* E-mail Marketing *
Extracted from: Direct Marketing Magazine - Dean Rieck, Author
TargetX - Brian Wm. Niles, CEO
5.
E-mail subject line don'ts:
Exclamation Points, CAPS, Quotation Marks, the word "Hi" and
the phrase "RE: How are you?”
Ten issues relevant to your business. They are all solvable and manageable, but you need to be aware of these issues before you can address them.
A. All HTML is not alike.
Did you know that HTML is not HTML? Many marketing and communications professionals mistakenly think that, if an e-mail recipient environment is HTML-ready, the HTML message will always look okay and display properly.
The fact is, there are hundreds of different combinations of e-mail software packages, Internet service provider (ISP) mail systems and browsers that can dramatically affect how a HTML e-mail message appears in a recipient's in-box. Your current e-mail solution provider or agency may think that their technology is HTML-friendly, but the resulting basic HTML message that customers see can appear "broken" - including improperly displayed graphics and raw HTML code in place of content.
For a reference point, many e-mail solutions today use "sniffing" to detect whether each recipient should receive text or HTML. Unfortunately, this is an early technology that is less effective than advertised. Many users have multiple ways of receiving their e-mails - PDAs, Web access and e-mail software, such as Outlook. Sniffing "locks onto" the first type of client (way of receiving e-mail) it comes across and then assumes every other time you read any message from them, you'll use the same client. Keep in mind that there are proven ways to create a universal message, but most vendors are not aware of how to do it.
You'll never know that your messages "broke," but you will see much lower response rates and even opt-outs as a result. Sometimes this happens to only five percent of your customers. Sometimes upwards of 20 percent or even 100 percent! Through Silverpop's in-house research lab, we have seen this happen time and time again.
You know that you want your communications to reflect your company's brand positioning. And everyone agrees that HTML can accomplish that better than plain text. But think about how "broken" e-mails can adversely affect critical customer relationships, reflect negatively on the brand you or your client has worked so hard to develop and nurture, as well as lead to opt-outs, thereby limiting future communication opportunities.
Consider a situation where you send a series of messages to 30,000 customers, with a lifetime value of $500 each, and five percent of the messages "break." Assume half of the 1,500 affected customers ignore future e-mail communications or even opt-out. That's $375,000 in lost customer value! Add in lost viral marketing opportunities and word-of-mouth and the revenue loss climbs even higher.
Considerations: Seek out a solution provider that understands this issue and has a quality assurance testing lab to prove they can create HTML and MIME to display properly across the hundreds of different e-mail recipient environments. Work with a provider whose technology automatically "tunes" HTML to optimize in all of those environments. Of course, your customers know best what they like, so you will want to offer them choice when it comes to HTML versus plain text.
B.
AOL customers who want a richer experience.
As of April this year, approximately eight million AOL customers on older versions of the Internet service provider's software could view rich text messages but not HTML. That figure is projected to remain high at about 7.5 million at the end of 2002. Solutions that sniff or technologically determine whether the customer’s e-mail recipient environment can simply render text versus HTML will end up delivering plain text e-mail messages to all of those customers.
If you are using a solution provider that employs this approach, you are losing a tremendous opportunity to enhance your brand value with that target audience through more effective rich text messaging. A plain text message does not induce an emotive reaction, nor does it show customers how important you feel your brand should be to them.
Then there is the example of a major airline that worked with a small e-mail service firm on a series of communications about vacation packages and fare specials. After several mailings into the program, the airline's marketing group discovered (by accident) that many AOL recipients were not receiving the messages correctly. The vendor was unable to fix the issue after spending weeks attempting to resolve it. Not only did the airline waste dollars and resources, but they also face an uphill battle to win back those AOL customers? hearts and minds.
Considerations: Be very particular and use a solution provider whose software goes beyond simple "sniffing" and automatically optimizes your message to each customer's unique e-mail environment. Your e-mail communications solution provider should provide flexible options to adjust your message for AOL audiences. The provider should further instill your confidence by being able to show you how that message would appear in the variety of AOL versions.
C.
When is a test not a test.
We have found that many marketers do "test" their e-mail campaigns and programs, but they do so by sending each message to themselves or a few others in the office to make sure the message renders properly. The thought is a good one, but the approach can be a recipe for disaster for your relationships with customers and other constituents.
For example, when a large ISP sent out millions of messages to their own customer base with their own "house" solution, they arrived in e-mail boxes with broken URLs for graphics (little red-Xs) and the graphics referenced the author?s hard drive rather than the company's external Web network. There's no way to grow brand value and build trusting relationships with customers when they receive messages like this.
Make sure that you include a phase during which you test overall appearance, reception quality and functionality of all aspects of each e-mail message. Test religiously. Your process should include sending to a broad list of domains that can be accessed inside and outside of your company's firewall and on varying bandwidth connections. The more "environments" tested, the better. Functional testing should include all links and personalization, as well as checking to make sure that all rich media/multi-media plays as intended. This approach may take more time up-front, but will help you avoid broad-based errors that negatively affect customer relationships.
Better yet, use software that alleviates the need to do this testing in the first place.
Considerations: The manual effort to manipulate the HTML source, post the graphics and create trackable links is highly prone to human error.
Avoid this time-consuming mess by working with a solution provider that handles technical quality assurance (QA), content management and hosting automatically.
D.
Can rich media technology deliver?
There are numerous studies that show how rich media ads out-pull standard GIFs with a lower cost per action. The same holds true for e-mail.
Jupiter says that over two-thirds of marketers plan to use rich media (video, audio, Flash animation) in 2002.
According to eStats, 72 percent of online consumers like to receive rich media e-mail, and 60 percent prefer HTML e-mail over text. And last year about this time, Opt-in News holiday data indicated that 61 percent of marketers were planning to use HTML e-mail marketing for the holiday season whereas just 34 percent planned to use text.
Whether it's B-to-B or B-to-C, recipients respond to rich media and HTML. But when many marketers attempt this path, they see response rates that are either "ok" or sub par. What they may not realize is that their beautifully branded, attention-getting, response-oriented messages were never received as intended by their customers.
That happened with one vendor that experimented with rich media by delivering a short video to 100,000 recipients. Internal testing confirmed that the system worked properly. Tracking systems showed a good response rate. Post mortem analysis, however, discovered that many recipients saw no rich media, just a blank area. After re-running the math, the vendor discovered that they had exceeded their otherwise significant bandwidth by as much as 20X.
For many marketers, the culprits to situations like this one include bandwidth issues, corporate firewalls, and a variety of e-mail recipient environments that will not render rich media. The result? Instead of a communications program that properly reflects the company and engages customers, the exact opposite occurs.
Keep in mind that, although very few solutions can truly deliver rich media effective in the real world, those solution providers do exist. And they can help you make rich media an incredibly effective piece of your e-mail-based communications strategy.
As Debbie Weil referenced in a ClickZ column about e-newsletters, "Put your efforts into…. HTML, whether it's a lead-generator, a revenue producer, or both. Response rates are almost always higher. It makes sense."
Considerations: Work with a solutions provider with a history of successfully delivering rich media e-mail programs. Find a solution that offers recipients - who normally would not be able to view the rich media - a link to view the message's content, and that the link is dynamically customizable to reflect the uniqueness of the content. Make sure that the solution will automatically adjust its rich media message to optimize for every recipient based on bandwidth detection, so that even those on analog line connections still receive the most positive brand experience.
Most e-mail tracking systems use small graphics that track back to the individual recipient. This technique is fine if you want to confirm a message was opened, but does not mean that the rich media played. There are a few solutions in place today that actually track the display and delivery of rich media specifically. This is the only way to know it is actually working and to measure success.
E.
Host with the most.
Red Xs. They are the bane of anyone who is involved with e-mail communications. When you receive and open an e-mail with graphics in it, each graphic must be hosted on a server. When the e-mail opens and it is peppered with red Xs, that means the graphics did not get hosted properly. In other words, the graphics did not get served up or posted to the site.
Simply placing a URL into your message is prone to human error. To manually place rich media content and graphic files on the server is a more daunting task. The process takes time and certainly increases the potential for error. That is why content management for e-mail programs can and should be automated.
Remember the ISP example (see "When a test is not a test")? Not only did they not test appropriately, but they also cut corners on managing and hosting the content.
Let's say that you are hosting your content off your own Web site. The site normally experiences a certain level of predictable traffic. What do you do when that traffic level spikes by 100X? Your customers won't be able to access content and will have some serious issues like those darn red Xs. Have you ever been to a site that's really slow? Well, ask someone in marketing if they've recently sent a mailing for which they asked for the site to host the graphics!
Considerations:
Make sure your solution provider automatically and programmatically manages content so that you don't have to. Ensure that all graphics and other content - like video or audio - is posted to a proven server and hosting environment that can scale for large campaigns. Check to see if the solution provider works with a global content distribution network like Akamai to ensure that large volume simultaneous delivery of these messages can take place without concern for the recipient?s experience.
F.
Bad Lists = hot water on many fronts.
If you are looking to build your permission-based opt-in database through external lists, you need to be extremely wary of the lists you use. Not only are consumer and business users more sensitive to unsolicited e-mail, the media is increasingly focused on spam and will definitely focus attention on companies who apparently - knowingly or unknowingly - disregard opt-in best practices. So, choosing the wrong types of lists can get you and your image in hot water faster than you can say "Enron."
Do not bother with lists (CD-ROMs and third party sends) that offer cheap promises: costing pennies per thousand and containing millions of addresses. These typically are called "spam" lists, which include databases of names harvested without the recipients' consent.
It takes time and money to develop good third-party opt-in lists. Be willing to pay reputable list brokers, managers, owners and networks a little higher price for higher quality lists. Use only lists where the list manager or broker can prove opt-in. Ask to see the data card, which shows the list's make-up, source(s) and other relevant information. Also, remember that acquired lists must be used for their original purpose.
Make sure the list does not contain the following recipient names: info, root, admin, administrator, support, sales, abuse, postmaster, hostmaster, dnsmaster, marketing, etc. These are addresses for specific purposes, not for receiving e-mail. Finding these names in your list probably means the list is very dirty.
Be wary of purchased lists that contain "pop" or "mail" as part of the domain name for a recipient. While in some cases this is legitimate for very old addresses, more likely a spammer has done a "best guess" search on an ISP's mail server to see which addresses bounce and which don't. Do not explicitly exclude addresses with multiple sub domains, since some may be legitimate. Names like corp.bigcompay.com or development.biggercompany.com might be valid, but major ISPs typically don't do that. When in doubt, send an e-mail to the postmaster at the sub-domain, asking if their users normally would provide their addresses with the sub-domain.
For reference, "harvesting," or scavenging, involves the collection of e-mail addresses, typically through automated programs run across newsgroups, chat rooms, user directories, Web forms (e.g., guest books, registration forms) and even AOL profile lists. All of this is accomplished without the e-mail address owners' knowledge.
Protect not only your relationship with current and future customers, but your brand image as well. Don?t get labeled as a "spammer."
Considerations: Consider e-mail marketing solution providers that have relationships with list brokers and managers who employ best practices for their list development. Develop strong anti-spam and privacy policies that outline what you're committed to. Make sure others you work with have similar policies in place. Post a noticeable link to the policy on e-mail communications, especially campaigns and ongoing programs. And always reference where and when the opt-in occurred to further confirm to recipients that you obtained their information legitimately.
G.
Blacklisting - the hidden scourge.
Even with all of your best intentions, bad lists and poor e-mail communications practices also can get you blacklisted through ISPs themselves or through services like Spamcop.net and Abuse.net.
E-mail users have a few options to combat what they perceive as spam. They can use spam filters to catch the most blatant abusers. They can complain directly to their ISPs, who may facilitate their issues through in-house abuse departments. Or they can employ anti-spam services that "blacklist" your e-mail messages from getting to their desired recipients. These spam watchers don?t bother to tell you when you've been blacklisted. In fact, many companies and even e-mail service firms have no idea when their outbound messages are being denied.
Blacklisting occurs to whoever owns the send farm. Consider the case of a large telecommunications company that worked with an e-mail agency to execute (what was planned to be) permission-based campaigns to existing and prospective customers. Weeks into the program, however, the company found out that their own e-mail farm was blacklisted and the telco itself was the recipient of hordes of angry letters.
There are several keys to avoiding scenarios like this that can damage your relationships and your brand value. Make sure your opt-in lists consist solely of subscribers who have given you permission to send them specifically the type of message that you will be sending them. This holds true regardless of whether you are communicating with current customers or prospective ones.
In targeting external lists, as mentioned previously, work with well-regarded and referenced list brokers and managers. Stay away from vendors who specialize in "gray area" marketing or message blasting and promote bargain price delivery services. Poor quality delivery firms may be blacklisted because they accept business from questionable customers - they attract the wrong kind of sender and they are often willing to accept a certain level of blacklisting that you may find unacceptable
Considerations: You can either perform the message delivery yourself in-house (preferable for many because of enhanced security, integration with systems and databases or large volume cost and operational efficiencies) or have someone else send it. If you do the delivery yourself, work with your technology solution provider to ensure that they can alert you quickly if they find that you have gotten blacklisted. This way, you can address the situation immediately before most of your customers find they cannot get your e-mail. You may also want to take advantage of a service some vendors offer where they perform a pre-mailing review of your list, searching for data that might trigger problems.
In general, find a solution provider that espouses and demonstrates permission-based e-mail best practices. Make sure the provider not only understands how blacklisting services work but also how to stay off their lists. Further, check that your solution provider follows the major ISPs and has relationships with them to ensure that the provider is aware of the latest mail system requirements, incorporating those requirements into their solutions.
H Is
viral marketing providing you "just desserts"?
You likely have heard again and again that, as far as Internet advertising and communications are concerned, there is no such thing as a "free lunch." But when your e-mail communication content (newsletter, promotion, announcement, offer, etc.) is so compelling that the recipient forwards it to his/her friends, you get your just desserts as that person is promoting your business ? brand and all - to others with like interests. This can be an incredibly powerful tool, especially if through all of the forwarding, the message's look and feel remains intact and viral tracking is available.
Beware, however, as forwarding HTML or rich media e-mails also can eat your lunch in a big way.
If you try to forward HTML or rich media through the "forward" button in standard e-mail software like Outlook, you are taking a chance that the message could "break," showing improperly displayed graphics or even raw HTML code in place of content. That is the nature of HTML. And the nature of recipients who see "broken" e-mail messages is to lower their perceptions of the company behind the message, not to mention that the viral promotion stops.
Considerations: Make sure that your e-mail solution provider has a well-architected, scalable "forward-to-a-friend" (FTF) viral marketing capability already in place, where the FTF form can be quickly and easily inserted into your mailing. Your solution provider?s technology should ensure that messages forwarded to others are optimized for reception each time. In other words, you should feel confident that every time your message is forwarded, it is seen the way you intend for it to be seen. Look for valuable tracking statistics to be a part of the provider's viral capability as well.
I.
Your customers think you're a spammer and you don't know it.
Relevance, frequency, consistency. They are three cornerstones to successful e-mail based customer communications.
Your company or agency may have multiple independent departments or divisions (as well as multiple employees within those groups) that touch customers, partners and investors via e-mail communications. The common theme for your company and most others: There are scores of separate e-mail databases. Campaigns and programs are run out of silos with inconsistent messaging and branding, inconsistent adherence to the company?s privacy and electronic communications policies (ECP), and no control over message frequency to each individual.
The good news? Don't worry because you are part of the majority when it comes to managing customer communications across the enterprise.
The bad news? Worry - because no matter whether you are a manager or a CMO, many of your valued customers are getting the absolute wrong impression of your company. They may be receiving many more e-mails from your company than you think; hence, their impression of you as a spammer, or at least inconsiderate of their requests or needs. Since building an in-house list is expensive and time consuming, the same issue applies to assuming that, since they are already customers, they are willing to receive e-mail.
IMT Strategies confirmed this in their exhaustive 2001 research study, as they found that relevance and frequency were definitively the top two reasons people opt-out. IMT also reported that e-mail has proven to be ten times more effective than other direct marketing approaches when focused on customer retention and loyalty. The opportunity is there. Yet, instead of developing customer relationships and lifetime value and building consistent awareness of your brand positioning, you are damaging what your company has spent years establishing and growing.
A well-managed e-mail channel can deliver significant cost savings and resource efficiencies, as well as make a dramatic impact on service and revenue. It likewise should play an integral role in multi-channel communications strategy, as well as in the overall enterprise customer communication management approach.
Considerations: Regardless of your level in the organization, make sure you find a provider that understands customer communication management issues and electronic communication policies and processes, as well as offering relevant technology and services solutions for your situation. The provider's solutions should help your organization take control of fostering collaboration across business units, coordinating multi-channel programs, enforcing consistent policies and formalizing communications best practices across many independent groups? from marketing to corporate communications to sales to customer service.
J.
Can you continue to meet customer expectations?
You have been using e-mail with some success. But now, your customers or clients are becoming more sophisticated and demanding. Their needs are increasing. Their expectations are higher. So, to continue using e-mail as part of your communications strategy, you need to acknowledge those needs and enhance your efforts accordingly.
Unfortunately, as your communications and their complexity increase, processes and policies break down. "Borrowed" resources can get burned out or pulled due to higher priorities. More people with less related experience begin developing and sending campaigns or programs. You find that you do not have the resources to facilitate meeting these rising expectations, and therefore run the distinct risk of losing the respect and trust of your customer base.
On the other hand, budgeting appropriately and managing effectively to meet (and exceed) those expectations can result in greater loyalty, even advocacy, and a measurable return on the investment. Consider loyalty guru Frederick Reichheld?s assertion that a five percent improvement in customer retention rates will yield an increase in profits from 25 to 100 percent. Time and time again, for online customer communication, the key retention issues come back to relevance, frequency, consistency and multi-channel coordination.
Considerations: Understand what is working and why before you scale up quickly. Budget accordingly. Increasing scale may require enhancing systems and support and adjusting amount and type of resources needed. Ensure consistency in the solutions you use and providers you work with.
Many solution providers can give you more short-term delivery scale. Yet, consider a balance of very short-term needs with your longer-term strategy. You may need an outsourced technology with some support services now with plans to bring the solution in-house later. Seek out a solution provider that will fulfill the best economic and functional fit for now and over the long run
Conclusion
As you absorb how these 10 items relate to your company and your situation,
keep in mind that the critical role of e-mail as part of your marketing and
communications mix must be balanced by the complex technical nature of the
channel. Using e-mail for communications is easy. Doing e-mail the right way,
doing it with confidence and ensuring brand value is not easy or simple.