Effective Email Marketing:Building “Brand Love!”

Scott W. Flexo, Ph.D.CSULB – CBA - Department of Marketing

2018 Summer Marketing Workshop

How Are LB Small Businesses Managing Digital Marketing Today?

23%

10%

24%

41%

30%

11%

28%30%

24%

9%

37%

30%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Pay Outside Company Friends/Family Staff Person Do It Myself

2014 2016 2018

• Most small business people in Long Beach are managing digital marketing internally either by hiring a staff person or doing it themselves.

2018 LB Small

Business Monitor Surveys

What Are the Problems in Using Digital Media and Marketing?

What are the most Important Barriers Preventing Your Business from Expanding Digital Media and Marketing? – Open Ended Comments

No capital to spend on it. Our expertise in this area is lacking.

I need marketing dollars just for this which I don’t have. We don’t have the time to constantly manage it.

Money and know how; just don’t have it for online marketing. We lack knowledge on how to get this done properly.

It takes too much time.

Lacking money, time and expertise are the key issues Long Beach small business faces today in managing and expanding digital marketing activit ies.

2018 LB Small

Business Monitor Surveys

CBA-Marketing Business CenterAbout the CBA-Marketing Business Center The Marketing Business Center (MBC) at the CSULB

College of Business Administration (CBA) offers Long Beach regional small and medium sized businesses professional marketing services managed by CBA business students and supervised by CBA faculty.

CBA- MBC – What We Do Marketing Services for Small Businesses: Working with the

CBA-Marketing Business Center, local businesses receive essential ongoing marketing support services that they may not be able to afford or have the time or expertise to complete.

CBA Students Gain Real World Experience: CBA students are interns in the Marketing Business Center and gain real world practical experience working directly with small business clients on actual marketing projects under the supervision of CBA marketing faculty.

MBC Digital Marketing Services to Small Business

Digital media market planning Setup and management of ongoing digital media

marketing campaigns Website creation and ongoing website management E-mail marketing campaigns Social media marketing (e.g., on Facebook, Instagram

and Twitter). Internet search and search marketing optimization

MBC ProjectsCSULB/CBA “Student Campaign” web page: http://csulb.edu/~sflexo/CBAStudentDMCampaigns

More Info:See Scott Flexo @

Break or email Scott.Flexo@csulb.edu

DIGITAL MARKETING – WHAT IS IT AND WHY DO IT?

Why Do Digital Marketing?Cost of Customer Acquisition is Very High!

One of the biggest causes of startup failure: the cost of acquiring customers turns out to be higher than expected, and exceeds the ability to monetize those customers over time.

Uses Social Media Marketing

Typical Customer Acquisition Costs

Here are some typical industry standard cost of customer acquisition values, the amount of money each company spends on average on marketing and advertising to acquire one new customer: • Travel: Priceline.com: $7. • Telecom: Sprint PCS: $315. • Retail: Barnesandnoble.com: $10.

Will Often Take 2 or 3 Transactions to Recoup Initial Investment and Start to Make a Profit!

Digital Marketing Objectives

Awareness

Image

Consider

Buy

Post Purchase

Social Media MarketingBuild Customer Relationships and WOM Marketing to Recoup the Initial Cost of

Customer Acquisition By Facilitating Repeat Transactions and Make a Profit!

Digital Media (Owned/ Earned/ Paid)Find New Customers

Web SitesSearch Engine Optimization

Search Engine MarketingDisplay Advertising

Traditional Marketing RulesCentralized Push MKTG

One-Way Communication Interruption Model Appeals to masses Exclusively for selling products Based on limited campaigns Creative was most important

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krLZP43nxN0

New Rules!: Digital MKTDecentralized Pull MKTG

Micro-targeting underserved audiences Marketing is more than ads You are what you publish Authenticity, not ad spin Participation, not propaganda Two way communication Deliver content at moment needed

www.bigskinny.net

Social Media Marketing and the Structure of Digital Communities

Online, digital communities are brand new ways to stimulate product and brand discussion, interest and purchase consideration and Brand Love!

Derived from the Internet and the linking of computers/individuals into a world wide "social" web –a Digital Community.

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Online Communities

A group of people who come together For a specific purpose Who are guided by community policies Who are supported by Internet access that enables

virtual communication.

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"A cyberplace where people connect online with kindred sprits, engage in supportive and sociable relationships with them, and

imbue their activity online with meaning, belonging and identity"

Digital Networking Example

A Digital Network

• Social Objects• Nodes• Ties

• Flows

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Goals of Digital Marketing

• Build the Network• Establish Ties

• Drive Flow Across the Network

Online Communities:Building Customer Relationships

Build Brand Love: Social Media Marketing

“I really think of Diet Coke as my boyfriend.” Commitment, intimacy, dependability— is felt not about Diet Coke,

but from it. She loved it as a constant companion, a support mechanism and a celebratory friend.

Relationships have natural stages – from our initial meetings all the way up until the relationship’s decline or demise.

We call this the new Consumer Journey: Buy, Bond, Advocate! Recover Acquisition Costs, Maximize Customer Lifetime Value and

Make Profit By Planning For An Effective Social Media Presence!

EMAIL MARKETINGLet’s Do It!

Email Marketing: Works Best At End of Purchase Funnel

Awareness

Image

Consider

Buy

Post Purchase

Email Marketing!Build Customer Relationships and WOM Marketing to Recoup the Initial Cost of

Customer Acquisition By Facilitating Repeat Transactions and Make a Profit!

Digital Media (Owned/ Earned/ Paid)Find New Customers

Web SitesSearch Engine Optimization

Search Engine MarketingDisplay Advertising

Sample Email Newsletter

Sample Email Letter

Why Email Marketing?

Communicate easily with your customers on a personal level though a universally accepted medium.

Will They Open It?

Communicate easily with your customers on a personal level though a universally accepted medium.

Customers will open email from you when they recognize your brand, they are expecting to receive communications from you, and they are confident it will contain something relevant and interesting.

Steps in E-Mail Marketing

1. Building the List2. Planning the Campaign3. Content and Design4. When to Send/How Often5. Measurement

Email Marketing:#1: Building the List

From the moment you open your doors (and before) build a list of customers who you know would want to receive business communications by email.

Best way to do this is to encourage customers at every “touch-point” to opt-in to your email server list.

HOW To Build Email Lists:Gather at “Touchpoints!”

Onsite during a transaction Web Site Contact Page or Pop-Up – Link to sign-up page Facebook “call to action” – Link to sign-up page Use email newsletters to encourage readers to introduce your

newsletter to their friends. Offer incentives to opt in and to refer others.

Least effective : Renting email lists The list will become a valuable assest of your business!

Spend time and effort building customer lists!Click Here: Highest Rated Conact Page!

Why Build Customer Lists:Customer Relationship Management

The key to success of a small businesses are current customers repeat business and their help in marketing the business to others.

CRM is keeping customers happy and maintaining ongoing personal relationships w ith them.

So, use your lists to keep records of products and services sold, how often they have looked at the web site or social media, how often they have contacted you, etc.

Merge to create an email database to track and anticipate what your customers want and sent highly relevant emails to develop and maintain a relationship.

Sample Excel Customer ListFirst Last Address City

State Zip Phone Email

Rita Kahaina 138 Fulton St Fresno CA 93721-3107 +1.559.442.1932 rita@firstqualityproduce.com

Ian Fishmana 2375 3rd St Riverside CA 92507-3306 (951) 683-2912 ifishman@220labs.com

Donna Silvna 840 Columbia St Ste B Brea CA 92821-2952 +1.714.482.2866 donna@2ndsourcewire.com

Gary Vassina 9801 Variel Ave Chatsworth CA 91311-4317 (818) 773-8777 gary@3d-cam.com

Linda Luomna 42132 Remington Ave Temecula CA 92590-2547 (951) 296-5449 lluoma@3deng.com

Juan Radna 20724 Centre Pointe Pkwy Unit 1 Santa Clarita CA 91350-2980 (661) 250-2020 juan@3dproducts.com

Save as Excel (.x ls) and data file (.CVS comma delimited)

For today, let’s just enter 5 names and emailsand save to the desktop as .x ls and .cvx comma delimited

Email Programs

Import Email List to MailChimp

Create Group List in Outlook Open Outlook Go To Contacts Create Contact Group You may enter each one individually or import from an Excel

database. Excel – Save as .cvs comma delimited file. In Outlook Contacts click File, Click Open/Export, Click Import from

comma delimited file (.cvs) Browse to your file and click to import. Map your Excel file to import and click import!

THE LIST IS BUILT AND PROGRAM PICKED – WHAT’S NEXT?

STEP#2: PLANNING THE CAMPAIGN

Email Marketing:#2: Planning the Campaign

Define your objective. Determine why you are doing this. It is to build and maintain a bond. Drive traffic? Repeat sales? Referral? Be sure this objective is tied to a financial outcome. All

marketing outcomes can be translated into dollars and an ROI for each activity can be calculated for each activity.

Define who you w ill target. Use CRM to segment and target customers with highly

personalized, tailored direct communications that make sense to the target market

THE LIST IS BUILT AND PROGRAM PICKED.

YOU KNOW YOUR OBJECTIVES AND WHO YOU WILL TARGET.

WHAT’S NEXT?

STEP#3: CONTENT AND DESIGN OF YOUR EMAIL

Email Marketing#3: Content and Design

Make it personal! Build connections and relationships. Get to the good stuff early and leave less important stuff

for the end. Rely on the “short preview” most email clients use to

entice customers to open the email. Avoid rich media and lots of graphics and attachments in

your email. It does not add value and will likely be blocked by most email clients.

Remember mobile users. More than half will view your email on a small mobile screen!

Email Marketing:Content and Design

Make instantly obvious that the email is from you and your company. Use brand name and logo.

Copy paragraphs should be short, punchy, conversational, friendly and approachable – more like texting than writing an essay.

Email Subject Line: one of the most important steps in writing your email. Will read first before anything else – will motivate customers to open the

email. Great subject lines are ‘catchy” but also instantly communicate the brand

and proposition of the message. It quickly and clearly connects customer needs to the

information contained in the email. It explains to the customer “why” the customer should open the email.

Let’s Try I t!

THE LIST IS BUILT AND PROGRAM PICKED.

YOU KNOW YOUR OBJECTIVES AND WHO YOU WILL TARGET.

YOU’VE DESIGNED AND CREATED YOUR EMAIL

WHAT’S NEXT?STEP#4: SEND IT: HOW, WHEN AND HOW OFTEN?

Email Marketing:#4 When and How Often?

Use email to establish a regular pattern of communications with your customers. Might be once every two weeks or once a month.

Prepare to send an email two times to maximize open rates – send to those that don’t open. Don’t send too often, and monitor those that never open.

When you send, be prepared for a “rush” of incoming replies (automated replies, etc.) and requests (i.e. for more information, etc.)

Let’s Try I t!

THE LIST IS BUILT AND PROGRAM PICKED.

YOU KNOW YOUR OBJECTIVES AND WHO YOU WILL TARGET.

YOU’VE DESIGNED AND CREATED YOUR EMAIL

YOU’VE SENT YOUR EMAILS

WHAT’S NEXT?STEP#5: MEASUREMENT!

What’s Next?

Email Marketing:Step #5: Measurement

Measure Your Success! Fix For Next Time! How many opened the email (called open rate)? When customers opened the email? What links did customers click on (click through rate)? Conversion Rate:

% Sent/% Open % Open/% Click Through

Types of emails with best conversion rates Who NEVER opens the emails % of customers that unsubscribe when sent an email

Let’s Try I t!

Sample Measurement Output

Open and Click Through Rates

Hourly Campaign Activity

Measurement Using OutlookEasy Mail Merge

https://www.outlook-apps.com/product/easy-mail-merge/

Easy Mail Merge is designed to help you reach your email audience by personalizing, generating and sending mass emails from Outlook.

Easy Mail Merge lets you track your email open and email click-through stats using the Google Analytics platform.

Somewhat Limited – Can’t track individual emails –but can use aggregate data in Google Analytics.

No mechanism for measurement of email campaigns in Outlook

Summary: Steps in E-Mail Marketing

1. Building the List2. Planning the Campaign3. Content and Design4. When to Send/How Often5. Measurement

New Rules!: Digital MKTDecentralized Pull MKTG

Micro-targeting underserved audiences Marketing is more than ads You are what you publish Authenticity, not ad spin Participation, not propaganda Two way communication Deliver content at moment needed

www.bigskinny.net

THANK YOU!

Scott W. Flexo, Ph.D. –Scott.Flexo@csulb.edu