Advanced e-Mail Marketing Strategies

2002 L-Soft

Advanced e-Mail Marketing Strategies

eMarketing Association ConferenceRedondo Beach, California

September 5, 2002

Gabriela Linares

2002 L-Soft

Steps for an e-Mail Marketing Plan

Defining e-Mail Marketing Objectives Determining Effective Strategies Reaching your Target Audience Designing e-Mail Content Evaluating Results Selecting a Solution

2002 L-Soft

Defining e-Mail Marketing Objectives

2002 L-Soft

Common e-Mail Marketing Objectives

Build brand awareness Acquire new leads/ registrants/ customers/ clients Drive immediate sales Enhance customer retention Build stronger relationships with existing

customers/clients Provide company or product information Increase revenues by up-selling to existing

customers/clients Post-order targeted e-mails As part of an integrated marketing strategy

2002 L-Soft

e-Mail marketing campaign response rates by campaign objective

15.30%

15.20%

17.10%

7.90%

5.60%

6.80%

Leads

Sales

Awareness

ConversionCTR

Source: IMT Strategies, September 2001

2002 L-Soft

Acquisition versus retention

Acquisition Retention

Search engine positioning 94% 6%

Banner ads 91% 9%

Referral/viral programs 85% 15%

Affiliate programs/ sponsorships

75% 25%

Incentive programs 51% 49%

E-Mail Marketing 37% 63%

Source: DMA- April, 2002

2002 L-Soft

Conversion Costs for Retention and Acquisition Goals

Acquisition Retention

E-mail $57.10 $2.50

Direct Mail $25.00 $60.00

Banner ads $140.00 N/A


2002 L-Soft

Determining Effective Strategies

2002 L-Soft

Popular e-Mail models Sales Promotions Transaction confirmations Account status e-mails Recommendations from friends (viral marketing) Scheduled corporate newsletters Customizable information updates Time-based reminders Rewards program E-mail discussion groups Product updates of interest Independent media newsletters Entertainment (humor, film clips) E-Mail education series Contests for address

2002 L-Soft

Average CTR for B2C and B2B e-mail newsletters

3.40%

2.80%

1.90%

0.90%

0.50%

0.30%

0% 2% 4%

2000

2001

2002

B2CB2B

Source: Opt-in News, May 2002

2002 L-Soft

Top Interest Areas for Permission e-Mail Users in the US

Specials/offers from online merchants Specials/offers from local retailers or restaurants Household tips/recipes/crafts Humor Travel Entertainment Weather Local news Tech/business news Finance/stock information Sports

2002 L-Soft

Top reasons why US Internet users respond to e-mail offers

Know and trust brand Relevant information Good prices Friend has recommended Price/coupon/reward Timely Compelling subject Entertaining

2002 L-Soft

Types of messages that are forwarded

Merchandise deals and promotions Social/political message and petitions Warnings and advisories Relevant Funny Work related Informative Cool New Technology Prize/coupon/reward

2002 L-Soft

How US internet users learn about new web sites

Source: IMT Strategies, Sept. 2001

19%

22%

48%

56%

59%

80%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Radio

Guess URL

Television

Viral Marketing

Link from other site

Search engines

2002 L-Soft

Reaching your Target Audience

2002 L-Soft

E-mail overload: Number of e-mail marketing e-mail sent in the US

939

796

674

549

430

289

0 500 1000

2006

2005

2004

2003

2002

2001

Source: Forrester Research, August 2001

2002 L-Soft

US Internet User Attitude towards e-Mail Volume, 2001

49%

3%

34%

15%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Just right

Somewhatmore

Too many

Cannothandle


2002 L-Soft

Response to permission e-mail versus unknown senders

52%

21%

15%

12%

1%

3%

6%

29%

49%

13%

0% 20% 40% 60%

Delete

Open but annoyed

Indifferent

Curious to read

Eager to read

Unknown senders Permission e-mail

2002 L-Soft

Opt-in, opt-out, double opt-in, spam: Preferred e-mail marketing methods

64%

31%

4%

1%

Double Opt-I nOpt-inOpt-outSpam

Source: Opt-In News, May 2002

2002 L-Soft

Permission e-mail marketing vs. direct mail retention costs

Cost per thousand (CPM)

Click-Through Rates(CTR)

Conversion Rate

Cost per sale

E-mail to in-house list

$5 15% 3.7% $1

Direct Mail to in-house list

$761 N/A 3.9% $20


2002 L-Soft

CTR and Conversion rate of US e-mail marketing campaigns – for permission based lists

2.10%

7.80%

7.00%

17.80%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20%

Unsubscribe

Bounce

Netconversion

Click-through


2002 L-Soft

US Internet Users’ Level of Concern Regarding Online Privacy

71.30%

61.70%

23.10%

29.50%

5.50%

8.80%

2001

2000NotconcernedSomewhatconcernedExtremelyconcerned

Source: UCLA Center for Communication Policy, November 2001

2002 L-Soft

US Consumers’ Privacy concerns

69%

70%

75%

66% 68% 70% 72% 74% 76%

Hackers willsteal info

Transactionsnot secure

Sharing infowith third

parties

Source: Harris Interactive, February 2002

2002 L-Soft

US E-Mail users’ preferred e-mail marketing privacy and customer-support practices Unsubscribe option in all e-mails Explicit no-share-address policy 48-hour e-mail support answers Editable personal preferences page Provide phone numbers in e-mail Explicit privacy policy Double opt-in confirmation Unchecked default opt-in box Third-party privacy seal in e-mail

2002 L-Soft

Most Important e-Mail Marketing trust-building factors among US users

Secure sign-up form Trustworthy reputation Loyal customer Well-known brand Friend recommendation Trusted site referral Relevant offers

2002 L-Soft

Why customers would give personal info

Guarantee that the information will not be misused

Eligibility to win a prize in a sweepstakes Regular e-mail updates on products they are

interested in Access to more or better content or

information Affinity points Receive targeted ads they’re likely to be

interested in

2002 L-Soft

Building Customer Intelligence

Harness your Customer Database Effective personalization and targeting Common Segmentation Factors:

Purchase history Location/zip code Demographics Lifestyle/hobbies/interests

2002 L-Soft

Building your lists

Subscriber form on web site Sponsor lists of sites with a similar

demographic Send to a friend button – viral marketing Ask for permission to customer base Maintain list hygiene E-mail appending…

2002 L-Soft

E-mail appending

24%

76%

EthicalNot ethical

Source: Opt-In News, May 2002

2002 L-Soft

Evaluating results

2002 L-Soft

How to measure the effectiveness of e-mail marketing campaigns

Click-through rates unique and sum of events & comparisons

Unsubscribe rates Open rates Conversion rates (website tracking) Click-stream analyses E-mail pass along rates –viral marketing Coupon codes Unanimous tracking to respect privacy

2002 L-Soft

Response time and cost per unit, e-mail vs. direct mail

Be prepared to handle responses

E-Mail Direct Mail

Response Time

3 days 3-6 weeks

Cost per unit $0.25 $1.25

Source: DMA, Forrester Research, Gartner Group, 2002

2002 L-Soft

Creating the Content

2002 L-Soft

E-Mail Message Content

Subject Line – getting recipients to open mail is half the battle

Creativity Personality and dynamic content Keep it short and use links to draw reader to your web

site Keep it fresh – don’t re-use the same content Relevance – the more you understand your customers,

the more targeted and relevant messages will be Frequency Test messages

2002 L-Soft

Email users’ preferred e-mail marketing personalization models

Communication Control Self-select content Name recognition Personal events & reminders Geography Account History Lifestyle Purchasing Behavior

2002 L-Soft

Preferred e-mail advertisement formats worldwide, Q1 2002

35%

62%

3%

HTMLTextRich Media

Source: Opt-IN News, May 2002

2002 L-Soft

Response rates per format

1.20%

7.40%

9.00%

18.50%

3.20%

7.70%

5.30%

15.60%

0.00%

5.00%

10.00%

15.00%

20.00%

Unsubscribe

Bounce

Conversion

Click-Through

HTMLText


2002 L-Soft

To Outsource or not to Outsource

2002 L-Soft

Maintain your server Hardware/computer

network Dedicated Internet

Connection Software for e-mail

management and delivery Best for large loads and

those with experience More cost-effective Flexibility to create

campaigns on the fly

Outsource your list hosting Reliability and experience Redundant servers and

delivery capacity Flexibility to maintain

company Internet presence Ability to move from

hosting to in-house when ready

More expensive Rely on company’s

schedule

2002 L-Soft

Outsourced e-Mail Marketing Campaigns

8%

28%

0%

2%

22%

68%

10%

8%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

Analysis

Delivery

Creative

Strategy

20012003


2002 L-Soft

Evaluate Options

Evaluate software product or hosting service before purchasing

Determine if solution provides appropriate features Decide what reporting features you need

online real-time reporting, compatibility with other software you employ

Differentiating levels of privacy tracking Campaign manager to organize jobs Integration with your database and other applications Handle bounces

2002 L-Soft

Questions?

Gabriela LinaresL-Soft international, Inc.

[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

Documents

Advanced e-Mail Marketing Strategies