Adventures in Email Marketing

To me a lot of newsletters are just a big promotional email which defeats the purpose of a newsletter. Reviewing a lot of different (one size fits all) e-newsletters, I think a lot of companies miss an opportunity to talk to a broader member base and drive more engagement.  A lot of sites have great content that is buried and near impossible to navigate to, and this is the tool to leverage that content.

When I created the Gallery Exposure newsletter for kodakgallery.com some 4 years ago the objective was to have an engaging, inspirational and retention-minded communication. Content was based on user/customer service feedback and monthly polls that featured in Gallery Exposure. We intentionally kept promotional offers to a minimum or not at all in the email with extremely positive feedback, offers do not motivate everyone and the numbers proved it. The message I heard loud and clear “inspire me”.

This award winning newsletter from Olympus is a great example:

I was thinking of this metaphor today- almost everyone in my family drives stick shift. They buy a new car, and it’s manual transmission. I have never really questioned this until I borrowed my Mom’s Element up in Tahoe. I wanted a few friends to drive it on the way back so I could nap, and none of them knew how to drive stick. In asking around- why do you buy a new car with stick, if automatic is an innovation, I hear the following:

“It’s less maintenance down the road if it’s manual transmission.”
“It’s less expensive.”
“You have more control.”

Funny, those things could be said of email marketing, in relationship to social media marketing, or other new technical innovations in the marketing field. The bells and whistles of new adoption- iPhone apps, Facebook Apps, Twitter – all include methods, somewhere of getting on an email list, or at least email notification. Even FarmVille leverages an opportunity to get your email address. So email, if it is the low-tech solution to many, is still sticking around as a kind of underlying layer of customer contact. And, it’s preferred by many marketers who want to build relationships that were started in other channels.

For all those new channels acquiring email addresses- I wonder if they’re going to use them in a way that maximizes the worth of the email’s value. But hey, you get a car, and if you don’t change the oil once in a while it doesn’t matter if it’s stick or automatic!

Why Stick?
One thing about driving stick, it’s great for rapid acceleration while merging onto freeways, and downshifting for grades and conditions.

Email is excellent for release statements, ways of controlling the time and ways that customers come back to your site or recognize your brand/store. The timing aspect, maneuverability and flexibility is there when you’re choosing when and how to contact your customers.

Knowing How
No benefits of driving stick are really there if you don’t know the basics. And that’s of course, very true with email. The big four aspects of email contact must be there:

- courteous and ethical subscription processes
- similar processes for unsubscription
- targeted and meaningful messaging
- acceptable frequency

This has come up in a few conversations on EmailRoundtable, and in a conversation between me and @LorenMcDonald, and I thought I’d put my thoughts here. I don’t like list rentals. But to elaborate, let’s talk about the various ways of (in)organically acquiring email addresses:

- For a fee, you use another company’s email systems to send your email. It’s on their system, but they send your content. All links in email go back to your site.
- Some companies sell their lists. So they actually hand over part of their customer base. You insert into your system and drop the email.
- Some companies share part of a newsletter with you, so you can insert a form, and acquire sign-ups.
- Some companies do back-end overlays of data models, to determine who in your company list, fits the model and is thus a good fit for some kind of segment.
- Some companies specialize in giving you extra data on your email list. So I have the email, they will tell me the email’s favorite flavor of ice cream.

I’ve avoided using the marketing terms for the above processes as that’s a completely different discussion.

Issues to think about if you consider any of these options
What’s the email’s provenance? How did the consumer give their permission? The minute you use that email, you are potentially a spammer, if you are unaware of how it was given. And check back a few generations.

Whatever route you take, will the customer understand the relationship? The email I used to opt-in to Zappos emails, and suddenly I’m getting Gap emails. Does that make sense? Don’t underestimate the consumer. They know how they interacted with your company. It doesn’t take a lot to be considered spam.

Are you giving over more value than what you’re being provided? If I give 100K emails to a datafarm, I need to understand that I’m providing them with value. They only exist by the customers they have, and the lists they get.

As Loren McDonald says very well in his post, If Someone Says Buy A List One More Time…”

After all, marketers who ask about buying lists could just be asking, “How can I build my list quickly, and where can I acquire email addresses?” Unfortunately, there is no easy way to build a good list quickly. If there were, presumably we’d all be doing it.

Here’s the truth: In the email world, you can’t buy legitimate email addresses. You know those $399 CDs with 50 million email addresses? Most of the addresses are probably harvested or gathered in some less-than-stellar manner. Many are probably either out of date, converted to “honeypots” by ISPs looking to trap some spammers, or otherwise undeliverable. The owners of those addresses certainly haven’t given you permission to email them.

There are many methods of increasing your email list, “organically,” a term I use just to say, it’s part of the normal process of business. It varies by company and organization, and it’s largely to do with getting out the word that you have interesting mailing campaigns, that you make it a priority to take email addresses at F2F events, strategic parts of your site, at the cash register, etc. Viral campaigns are great, and parternship marketing.

For clients who have explored the acquisition routes above, I have never seen one of them that has exhausted the organic methods. Lifecycle, “triggered” emails are probably the most unsung hero in acquisition channels. It enhances the relationship, it is targeted, and personalized, and 24×7. But it’s a little tricky to execute. I think marketers go the “easy” route by back-end data models, because it’s something they understand, whereas lifecycle emails are not one-hit-wonders but slow growth. Still, when you compare cost and response rates, lifecycles win every time. Web 2.0 companies understand this- their emails are short, text-only (or with maybe 1 image) and triggered according to user activity on their site. They notify you of social relationships- and they create a stickiness. Unfortunately retail and consumer goods haven’t launched onto this as much, they’re still in the image-heavy, HTML one-drop-a-week world, barely inching up from the “cart abandonment” email campaigns. They can go there, and some are trying, but it’s a hard row to hoe.

Reading on the topic
How to Grow A List ClickZ
Email list rental may fall out of favor DM News. Great quote from Julie Katz at Forrester:

“We saw it coming because renting names from a list can be very risky for a marketer,” says Julie Katz, analyst at Forrester Research. “Those people don’t necessarily have any affinity with your brand. Also, if the names are bad, you could get caught in a spam trap and it can ruin your reputation.”

Bulk email lists: good or bad? by Mark Brownlow on Email Experience Reports

The reality is that it’s a very cheap campaign. Basically, take your email, and send it again a few days later. Heck, send it a third time.

You can see that list fatigue sets in pretty quickly. For this, you have some options:
- change subject line
- suppress openers and clickers, or those that act on the email contents
- change header text on top of creative (the text right before the main message, called different things now, by various folks.)

Some demographics will support this more than others. I’ve heard from B2Bs that rarely have any negative feedback, but they re-pitch only with conference registrations, and other once-a-year or twice-a-year notifications.

For consumer and retail, it’s been spotty. Basically consumers really need the slightest excuse to unsubscribe, and once that happens you don’t get them back. Some of my clients use this rule- only do the re-engage campaign occasionally. Then, a significant portion of your base won’t consider this as a regular technique. You don’t want them to say “stop hammering me,” essentially. But the occasional re-issue is tolerated.

It’s a great way to increase response and repurpose creative. There are also other more effective ways without the negatives:

- lifecycle campaigns. Make one creative and email according to the consumer’s lifecycle, not your marketing calendar.
- re-activation campaigns. Re-use the most popular creative to bring back lapsed viewer/engagers. Send this out after no contact in 3/6/9 months, for example.

More Reading:
The Reminder Email, Does It Work?
Killing Off Inactive Subscribers
Terminology: Transactional, Lifecycle, Event-Based, Trigger

A colleague of mine recently was very excited because they were going to get a lot more hits on their blog. They were promoting it in an email newsletter. They had actually gotten the marketing department to agree to the first paragraph of the email and the subject line, for an advertisement of the blog. This was their third announcement of the blog, to lukewarm results. Initially a hundred or so hits on the blog (from 100K or so email list). And very few stuck around.

The problem, I see, is that beyond the initial announcement, and frequent mention saying “check out our blog,” there is no reason to have a goal of moving an email list to a blog reader list, or seeming to communicate that to your readers.

For example, your sister likes you to call her when you have news, your aunt likes a nice note card, while your grandmother would be perfectly happy if you saved it up for the monthly tea party. It’s the same news- that you’re imparting- but they all want to know in different ways. If you want the best results, you’ll cater to their preferences. The blog is just one way of communicating. It’s more like the tea party (than the notecard, or the phone call) to carry this metaphor out.

So, why are people not really sticking around on the blog, from the email list? Assume the blog is fine- the main problem I see, is that those people really like emails, not blogs. They’re getting invited to tea parties, when they’d rather just get a notecard in the mail.

What you want to do is get NEW people to the tea party that are ALREADY into tea parties. Viral, social marketing – what I call “community work” – attracts those who are already into that method of communication. What you need to do is read other blogs, bring content to the attention of other readers (already into blogs), and promote on communities, thread discussions, social networks, etc., the cool content of this company. It’s a lot harder work than simply sending a note to your email list, over and over again, that there’s a blog. But the potential payoff is huge- a segment of new, interested prospects.

I see this on a larger scale- new technologies coming out, like Twitter- and marketing groups thinking they have to change or educate their existing mailing list. Mostly, because they had to train themselves. So, assume there is already a large segment of potential users who already understand this medium. Don’t take my word on it, check: http://search.twitter.com) and search for your brand.

Blogs can be simply another marketing channel, and the effort shouldn’t be to convert people to social media, but to find new customer segments, using social media.

The use of web analytics to target email campaigns improves revenue by nine times more than does the use of broadcast mailings. Despite additional campaign costs, relevant campaigns increase net profits by an average of 18 times more than do broadcast mailings. (Source: JupiterResearch, Email Marketing: An Hour a Day, by Jeannie Mullen and David Daniels)

Most of us know that relevant, personal emails vastly increase the success of an email campaign. In my experience I’ve seen anywhere from 10% to 70% higher metrics, when the campaign has been segmented and targeted against additional data.

For those using a hosted solution, you can also get your ESP to add data points onto the system. Most of the ones I’ve talked to- MailChimp, Yesmail, Responsys, for example- have been helpful and interested in building out client datasets.

What do these additional data points look like? Oh, and by the way they’re all within your current data systems (I don’t advocate appending 3rd party data.)

Live purchase information. A simple set of daily key metrics will give you a huge boost, and you can test and rebuild the feed to add more detail
- first purchase
- last (most recent) purchase
- lifetime purchase value
- products purchased- detailed, or a simple category

Live browsing information. Who clicked on what, when, and keep this data fresh. If this data is too large to bring in, specify product areas, specific types of customers (prospects, existing) and work with these segments incrementally.

Unique industry information. Any kind of information on your site that is specific and unique to your company.

Email marketing feedback and response data. Opens, clicks, bounces and unsubscribes, by campaign (and segmented target).

Multichannel data.
- Print and catalog
- Ad banner clicks
- Affiliate activity (hosted on other sites)
- Face to face event data

Social site data
– Blog responses
– Twitter accounts
– Facebook accounts

The work involved in adding the data can quickly pay for itself. It does involve some database developer time to find, implement, and automate adding this data. But it pays for itself by open-ended revenue streams. The next post will cover the tactical technical details to implementing additional data.

Continue reading: “Accessing Your Data, 2 of 2″

Dumplings on Gu Lou Da Jie, Beijing

Warm dumplings in a doorway. You pick up some, in a clear bag, and then everyone knows you have dumplings. They can smell them, see you carrying them, and the idea is born. Maybe they want some? The brilliant village-style social marketing campaign.

More and more companies are hoping to jump on the bandwagon of social marketing- Twitter, Facebook, viral marketing and blogging. I’ve been involved, as a writer and marketer, in some good campaigns and some not-so-good campaigns. And, here I will share… some of my frustrations bundled up as “lessons.”

Be highly suspicious of PR companies
An important tenet of social marketing is to be transparent and honest. PR companies are having a difficult time transitioning from a stealth role of being the masterminds behind customer communication to an honest conversation with super fans and evangelists. The extra layer, between a company and its customers (or potential customers) also doesn’t help. So many times some PR flack is having a hard time communicating to me the essentials of the campaign- why would people want to buy/talk/blog/twitter about this campaign? Mostly because, either they’re juggling 10 campaigns and they all seem the same, or they don’t really understand the blogger’s perspective.

Hire Fans, Not Writers
Writers write well, it’s true, and many fans suck at writing. But that doesn’t mean that a writer can copy the heart and soul of the fan’s perspective. As someone who has faked it, believe me it’s obvious to another true fan. Sure, writing is hard for some people, akin to doing taxes, but more and more, with the advent of microblogging and camera phones, concise, on the spot eyewitness reports are having a lot more sway than the carefully crafted PR message. This goes into the honesty and transparency aspects of social marketing. Take everyone’s favorite whipping boy Motrin Moms. If they had given that cartoon character a real personality, a real woman who has a newborn, a thousand missiles woudln’t have been launched against her insecurities. People can smell a rat.

Timing
Probably the worst side effect of hiring an agency: the timing is all off. Things to happen *all at once.* Zappos’ CEO doesn’t email a PR person to check his twitter before he posts it. The old days of publishing schedules and editors are gone. Sure, editors are great, but they need to either setup writing style guides that can free the writer for quick posting, or be online and ready to post the article 24×7. One client flubbed the viral aspect of the campaign because everything needed to be submitted a month in advance. But they still wanted Twitter/Friendfeed/etc. coverage as if it was happening at that moment (a month in the future). See: honesty, transparency. There are ways of keeping editors in the loop and not letting writers go completely renegade, but you’re really losing the momentum if you leave it up to 9-5 work schedules or editorial calendars.

Voice and PR Speak
I recently received an email from a PR person with my “welcome message.” Just the fact that it was 800 words, and a Twitter feed is 125 (some-odd) characters… was my first tip-off that they were out of their league. Also, the wording of a press release is an interesting beast. It does not compute to blogging nor any other kind of microblog format. I chuckle at some PR companies’ methods of writing hooks, too. Oh, that’s fascinating that this person moved on to another company. So back to #1, be very wary of PR companies.

Lastly, Compensation
Either pay them like a real writing job, by the word, or don’t pay them. You need to hire fans, and fans really want the access to you, as the company. Don’t make it so valuable that you’re going to lure non-fans. Make sure that the compensation matches the interests or specialties that you want. If you’re a food magazine, offer some access to foodiness. This is where you have to be wary of PR companies, because they will have a roster of writers they want to use, and you have to say no, you want fans. Not people who could be fans with the right motivation.

Blog reader tweeted me about a company that was selling email addresses. We all know it’s a bad idea, but here’s a quick rundown of why:
- unqualified leads
- doesn’t pay for itself
- devalues your brand
- disingenuous relationship with customer (what would the welcome email say? “Hi! You don’t know me, but I bought your email…”)
- sadly, I’ve seen “list acquisition” projects that are mainly contributing your hard won customer list to a data farm (oh, and you pay for the privilege!).

He had a good question: what are proven ways, then to increase your email list?

Well, for one, promotional email lists are just one marketing channel in the overall issue of, how to increase awareness and activity with your company. No, I’m not going to say “grow your list” because I’m an English major and have a firm stance on using “grow” if it’s not related to aging or agriculture. Anyways…

Here are some ideas:
- Partner with a company that has the same target customer demographic (note: don’t do a list exchange, make sure their customers know what they’re getting into, see below on newsletter ad space for an example of a partnership campaign.)
- Offer freebies to “forward to a friend” related activities
- Give-aways with minimal registration involved
- Sell/trade/barter space in your newsletter for another company (see #1′s) ad space. Do the same with them, your newsletter-promo sign-up in their newsletter
- Advertise your promo emails or newsletters on your front page
- Include tasteful, minimal ads or promotions in transactional emails
- I’m a fan of face-to-face events, again teaming up with like-minded businesses that have the same demographic. Get email sign-up sheets out there, and give something in return, no matter how small.
- Well-crafted social marketing campaigns that are fun, focused, transparent and intelligent, funneled to a page on your site that allows access with an email or minimal registration, to reveal the joke/freebie/etc.
- Contests for freebies, also using social media, that require an email to register

More reading…

DMA Email Marketing Time to turn your attention to acquitention. Great tips on leveraging loyal readers. By Simone Baratt

Email Marketing Reports Building a list on more than deals and discounts. A good look at the value of a lead, especially when you use the d-word (discount). By Mark Brownlow.

Words to the Wise Negative brand building with email. The thorny topic of qualifying a lead, which yes, begins at acquisition. by Laura Atkins.

It’s a hectic time in any retail email marketing department. The rule of thumb was that 12/21 was the last ordering date online if you wanted items to ship by Christmas, but since that falls on a Sunday, 12/18 is the recommended online shipping deadline. Therefore we have a 3-day lead-up in emails to push orders online. Here are a few examples of this year’s emails, wins and flubs. (Note: for a list of 250 companies and their shipping offers: Holiday Shipping Deadline. As usual taken with images off.

Toys R Us – Art.com – Red Envelope – Schug Winery – Cricket Magazine – Discovery Store – Back to Basic Toys – Gap

Toys R Us

Toys R Us consistently misses the boat on images-off rendering, with no alternative text, teasers, or HTML tables and treatments with colored text. They also don’t certify the email which would avoid the entire problem. With no teasers before the add-to-address-book reminder, this is a big corporate email campaign boo-boo. The only alt-text is below the preview fold, too. So doesn’t matter what size company you are- even the big guys miss it.

Art.Com

This campaign captures every best practice: teaser text before the inbox message, branding, and the offer is in alt. text, and no spacer images cluttering up the layout.

Red Envelope

Red Envelope used to be as bad as Toys R Us, but they’ve really cleaned up their act. Nice use of font sizes and color to promote branding even in images-off environments. Branding could be bigger.

Cricket Magazine

Everything is great here, except no branding. I like the hinting at new products- that promotes clicking and accepting images. Not enough retailers are tempting us, bringing us more into the experience. (technically a publisher, but nice techniques.)

Schug Winery

Pretty good in all the respects- branding, messaging and images-off design. A little jarring and not really in step with a usual very classy design, but still manages to get the message across. Nice to see Mom & Pops hit all the bases.

Discovery Store

I was disappointed to see this from the Discovery Store. Usually their images-off design is on par with Dell. So subtle to distraction, and the branding should be more prominent. Nothing seriously at fault, but still.

CW Kids

It was hard to write this because I couldn’t find the branding! Companies really have to step up on the branding in their emails, for images-off. This is more a business question- why stock up on staples, during the holiday season? Last thing I’d want to give my niece is a set of t-shirts. So, uninspiring content, and no branding. Check Gap below for tips on how to do it.

Back to Basic Toys

Wow. Use of color, and alt-text, but to uneffective ends. The branding is barely there, the toys are below the fold, and the odd use of green in the middle… I can see some valiant efforts but it falls apart.

Gap

Just a quick note that certified email means that your message renders this prettily.They could have sent it without images, as it’s mostly just text, but it works: nice branding, dominant message, pleasant color combination.

From my inbox last week, I got a Salon membership renewal email:

Uploaded with plasq‘s Skitch!

The story here is that I was dead weight on their database, as a user. I had subscribed ages ago and not renewed. So they call that out, and they use the recent uptick in hits, due to the 2008 Election, as a reason to re-subscribe. It was interesting, and a great re-activation style campaign. Using web traffic as a reason to re-invigorate old customers.