverts who prefer sweet snacks and like working on a team.
•   Gmail users are most likely to be thin young men ages 18-34 who are college-educated and not religious. Like other young Hunch users, they tend to be politically liberal, single (and ready to mingle), and childless. Gmail users live in cities and have traveled to five or more countries. They’re career-focused and plugged in — they mostly read blogs, have an iPhone and laptop, and listen to music via MP3s and computers (but they don’t have a DVR). At home, they lounge around in a t-shirt and jeans. Gmail users prefer salty snacks and are introverted and entrepreneurial. They are optimistic or pessimistic, depending on the situation.
•   Hotmail users are most likely to be young women of average build ages 18-34 (and younger) who have a high school diploma and are not religious. They tend to be politically middle of the road, single, and childless. Hotmail users live in the suburbs, perhaps still with their parents, and have traveled to up to five countries. They mostly read magazines and contemporary fiction, have a laptop, and listen to music via MP3s and computers (but they don’t have a DVR). At home, Hotmail users lounge around in a t-shirt and jeans. They’re introverts who prefer sweet snacks and like working on a team. They consider themselves more pessimistic, but sometimes it depends on the situation.
•   Yahoo! users are most likely to be overweight women ages 18-49 who have a high school diploma and are spiritual, but not religious. They tend to be politically middle of the road, in a relationship of 1-5 years, and have children. Yahoo! users live in the suburbs or in rural areas and haven’t traveled outside their own country. Family is their first priority. They mostly read magazines, are almost equally likely to have a laptop or desktop computer, listen to the radio and cds, and watch TV on 1-2 DVRs in their home. At home, Yahoo! users lounge around in pajamas. They’re extroverts who prefer sweet snacks and like working on a team. Yahoo! users are optimistic or pessimistic, depending on the situation.
To view the study’s interactive interface, click here.
Image credit: jscreationzs
no comments
posted in: News & Articles | Targeting & Planning | What to Expect | Writing Effective Copy Why Your Email Inbox Is Bringing Home the Bacon
Source: Todd Wasserman, www.mashable.com
Bacon (or “bacnâ€) is known as the more legitimate cousin of spam. The big difference, though, is that bacon is something you ask for. Good examples of bacon include Google News updates, Facebook notifications and Groupon deals. In practice, the fact that you once signed up for bacon, though, doesn’t make it much less annoying than spam.
If your email box seems to be bulging at the seams these days, bacon may be the reason, according to Unsubscribe.com, which finds a huge increase in “spam 2.0″ in the past few years. The appeal for marketers is obvious: It costs almost nothing to send bulk emails and the return for online retailers was $26 billion last year.
How to deal with the deluge? According to the infographic below, created by Unsubscribe.com and Infographicsworld.com, most people just delete. But why not unsubscribe? Read the INFOGRAPHIC below to find out.
no comments
posted in: Industry | Metrics & Testing | News & Articles | Stats | Targeting & Planning | Trends | What to Expect Email Conversion Rates Are Up
Epsilon reports that average email conversion rates were up significantly in the fourth quarter of 2010 over the previous quarter and over the previous year. While this reporting is based on a combination of CRM and Acquisition email campaigns across multiple industries, the overall finding is that email remains the most cost effective channel to communicate with customers and prospects. Email metrics will continue to improve as marketers engage with customers using relevant content. Customer profiling, campaign targeting and timing are key factors to success. Repost from DMA website
The Direct Marketing Association’s Email Experience Council and Epsilon released the Q4 2010 North America Email Trends and Benchmarks Results, which show an increase in conversion rates of 16.1 percent over Q4 2009. The 2.9 percent conversion rate is the strongest over a two-year period.
The quarterly analysis is compiled from 7.4 billion emails sent by Epsilon in October, November, and December 2010, across multiple industries and approximately 150 participating clients. The analysis combines data from both of Epsilon’s proprietary platforms, DREAM and DREAMmail.
Report Highlights:
- Open rates (22.1 percent) saw little change over the two-year period, increasing 5 percent from the same time two years ago. Four of the thirteen reported industries saw an increase in open rates over Q4 2009.
- The average click rate is 5.1 percent, a decrease from the same time last year (5.9 percent).
- The average volume per client increased 34.3 percent from Q3 2010 with a big push during the holiday season. Volume also increased 18.5 percent over the same quarter last year.
- Conversion rates increased 11.3 percent over last quarter and 16.1 percent over last year. The 2.9 percent conversion rate is the strongest over a two-year period.
- Messages categorized as Service messages had the highest open rates (38.2 percent) and click rates (8.0 percent).
“Although volumes hit record highs for the season, response rates remained quite stable, again proving that email marketing is an effective tool to reach people while they are in the market for a particular product or service,†according to Kevin Mabley, senior vice president of strategic & analytic consulting at Epsilon. “Email marketing drives consumer behavior, builds brands and increases revenue. We recommend that email marketers track behaviors and analyze campaigns in order to continue to improve performance and create deeper connections with consumers.â€
“Double digit increases in email volume, conversion rates, median order size and revenue per email confirm what the DMA has heard elsewhere. Companies in the 2010 holiday season invested more in email marketing and saw better results after two difficult years,†said Yoram Wurmser, director of marketing & media insights, Direct Marketing Association.
For more information and industry-specific benchmarks, the Q4 2010 Email Trends and Benchmark report is available at www.epsilon.com/pr/Q410emailbenchmarks.
Image credit: Renjith Krishnan
no comments
posted in: Industry | Metrics & Testing | News & Articles | Stats | Targeting & Planning | Trends | What to Expect Spam Network Shut Down
Source: Nick Wingfield, Wall Street Journal
Microsoft Corp. and federal law enforcement agents seized computer equipment from Internet hosting facilities across the U.S. in a sweeping legal attack designed to cripple the leading source of junk email on the Internet.
Microsoft launched the raids as part of a civil lawsuit filed in federal court in Seattle in early February against unnamed operators of the Rustock “botnet,” a vast network of computers around the globe infected with malicious software that allows its masterminds to distribute enormous volumes of spam, peddling everything from counterfeit software to pharmaceuticals…
Relevant, engaging content is more important than ever
The 2 sides of the email marketing equation are (1) a targeted audience and (2) relevant content that engages that audience. You are well on your way to a successful campaign if you follow that formula. This most recent post from HubSpot presents us with the next hurdle for marketers in email technology (SmartLabels by Gmail) and why you must strive to stay relevant.
Source: Kipp Bodnar, HubSpot
Gmail, Google’s incredibly popular email service, is known for its ability to push the limits of the inbox. Labs Google continues to release interesting new features designed to help email users. It has improved filtering and helped us save time doing standard email-related tasks. But Gmail’s newest feature, Smart Folders, might be received with less enthusiasm from email marketers concerned about their click-through rates.
Smart Folders automatically sorts out all bulk mail messages and removes them from the inbox, placing them in a separate email folder. Google is classifying bulk mail as “any kind of mass mailing (such as newsletters and promotional email).” The new Smart Folders feature is currently available in Gmail Labs and must be activated by each Gmail user who wants to take advantage of it.
Smart folders mark the start of a new major challenge for email marketers. With the rising adoption promotional emails and bulk mail notifications from social networks, our inboxes are being flooded. Users are looking for ways to reduce noise and smart folders are likely one of many coming tools that will create friction for email marketers.
Marketing Takeaway
Filters like Smart Folders aren’t going to change email marketing overnight. If users begin adopting these tools, however, more companies will face the challenge of being filtering out of the inbox. As a marketer, you should start planning for these potential changes now:
1. Go Beyond Email – It is clear that email and other online platforms will continue to evolve. In response to their evolution, you should start thinking like a financial investor and diversify your lead generation portfolio. If you are relying only on email to bring you leads, now is the time to start leveraging other channels like blogging and social media.
2. Increase Email Marketing Enagement – The reason mail clients start sorting out bulk emails is that many messages don’t provide any value or don’t offer engagement opportunities. If your recipients engage with your emails by clicking on them and sharing them, it is more likely that your messages will stay out of the bulk mail folder and land in the inbox.
3. Set Expectations at Opt-in – If a person doesn’t know to look for your messages and offers, it is likely that they will be relegated to the bulk mail folder and ignored. However, if you are clear with subscribers about how frequently they will get emails from your business and why these messages will be valuable to them, you increase the odds that your emails will be seen, even if they are trapped in a Smart Folder.
How is user engagement affecting email deliverability?
Source: John Murphy, President, Reachmail
Previously, Internet service providers looked at three particular metrics when assessing the legitimacy of an email sender:
- How dirty the list is: Are a lot of invalid email addresses being targeted?
- Spam complaint volume: How often do subscribers hit the “Spam†button?
- Content: Is the offer spam?
This notion has been turned upside down. AOL Google, Hotmail and Yahoo earn more revenue from engaged consumers; the more ads served up that match consumer preferences, the more revenue each subscriber generates. As a result, it’s crucial for such companies to ensure that their email offerings are engaging for their audience, so they are now examining the following:
- How many people open an email?
- What percentage of the people who open an email click on the links?
- How many of the emails are forwarded?
Google is taking this one step further by putting the best performers in the most prominent position as part of its Priority Inbox offering; Google’s algorithm makes predictions on which emails are important to the receiver based on email history. Those that are regularly opened and/or responded to will be sent to the Priority Inbox, and according to Google, the determination is made based on “who you’ve emailed and chatted with most and which keywords appear frequently in the messages you opened recently.â€
This is all the more reason to ensure your email marketing campaign is engaging the subscriber. If your email is generating lower open and click-through rates, revamp your campaign so that it resonates with your audience. If not, be prepared for your emails to end up in the “everything else†part of the inbox with the rest of the emails that go unnoticed and unopened.
High Satisfaction Rates Support a Bright Future for Tablets
Source: eMarketer
More than two-thirds of owners are happy with the internet experience on the devices. Tablets have seen a lot of hype since 2010’s launch of the iPad, but the excitement may be justified, according to research on consumer satisfaction with the devices.
According to December 2010 research from The NPD Group, current tablet owners are highly satisfied with their devices. More than two-thirds expressed satisfaction with the internet browsing and email experiences on their tablet, and 60% said the same of social networking. About three in 10 were doing these activities less often on their PCs as a result.
These satisfaction levels were higher than those of smartphone owners conducting the same activities.
According to a September 2010 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, tablet ownership was most common among millennials and members of Generation X, 5% of whom had an iPad or similar device. The overall rate of adoption was just 4%, a figure sure to rise based on the excitement of current owners and the expressed plans of many other consumers.
Vision Critical found in November 2010 that 11% of US adults who did not already have an iPad were interested in purchasing one in the next six months. That was up from 9% who said the same in March 2010. Again, younger respondents had the greatest levels of interest, at more than one in five.
eMarketer estimated in December that 24 million tablets, including 19.4 million iPads, would be sold in the US this year, more than doubling last year’s sales figures. Worldwide, eMarketer forecasts 43.6 million tablet sales this year, up from 15.7 million in 2010. More than three in four tablets sold around the world will be an iPad.
