Webinar Email Marketing Writing Tips

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1 Page 1 Email Marketing Writing Tips to Improve Email Results May 27-28, 2009 Gary Halliwell NetProspex CEO mfeldman@NetProspex. com (888) 826-4877 www.twitter.com/ netprospex www.netprospex.com/blog Craig Stouffer, Pinpointe Email Marketing [email protected] om (408) 834-7577 x125 www.twitter.com/ pinpointe www.pinpointe.com/blog

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Transcript of Webinar Email Marketing Writing Tips

  • 1.
    • Email Marketing
    • Writing Tips to Improve Email Results
    • May 27-28, 2009
    Gary Halliwell NetProspex CEO [email_address] (888) 826-4877 www.twitter.com/netprospex www.netprospex.com/blog Craig Stouffer, Pinpointe Email Marketing [email_address] (408) 834-7577 x125 www.twitter.com/pinpointe www.pinpointe.com/blog
  • 2. Email Writing Tips
    • Overview
    • Focus on B2B. Guidelines apply well to B2C too
    • Where do these tips apply?
      • Offer (e.g. download whitepaper)
      • Event Invitation (e.g. Webinar, seminar, lunch-n-learn)
      • Outreach (e.g. stay in touch campaigns)
      • Business update (i.e., newsletter format)
      • Everywhere!
    • Sources: Pinpointe analysis of millions of emails / hundreds of campaigns
  • 3. Email Writing Tips: Break it Down
    • Focus on Each part of the Email
    • Subject + From
    • Salutation
    • Introduction: Think Above the Fold
    • Body
    • Signature
    • Other Considerations
    • Graphics Impact?
    • Links Effective Use
  • 4. Importance of Email Subjects
    • At least 40% of the readers decision to open or take action is based on the email subject + send-from
    • Tip : 69% of recipients decide whether to report email as spam based on the subject line (source: ESPC)
    • The 50/50 Rule:
      • Spend 50% of your time on the subject + Intro
      • 50% on everything else (including design)
    • The 80/20 Rule of Email Subjects
      • 8 of 10 people will skim/read your email subject line
      • Less than 2 in 10 will read the rest / take action
  • 5. 10 Best Performing Email Subjects
    • MyCompany Sales & Marketing Monthly Newsletter
    • MyCompany Newsletter - January 2009: Teaser Subject/Topic
    • [Webinar]: N Tips to Improve Email Responses
    • MyCompany Webinar: Case Studies - Join Us Feb 15
    • Webinar Topic - Webinar Slides Available
    • This Weeks Phone Call / Meeting (Personalized note from sales rep)
    • John - 8 Customer Service Tips that Work
    • Exciting Update from MyCompany - IBM Approved Supplier
    • Reminder: Storage Survey - Your Input
    • Invitation - Breakfast on Specific Topic
    • * Source: Pinpointe analysis of several million customer emails
  • 6. 9 Worst Performing Email Subjects
    • Join Us for a FREE Webinar on April 2 2009!
    • Shop Early and Save!
    • Register to Win Your FREE iPod!!
    • Security Spending
    • Post-Trade Show Webinar: Expert Insights Into the Key Trends and Observations from the Trade Show Floor Last Week
    • European Lakefront Elegance
    • (Company) Announces Partnership to Work with (Other Company)
    • Product Launch: New Widget Available
    • Full Press Release Title (Company) Announces New Widgets
  • 7. Email Subject Length Experiment
    • Pinpointe Campaign webinar invite / split test / 2 versions
    • Short : [Webinar] Split Test Case Studies (Feb 4)
    • Long : [Pinpointe] Case Studies Webinar: Using Split Testing to Improve HTML Email Response Rates (Feb 4th) - Please Join Us
  • 8.
    • GOOD
    • Popular, specific and * relevant * keywords
    • Offer value, resources
    • Honest / Non-hyped
    • Length: 50 ~ 55 characters
    • Clearly stated benefit(s)
    • Lead-in with a teaser / Ask a question
    • BAD
    • Pushy / salesy - Ask for an order
    • Non-descript / vague / (sometimes meaningless)
    • 70+ Characters
    Best / Worst Subjects: Observations
  • 9.
    • Keep it personal - Reinforce 1 to 1 relationship
    • Usually better to use name+company vs. Company
    • Legitimate / valid email address (!)
    • Consider: person as send-from + Company in subject
    • GOOD:
    • Craig Stouffer, Pinpointe < [email_address] >
    • BAD:
    • [email_address]
    • Do Not Reply
    The Email From Field
  • 10. The Opening: Above the Fold
    • FOLD : The First 3 lines / 300 pixels (Preview pane)
    • You have email subject + 3 lines to get attention
    • Use it wisely!
    • Consider:
    • Can your opening sentence stand on its own?
    • Think: The 5 + 30 approach:
      • Tell the 5 second version of your story first
      • Then tell the 30 second version
  • 11. Above the Fold Good/Bad Examples WORKS: DOESNT WORK: Company
  • 12.
    • WHAT:
    • The offer (or the main point / objective)
    • Main benefit
    • Response instructions
    • HOW:
    • Divide key message into sections
    • Short vs. Long?
      • Generally, short and concise works best
      • Exception complicated offering / big ticket item
    • Consider: Shorter paragraph with link to landing page(s) with supporting details
    The Body - Structure
  • 13.
    • Newsletters, quick updates, event invites, any outreach
    • Stay CAN-SPAM compliant-
      • Always include a signature
      • Dont forget physical address
      • phone
      • Contact email address
    • TIP : Try this: OK to advertize below the signature:
      • Social links (eg: twitter, Facebook, Blog)
      • Text + link to special offer
      • Offer for free demo / trial / etc
    The Signature
  • 14. Images and Attachments
    • Almost an inverse relationship between use and response in B2B communications
    • 50% of Email clients: Images disabled by default
    • How will your email will look w/o images?
  • 15.
    • Tips for using images in B2B:
    • Use sparingly
    • Event/Asset Registration?
      • Adding a Register Now button increased responses 22%
      • (use ALT Text) (source: Pinpointe testing)
    • Offering a whitepaper / webinar / report?
      • Add thumbnail of report to increase responses by 25%
    • Avoid attachments. Link to document
    Images and Attachments
  • 16.
    • Do multiple links improve results?
    • Compared 20 newsletter campaigns (*Mark Brownlow)
    • Analyzed the teaser / intro text with 1, 2 links
    • 2 Example newsletter intro paragraphs:
    Using Links Effectively in Email
    • Results (Average across 20 campaigns):
    • Average CTR for campaigns with 1 link: 6.8%
    • Average CTR for campaigns with 2 links: 8.57%
    • Improvement: Extra link = +25%
      • * Source: Mark Brownlow www.email-marketing-reports.com
  • 17.
    • Is there a correlation between:
      • Distance between call-to-action links, and
      • Click-to-open rate?
    • Test (20 different email newsletters)
      • Teaser intro with 2 links: in-content link and end link
      • Correlated distance between links in words and click rates
      • 5-7 lines of text / 2 paragraphs for all variations
    Using Links Effectively in Email
      • * Source: Mark Brownlow www.email-marketing-reports.com
  • 18.
    • Results:
      • Optimal click-rate occurs with 10~22 words between links
    Links: Correlation
    • Recommendations:
      • Try embedded in-context link + trainer link (e.g. Read more)
      • Test test test see what works in your environment
  • 19. Top Performers - Examples
  • 20. Poor Performers - Examples Company
  • 21.
    • B2B communication
    • Offer / invite attend educational training
    • Goal: Get customer on phone with sales team
    • Problem: Terrible response rates (