Why You’re Doing It Wrong:

Email Marketing in an Inbound Age

Ellie Mirman

Head of Marketing, Small & Mid-Sized Business Segment

HubSpot

Session Speaker

2

Ellie Mirman

Head of SMB Marketing

HubSpot

Ellie Mirman is the Head of Small and Mid-Sized Business (SMB) Marketing at HubSpot, a marketing software company based in Cambridge, MA. She specializes in lead generation, email marketing, product marketing, and marketing analytics. She has experience launching new lead generation channels, including HubSpot’s email marketing program, growing it into the company’s largest lead generation channel, as well as HubSpot’s webinar series, attracting thousands of attendees to each event. She also led the product team’s customer research efforts and loves to work at the intersection of Marketing, Sales, and Product.

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@ellieeille

Agenda

1. Is Email Marketing Inbound or Outbound?

2. You’re Doing It Wrong: Recipients

3. You’re Doing It Wrong: Content

4. 7 Emails More Important Than Your Newsletter

5. You’re Doing It Wrong: Tests

6. Don’t Stop at Email

Is Email Marketing Inbound or Outbound? 1

Marketing is changing has changed

The Traditional Marketing Playbook

Print TV Radio PR Events Direct Mail Analytics

7

86% skip TV ads

91% unsubscribe

200m Say DO NOT CALL

44% of direct mail is never opened

The New Marketing Playbook

SEO Social Media Blogging Email Marketing Lead Nurturing Social CRM Landing Pages Marketing Automation Marketing Analytics

Times Have Changed

1990 Sales Demo

Please tell me about your product.

You have my undivided attention.

2013 Sales Demo

Anyone use Company XYZ? What’s it like?

Does their blog make them look smart?

Is there a demo video from an actual user?

Search “Reviews for Company XYZ”

Do they have a mobile app?

Do I know anyone who works there?

3 Reasons to Go Inbound

1. Move with the change

2. Save money

3. Think long term

Move with the change

Save money

Inbound Consistently Yields Lower Cost Leads

89% maintaining or increasing inbound budgets

Increases Driven by Past Success; Decreases Driven by the Economy

Think long term

Inbound Builds Assets

We’ve seen it

Top 30 Blog

264k followers

443k likes

22k followers

60k new leads/month

8k customers

CAMPAIGN A

CAMPAIGN B

JIM

RICK

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Success with Inbound Marketing

8500 HubSpot Customers

5961

3855

1150 317 48 3

What is Inbound Email?

Outbound Email

+

Inbound Email

+

You’re Doing It Wrong: Recipients 2

Purchased/Rented Lists

• Reputable email service providers don’t allow it

• There’s no such thing as a good list for sale

• They don’t know you and don’t want your email

• Your deliverability and IP reputation will be harmed

Every time you email a cold list…

PRETEND A KITTEN DIES.

Purchased/Rented Lists

Do It Right: Build Opt-In List

Do It Right: Build Opt-In List

Do It Right: Build Opt-In List

Make it EASY

Make it EASY

58%

WHERE to sign up

WHY sign up

WHAT you’ll get

Email Blast to the Your Database

Do It Right: Segment Your List

Do It Right: Segment Your List

• Geography

• Age

• Gender

• Persona

• Organization type

• Organization size

• Industry

• Job function

• Seniority

• Past purchases

• Frequency of purchase or visit

• Purchase cycle

• Content topic

• Content format

• Interest level

• Education level

• Change in behavior

• Lifecycle stage

• Email type

• Satisfaction index

• Form abandonment

• Social media activity

• Number of conversions

• Current products

What to Segment On

Marketing Automation = Expiration

Your List Expires at ~25% / Year

Year 1 Year 2 Year 3

50K 21K

Attention Expires Too

40

500 Leads

50K list 4% CTR

25% Conversion

Marketing Automation Expiration

42 Leads 21K list 1% CTR

20% Conv

Do It Right: Fill the Top of the Funnel

Blogging

SEO

Social Media

Content

You’re Doing It Wrong: Content 3

Focusing on You, Not the Subscriber

Wordsmithing Every Word

Do It Right: Create Killer Content

Do It Right: Think About Your Personas

60% Average landing page conversion rate

73% Conversion Rate

7 Emails More Important Than Your Newsletter 4

1.) New Offer Email

2.) Thank You Email

Thank You Emails Get Twice the Response

3.) New Subscriber Nurturing

4.) Abandonment Nurturing

Abandonment Nurturing

90% of ecommerce leads go cold within one hour,

but when remarketed to, spend 50% more. - MIT Study via SeeWhy

Not Just for B2C

5.) Comarketing Email

6.) Social Media Updates

7.) Internal Updates

You’re Doing It Wrong: Tests 5

NOT Testing

Testing Brings Consistent, Immediate Results

Obsessing About Subject Lines

• Offer •Topic

•Format

•Length/Size

•Name

• Landing Page •Description

•Length

• Image/Preview

•Form Placement

•Number of Form Fields

•Which Form Fields

•Form “Submit” Button Text

• Sender Name/Address •Consistent vs. Changing

•Person vs. Company

•Category-Related Name

• Audience • Interest

•Persona

•Recency or Level of Engagement

•Other Demographics

•Lifecycle Stage

• Format •Plain Text vs. HTML

•Content in Text vs. Images

•Number of Calls to Action

•Length of Email

• Timing & Frequency •Day of Week

•Time of Day

•Triggered by Behavior

•Timing Around Event

•Frequency

Do It Right: Test Everything, Test Often

Do It Right: Focus on Metrics that Matter

Open Rate

Click Through Rate

Landing Page Conversion Rate

Close Rate

Don’t Stop at Email 6

Only Optimizing Email

Do It Right: Personalize All Channels

Do It Right: Integrate Email

• Email + Social = Expand Reach of Content & Build Following

• Email + Blog = Create Campaign Around Offer

• Email + Nurturing = Increase Yield of Email Leads

• Email + Search = Optimize Email Content for Search Traffic

• Email + Analytics = Measure Results & Segment Better

• Email + Mobile = Optimize Content for Device

Do It Right

1. Build an Opt-In List

2. Segment Your List

3. Fill the Top of the Funnel

4. Create Killer Content

5. Think About Your Personas

6. Think Beyond Your Newsletter

7. Test Everything, Test Often

8. Focus on Metrics that Matter

9. Personalize All Channels

10. Integrate Email

Thank You

Ellie Mirman

Head of SMB Marketing

HubSpot

ellie@hubspot.com

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