Journal Entry One

Keys to Developing Successful E-mail Campaigns

Quality Subject Line
One crucial component to developing a successful e-mail marketing campaign is to start with what may seem the simplest part – the subject. An e-mail’s subject is the first component which the potential customer sees and can have a huge impact on whether or not they choose to open the message in the first place. Similarly to how, no matter how great an ad campaign is, no one will view it if it is being communicated through the wrong medium, no matter how great the content of a marketing campaign’s e-mail, if it never gets opened, or worse yet – gets deleted, the content inside is pointless. The subject of an e-mail is a great opportunity to excite and intrigue the consumer, it can be thought of as the hook to draw someone in. Another key is to remember to not just be creative with your word-choice in an e-mail marketing campaign’s subject line, but also to avoid using words likely to get caught in a spam filter in order to reach the most customers possible! 

Strategies: Writing Effective Subject Lines
One huge takeaway that I have had from this course is how strongly opposed consumers are to “spam” emails. As a result of this strong opposition, if your company’s email subject line is perceived as falling under this category, it will likely never be opened. This causes problems for a number of reasons, the most obvious being poor performance metrics (CTR, Open Rate, etc.) and poor sales conversions. (You can’t convert consumers clicking through your email message and onto the landing page into a sale if the consumer never opened your email in the first place.)

The best way to write a subject line, according to Mail Chimp is to be straightforward. Although it may seem simple, after analyzing 40 million emails, the site put together a side-by-side list of the subject lines that had the best and worst open rates (see below) and it ultimately came down to simplicity.

I completely understand why email subject lines tend to succeed if they are not too flashy – it just comes down to basic human nature and customer preferences. We live in a fast-paced media world, filled with tons of emails, tasks, and advertisements. Our daily routine, though it may be hectic, is kind of like our sanctuary, and receiving a loud, bold, all-caps email from some company when you’re trying to reply to your boss and check for other updates can be very intrusive and undesirable.

Although there are some platforms on which being bright and colorful appeals to consumers, the subject line of emails is not one of those places. Sure, aesthetically pleasing and clever content INSIDE of the email may even be okay, but it is so important to tone down the subject line.

“Always set your subscribers’ expectations during the opt-in process about what kinds of emails they’re going to receive. Don’t confuse newsletters with promotions. If your email is a newsletter, put the name and issue of the newsletter in your subject line. Because that’s what’s inside. If your email is a special promotion, say so in the subject line. Either way, just don’t write your subject lines like advertisements.” (Mail Chimp) 

Best Open Rates (60%-87%)	Worst Open Rates (1%-14%)
1. [COMPANYNAME] Sales & Marketing Newsletter	1. Last Minute Gift - We Have The Answer
2. Eye on the [COMPANYNAME] Update (Oct 31 - Nov 4)	2. Valentines - Shop Early & Save 10%
3. [COMPANYNAME] Staff Shirts & Photos	3. Give a Gift Certificate this Holiday
4. [COMPANYNAME] May 2005 News Bulletin!	4. Valentine's Day Salon and Spa Specials!
5. [COMPANYNAME] Newsletter - February 2006	5. Gift Certificates - Easy & Elegant Giving - Let Them Choose
6. [COMPANYNAME] Newsletter - January 2006 [ *|FNAME|* *|LNAME|* ]	6. Need More Advertising Value From Your Marketing Partner?
7. [COMPANYNAME] and [COMPANYNAME] Invites You!	7. [COMPANYNAME] Pioneers in Banana Technology
8. Happy Holidays from [COMPANYNAME]	8. [COMPANYNAME] Moves You Home for the Holidays
9. ATTENTION [COMPANYNAME] Staff!	9. Renewal
10. ATTENTION [COMPANYNAME] West Staff!!	10. Technology Company Works with [COMPANYNAME] on Bananas Efforts
11. Invitation from [COMPANYNAME]	11. [COMPANYNAME] Update - A Summary of Security and Emergency Preparedness News
12. [COMPANYNAME] Jan/Feb 2006 Newsletter	12. Now Offering Banana Services!
13. Website news - Issue 3	13. It's still summer in Tahoe!
14. Upcoming Events at [COMPANYNAME]	14. [COMPANYNAME] endorses [COMPANYNAME] as successor
15. [COMPANYNAME] Councils: Letter of Interest	15. [COMPANYNAME] Holiday Sales Event
16. [COMPANYNAME] Coffee Exchange - Post-Katrina Update	16. The Future of International Trade
17. We're Throwing a Party	17. [COMPANYNAME] for your next dream home.
18. October 2005 Newsletter	18. True automation of your Banana Research
19. [COMPANYNAME]: 02.10.06	19. [COMPANYNAME] Resort - Spring into May Savings
20. [COMPANYNAME] Racing Newsletter	20. You Asked For More...

(Above: Mail Chimp's analysis of 40 million+ emails to find best and worst email open rates, and compare their subject lines.)

 

Building Reachable Email List (Opted-In Customers)

The ability to develop a successful email campaign is also extremely reliant on making sure that you have built a reachable email list of customers that have opted in. This means that your list should consist of consumers who have willingly agreed to receive this content and still actively use their provided address. One effective way of building your email list is through the Modal Lightbox Acquisition method. This is the message that pops up on top of the online page you are viewing and prompts you to input your email. This prompt is usually accompanied with an incentive such as, “sign up for our weekly newsletter now for 20% off your next purchase!”

Although it may seem slightly invasive, it has a pretty good response rate with, “28.9% of Internet Retailer's Top 500 companies and 29.5% of the Second 500 [using] a modal overlay to acquire email addresses, up 25.6% and 77.7% from 2013 respectively.” (Listrak)

This method is smart because its reaching consumers who are already visiting your site, meaning they clearly have some interest. If anything, it is a help-me-help-you type of situation. The consumer is assisting the company by growing their email list, and the company is helping the consumer by sending them information they will likely be interested in, and discounts, etc. that they will likely see as beneficial.

Another suggestion I encountered on Mail Chimp while conducting research was for companies to consider having multiple opt-in email lists. So, for example, one email list for the newsletter, and one for promotions. This way the content is even more specified and not deemed a bother.

Knowledge: Optimal Frequency of Emails

A study by Campaign Monitor showed that the highest response rates on email campaigns when five were sent within a three month period was always within the first campaign. That being said, it is important to not overdue it when it comes to sending email campaigns for fear of surpassing diminishing returns and reaching the wear-out effects point within the campaign. Although there is much deliberation around the exact perfect time to send emails as it varies by consumer preference and industry, Campaign Monitor has come up with an approximate suggestion. “Our data suggests that sending a new campaign roughly every couple weeks is optimal.” They describe every two weeks as the “sweet spot” for most consumers to notice campaign’s emails without overdoing it.

My Two Cents
 

In my opinion, some other keys to developing successful emails are to customize messages and refrain from sending the same generic paragraph to thousands, as well as to be sure that the content being sent is relevant. I know that personally, there is nothing I hate more than an e-mail in my inbox where I can tell my name has been inserted into a boring script with one or two bland images. It is especially frustrating when the ad relates to a product I would never use. However, I have no problem receiving a fun e-mail packed full of interactive photos, an intriguing color-scheme and a customized message offering discounts on products I love! (I actually enjoy it.)

 

Marketing that Should be Combined with Email to Maximize RR

"E-mail can become an important part of a company’s digital marketing strategy. To be successful, companies integrate the e-mail marketing program with other channels. It cannot simply be a program where addresses are purchased and mass e-mails are sent to individuals on the list. Most people resent spam, and response rates are extremely low. Response rates can increase when an e-mail message resembles information on the company’s Web site and in its advertisements and direct messages." (Clow, Baack, 2014)

As stated in the book, the marketing approach of utilizing more than one medium in order to reach consumers is crucial to an e-mail campaign's success. I feel that this is a result of consumers continuing to evolve and grow along with the technological world. In this day and age there is so much noise polluting and saturating consumers' lives that including more than one channel when reaching out via e-mail seems the obvious choice.

Email Marketing + Other Marketing = Maximized Results
The primary type of marketing initiative which email marketing has to be combined with in order to maximize results is the company website. This is because the click-through from the email to the company’s website can lead to conversion, or at least consideration. However, are many other types of marketing that email campaigns can also work together with to yield the best results. (“Email Marketing”

It can also be beneficial to take a more popular and common approach and combine the email marketing campaign with banner ads and social media ads. Despite the seeming simplicity of these online actions, when used in conjunction they can have a large and positive consumer response. *Note: remember, that regardless of what platform you are using it is important to have one clear voice and a strong, consistent message across all platforms. Using the same key words and call-to-actions is also a good idea.

Key Metrics Used to Measure Response Rates

Some of the key metrics used to measure e-mail response rates are Click Through Rates or CTRs. These can be increased, as we discussed in class by ensuring that keywords are being consistently used throughout the e-mail and campaign. This seems important to me, not just to increase campaign’s organic reach but also because consistency, at least for me as a consumer, has always instilled a feeling of trust. Making sure there is a call to action and that it is clearly stated can also strengthen the CTR metric. Although as consumers, we like to pride ourselves on being intelligent, self-motivated beings, we often subconsciously want to be told what to do, and when it comes to considering a purchase, calls to action can’t hurt in swaying our behavior.
Another key metric used to measure response rates is website traffic. The goal of this traffic is to increase the number of impressions, or the amount of possible times that your ad could have been seen. (Defined in class as, “how often your ad is presented to customers”.) The number of impressions are an important metric to me because it has been instilled in my beliefs through my five-year internship at advertising sales corporation, Comcast Spotlight that impressions are extremely valuable. My supervisor always explained it to me in terms of a billboard. People don't count the number of those passing by who notice your billboard, why should an ad be any different? Just because they don't click your ad, doesn't mean it won't influence their later decision to buy and keep your brand top of mind.

Email Response Rates by Industry (Examples)

 




































(Above: Open & Click-Through Rate of major industries, UK. Via Smart Insights.) 

(Above: Unique Open Rate: by Country & Region, and  by Industry. Via Smart Insights.)

(Above: Open, Click & Soft Bounce Rate by Industry. Shortened Mail Chimp. Via Smart Insights.)

 

Will Email Marketing be Key Component to IMC in Next 5 Years?

I do believe that e-mail marketing will continue to be a key component to Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) campaigns in the next five years in part, because of their obvious values stated in class; that they are relatively inexpensive and can be highly effective when used correctly. I also feel that e-mail marketing will remain extremely necessary because e-mail does not seem to be going anywhere. Despite the constantly changing social media trends including the rise and fall of platform’s like AIM, AOL’s instant messenger chat that I used in middle school, and Myspace, the Facebook of the past, e-mail remains strong. This is especially true in the setting of businesses, where e-mail marketing campaigns tend to thrive. There is something traditional, respectful and personal about e-mails. They are practical and, in my opinion, despite advances in communication, will never grow to be irrelevant. I think that e-mail marketing will continue to gain strength and discover new ways to reach their consumers.

Good Email Campaigns (Examples)

Here's what companies are already doing today. Just imagine what the future of email marketing has in store.

Birchbox

Subject: "We Forgot Something in Your February Box!"
Consumer Response: Email was clever, so consumer was not upset that company mislead her because they still included a discount offer. Was also a product consumer was already using (had opted-in to).

Warby Parker
Subject: "Uh-oh, your prescription is expiring."
Consumer Response: Clever trigger/incentive to click. Helpful reminder and smart of Glasses Company to co-market with optometrist; makes process easier on customer.

Buzzfeed

Subject: "Get Up! Get Up Now!"

Consumer Response: Impressed that Buzzfeed was able to clearly convey message in an aesthetically pleasing way even without images, since images were initially disabled when email was opened. 

Cook Smart: “Weekly Eats” Newsletter
Call-to-Action: “Forward to a Friend”
Consumer Response: Enjoys consistent informational breakup into three sections. 1) Menu, 2) Smarts, “kitchen how-to” (Kolowich), and 3) Tip of the Week.
 

Bibliography

Campaign Monitor https://www.campaignmonitor.com/blog/email-marketing/2014/03/the-ideal-email-frequency/

https://assets.econsultancy.com/images/0004/9308/unique.png

https://econsultancy.com/blog/65034-what-is-a-decent-email-marketing-response-rate/

“Email Marketing” http://www.superseventies.com/infobank/emailmarketing/combiningemail.html

Kolowich, Lindsay. Hubspot. March 5, 2015. Email campaign examples. “12 of the Best Email Marketing Examples You've Ever Seen (And Why They're Great)” http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-examples-list

Listrak. “Leveraging Email Acquisition.”http://www.listrak.com/ecommerce-marketing-automation/channels/web/how-to-build-your-email-list.aspx

http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-open-click-rate-benchmark

http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-subject-line-comparison/

http://mailchimp.com/resources/research/email-marketing-benchmarks/

https://blog.mailchimp.com/insights-from-mailchimps-send-time-optimization-system/

Smart Insights http://www.smartinsights.com/email-marketing/email-communications-strategy/statistics-sources-for-email-marketing/