Creating A Successful Email

© Deluxe Enterprise Operations, LLC. Proprietary and Confidential.

Creating a Successful Email

Presented by: Kimber S. PowersMarketing Training Specialist @ VerticalResponse, A Deluxe Company


Here’s what we’ll cover• Why should I be emailing?

• Keys to a successful email

• Design tips for your email

• What you can learn from your email

• Resources/Future Webinars


Deluxe & VerticalResponseThe Perfect Match

VR acquired by Deluxe Corporation in July 2013, joined their Small Business Services Division

Marketing professionals based in San Francisco and Shoreview, MN offices

2016 (and Beyond!) Webinars will target small business owners and nonprofits

Popular topics include websites, logos & branding, social media and more- Now including more experts!


WHY?: Reasons to Email• Emails build relationships, retention and loyalty

• An excuse to talk about your company

• Stay in front of your audience

• Educate/entertain

• Establish yourself as an expert

• Sell your products & services


Why Marketing Models are useful to SMBs

• Define your current market and its needs

• Re-evaluate your methods

• Explore different aspects of business & marketing planning

• Opportunity to discover new potential customer bases


The Keys to a Successful Email•From label•Subject line and Pre-Header

•Content ideas•Images•Call-to-Action (CTA)


Assessing Your From Label•Let your audience know who you are•Be consistent •Consider using a ‘real’ name


Subject Lines• Stick to 40-50 characters

• Let’s people know what to expect

• Don’t repeat your from label

• Don’t use all caps

• Avoid overusing punctuation


Pre-Header textPre-header text:

A message supplementary to your subject line that gives more information, hopefully further compelling your recipient to open your email.

The pre-header and subject line should be different. Saying the same thing doesn’t add any additional value.


Pre-Header Text Cont.


Content Ideas• What’s happening in your business?

• Testimonials – don’t overlook their power.

• Promote Webinars

• Holidays

• Social media

• Questions & surveys – improves engagement


Content Ideas• Include a link for a good cause – it feels great!• Special offers• You or your employees' smiling face• Tips or ideas for your customers

•How-to’s – Are great for B2B!• Awards you’ve won• Related articles


Content Basics• Keep readers coming back for more

• Limit to 3 to 5 topics/articles for a newsletter. 1-2 for a promo.

• Short blocks of copy

• Include lots of links

• Assist in scanning

•Bold headlines and keywords

•Bullets

•Whitespace is a good thing


More Content Basics• Design for quick downloading – not too many images

Make it easy on the eyes• Arial, Times New Roman & Verdana fonts • Use reverse text sparingly

• Avoid text over distracting backgrounds• Emphasize with bold• Italics are hard to read online • Underline text often mistaken for a link• Use Black or Grey font. Avoid using light or bright colored fonts.

Don’t do this!


Mobile“56% of emails are read on a

mobile device. Use a responsive template to ensure your emails look

great no matter where they are read”.

(January 2015, American Marketing Association)






Images





Hitting All The Links•Give your recipients lots of opportunity to get to your website

•Allow your recipients to read long articles easily

•Make them social by including a link to post on Twitter or Facebook


• Urge the reader of a message to take an immediate action.

• Clear and concise

• Send people where they would expect to go

• CTA Buttons• Increase click throughs

• Increase sales

• Stand out

• Buttons.verticalresponse.com

Call To Actions (CTAs)


CTAs• Engage your audience

• Think about your audience

• Link your images!

• Use Alt Text

• 80/20 rule (text/images)




Check Your Reporting


Reporting Figures - Averages•Open – 23%

•Click – 2.1%

•Bounce – 2.2%

•Unsubscribe – 0.11%


Understanding Your Reporting Figures• Keep an eye on the open rate, but don’t make it the be all end all

• Focus on keeping the click through rate high.• Assess traffic to your website or physical location right after you’ve sent your email.

• Keep your bounces and unsubscribes low.• Find your average open or click and then work from there.


Summary•Emails build relationships

•Best practices for emails aren’t all about selling

•Think about what your audience will see

•Learn from every email


Resources• How to Do Everything http://help.verticalresponse.com/

• VR Marketing Blog verticalresponse.com/blog

• Buttons.verticalresponse.com

• Marketing guides: www.verticalresponse.com/marketing-resources•8 Email Marketing Basics to Remember•Email Checklist•Email Marketing Reporting Basics

http://help.verticalresponse.com/

http://blog.verticalresponse.com/

http://www.verticalresponse.com/sites/www.verticalresponse.com/files/2-11_back_to_basics_guide.pdf

http://www.verticalresponse.com/sites/www.verticalresponse.com/files/2011_email_checklist.pdf

http://www.verticalresponse.com/sites/www.verticalresponse.com/files/2-11_reporting_basics_guide.pdf


Upcoming Webinars• Feb 11 – Define Your WOW! Factor – Creating an Unforgettable Brand

• Feb 17 – Best Practices for SMB Advertising

• Feb 25- Does Google Love Your Business?

• Mar 2 – Build a Newsletter That Keeps Customers TalkingRegister on Deluxe.com/blog or VerticalResponse.com