1. © 2006 Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Getting Started with Email Marketing by Stephan Spencer, Founder & President of Netconcepts

2. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com

3. Poll Question #1  What is your level of experience with email marketing, on a scale from 1 to 5?  (1=Never done it, 5=Expert)

4. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Poll Question #2  What are your most pressing concerns about email marketing? Check all that apply: –Getting and keeping permission –Getting the right offer –Targeting the right audience –Copywriting –Design –Tracking & reporting –Getting it to “go viral”

5. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Why Market via Email?  Critical mass : reaches 93% of internet users (Jupiter Research)  Response rates : 10x greater than direct mail (DMA)  Lower costs: 1/10 the cost per communication (Andersen)  Relationship builder : 80% of visitors never return (eMarketer)

6. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Reaching Today’s Consumer  Corporate scandals erode trust  Growing marketing resistance  Receives 100 emails a day (10-20 from people you know)  Want to be treated as people, not a mass market  Spam is in the eye of the beholder

7. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Coping with the Deluge  32% of email messages are official SPAM (Radicati Group)  Costs $8.9 billion in lost productivity annually (Ferris Research)  Spam filters in Outlook, Hotmail, AOL etc.; Anti-spam tools at the ISPs; Corporate email firewalls  15% of permission-based marketing messages are wrongly blocked (Assurance Systems)

8. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com (Nothing reeks of SPAM more than a message claiming not to be SPAM.)

9. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Define Business Objectives  Audience –Prospects, customers, advocates, partners  Goals –Registrations, Signups, Sales  Content –Newsletter, Promotions, Reminders, Invitations  Metrics –Click through, Registration, Visits, Booking/Purchase

10. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Spam  Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE)  Typical spam has a bogus sender address, bogus unsubscribe instructions, and bogus offers  Spam is in the eye of the beholder  Ensure recipients don’t misconstrue your message as spam

11. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Get Permission  Opt-in, not opt-out. Get recipient’s consent in advance! –Opt-in: recipient volunteered to receive your email –Opt-out: recipient didn’t have the opportunity to avoid receiving your first email, only to avoid receiving subsequent ones  “Hand-raisers” are a lot more likely to not only tolerate receiving your emails, but also to respond favorably  Read Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

12. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Improve the Odds that a User Will Join Your List  Provide numerous opt-in opportunities all with low barriers to entry  Make sure the amount of work required to sign up is minimal –Many sites only require the email address and all other personal information is optional  Place the email list sign-up on all forms on your site, including inquiry, order, and feedback forms –Ok to have the sign-up checkbox ticked in advance?

13. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Privacy Policy  Builds trust  Address what you’ll be doing with the user’s information, both now and potentially in the future  Post it in an obvious place on your site  Link to it from your email campaigns  Abide by it, no exceptions  Don’t revoke or weaken it once you’ve published it

14. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Distance Yourself from Spammers  Remind recipients that they’ve given you permission to contact them  Provide an easy way to unsubscribe –Unsubscribe urban legend  Be sure reply works  Have it signed by a real person  Publish and abide by a strict privacy policy

15. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com (Thanks United. You make it oh-so- easy to unsubscribe.)

16. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com

17. Be REAL!  Develop a voice and unique personality  Relate to their problem  First few lines are key (WIIFM)  The ‘gift of education’  Be honest. Full disclosure - No hidden advertorials  Avoid ‘chest pounding’ and promotions  People trust people, not marketing speak

18. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com (Lands’ End’s relaxed tone and voice match the brand. Newsletter delivers entertainment value – not just product promotions)

19. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Attention to Detail  Shoddy workmanship in your email campaign reflects poorly on your business –Typos & grammatical errors –Getting the facts wrong –Formatting problems –Otherwise illegible (font size too small etc.) or unintelligible

20. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com (Typos AND broken links – in a newsletter from an email marketing agency, no less!)

21. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com (Jupiter should have tested on multiple email clients.)

22. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Consequences of Spamming  “Flames,” i.e. hate email  Harassment from spam vigilantes  Badmouthed in discussion forums  Blacklisted (SpamCop, etc.)  You may even have your Internet privileges revoked by your ISP  Remember, perception is 9/10ths of reality

23. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Above All, Deliver Value!  Email should be relevant, timely, and beneficial  “Value" can take the form of: –newsletters, discounts, contests, last minute availability, event reminders, invitations, prizes, memberships, bonuses, coupons/discounts, exclusive sales, free samples, or demos.  Surveys - give free report or enter them in a draw  Go paperless - specs, price lists, statements

24. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Types of Outbound Email  Newsletters –Regularly scheduled messages that deliver timely and interesting news, tips, and other informational tidbits  Promotional messages –Inform recipients about special offers  Discussion forum posts –Soft-sell marketing strategy for becoming an accepted and trusted member of your target audience’s online community

25. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Discussion Forum Posts  Discussion forums include Usenet newsgroups, email discussion lists (listservs), and web forums  Often overlooked by e-marketers  Key is to respect the forum’s non-commercial nature  Don’t blatantly advertise –Add value by answering questions in a vendor-neutral manner, then soft-sell solely through your "signature"

26. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Signature Line  At the bottom of your discussion post  Should be short - no more than 4 lines  Your name  Your company name  Your email address (include mailto: in front)  Link to your site (include http:// in front)  Your USP (Unique Selling Proposition)

27. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Components of an Email  Subject line –Most important ~35 characters of the email. Focus on it!  From line  To line  Message body –A promotional message should contain a compelling offer & call-to-action –An e-mail newsletter should contain a header, a table of contents, a welcome, and multiple ‘departments’ –Privacy statement, Disclaimer, and Unsubscribe instructions

28. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Measure Success  Unsubscribe rate  Bounce rate  Unique open rate  Total open rate  Clickthrough rate –Can separate HTML vs. plaintext clickthroughs  Conversion rate

29. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com The Bane of the Email Marketer: the Delete Key  The split-second decision - keep it or delete it  The basis of their decision: the From and Subject line  Your open rate may be overstated –Your message may be getting displayed in recipient’s preview pane as he selects it just to delete it

30. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Frequency  Depends on expectations of target audience  Email newsletters tend to be weekly or monthly  Monitor number/variety of contacts to avoid burnout

31. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Timing  Tuesday through Thursday?  10am to 2pm?  Varies depending on your audience!

32. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Length  In general, keep it short and sweet. Use links.  Weekly newsletter should be no more than five sections, with three or fewer paragraphs each,  Monthly newsletter can be double or triple that.  Promotional messages should be significantly shorter than a newsletter.  Include whole articles or just abstracts with links to the rest?

33. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Spam Filters  Spam filters built in Outlook, Hotmail, AOL etc.  Corporate email firewalls  Don’t trip the spam filters –“Free”, “opt-in”, “!!!”, “forward to a friend”, etc. –‘Bcc’ –‘To’ line doesn’t include recipient’s email address –Scripts –Attachments

34. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com  Do it BEFORE sending  Built into some email services (like GravityMail)  Or, free tool available from www.gravitymail.com/spamscore.php www.gravitymail.com/spamscore.php –Aim for < 5 SpamAssassin points –Note: This tool is only indicative. Not everyone’s using SpamAssassin to filter spam. Other filters will interpret your campaign differently. Check Your ‘Spam Score’

35. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com  Play our email filter game!  The Rules: –Point out things in the email campaign that caused it to be unceremoniously junked by SpamAssassin –Must be something that’s displayed on the slide –The thing must be worth at least 0.4 points –See how many problems you can find Name that SPAM!

36. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com

37. 6.2 / 5.0 2 things

38. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com 9.9 / 5.0 3 things

39. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com 5.5 / 5.0 2 things

40. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com HTML vs. Plain Text  HTML emails typically have twice the clickthroughs  HTML offers more control over layout  HTML looks more ‘polished’ (could be good or bad)  Some old email clients can’t do HTML, e.g. Outlook 95  “Sniff” for HTML open or send multiple versions multi- part

41. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Plain Text Emails  Precede URLs with “http://” and emails with “mailto:”  Limit the line width to 65 characters  Headlines in ALL CAPS –Reading text in caps is very slow, because people read only the tops of letters. ALL CAPS letters don’t have enough differentiation to them

42. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com HTML Emails  Tables - to control placement & avoid long lines  Graphics - <30k, will cause the recipient grief if reading email while offline, increases download time  Color - color text or color a table background, doesn’t impact download speed  Font - face, size, and color  Forms - embed in the email to make it easy for the recipient to respond to an offer, e.g. seminar registration –Auto fill-in as many form fields as possible  Scripts, Flash, Streaming Video - not recommended!

43. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Your Database  Collect more than just the email address –Name (first name should be a separate field) –Zip code, interests, and other relevant demographics –What else? –Also ask for info that you plan to use in the future  ‘Text to Columns’ feature in Excel  In-house lists typically perform much better than purchased or rented lists

44. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Personalize  Tailor the offer to the individual. Beneficial offers are relevant offers  Provide customized content specific to recipient location and interests  Greet the recipient by first name. Perhaps even in the Subject line too.  To line should specify the recipient’s email address  Let the recipient control the contact frequency  Increases the likelihood of being at the right place at the right time with the right value proposition

45. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com (Oops! That’s not my name!)

46. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Segment Your List  By demographics, psychographics, clickographics (visiting behavior and transaction history)  Target who’s most relevant, most profitable, or most likely to respond

47. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Buy or Rent Lists?  Avoid the use of purchased lists –Many have actually been “harvested” from web pages, newsgroup discussion posts, or domain contact information (from the “whois” database) – without the knowledge or permission of the affected individuals  Rented lists from reputable list brokers may be worthwhile –Is it double opt-in, fastidiously clean of unsubscribes, and finely segmented?

48. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com A Veritable List Goldmine  Email addresses of prospects, potential distributors and business partners, journalists  Member lists - associations, clubs, etc.  Find them with Google  Introduce yourself. Be personal and informal.  Careful! Potential spam territory

49. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Test, Test, Test!  Treat your email campaigns like experiments  Have a control group  Vary only one thing at a time  What to test? –The offer, the Subject line, the From line, the message copy, the layout, the message length, the timing, the contact frequency

50. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Test, Test, Test!  Track response rates of each test by making call-to- action URLs & e-mail addresses unique for each test group  Special attention should be given to the frequency –don't allow recipient burnout, particularly with a regular mailing such as an e-mail newsletter  Test and refine, test and refine

51. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Software and ASPs  Reduce the administrative headaches - the bounces and unsubscribe requests, the tracking, reporting, segmenting, and personalizing –Do-it-yourself software. e.g. WorldMerge (www.coloradosoft.com) –Or outsource to an e-mail service bureau, e.g. GravityMail (www.gravitymail.com)

52. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com In Summary  Your subscribers listen to WII-FM  Regular contact is required to stand out  A lot of variables to get right –Such as frequency, length, content  Now you know how to get permission, build your database, personalize, segment, test, measure success

53. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com Further Reading  Successful Email Marketing by Debbie Mayo-Smith  Marketing With E-Mail by Shannon Kinnard  Permission Marketing by Seth Godin

54. © Netconcepts www.netconcepts.com  It’s time for some Q & A! Thank You!