Integrating Email With Social MediaLoren McDonald, Silverpop @LorenMcDonald
John Getze, Monster@johngetze
IM
Overloaded inbox
CAN-SPAM Act
RSS
SPAM
Mobile
ChangingDemographics
Email is Dead, Right?
Twitter is Hot, But Email is Ubiquitous
Twitter has roughly 50 million users
*The Radicati Group
Email has more than 1.4 billion worldwide users*
In Fact, Social Usage = More Email Usage
Email marketing outperforms virtually all other media in terms of
ROI*
*DMA, CMO Council
Email Still Rules Dude
Email FTAF is The Old Viral
Less than 0.1% CTR
Social Email is The New Viral
0.5% CTR
One to One to Many
Extends the Reach of Email
Social network users are, on average, connected to
between 150 and 200 friends
24% average
increased reach
High-Value Sharers Emerge
Agenda
• How Does Share-to-Social Work?
• Monster Communities Case
Study
• The 6 Keys to Success
• Key Takeaways
• Q & A
Share-to-Social (S2S)/Share With Your Network (SWYN): How it Works
This is NOT Share-to-Social/SWYN…
But this is…
Insert Share Links
http://www.email-marketing-reports.com/iland/2008/10/coding-emails-and-landing-pages-with.html
ESP Or Custom Coding
Personalized by recipient
Shared with Friends
Monster Communities Case Study
Social links in email
landing page
FireLink fan page on Facebook
Share-to-social links on landing page
Post content to Facebook profile
Social links in email
landing page
FireLink fan page on Facebook
FireLink fan page on Facebook
Seeded content
- articles- photos- site info
User generated content- comments- photos- links
6 month referral results
138,045
65,969
15,347
7,216other
The 6 Keys to Successful Integration of Social Networks and Email
6 Keys to Successful Social/Email Integration
Know What Motivates People to
Share
Target the Right Networks
Educate Subscribers on
Sharing
Optimize Design/ Link
Location
Create Shareworthy
Content
Test, Analyze & Refine
1. Understand What Motivates People to Share
What Motivates People to Share?
Contributing to the Conversation
Sharing benefits people through the value of the information shared in return
Self Interest
Sharing rewards the pocketbook
Altruism
Sharing makes them feel good
Validation
Sharing feeds the ego
Affinity
Sharing makes people feel more a part of the "community"
Prurience
Sharing makes people feel less guilty for gawking
2. Target the right social networks and media
Facebook Links Included 100% of the Time
B2B EmailsLinkedIn = 83%
Are 4 to 5 Networks the Right #?
Facebook is Most Effective
Which social networks drive the most additional email “views/opens”?
Facebook has highest social network effectiveness:• Average = 68% - 1000 share clicks = 680 share opens• Top Quartile average = 195% - 1000 share clicks =
1950 share opens
Keys to Targeting the Right Networks
• Utilize third-party research
• Survey subscribers/Monitor network
activity
• Test and analyze click/share activity
• Identify subtrends
– e.g., High-value sharers
• Kill the losers
3. Educate subscribers on how/why to share
Why Education is Key
• Despite growth, “sharing” is still early
• Different levels of social adoption
• Sharing features/networks can differ in approaches
Share to Social in Action
Announce…
Explain...
Encourage
4. Optimize email sharing design and link location
Link Location - Top, Middle or Bottom?
Content, Content, Content
Eat Better America - Bottom
Eat Better America - Top
Dinner Made Easy - Bottom
Dinner Made Easy – Near Top
5. Create shareworthy content
TrustworthyThe brand and
source of content or offer is widely
known and trusted.
Taps into Tribes
Message content speaks to tribal
groups within your subscriber base.
ObviousEssence of the email
content to be shared is obvious, simple to grasp.
Easy to ShareSharing links are easy to find and
use.
Social AcumenTargets the right
social networks and social acumen of
subscribers.
Creates ValueMust provide value or recipients will
not share with their networks.
Rewards/Incents
Incentives are naturally viral, but
come at a cost.
Great ContentWell-written, timely, unique content that
jumps out of the inbox.
8 Keys to Shareworthy Emails
What B2B Emails Are Shareworthy?
Relevant Articles
News / Press Releases
Event /Webinar Notifications
What B2C emails are Shareworthy?
Great offers New season / product announcements
Sale Notifications
B2C - Recipes Are Naturally Viral
What’s Not Shareworthy?
× Long newsletters
× Highly Personalised Emails× Transactional
Emails
× Negative News
“Dough” + Valentine = Shareworthy
6. Test, Analyze and Refine for Increased Sharing
Test – What’s Working/Not Working
• Copy/Content/Offers
• Link Style, Location
• Broad versus Narrow Focus Messages
• Viral-Only Messages
• High-Value Sharers…
Identify Key Influencers
• Identify recipientswho shared yourmessage
• Create lists of key influencers
• Target them with future offers andincentives
How to Measure Success
Process• Email share click-
through rate
• Network opens/rate
• Network clicks/rate
• Performance by
network• Who is sharing –
influencer rates
Output
• New subscribers
• Additional reach
• Conversions/revenue
Results • 800 recipients shared the email offer
• 8% list growth
• 33% people who viewed a shared item clicked through to the offer – 3x CTR of their standard
emails
What to Tell Your Boss
$0
5X
25%
...but it does require more than just inserting links
4 Extra Email Marketing Tactics for 2010
1. Capture and Use the Right Data
Data:
They key to
email relevance, and
therefore your success
Data Is the Foundation of Relevance
Relevance
Explicit Data
Implicit DataContent/
Offers
Frequency/Cadence
Why Preference Centers?
•Demographics & interests
•Up to date/changes
Data Capture•“My
Email”
•Better retention
Subscriber Empowerment
•Preferred frequency, lists
•Basis of personalization, segmentation
Increased Relevance
Preference Center Touch Points
Opt-in
Welcome
Regular Emails
Web Site
Transactional Emails
Opt-out
No Data, No Relevance
Logical Personalization?:
• Gender• Marital status• Age ranges on signup• Wedding anniversary• Significant other’s birth date
No Recognition of Their Value Proposition
How About Product Selection & Content that recognizes I’m:
• Male• Married• Kind of old guy • Married 25 years
26th Anniversary…and I get This?
Progressive Sign Up
Net-a-Porter
Society of London Theatre
Targeted Communications Based on Age
• Under 26 targeted mailings – Age centric subject
line – Sent to recipients
under 26 years– Open rates around
double average open rates
• Mailing for the over 50’s– Targeted discount
offer– Open Rates 75%
above average open rate
2. Welcome Emails – Start the Relationship Right
What is the first email your subscribers receive?
Do you throw them in mid-stream, or “welcome”
them into the relationship?
Research by marketing publisher MarketingSherpa shows email subscriber
interest begins to disintegrate as soon as two weeks after the opt-in, as measured by the
open rate.
Within two months, the open rate typically falls 20% to 25%.
The Honeymoon is Over!
Welcome Email
Immediate Offer
versus
Customer Data Collection (aka digital handshake)
Williams-Sonoma 3-Part Series
Welcome Email Ecommerce Case Study
• Text• Single email• IT Generated• No marketing messaging
• HTML• 2-part email series• Marketing generated• Promotions, education
75% increase in conversions
3. Incorporate Personality/UGC
Do your emails stand out?
Do they talk at, or with customers?
Stand-out from the rest of the crowd, make your subject line
POP!
We Like Personalities
Jim Cramer – Mad Money
Keith Olbermann – MSNBC
…Not Faceless Corporations
Can we talk?
• More than ever, we want to connect with brands via real people– Think Twitter
• We want a personal note, not a direct marketing promotion
A Dash of Personality
• Tone• From a real person• Humor• Employee,
customer stories/comments
• UGC• “Relatable”
Incorporating Social Aspects Within Emails• Comments• User ratings• Top read, top purchases,
etc.
Woot is a Hoot
Like, Awesome Dude!
• Personal reviews/ comments from staff members
• While not objective, puts real people behind the products and emails
Fun Subject Lines
4. Move to Lifecycle / Behavior/ Trigger / Event-Based Messaging
Make your conversations
with your customers
happen in real-time
Free Shipping20% off
20 Emails in 22 Days
You Know Who You Are…
Break Through the Clutter With New Message Streams
• Triggers• Notifications• Alerts• Reminders• Aggregators• Updates• Closeouts• …and more
Date/Event-Based Emails
•Birthday•Anniversary•Holiday•Season/Weather•Renewal•Replenishment•Sale/Special•Service due
•Special Event – e.g., Super Bowl•News event•Recent purchase•Abandoned shopping cart•Status or preference change
4 Components
Thanks!
• 60% Open Rate• Nearly 200% higher than our broadcast average
•18.5% Click through rate
• More than 200% higher
• 60% higher conversion rate than overall average
Happy Birthday
• 52% Open Rate •(Nearly 150% higher than broadcast average)
• 13.8% Click through rate
•(125% higher than broadcast average)
• 10% higher conversion rate and slightly higher average order value.
Purchase Anniversary
• 30% Open Rate
• 15% Higher conversion rate than overall average
Big Results after One Month:(compared to all previous email
campaigns)
48% lift Click through rate
129% lift in Net Conversion rate
Accounted for 10.4% of the total revenue from email marketing
while representing only 2.7% of the total email volume.
Key Takeaways
• Make your emails shareworthy
• Capture and use the right data
• Start your subscribers off right
• Incorporate personality
• Use automation – triggered and lifecycle
• Test everything and don’t be afraid to fail
Resources
• Whitepaper, Email Marketing Goes Social
• Emails Gone Viral, Social Sharing Benchmark Study
Q&A
[email protected]@Silverpop
@LorenMcDonaldwww.slideshare.net/
silverpopwww.silverpop.com
[email protected]@johngetze
www.monster.com