Transcript Email and Reverse Append Services

The Importance of
Email and How Best to
Communicate
Presented By:
Lizabeth Seskind
Vice President, Email Marketing Services
Chilcutt Direct Marketing- September 28, 2010
Email Just Makes Sense
Just Released
Q2 2010 Email Trends and Benchmarks
Open rates remain steady at 22.1%, increasing 18.0% from Q2 2008.
Six of the thirteen industries had an increase in open rates over Q2 2009.
The average click rate is 5.3%, down from the same time last year.
The average volume per client increased 10.5% from Q2 2009.
60.9% of emails delivered, were categorized as “Marketing” messages.
“Service” messages had the highest open (42.5%) and click (7.7%) rates.
Email Marketing Performance
While both email marketing and direct mail deserve a place in a campaign’s media
mix, there are several benefits that an email campaign offers that a direct mail
campaign doesn’t.
Compared to direct mail, email has been reported to generate an ROI that is 40 times
higher than direct mail
80% of the responses from an email campaign are within the first three days of
launch
Reported to drive traffic to the advertiser’s web site at a rate that is five times higher
than with direct mail
Better yet, 50 times higher than from banner ads
Benefits to a Successful Email
Campaign
Like Direct Mail, the same best practices can be
applied effectively to email campaigns– using a low
cost, affordable, preferred channel.
Ability to build and expand current house file roster
Immediately gain action-- buy, subscribe, join, establish affinity
Allows you to cultivate the relationship through subsequent email messaging
Similar response expectations; similar performance to prior DM efforts
Suggestive subject lines demand urgency and explains reward
Opportunity to micro-target and personalize campaign messages
Use trigger and transactional messaging- abandoned cart, prior purchase
Specific segmentation of data as important as with Direct Mail
Identify best launch times, react to when a recipient responds
Email Design for NonDesigners
A checklist to ensure your emails are attractive and understood
Don’t give up on graphics, but understand many recipients won’t see them
“Alt Tag” copy is an art; alternative text for when graphics can’t be displayed
Use graphics to reinforce messaging, not for messaging itself
Maximize your reading pane with your call to action– limited space
Use subject lines, sender name and “from” address to their best advantage
Understand “pre-header” and “snippet” text
Navigation bars should appear below your primary call to action
Understand “cascading style sheets”- style HTML messages
Test your email to different domains for rendering differences
Search out the best in resources for design and implementation
Stellar Subject Lines
The 50 most characters you’ll ever chain
together.
Read the newspaper; understand how grabbing headlines are used
Focus on the objective or end goal- determine one action
Leverage the “From” line; continue brand recognition
Mention key information first; one opportunity for first impressions
Personalize your messaging; engage using first names, be relevant
Urgency messaging drives action; give a reason to respond soon
Lead, but don’t mislead; maintain your integrity, no grand claims
“Free” is not evil; people still respond to “free”
Plan for deliverability; fine line between “catchy” and “spammy”
Measure, test, analyze; measure anything that moves
Attractive Email Messaging
If they can’t see what you’re saying, you’re not being heard
Write a good subject line; use psychological triggers
Use proper formatting; safer to use plain text
Limit lines to 60-65 characters including spaces with a hard line return at the
end of each line
Use bullet points to get the attention of your reader
Wrap your own text to avoid choppy sentences
Proportional or fixed-pitch font; fixed-pitch uses characters with the same
width
Use exclamation points to emphasize your main communication
Check for spelling and grammatical mistakes
Stick with simple designs that will render properly in any font
Focus on just one product or service
Common Email Mistakes
Even the most veteran of marketers can make
mistakes. Here are some common mistakes
“beginners’ and ‘rookies” alike.
Not having permission; permission means customers and subscribers
have requested to receive information from you
Confusing “transactional” with “email marketing”– transactional
information, confirmation and shipping details are transactional while
newsletters, coupons, and promotions are marketing messages – with both
requiring permission
Being in a Rush; pay attention to proper coding, design and content. Keep
data clean, opt in requirements in place– otherwise recipients click “junk”
Assuming people actually want to hear from you; don’t send to
prospects, stay away from commercial opt in lists– only mail to recipients
that have agreed to hear from you
More Common Mistakes
Assuming people remember who you are; send a “remember me?”
email, send often to keep brand recognition and awareness, practice opt-in
steps every 6-12 months
Let the provider send your purchased email lists– they’ll remember
them over you
Thinking “blast” and not “relationship”– use content that’s relevant and
reminds the recipient of a favorable experience with you; frequent “blasting”
can offend a recipient
Avoid used Car Salesman Copy– avoid pushy sales phrases like “Buy
Now!” and ‘Limited Time Offer!”
Ignoring campaign metrics– try to evaluate email campaign reports; they
aren’t always 100% accurate, but still tremendously useful
10 Point Checklist for CAN-SPAM
Good starting points to ensure your email program is in compliance.
Don’t use fraudulent transmission data; such as false headers
Don’t use misleading sender or subject lines
Add your postal address to all email communication
If your email is not opt-in or double opt-in (prior affirmative consent) you must include
a clear notice that states the email is an advertisement or solicitation
Include a “clear and conspicuous” unsubscribe mechanism in every email
Have a process to handle unsubscribes within the 10 day
Don’t share the address of a person who unsubscribed with any other entity
Remove any sexual oriented material from your messages
Offer recipients a way to some types of email from you, while blocking others along
with a global option to stop all future email
Don’t harvest email addresses; if you want to protect email addresses from being
harvested on your website- add a notice that you don’t “give, sell or otherwise
transfer to any other party for the purpose of initiating or enabling others to initiate”
Easy Ways to Socialize Email
Focus on how best to leverage social media with email to
increase audience reach, customer engagement and retention,
and of course, revenue
Include hot topics and catchy quotes from your social media outlets in your
emails; marketers using more customer ratings and reviews in their promotional
emails
Offer email subscribers coupons and discounts in exchange for following you on
Facebook and other social media
Consider running contests on an ongoing basis; i.e. “twitter Tuesday’s” as an
example driving followers to want to see what’s new and different
Conduct polls on social media sites; using that data for email segmentation
Place links to your social media at the top of your email rather than bury it at the
bottom
Reposition unsubscribes; post links to your social media outlets on your email
unsubscribe pages; they may be unhappy with the medium and not your brand offer
the option to follow you rather than receive emails from you
Why Email Append?
The process of appending an email address to a postal name and
address is not a new one, but as mentioned, has gained in
popularity and legitimacy in recent years.
Compliant with industry standards, meeting all CAN-SPAM requirements
Increases current reach by up to 25%
Uses owned House File data for current customers– you own the data
Jump starts the growth of your current Email Address data
Quick turnaround; can customize launch and length of live campaign
Uses existing advertiser logo and creative messaging
Opt-out mechanism allows for maximum number of corrected and
completed email addresses
Launch handled by Email Provider from start to finish
Report provided showing matches, bounces and total number of appended
records
Why Reverse Postal Append?
Email inquiries or mechanics that generate email addresses can
be appended with current postal address to allow for
subsequent mailings to reinforce brand recognition.
Postal Addresses allow for inclusion in offline existing planned
mailings
Exact opposite of Email Append with faster turnaround time
Potential for email marketers to test into Direct Mail, possible List
Rental potential
Gain the ability to merge records and transaction histories of your
email and postal files
More effectively target advertising and/or offers to customers and
prospects via geography or zip codes
Higher industry match rates– adding between 50-80% additional
postal records
What Do You Have to Do?
The best news is, you already have everything you need!
Just send a clean file of your customer postal records!
From there…
Match your data to a robust database of over 90,000,000 email addresses
Determine how best to match your data; household match or individual match
Develop a strong, effective Welcome Letter detailing the benefits of continuing to hear
from you with email messages
Launch your Welcome Letter, equipped with a compliant opt-out mechanism
Monitor the live campaign for 7-10 days after launch
Reports provided explaining the number of records matched, deployed and appended
Both old records and new records are returned back to you
All appended records can be used as often as your email contact strategies dictate
Using Current Data Typically
Responds Best
Only append active or lapsed file using incentives to stay in
communication.
Don’t treat all data the same way.
Appended data can not be treated the same as current subscriber data
Isolate or key and segment appended data from core data
Appended data can deliver value, but is riskier than active data
Separating data eliminates negative impact to current data
Develop separate copy and incentive or “repurpose” their need for you
Be sure opt out options are easily read and seen
Continually remind customers how they ended up on your list
Use Specific Specialized Messages
Build an append-specific communication strategy.
Appended data can not be treated the same as current subscriber
data
Isolate or key and segment appended data from core data
Appended data can deliver value, but is riskier than active data
Separating data eliminates negative impact to current data
Develop separate copy and incentive or “repurpose” their need for
you
Be sure opt out options are easily read and seen
Continually remind customers how they ended up on your list
Always Integrate Appended
Addresses
Build rules to migrate append addresses to your house file over time.
Proactively migrate appended addresses into your house file
Migration should be based on specific recipient activity
Specific recipient activity includes clicks, purchases, etc.
Companies build these rules to apply to their unique business models
Sample Welcome Letter
Dear USGA Member,
As a Member of the United States Golf Association, you have demonstrated your interest in preserving the
game we all love.
It is for this reason that I invite you to receive the Members-only e-communications that are part of your USGA
benefits. The USGA’s E-Newsletter contains the most up-to-date information on topics such as USGA
championships and ticket information, Rules and equipment standard updates, volunteer opportunities
and advanced notice of Handicap Index and Rules seminars.
You do not need to take any action to receive our e-communications. If you prefer not to receive our e-mails,
please click on the link at the bottom of this message by May 15, 2008 to remove your name from our email list.
Privacy is important to us; therefore, we will not sell or rent your e-mail address to anyone. If you wish to stop
receiving our e-mails at any time in the future, an unsubscribe link will be included at the bottom of each
e-mail message.
Thank you for your support of the game of golf, its values and traditions.
Sincerely,
Fiona Dolan
USGA
Director, Members Program
To make sure you receive your Member e-mails, please add [email protected] to your address
book.
If you do not wish to receive any future e-mail messages from the USGA, please click here.
United States Golf Association, 77 Liberty Corner Road, Far Hills, NJ 07931
Sample Welcome Letter
Dear WWF Member,
World Wildlife Fund would like to thank you for your support of our programs to help protect endangered species
and wild spaces around the world. We would like to offer you a chance to know about the results your support
helps generate by adding you to our free WWF E-newsletter mailing list. Each month, in your WWF E-newsletter
you will receive:
Updates on WWF's latest Conservation Victories
Fun games and quizzes
Features on amazing species from around the world
Ideas and actions that can help you protect the environment
New and exciting ways that you can help support WWF with a click of your mouse
With your support, we have been able to protect large areas of the Amazon Rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef.
We have seen increases in the numbers of pandas, tigers and rhinos in the wild. And we have fought to restrict
several programs that would have accelerated climate change, increased deforestation, and depleted our world's
oceans. To help us add to this list of success stories, we want to add you to the list of WWF E-newsletter
subscribers! By receiving the WWF E-newsletter, you will see first-hand the benefits of your support. If you would
like to receive this newsletter, you do not need to take any further action, and we thank you again for your
continued support of WWF.
Sincerely,
World Wildlife Fund
www.worldwildlife.org
1250 24th St. NW
Washington, DC 20037
To unsubscribe click here, or reply to this e-mail with REMOVE in the subject.
Sample Welcome Letter
You are receiving this e-mail as a subscriber to Quilter's World.
If you do not wish to receive e-mail communications from us, please follow the instructions above.Along with the
magazine issues you receive in the mail, you now have the opportunity to discover all the extra patterns,
techniques and other bonus content we have for you, all FREE on the Internet! How? We'll begin sending you
occasional e-mail notices delivered right to your in-box!You'll be one of the first to know about news, events,
special offers and savings. Please rest assured that with all e-mail messages we send you, we will always provide
you with the opportunity to choose not to receive future e-mail messages from us.
Because we value our customers' privacy, we're letting you know about our plans to serve you via e-mail. If you do not
wish to receive further e-mails from us, please click the link at the top of this e-mail. I just know you'll be thrilled
with what's to come!
Sincerely,
Sandra Hatch
editor, Quilter's World
Results from Match Process
Email Append Summary Report
Job Name
28396 XYZ Company
Input Record Count
236,119
Confirmed Data Enhancement Records *
209,630
Equifax Data Enhancement Match Rate
Records Appended with Email Address
89%
62,107
Match Percentage (based on Client Input)
26.30%
Match Percentage (after DE Match Confirmation)
29.63%
Type of Match
Individual Matches
18,597
Household Matches
43,510
* Input records are first confirmed against all Data Enhancement Files. Confirmed records are
then utilized in the Email Append. Avg match is 85%. Lower match rates could indicate
input file issues.
Results Post Broadcast
Results from Welcome Broadcast
Records Broadcast
62,107
Total Bounces (no charge)
17,000
Total Removes (no charge)
452
Total Final Records
Total Cost @ $.22/append
44,655
$9,824.00
Append Cost Structure
Many processes in the industry have unnecessary charges, not append.
Append brings access to large numbers of current customer records at
pennies per appended record.
Typical Append is based on a tier structure; more quantity, less cost per
appended record
Rates are based on input quantities
No input or pass charges against database
Results are based on number of deliverables; the number of appended
addresses
You only pay on the actual appended records
Is Email Append Appropriate?
Do You Need To?
Increase content relevance? Trigger Email Messaging speaks to the
recipient, offers relevant benefits in exchange for response
Respond faster to sales opportunities? Email’s response window
couldn’t be shorter– speak your message effectively and immediately
Automate messages to save time and resources? Let Email messaging
speak to specific behavior responses from data pockets
Increase loyalty with special occasion greetings! Remind your
customer how much their attention means to you. Speak personally.
You Want to React to Their
Behavior; They Want to Respond
Abandoned shopping carts and order forms – find out why and
offer to help!
Inactive Buyers and Subscribers – communicate and reengage! If no response, drop them.
Birthdays, anniversaries, holidays – all opportunities to
increase consumer loyalty!
Customer service surveys – ask how you’re doing whenever a
customer needs help.
Good Customer Rewards – send a thank you message and
discount coupon when a customer reaches a sales or loyalty
milestone.
Email Consumption By Social
Media Segment
Pre-Transaction Communication
Incorporating data from Web analytics and ecommerce software
can help you identify customers who break off browse or
purchase sessions. Note: These are customers or prospects
already enrolled in your email programs.
Browse abandonment: Personalized with images and details of a
Web site category, page or product the shopper viewed but didn't
result in a purchase.
Cart abandonment: Multi-stage recovery email program, with the
first email sent within minutes after shopper places items in a cart
but doesn't complete the process.
Purchase Process Communication
These support the purchase process itself and are intended to increase
customer confidence in the ordering process.
Order confirmation: Confirms the order was received and provides details of the order,
shipping method, expected arrival date and customer-support contact information.
Order status: Essential when some or all of the items in an order are out of stock (OOS) or
when OOS items become available.
Shipping notice: Lists package pick-up date, shipment tracking number, range of expected
arrival dates and customer-service contact information for you and shipper.
Post-shipment confirmation: Asks if items were received on time and in proper condition.
Restates order details and customer-support/troubleshooting contact information.
Trip/Stay preparation: Confirms trip details (flight/check-in times, destinations, special
requests/advisories, contact information) and includes helpful information including weather
forecasts, maps, attractions with booking information and links, etc.
Post-Purchase Communication
These post-purchase/post subscribing emails are focused on the
customer experience and additional purchase opportunities once the
product has been received, delivered, etc.
Subscription/Content Satisfaction Survey: Email requesting the customer
complete a survey measuring satisfaction with the magazine, renewal, delivery, plus
customer-support or troubleshooting contact information.
Review/recommend: Invites buyer to review sample issues and/or share the
subscription with their social network connections.
Publication recommendations: Up-sell/cross-sell messages - "Since you enjoy this,
you might like this," or "People that subscribe to this, also subscribe to this."
Renewal deadline: Invites renewal of publications about to expire or discontinue.
Replenishment: Invites re-purchase of back issues, special products endorsed etc.
New version/Upgrades: Invites customer to upgrade or extend current subscription
or bundle several subscriptions at a discounted rate.
Relationship and Loyalty
Account Status Communication
While not focused on a specific purchase, these messages are sent to people who
have purchased, created accounts, downloaded or requested information,
joined loyalty programs or otherwise engaged with you.
Account reminder: Email notice sent a week or so ahead of a deadline (payment,
renewal, etc.).
Invitation to join loyalty/preferred customer programs: Benefit-focused message
sent to customers who didn't join loyalty/preferred-customer programs or register for
an account.
Member-status statement: Reports membership status and progress toward
achieving higher status or qualification for rewards/discounts; should link to
subscriber's account log-in and show points, purchases, miles, etc., at a glance.
Bounceback: Offers incentive to bring recent buyer back to resubscribe; can feature
up-sell/cross-sell items.
Subscription anniversary: Notes anniversary of first subscription and invites to
renew, with or without incentive.
Additional channels: Invites customer to sign up to receive communications via
SMS or Twitter, become Facebook fans or shop in nearby retail outlets.
Benefits and Take Aways from
Email Append Services
What Email Append means to your bottom line.
Increase your email reach by up to 25%
Data belongs to you, treat it as you would house file data
Ability to build and expand current house file roster
Immediately gain action-- buy, subscribe, join, establish affinity
Build a stronger relationship with customer’s individual interests emailing as often as
current strategy allows
Opportunity to micro-target and personalize campaign messages
Similar expectations; acquire, reactivate, retention; no different from Direct Mail
Keep customers interested; links to current events and breaking news
Trigger messaging to specific pockets of data, dependent on subscriber status
Identify best launch times, react to when recipient responds
Maintain stronger relationships; make subscriber dependent on you
Thank you very much!
Questions and Answers