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When Should You Send An Email? How one of the largest banks in the world discovered when to send their emails. #webclinic Educational Funding Provided By:

When Should You Send an Email?

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Page 1: When Should You Send an Email?

When Should You Send An Email? How one of the largest banks in the world discovered when to send their emails.

#webclinic

Educational Funding Provided By:

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#webclinic

Join the conversation on Twitter

#webclinic

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Today’s speaker

Dr. Flint McGlaughlin Managing Director

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When is the best time to send your email? ?

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#webclinic

When to Send an Email: Proposed Answers

Source: MailerMailer

3:00 AM

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Source: MailChimp

2:00 – 5:00 PM

When to Send an Email: Proposed Answers

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Source: HubSpot

Weekends

When to Send an Email: Proposed Answers

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A Case Study

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www.act-on.com

Sales: 1 877.530.1555

Act-On's fresh approach to marketing automation gives you full, complex-free functionality. With a streamlined user interface and first-rate marketing tools at your fingertips you will be able to:

Manage your online Marketing All the tools you need, in one place >>

Get higher-quality leads Solutions that drive lead generation >>

Align sales and marketing Integrations that work >>

Track and measure your results Real-time, actionable reporting >>

www.act-on.com | @ActOnSoftware | #ActOnSW

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#webclinic

Experiment: Background

Background: A large financial institution offering a financial service requiring an application to consumers Goal: To increase the amount of completed applications Primary Research Question: Of the send times tested, which time will result in the highest rate of completed applications to delivered emails? Approach: A/B multifactor sequential test

Experiment ID: TP2087 Record Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Research Partner: Protected

Research Notes:

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#webclinic

Experiment: Design

The test had a total 14 treatment paths - each path had the same Subject Line and Email. The Treatment values included sending two emails each day of the week Monday thru Sunday, at 3am and 3pm.

Monday

AM Email

PM Email

Tuesday

AM Email

PM Email

Wednesday

AM Email

PM Email

Thursday

AM Email

PM Email

Friday

AM Email

PM Email

Saturday

AM Email

PM Email

Sunday

AM Email

PM Email

14 Total Email Sends During Week of Test

2 4 6 8 10 12 14

1 3 5 7 9 11 13

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#webclinic

Which Time of Day Will Perform Best? 3:00 AM or 3:00 PM?

?

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Time of Day Clickthrough Rate (%)

Relative Difference

Statistical Level of Confidence

3:00 AM 1.076% - -

3:00 PM 1.220% 13.5%

13.5% Increase in clickthrough rate Sending at 3:00 PM increased clickthrough rate by at least 13.5%

99%

What you need to understand: Recipients were 13.5% more likely to click in an email sent at 3:00 PM. Sunday also significantly out-performed every other day of the week.

Experiment: Clickthrough rate by time of day

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#webclinic

Which Day of the Week Will Perform Best? Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., Fri., Sat., Sun. ?

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Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri Sat Sun

Clickthrough Rate By Day

Experiment: Clickthrough Rate by Day

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Day (in order of performance)

Clickthrough Rate (%) * Relative Difference Statistical Level of

Confidence 1. Tuesday 10.47% - - 2. Monday 10.90% 4.1% 3. Thursday 11.01% 5.1% 4. Friday 11.59% 10.7% 5. Wednesday 11.64% 11.2% 6. Saturday 11.84% 13.1% 7. Sunday 12.90% 23.2%

23.2% Increase in clickthrough rate Sending on Sunday increased clickthrough rate by 23.2% over Tuesday

What you need to understand: Recipients were 23.2% more likely to click in an email sent on Sunday than one sent on Tuesday. Sunday also significantly out-performed every other day of the week.

Experiment: Clickthrough rate by day

72% 82% 99% 99% 99% 99%

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#webclinic

Experiment: Interpretation

Possible Reasons for Higher Clickthrough on Sunday • Less distractions on Sunday

• Advent of mobile attaches

recipients to email 24/7

• Personal nature of financial product causes higher clickthrough outside of work

Sunday Reader

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#webclinic

Possible Reasons for Lower Clickthrough during Week: • Higher level of distraction

• Customers are in “work” mode

and less likely to be interested in financial application

Weekday reader

Experiment: Interpretation

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#webclinic

What we discovered

Key Principles 1. There is no “one-size-fits-all” time/frequency for an email send.

2. However, the universal goal of email timing is to synchronize your email’s

delivery with the cognitive psychology of the customer’s purchase cycle.

3. There are 5 consistent factors from campaign to campaign that will impact your customer's purchase cycle:

1. Decision cycle 2. Utility 3. Relevance 4. Nature of Product 5. Expectations

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#webclinic

Today we are going to walk through these 5 factors to help you get “in the zone” for understanding the

optimal send time/frequency of your emails

Today’s Focus

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Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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1. The optimal frequency of an email is directly related to the decision cycle of the offer (how often a decision is required) – the shorter the cycle, the greater the frequency.

Key Principles Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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#webclinic

Background: Large ecommerce company with strong online presence. Goal: To find the optimal send frequency for a segment of their email list. Primary research question: Which email frequency will generate the most revenue without increasing the rate of unsubscription? Approach: A/B email frequency test ran over a period of 60 days.

Experiment ID: (Protected) Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library

Research Notes:

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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This group was currently sending emails with a frequency ranging from once a week to multiple times a day. But what was the the optimal frequency?

Optimal Frequency

Email Sends

Total Revenue

Unsubscribes

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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Three weeks Two weeks

10 days Week 5 Days 3 Days 2 Days

• Took a segment of their large subscriber base (more than one billion emails a year) • Segmented that group into seven different email frequencies mentioned above

hoping to find the frequency “sweet-spot”

Full List Test list Frequency

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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What do you think will be the optimal monthly frequency for this company?

1. 1-2 per month

2. 3-4 per month

3. 6-9 per month

4. 10-15 per month

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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• Projected monthly revenue rose consistently with increasing send frequency and the amount of sends did not have a significant impact on the overall rate of transaction.

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

80,000

90,000

100,000

2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Estim

ated

Rev

enue

($/m

o)

Send Frequency (sends/mo)

Estimated Monthly Revenue vs. Email Send Frequency

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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• Though projected unsubscribes rise with more sends…

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Ave

No.

Uns

ubs.

per

Mon

th

Send Frequency (sends/mo)

Average No. Unsubs Per Month at Each Send Frequency

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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• …the unsubscribe rate on a per-message basis does not rise significantly.

• This does not suggest a greater level of irritation, but rather simply more unsubscribe opportunities offered at higher frequencies.

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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• Open-rate also does not appear to be significantly influenced by send frequency within the range of frequencies tested.

• There is no significant correlation evident between send frequency and open rate.

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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3x Increase in Projected Monthly Revenue Increasing email frequency yields three times the projected revenue

What you need to understand: When sending email at the rate of once a week this company is missing three times the amount of revenue it could be making if sending once every other day without negatively affecting unsubscribes or opens.

0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Estim

ated

Rev

enue

($/m

o)

Send Frequency (sends/mo)

Estimated Monthly Revenue vs. Email Send Frequency

Factor #1: Decision Cycle

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#webclinic

Factor #2: Utility

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Promotional Useful

• Direct Offers • Deals/Sales • Product Launches • Coupons • Requests for action

• Newsletters • Articles • Content Digest • Announcements • Customer Service

Factor #2: Utility

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Promotional Useful

• When the nature of product becomes more complex, is a bigger purchase commitment, and has a longer sales cycle, it will necessitate a focus on high utility emails. Essentially this is lead nurturing.

Factor #2: Utility

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Promotional Useful

• When the nature of product becomes less complex, an easy purchase decision, and is purchased often, it will permit a more promotional email strategy.

Factor #2: Utility

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Factor #3: Relevance

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1. The relevance of an email can be based upon 1) the internal motivations of the recipient and 2) the external events surrounding a recipient. The timing of your email must account for both.

Factor #3: Relevance

Key Principles

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Internal Relevance • Personal interests • Demographics • Shopping habits • Personality • Communication styles • Level of engagement

External Relevance • Seasonality • Special discounts • Limited-time offers • News events • Competitive initiatives

Factor #3: Relevance

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• This company segmented the current email list into five distinct groups (as seen above) for a holiday email campaign.

• They sent targeted email messages relevant to each group.

Current Subscriber

Never Has Given a Gift

Current Subscriber

Has Given a Gift

Lapsed Subscriber

Never Has Given a Gift

Lapsed Subscriber

Has Given a Gift

Has Never Subscribed

Has Given a Gift

5 Key Email Segments:

Factor #3: Relevance Example – Case Study

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External Relevance: Uses the holiday season to motivate recipients – “It’s already too late to send through snail mail…” Internal Relevance: Messaging ties into previous actions of the recipient – “You’ve recently given one of your friends…” as well as appealing to personality – “You know how great it is to be a subscriber…”

Email Sample Current Subscriber

Has Given a Gift

Factor #3: Relevance Example – Case Study

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External Relevance: As before, this email uses the holiday season to motivate recipients. Internal Relevance: Messaging speaks more to the subscriber who hasn’t sent a gift to anyone before – “Did you know you can give a… a subscription to….”

Current Subscriber

Never Has Given a Gift

Email Sample

Factor #3: Relevance Example – Case Study

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Background: A large media company offering a free trial of day trading instructional content Goal: To increase the amount of free trials Primary Research Question: Of the send times tested, which time will result in the highest rate of free trial sign ups for the content? Approach: A/B single factor sequential test

Experiment ID: TP2004 Record Location: MarketingExperiments Research Library Research Partner: [Protected]

Research Notes:

Factor #3: Relevance Example – Case Study

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The main offer for this campaign was a free trial giving the reader access to an equity screening database for day traders.

Product: Equity Screening Database

Factor #3: Relevance Example – Case Study

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Email A

Send Time: Monday (Beginning of Week)

Email B

Send Time: Thursday (End of Week)

Example – Case Study Factor #3: Relevance

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Part of Week Free Trial Rate (%)

Relative Difference

Statistical Level of Confidence

Beginning (Monday) 4.34% - -

End (Thursday) 5.65% 30%

30% Increase in free trial sign ups Sending at the end of the week increased sign up rate by 30%

95%

What you need to understand: Due to the fact that day traders may research investment opportunities on the weekends when markets are closed, the email sent on Thursday performed 30% better.

Example – Case Study Factor #3: Relevance

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External Relevance

• Our researchers hypothesized that this 30% lift in conversion for the Thursday email was due to Day Traders doing their research on the weekends, when markets are closed.

• The research offer of the company was relevant to the external closing of the markets. Source: Wall Street Journal

Closed Stock Market

Factor #3: Relevance

Why did the end of the week timing win?

Example – Case Study

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1. The relevance of an email can be based upon 1) the internal motivations of the recipient and 2) the external events surrounding a recipient. The timing of your email must account for both.

2. Relevance is intensified by the importance and urgency of the solution.

Factor #3: Relevance

Key Principles

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Question #1: Email Timing and Relevance

Urgent and

Important

Urgent, not

Important

Important not Urgent

Not Important, not Urgent

Important

Not Urgent

Not Important

Urgent

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Factor #4: Nature of Product

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Factor #4: Nature of the Product

Email timing is affected by inherit emotional response produced by the a product will affect the optimal time for sending emails:

1. Emotionally Negative (Aging, Health, Mortality)

– Optimal frequency will be lower

2. Emotionally Positive (Hobbies, Leisure, Self-improvement)

– Optimal frequency will be higher.

Key Principles

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Factor #5: Expectation

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The expectation of email timing is set by two elements:

1. The implied promise of industry standards

Question #2: Email Timing and Expectations

Key Principles

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Expectations related to Coupon Industry: • Emails once a day • Usually in the morning

Groupon APMEX

Expectations related to Precious Metals Exchange Industry: • Timing of an email message can be

completely tied to unpredictable activity of the market.

Question #2: Email Timing and Expectations Example – Industry Standards

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The expectation of email timing is set by two elements:

1. The implied promise of industry standards

2. The implied promise of the email capture form messaging

Question #2: Email Timing and Expectations

Key Principles

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Background: An e-retailer catering primarily to teen shoppers, their house email list topped 300,000 addresses, yet they felt they were not maximizing the list’s potential. Goal: To increase email revenue by increasing the relevance of their emails. Secondary research question: Can we increase email revenue by increasing the relevance of emails? Approach: Sequential multi-factoral experiment.

Research Notes:

Question #2: Email Timing and Expectations Example – Karma Loop Case Study

MarketingSherpa Case Study Record Location: MarketingSherpa Research Library Company: Karma Loop

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• The standard email capture was located on the home page and the navigation throughout the site.

• With this prominent placement they successfully captured thousands of email addresses.

• However, response was less than optimal because expectations were not set on front end.

Question #2: Email Timing and Expectations Example – Karma Loop Case Study

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On the product landing pages, an email alert specific to the product was added. This achieved four things:

• Related the email capture directly to the content on the current page

• Segmented the list to include only customers interested in the specific product

• Delivered only product-specific emails to this list to improve CTR and conversion rate.

• Created the expectation that they would receive an email for timing of sales/new arrivals related to their selected brands.

Question #2: Email Timing and Expectations Example – Karma Loop Case Study

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Email revenue increased 318% The new design increased conversions to sale by 53.3%.

Before After

Revenue What you need to understand: By relating the email capture offer to the specific product and timing expectations of potential subscribers, this company was able to increase revenue by 318% and conversions by 53.3%.

Question #2: Email Timing and Expectations Example – Karma Loop Case Study

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Evaluating your Email Campaigns

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? Audience Poll: What Web clinic time works best for you?

Quick Audience Poll

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#webclinic

February 19-22, 2013 - Las Vegas

Interactive, How-to Training Sessions on email and social media integration, mobile, list growth tactics, relevancy, deliverability and measurement. Latest 2013 MarketingSherpa Email Research and Benchmark Data on spending, tactics, conversion rates, budgets and more. Interactive Panel Discussions with subject matter experts on optimizing your email program, increasing ROI, creating relevant contagious content, and more. Extended Face-to-Face Networking Opportunities with seasoned professionals, trainers and peers over meals, breaks and receptions.

Proven Email Strategies, campaigns and tactics you can immediately apply to get more done with fewer people, less time and more limited budgets. Interaction with Colleagues sharing successful campaigns and tactics to inspire and hone your marketing skills. Become a Certified Professional by taking a pre- and post-Summit workshops taught by email experts, who provide a proven methodology with step-by-step tactics on how to maximize your email results.

See More: MarketingSherpa.com/EmailSummit

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Educational funding provided by…

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www.act-on.com

Sales: 1 877.530.1555

Act-On's fresh approach to marketing automation gives you full, complex-free functionality. With a streamlined user interface and first-rate marketing tools at your fingertips you will be able to:

Manage your online Marketing All the tools you need, in one place >>

Get higher-quality leads Solutions that drive lead generation >>

Align sales and marketing Integrations that work >>

Track and measure your results Real-time, actionable reporting >>

www.act-on.com | @ActOnSoftware | #ActOnSW

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#webclinic

Live Optimization

Primary objective(s): Drive clicks to contest promotion and reservations Value proposition of email: Carpingo cares about their community and is value-driven

Page URL: http://bit.ly/V3urlK

Target audience: Members of our car sharing service

Carpingo

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Live Optimization

Primary objective(s): Get people to apply for a job as a truck driver Value proposition of email: Find a job with a national and credible company.

Page URL: http://bit.ly/TZx1dI

Target audience: Truck drivers

CR England

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Live Optimization

Primary objective(s): To get users to fill out our survey Value proposition of email: Find out how much you should be earning

Page URL: http://bit.ly/UqgFcP

Target audience: Career-minded professionals

Payscale.com

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Live Optimization

Primary objective(s): Education and engagement Value proposition of email: With your support, people with disabilities can find jobs

Page URL: http://bit.ly/Y8qErY

Target audience: Donors, advocates, volunteers and hiring partners

Goodwill Easter Seals

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Live Optimization

Primary objective(s): Sales

Value proposition of email: Save money on puzzles and games

Page URL: http://bit.ly/TZs98c

Target audience: Parents, puzzle lovers and previous customers

Puzzle Warehouse

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