Measuring EnviroFlash – And Making It Work for You! Steven A. Ludewig 1, Natalie M. LaGuardia 1, John E. White 2 1 Sonoma Technology, Inc. 2 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Presented at the National Air Quality Conferences March , 2011 San Diego, CA 4067

2 EnviroFlash – More than ! messages Twitter Text messages RSS Feeds Website map

3 Subscribing to EnviroFlash The sign-up process Location (ZIP code or city) Format (HTML, text, short) Twitter options Forecasts and/or real-time Select thresholds Preview Confirm

4 Measuring EnviroFlash Website traffic patterns on February 19, 2010, through February 20, 2011 Total visits: 65,369 Visits/day: 178 New subscribers: 24,264 Bulk-loaded subscribers: 8,323 Initial Conclusions 15,941 new subscriptions resulted from website visits 44 new subscribers per day were through the website 25% of website visitors subscribed to EnviroFlash

5 Measuring EnviroFlash: Site Activity Activity averages Web Visits: 178/day Send-outs: 30,000/day Example peak days Date (2010)Visits s Sent May ,000 August ,000 September ,000 December ,000

6 Measuring EnviroFlash: One-day Activity Analysis System activity – May 3 rd, 2010 An was sent to 97,000 (O 3 season announcement) Total send-outs: 120,000 EnviroFlash Challenge began May 3, 2010 Results Visits: 841 Removals: 80 (average is 33) –59 for agency with large send-out Sign-ups: 329 (average is 66) –Only 18 were for the agency with the large send-out –110 were for one other agency – possibly bulk loaded Initial conclusions Subscribers are clicking links in the s (“click-throughs”) Episodic or seasonal send-outs drive traffic to the website Campaigns like EnviroFlash Challenge increase activity An opportunity exists to direct traffic back to your website

7 Measuring EnviroFlash: Failures to Complete Sign-up Process Sign-up dropouts (12/9/2010 to 3/7/2011) 4,386 began to fill out the subscriber information form 3,515 clicked the “Subscribe” button 20% of those beginning the process did not actually subscribe Ideas? Further simplify the sign-up process Enable a default set of preferences for a city, configured by agency Other?

8 Measuring EnviroFlash: Open Rate open rate Feature to capture open rates was deployed in December 2010 Applies only to HTML-formatted s –95% of users receive HTML 20% of s were opened Ideas? Are some subscribed for lower AQI category thresholds than needed? Provide more/better information to subscribers about thresholds? Other? ThresholdNumberPercent Good29,06155% Moderate3,9988% USG16,30231% Unhealthy2,7965% V. Unhealthy2080.4% Hazardous2771% Total receiving forecasts: 52,642

9 Measuring EnviroFlash: Opt-in Confirmation Confirmation rates Double opt-in process confirms subscriptions (subscribers must click a link in an ) Initially, 69% rate of confirmation Increased to 87% after subject line was clarified to state “Attention Required” Ideas? Automated reminders were considered, but we risk being labeled as spammers (sending unwanted/unrequested ) Other?

10 EnviroFlash – What’s New? (1 of 2) AQI category-specific messages Configured/controlled by agency Dynamically displayed when an AQI level is reached (uses the first forecast day) Appears below the forecast discussion Can be activated and deactivated by the agency

11 EnviroFlash – What’s New? (2 of 2) Recommend to a friend Provides a way to share EnviroFlash with others Encourages sharing the health protection benefits of EnviroFlash Users who appreciate the service are more likely to spread the word when invited to do so

12 EnviroFlash – What’s Next? (1 of 2) Other planned features Improved tool for regeneration – includes Action Days and shows forecast that will be used Improved tracking of forecasts and data used in send-outs For subscribers Mobile version of sign-up website Note: 8% of website visits were from mobile devices

13 EnviroFlash – What’s Next? (2 of 2) Other planned features Improved map on –Faster map loading –Easier to select cities –Larger city symbols Foreign language options

14 EnviroFlash: Its Potential for Your Agency! A few conclusions... “Click-throughs” do happen –Drive traffic to your agency website by placing URLs in your s—track click-throughs to demonstrate effectiveness –Provide dynamic, up-to-date information to add value and keep it fresh Subscribers can use the system more effectively –Obtain a higher open rate by encouraging selection of AQI threshold levels that meet subscriber needs Promotional campaigns are effective –Use EnviroFlash to raise awareness of your agency program

15 EnviroFlash Contacts and Resources For help with setting up or maintaining EnviroFlash, contact John White: Amy Gaskill: Steve Ludewig: Natalie LaGuardia: AIRNow Data Management Center (707) Online resources for EnviroFlash are available at