Transcript Maximizer CRM 10 What’s New

Email Marketing
Email Marketing Project
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Poll Question #1

What is your level of experience with email
marketing, on a scale from 1 to 5?
(1=Never done it, 5=Expert)
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Poll Question #2

What are your most pressing concerns about email
marketing?
1.
Clean contact data
2.
Getting and keeping permission
3.
Getting the right promotion
4.
Targeting the right audience
5.
Copywriting
6.
Design
7.
Tracking & reporting
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
We All Talk About Spam

Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE)

Typical spam has a bogus sender address, bogus
unsubscribe instructions, and bogus offers

Spam is in the eye of the beholder

Ensure recipients don’t mistake your message as spam
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Check Your ‘Spam Score’

Do it BEFORE sending


Built into some email services
Or, free tool available from

http://spamcheck.sitesell.com/

http://www.contactology.com/check_mqs.php

http://www.mailingcheck.com/

www.gravitymail.com/spamscore.php
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Your Domain Reputation

Spam filters don’t just track spam keywords like
“viagra” inside of emails. They track company
domain names too.

Some tools to check your domain reputation:

http://www.trustedsource.org

http://www.senderbase.org
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Example Domain Check
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Distance Yourself from
Spammers





Remind recipients that they’ve given you permission
to contact them
Provide an easy way to unsubscribe
Be sure reply works
Have it signed by a real person
Publish and abide by a strict privacy policy
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Anatomy of a Good, Healthy
HTML Email
A well-built HTML Email needs to consist of:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Your company name in the “From”
A relevant subject line (don’t be “spammy”)
The “To:” field of your email should be personalised
A one-click opt-out link that removes people from your list
immediately
Include a link in your header “view this email in your browser”
A link to your company’s privacy policy
Your valid, physical mailing address (no PO Box)
Bonus: It’s a really good idea to include some kind of reminder
text, like “You are receiving this email because you signed up at
our website”.
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Tactics for Avoiding Spam Filters












Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
Don’t
use bright red fonts, or going crazy with colors
Yell with lots of exclamation points!!!!!!!!
YELL WITH ALL CAPS
say, “free”, “click here (now)!” or “act now!”
forget to include recipient’s email
use old templates with bad HTML coding
use the word “test” in your subject line
get too creative with your spelling
use a bunch of graphics as your email only
use recipients in “Bcc:”
use scripts like Flash, video files
use attachments
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
The Bane of the Email Marketer:
the Delete Key



The split-second decision - keep it or delete it
The basis of their decision: the From and Subject line
Your open rate may be overstated

Your message may be getting displayed in
recipient’s preview pane as he selects it just to
delete it
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Above All, Deliver Value!


Email should be relevant, timely, and beneficial
“Value" can take the form of:



newsletters, discounts, contests, last minute
availability, event reminders, invitations, bonuses,
discounts, exclusive sales, free samples, or demos.
Surveys - give free report or enter them in a draw
Go paperless - specs, price lists, statements
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Length





In general, keep it short and sweet. Use links.
Weekly newsletter should be no more than five
sections, with three or fewer paragraphs each,
Monthly newsletter can be double or triple that.
Promotional messages should be significantly shorter
than a newsletter.
Include whole articles or just abstracts with links to
the rest?
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Timing



Tuesday through Thursday?
10am to 2pm?
Varies depending on your audience!
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Design & Coding
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Email Templates
Right column
Left column
Basic
postcard
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Define Business Objectives

Audience


Goals


Registrations, Sign-ups, Sales
Content


Prospects, customers, advocates, partners
Newsletter, Promotions, Reminders, Invitations
Metrics

Click through, Registration, Visits,
Booking/Purchase
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Designing and Coding




Tools of the Trade
Design Guidelines

Set your width to about 500-600 pixels

Simple Layouts and Tables Work Best

Special Considerations for Webmail Services

CSS in HTML email
Flash, javaScript, ActiveX, movies, etc. in HTML
Background Colors
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Images Files in HTML Email
The proper way to handle images in HTML email

Host images on a web server

Pull images in to your HTML email using “absolute paths” in
your code
When coding images tags in HTML email

Do this:
<img src=“http://www.yourserver.com.au/images/logo.gif”>

Instead of this:
<img src=“images/logo.gif”>
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Delivering HTML Email

Sending emails from your own server


Email firewalls and ISPs who receive your emails


Your ISP may throttle your outgoing emails if you
send too much too fast (>500 per hour)
Don’t like receiving tons of emails from one single IP
address at once (unless ISP normally receive tons of
emails from that IP)
Dynamic IP address & Dedicated IP address

ISPs and spam filters don’t like receiving lots of
emails form a dynamic IP address it looks like a
hijacked home computer
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Measure Success






Unsubscribe rate
Bounce rate
Unique open rate
Total open rate
Click through rate
Conversion rate
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
HTML vs. Plain Text





HTML emails typically have twice the click-throughs
HTML offers more control over layout
HTML looks more ‘polished’ (could be good or bad)
Some old email clients can’t do HTML, e.g. Outlook 95
“Sniff” for HTML open or send multiple versions multipart
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
HTML Emails
 Tables - to control placement & avoid long lines
 Graphics - <30k, will cause the recipient grief if reading email
while offline, increases download time
 Color - color text or color a table background, doesn’t impact
download speed
 Font - face, size, and color
 Forms - embed in the email to make it easy for the recipient to
respond to an offer, e.g. seminar registration
 Auto fill-in as many form fields as possible
 Scripts, Flash, Streaming Video - not recommended!
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Testing & Troubleshooting Your
Email Designs

Web Designers: emails aren’t the same as
web pages

Testing in Different Email Applications
Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Test, Test, Test!

Treat your email campaigns like experiments

Have a control group

Vary only one thing at a time

What to test?

The offer, the Subject line, the From line, the
message copy, the layout, the message length, the
timing, the contact frequency
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Test, Test, Test!

Track response rates of each test by making call-toaction URLs & e-mail addresses unique for each test
group

Special attention should be given to the frequency


don't allow recipient burnout, particularly with a
regular mailing such as an e-mail newsletter
Test and refine, test and refine
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Not coding “absolute paths” to their images
Using JavaScript, or ActiveX or embedding movies
Getting over ambitious with designs
Forgetting to include an opt-out link
Linking to an external CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) file
Letting your permission “grow cold”
Forgetting to test
Sending nothing but a big, gigantic graphic
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Thank you!
Copyright 2008 Maximizer Software Inc. Maximizer is a trademark of Maximizer Software.
Other product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.