25/09/2013 1

3 EASY WAYS TO SHAKE UP YOUR

EMAIL STRATEGY

25/09/2013 2

IS EMAIL STILL IMPORTANT?

Source: Litmus, https://litmus.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/reign-of-email-infographic.png

25/09/2013 3 Source: Litmus, https://litmus.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/reign-of-email-infographic.png

25/09/2013 4

EMAIL IS IMPORTANT…NOW WHAT?

HOW CAN YOU SHAKE UP YOUR EMAIL STRATEGY TO HELP MAKE A

CHANGE:

FREQUENCY

DESIGN

TESTING

25/09/2013 5

FREQUENCY

Source: Chadwick Martin Bailey

69% TOO MANY EMAILS

THEY UNSUBSCRIBE

IS THE #1 REASON

OF SUBSCRIBERS SAY

HOW OFTEN ARE YOUR DONORS HEARING FROM YOU?

25/09/2013 6

FREQUENCY

CUT BACK

25/09/2013 7

FREQUENCY

CUT BACK

Source: http://www.emailmarketingtipps.de/2013/04/25/whats-your-best-email-frequency-heres-the-math/

Campaigns/Email per

month

Click rate per campaign

25/09/2013 8

FREQUENCY

CUT BACK – WHAT’S YOUR GOLDEN NUMBER OF CAMPAIGNS?

5 7

8 4

3 6 20 9 10 12

15 13 17

14 22 29 2

25/09/2013 9

FREQUENCY

CUT BACK

2012 2013

25/09/2013 10

FREQUENCY

HOW DO YOU START CUTTING BACK?

IMAGE OF CONFUSED PERSON

SEGMENTING

25/09/2013 11

FREQUENCY

SEGMENTING IS…

PERSONALISING YOUR MESSAGE

25/09/2013 12

FREQUENCY

SEGMENT

YOU HAVE A LOT OF DATA – SO START THERE!

LOCATION:

DONATION TYPE: SPONSORSHIP

REGULAR GIFT

ONE TIME DONATION P2P FUNDRAISER

PASSION GIFT

COUNTRY CITY

STATE NEIGHBOURHOOD

25/09/2013 13

FREQUENCY

SEGMENT

DON’T OVER COMPLICATE IT! LITTLE CHANGES CAN MAKE A

BIG DIFFERENCE

25/09/2013 14

FREQUENCY

SEGMENT

RELEVANCE VALUE

25/09/2013 15

FREQUENCY

WELCOME EMAILS

25/09/2013 16

DESIGN

SIMPLE, EFFICIENT & EFFECTIVE EMAIL DESIGN

Mobile Desktop Web Based

Source: www.lyris.com/anatomy-of-the-perfect-email-design-US

25/09/2013 17

DESIGN

WHERE IS YOUR EMAIL READ?

Source: www.lyris.com/anatomy-of-the-perfect-email-design-US

25/09/2013 18

DESIGN

WHY KEEP IT SIMPLE?

THE AVERAGE ATTENTION SPAN IN

2012 WAS

SECONDS

Source: http://www.statisticbrain.com/attention-span-statistics/

8 THE AVERAGE ATTENTION SPAN IN

2000 WAS

SECONDS 12

25/09/2013 19

DESIGN

SIMPLE, EFFICIENT & EFFECTIVE EMAIL DESIGN

KISS : Keep It Simple Stupid

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle

25/09/2013 20

DESIGN

STANDARD EMAIL DESIGN

HEADER

PRIMARY MESSAGE

IMAGE

SECONDARY MESSAGE

FOOTER WITH CONTACT

INFORMATION AND

UNSUBSCRIBE OPTION

25/09/2013 21

DESIGN

YOU DON’T WANT THIS:

25/09/2013 22

DESIGN

ARE YOU MOBILE OPTISMISED?

25/09/2013 23

DESIGN

• THE AVERAGE EMAIL METRICS FOR ASSOCIATIONS INCLUDE A 98.15% DELIVERY RATE,

32.36% OPEN RATE, 21.08% CLICK RATE, AND A .051% UNSUBSCRIBE RATE

• SHORTER SUBJECT LINES CONTINUE TO OUTPERFORM LENGTHIER SUBJECT LINES.

SUBJECT LINES WITH FEWER THAN 10 CHARACTERS SAW THE HIGHEST OPEN RATES AT

51%

• EMAILS CONTAINING MORE LINKS HAD HIGHER CLICK-THRU RATES

• EMAIL ENGAGEMENT DECREASES AS THE LIST SIZE INCREASES

A FEW EMAIL DESIGN STATISTICS

Source: Informz.com

25/09/2013 24

DESIGN

• DO YOU NEED IT? IF NOT, GET RID OF IT.

• DO YOU REALLY NEED IT? IF NOT, GET RID OF IT.

• THIS INCLUDES TEXT, COLOURS, FONTS AND FORMATTING

• SIMPLIFY, SIMPLIFY

• ALLOW COMPLEX FEATURES TO DEGRADE GRACEFULLY

• EXAMPLES INCLUDE ALT TEXT FOR IMAGES THAT DO NOT SHOW AND BACKGROUND-

COLOURS FOR BACKGROUND IMAGES THAT DO NOT SHOW

• UNDERSTAND THAT SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE WILL NOT SEE IT THE WAY YOU INTEND AND

WORK TO MAKE THE EMAIL COMMUNICATE ANYWAY

DECIDING ON CONTENT

25/09/2013 25

DESIGN

• IF THERE IS ANYTHING YOU’RE NOT SURE ABOUT IS TO TEST IT

DECIDING ON CONTENT

25/09/2013 26

THE OUTLIERS

SO FIND OUT

WHAT WORKS

FOR YOUR

DONORS

THERE WILL BE OUTLIERS

25/09/2013 27

TEST

WHAT WORKS FOR OTHERS MAY NOT WORK FOR YOU

WHY TEST?

25/09/2013 28

TEST

WHAT DO YOU TEST?

25/09/2013 29

TEST

WHAT DO YOU TEST?

Source: http://www.marketo.com/_assets/uploads/What-to-Test-in-Your-Email-Marketing-Campaigns.pdf

25/09/2013 30

TEST

WHAT DO YOU TEST?

DAY OF THE WEEK TIME OF DAY

25/09/2013 31

TEST

RULES OF AB TESTING

KEEP A CONTROLLED

GROUP

CHANGE ONLY 1 VARIABLE

PER TEST

LARGE ENOUGH TESTING

SAMPLE

25/09/2013 32

TEST

WHAT DO YOU TEST?

Source: http://www.marketo.com/_assets/uploads/What-to-Test-in-Your-Email-Marketing-Campaigns.pdf

25/09/2013 33

TEST

ANALYSE YOUR RESULTS

WHAT

CONCLUSIONS DID

YOU COME UP

WITH?

25/09/2013 34

TEST

ANALYSE YOUR RESULTS

TESTING

CHANGE

25/09/2013 35

SUMMARY

SO GIVE IT THE ATTENTION IT DESERVES

- LOOK AT WHERE YOU CAN CUT BACK YOUR EMAIL FREQUENCY

- THINK ABOUT HOW YOUR MESSAGING WITHIN YOUR CONTENT COMES ACROSS

AND HOW YOU CAN PERSONALISE YOUR MESSAGES THROUGH SEGMENTATION

- CREATE A DESIGN THAT IS SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT FOR YOUR READER

- TEST TEST TEST – WHAT WORKS FOR YOU WILL BE DIFFERENT THAN WHAT

WORKS FOR OTHERS SO TEST AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN AND THEN BE OPEN TO

CHANGES THAT MAY NEED TO OCCUR

EMAIL IS IMPORTANT

25/09/2013 36

QUESTIONS?

MEGAN LEWIS DIGITAL MARKETING & EVENTS SPECIALIST

megan.lewis@blackbaud.com.au

au.linkedin.com/in/meganrileylewis