Engaging Customers with Email Marketing and Social Media

Dr Dave Chaffey

Presented at Technology for Marketing

23rd February 2010

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About Dave Chaffey

• Best practice

• Qualifications

• Books

• Advice andlearning

• Search and conversion

• Email marketing

Let’s Connect!

Questions & discussion welcome

• Blogwww.smartinsights.com

• Presentationswww.smartinsights.com/presentations

• Email Newsletterwww.smartinsights.com

uk.linkedin.com/in/davechaffey

www.facebook.com/davechaffey

www.twitter.com/DaveChaffey

Email still works incredibly well!But social growing rapidly…

• The ASOS.com EFT ratio

– EFT = Email : Facebook : Twitter

– EFT = 100 to 8 to 1 (Nov 2009)

– Currently (from published figures):

• 2 million email registered users

• 1.2 million active email customers (bought within the past six months).

• Facebook = 206,000 (161,000)

• Twitter = 28,000 (19,000 November)

http://www.davechaffey.com/blog/online-pr/social-media-dont-believe-the-hype

Agenda

• Q. How engaged are our email subscribers?– Suggestions for measuring and goal-setting for engagement

• Q. How can we increase relevance?– Recommendations on email engagement strategy

• Q. What will make our campaign more engaging?– 5 ingredients of an engaging campaign

• Q. How can we make our email templates more effective?– Practical tips for an engaging template

• Q. How can we integrate email and social media?– Examples of email and social media integration

Q1. How engaged are our email subscribers?

Q. How do you measure your email subscriber engagement?

• Campaign open/clicks/CTOR is only a starting point, instead…

• Opens/clicks/CTOR/sales:

– 1. At position in lifecycle

– 2. By segment

– 3. By offer / email type

– 4. Aggregated over a longer time period

7

Measuring list activity – email engagement

Tip. Measure the overall health of your list

through activity / inactivity levels over time

• Use “hurdle rates” are for whole list. Repeat:– By segment– By product categories purchased

Tip: Use Advanced Segments, conversion goals and bounce rate in Google Analytics to assess email effectivenessAdding codes automatic within SMART Marketer eChannel

Define standard email tracking codes in GA – example:• Name: &utm_campaign=SBI210809C• Source: &utm_source=ES_BI_Email• Medium: &utm_medium=Email• Content: &utm_content=SBIT210809C_Image

Using predictive modeling based on RFM to nurture best customers

• Some variables used to identify “best buyer profile” include:– Total # of purchases

• The more the better

– Time on file• The younger the better

– Months since first purchase• The more the better

– Months since last purchase• The less (or more recent) the better

– Total e-mails clicked on over the past year• The more the better

– Total e-mails opened over the past year• The more the better… though not always predictive

Q2. How can we engage more through email? Developing an engagement strategy

Targeting is key, as well as a lot more cost effective. There is a definite law of diminishing returns in that you can only ‘Spray & Pray’ with untargeted, mass, generic email broadcasts for so long before you start to see a negative impact on your opens, clicks, conversions and unsubscribes.

Think about your industry, what it is you sell, relevancy for the customer and what level of frequency of contact is appropriate.

Grant Baillie Multi-channel Customer Retention Manager Argos.co.ukDMA Info Box : http://email.dma.org.uk/_attachments/resources/5665_S4.html

Presented by Grant Baillie of Argos at 2008 Email marketing conference, with permission

Example of development of engagement strategy

Example of dynamic content insertion

Presented by Grant Baillie of Argos at 2008 Email marketing conference, with permission

Tip. Change order of offers or features

according to segment to increase relevance

Your email marketing journey:Assessing your email marketing capability

http://www.davechaffey.com/blog/email-marketing/how-advanced-is-your-email-marketing

15Q. How are using event-triggered emailsto support the customer lifecycle?

Source:

First-time visitor

Return visitor

Registered visitor

Purchased once

Newlyregistered visitor

Purchased Active

Purchased Inactive

Advanced Segmentation

Presented at TFMFebruary 2009

Branded welcome, registration triggered e-mails

“Learn more through time”

“Watch, don’t ask”

Email Campaigns that Build…

Welcome Email

Time-limited offer

Offer Extension

19Triggered birthday email

BT - It’s all about past actions… “Recognition of activity”

Purchase Dispatched +7d

+14d +21d

Recognition ofprevious purchase

Browse, don’t buy examples

Example reactivation emails

Q3. What will make our email campaign more engaging?

What should you try to build into every campaign?

Key campaign ingredient 1?

24

Buzz = Engaging + Participative

25

• Example engagement devices:– Search boxes – Questions – Quizzes– Polls– Calculators– Interactive Q&A– Call-backs– Viral games

26

Key e-campaign ingredient 2?

Continuous campaign examples

27Tip. Give your campaign momentum, inertia!

www.tourismirelandtaxichallenge.com

Key e-campaign ingredient 3?

28

29Multi-message example

Response increases by

40% for campaign

First Campaign,

Conversion rate = 0.2%

Second Campaign,

Conversion rate = 0.2%

Source: E-consultancy Masterclass 2005 - BCA

Tip. Use time-limited offers

Remailing with urgency to openers

Q4. How can we make our email templates more engaging?

Practical template tips

We’re our own worst critics and spend a lot of time analysing our own email templates to make them work harder.

Using customer research and eyetracking studies against our own and competitor templates has enabled us to really understand the journey a customer goes through – from the moment they see an email in their inbox to the moment they click through on it – we are constantly optimising our templates to reflect this.

Grant Baillie Multi-channel Customer Retention Manager Argos.co.ukDMA Info Box : http://email.dma.org.uk/_attachments/resources/5665_S4.html

Most important rule of template design:Highlight value = your “Online Value Proposition”

• B2B OVP– Make my work easier– Help me develop– Make me look good– Give me a great deal

• B2C OVP– Make my life easier– Help me learn / have fun– Make me look good– Give me a great deal

Using Eyetracking research to improve Email marketing

Need to deliver Scannability and Skimmability

1. Heading and subhead copy critical• First 2-3 words most important

• Make hyperlinked

2. Large fonts work well

3. Images often missed• Use text link calls-to-action

4. Readers scan down the left of an E-mail

5. First part of para important• F shape eyetrack

6. Email intros skipped • Use to personalise and engage

e.g. with hyperlinks

Review your template layout carefully

<Text: Offer / message summary : call-to-action><View in browser text hyperlink><Whitelist – “add to address book” / <Verification ID – Postcode/Member><My Profile / <Comms Preferences or occasionally unsubscribe>

From: <Display address> [Physical address]Subject: Focused subject line (Benefit, Direct offer, teaser)

“Header”

Left Sidebar

(optional)

Right sidebar

(optional)

“Pre-header”

BrandIdent

<Visual engagement><Main message>

<Offer description><Incl. site nav or product categories>

Banner“Header”

<Salutation: Dear>

Lead copy <Personalised>

<Initial call-to-action>

Call-to-action

Clickable text headline (+ sub-head?)

Leadparagraph

Leadimage

(optional)

Call-to-action

Clickable sub-headline (optional)

<Summary of offer><Compelling reason to act now>

Closingparagraph

Call-to-actions

<Sign-off text> <Person or company>Optional P.S.

Sign-off

<Company <Privacy statement><Unsubscribe><Terms and Conditions>

Footer

Options:<Detailed offer description><Features list><Benefits list><Range of producs – images and text>Note: Asymmetric layouts more visually appealing

Main block“Body”

Call-to-actions

Main or category navigation

From: <Display address – newsletter name> [Physical address]Subject: Focused subject line (Newsletter issue, featured offers/articles)

“Header”

Left Sidebar

(optional)

Right sidebar

(optional)

BrandIdent

<Visual engagement><Main message>

<Offer description or additional offer, e.g. Catalogue>

Banner“Header”

<Salutation: Dear>

Lead copy <Personalised>

<Initial call-to-action>

Call-to-action

Clickable text headline (+sub-head?)

Leadparagraph

Leadimage

(optional)

Call-to-action

Repeating feature offer sub-headlines

<Summary of offers><Compelling reason to act now>

Closingparagraph

Call-to-actions

<Sign-off text> <Person or company>Optional P.S.

Sign-off

<Company <Privacy statement><Unsubscribe><Terms and Conditions>

Footer

Options:<Detailed offer description><Features list><Benefits list><Range of producs – images and text>

Note: Asymmetric layouts more visually appealing

Main block“Body”

Call-to-actions

Main or category navigation

Product categories or site main navigation

<Text: Offer / message summary : call-to-action><View in browser text hyperlink><Whitelist – “add to address book” / <Verification ID – Postcode/Member><My Profile / <Comms Preferences or occasionally unsubscribe>

“Pre-header”

Note:

Table of contentsabove foldessential for informationor feature-ledEnewsletters

Can be left,centre or right

Tip: Check email works with images blocked

and within preview pane

Don’t give too much choice?!

• Six different jams. 40% of the customers stopped to taste. 30% of those bought.

• Twenty-four different jams. 60% of the customers stopped to taste. But only 3% bought! http://sivers.org/jam

Engaging B2C example

Engaging B2B template example

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Tip: optimise your “pre-headers”!

Presented at TFMFebruary 2009

Test! Test! Test! “Data trumps intuition”

• Shinn Chen, Marketing Manager, Salesforce.com, shared the results of his team’s template redesign.

• Call-to-action was moved from a small box on right side of messages to just below the message’s headline and

• subhead, in line with the rest of the body copy.

• Clickable buttons were made much larger

• Results: CTR increased 26%-27%

Recent example: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31530#

Q5. How can we integrate Email and social media

Practical tipsand

examples

How social are we?

http://www.ruderfinn.com/rfrelate/intent/intent-index.html

Integrating your email newsletter with social media: a virtuous circle

1. Blog

3. Company Twitter

5. EmailNewsletter

2. RSS Feed

4. FacebookFan page

Track with bit.lyTrack with bit.ly

Track with Google Analytics

Track with Feedburner &

Google Analytics

Track with GA or ESP system

Manual updateor automatic

withTwitterfeed

Automatic feedwith FeedburnerCherrypick

most populartopics

Automatic withTwitter app

• Recruiting to Twitter• via a prize draw • promoted in Twitter

Tip: Recruit to Twitter

via Email

Recruiting to encourage purchase

…And exclusive Facebook Benefits

Thank you!

iPod Touch prize draw. Enter and subscribe to our marketing tips newsletter, text smarter followed by your email address to 60060

We will not share your details with any third party. SMS will becharged at your normal network rate. Competition open to UK residents of 18 years and over. Limited to one entry per person.Closing date 25/2/2010.