Agilon Email Best Practices

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Email Best Practices: Actionable Advice About Email

Amanda Miller Marketing ManagerAgilon, LLC


2010 Email Benchmarks

• Open rates declined by about 12% on average• Fundraising Response rate fell by 19% & advocacy response rate

declined by 7%.• Unsubscribe rates held steady between 2009 & 2010.

Source: 2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study by NTEN & M+R Strategic Services

Open Rate Click-throughRate

Response Rate

Unsubscribe Rate

All 13% 1.9% - .23%

Fundraising 12% .6% .08% .24%

Advocacy 13% 3.7% 3.3% .16%

Newsletter 12% 2.0% - .22%


2010 Email Statistics• Average open rates on fundraising appeals:

– 24% for higher education– 18% for nonprofits overall

• Click-thru rates on fundraising appeals were:– 2.37% for higher education– 1.76% for nonprofits overall

• Response rate was:– .04% for higher education– .16% for nonprofits overall

Source: Convio 2011 Benchmark Report


2010 Email Statistics• % of Usable Emails in Database:

– 75% for higher education– 54% for nonprofits overall

• Email file growth was 21% over 2009.• E-Newsletter open rates:

– 24% for higher education– 19.2% for nonprofits overall (decline from 20.4 % in 2009)

• E-Newsletter click-thru rate:– 4.24% for higher education– 3.06% for nonprofits overall

Source: Convio 2011 Benchmark Report


2010 Email StatisticsMessage Volume per Month per Subscriber

Source: 2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study by NTEN & M+R Strategic Services


Relevance

Source: http://www.lyris.com/blog/796-Increase-Email-Open-Rates-ROI-with-Deliverability-Analysis-Frequency-and-Triggered-Email


Relevance


Relevance

• Target Audience• Message (email &

web)• Timing


Targeting• Target a high-value segment

– Recency– Frequency – Monetary

• Target one-time big donors– Current email subscriber – Made only one gift in the last 18

months– Gift amount ranked in the top 20% of

all gifts made

• Target by interest areas


Targeting & Relevance


Subject Line

• Tell users something they want to know– trigger curiosity– appeal on an emotional level

• Test a few subject lines on a segment of your list

• Avoid promotional words


Subject Line Segmentation

• Here’s the raw data being used• The TITLE field is merged into the

Subject line of the email.• In this case, it varies according to the

job classification of each recipient. In your case, the subject of email might vary by Alumni, Board Member, Parent, Corporation


Message Clarity

• Ease of use• Clarity of the message and/or call

to action• Accurate landing and/or

registration page copy• Use landing page, not email body

for details


Content Preview• Send from a real human being

– Choose two or three people to be messengers– Reflect personality of the sender of a certain type of email– Establish a personal connection.

• Make emails action oriented– Invite the reader to take an action – Engage them in the process

• Keep it short and succinct – Personal– Relevant– Specific

• Make it scannable • Use graphics for a purpose


Content Preview• Make it scannable• Use graphics for a purpose• Include actual links• Avoid generic links like “click here”


Content Preview


Scheduling

• Develop an email and online content calendar– Be flexible to account for unplanned events– Give yourself time to prepare– Send only when you really have something to say– Be cognizant of holidays & world events


Scheduling

• Frequency of email based on:– Relationship with readers– The news cycle– Timeline of actions you want

donors to take• Campaign Throttling


Domain Differences• Use test &

actual data• Preview by

domain• Report by

domain

Source: http://www.lyris.com/blog/796-Increase-Email-Open-Rates-ROI-with-Deliverability-Analysis-Frequency-and-Triggered-Email


Testing• Segment your list• Change the content based on your segments

– Subject Line– Images– Layout– Copy

• Track the data– Open Rate– Unsubscribe Rate– Click Through Rate– Bounce Rate

• Launch your campaign• Analyze the results


Analyzing Results• Open Rate• Bounce Rate• Click-Thru Rate• Conversion Rate• Rates will go up for more targeted campaigns


Traffic to Web Site

Use Google tagging on your email campaigns to track them as the source of traffic to your web site.


Campaign Performance


Mobile Messages• Keep it small• Keep it short• Key points should be near the top• No more than 600 pixels• Resize images• Include a click-to-call link• Include a text version


Subscription Best Practices• Comply with CAN-SPAM

– Nonprofits are not exempt– Relate message to mission– Unsubscribe option– Full mailing address of sender

• Click to view as web page• Change email preferences• List Management

– Hard bounces– Soft bounces


Subscription Best Practices


Subscription Growth

• Forward to a friend• Subscriber Link in email• Subscriber link with content downloads/requests• Re-engagement campaigns• QR & SMS codes for online subscription


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Agilon Email Best Practices