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Avenue Z Writing Solutions
Session Overview
Email trends It’s all about your audience Ads, announcements and eNewsletters Best practices for increasing open rate
Track and KNOW! Email Statistics Improve your subject line Improve your layout and look Learn how much is too much (or not
enough) Q&A
Introduction
Beth Ziesenis, Owner, Avenue Z Writing Solutions Education Director for the International
Erosion Control Association Multimedia Education Manager for
conference recording company Journalist, educator and writer for more
than 20 years Newsletter creator before newsletters were
cool
Email Trends
Your competition Company Email plans for 2008, compared
to 2007 (Source: Datran Media, January 2008): 82.4% to increase use of email marketing 15.3% to stay the same 2.4% to decrease email marketing
expenditures ROI will hit $45.65 for every dollar spent in
2008, more than twice the ROI of other marketing media
Your Reading Habits
How many emails do you get a day? How many newsletters?
More than 8 a month Read less than 2
Do you have some you always open? Do you have some you always delete?
It’s All About Your Audience Take a minute and jot down three messages that
you think your audience needs to know We’re having a conference We need you to call your legislator We need more volunteers Please donate to the ACC PAC
Take another minute and jot down three messages that your audience may say they want to know about What recent clinical trial results do I need to know
about? How can I manage my investments? What industry regulations might affect my practice?
Think About Your Audience First
Case Study: dezinegirl Case Study: Yugma Case Study: Get To The Po!nt
Ads, Announcements and ENewsletters
Ads: California, Michigan Promote a product or service Includes call to action; may give away something to
entice Announcements: Georgia
For ACC Chapters, perhaps a call to volunteer, a legislative update or announcement, a new benefit, the new board of directors
Similar to an electronic press release ENewsletters: Florida
Generally meant to create a relationship Informative and focused on how to make readers’
lives easier
ENewsletter Trends
ENewsletter Preferences
ENewsletter Trends
ENewsletter Dislikes Long articles, long newsletters, too much
text Too much graphics Old or irrelevant content Text-only format Too many ads/promos disguised as news Links that don’t work
Track and KNOW!
How are you sending things out? What can you learn?
How many people “open” How many people click something What they click What they don’t click Best measurement for your email
communication! Stats: Behind the Scenes
ACC Chapter Stats
About Your Subject Line
Jot down your last couple of subject lines Topic Branding Length
Results: How many characters are in your subject
line? Do you have branding? Did it list a topic?
Benchmarking/Improving Open Rates Stats
Some on survey http://bronto.com/stats/
Improving your subject line Add branding Give content – what do your people care about Keep it short
49 characters – short enough to be seen in a preview line
Case study: Fish Story What’s your fish story?
Segmenting Your Email List How does your database break down?
Number of years as members? Member demographics: location, age, field of study? Type of member: FACC, CCA, FIT, practice
administrators, vendors? Go back to the exercise where you wrote down
three things your members might want to know about You probably answered for your largest demographic Are there universal topics or things you can target, or
do you need to segment to increase interest in your messages?
How to test waters with subject lines, etc Something replicable/measurable
Best Practices for Layout and Look Case Studies
Carlsbad Marathon Constant Contact GrokDotCom The Well-Fed Epub ASAE AAP PAII
Characteristics of Good Layout Clean Table of contents Two-column layout Highlights in the column Short summaries with graphics
Read More Graphics
Meaningful Consistent look
Think about “above the fold”
Overall Look
Font Size? Color? Style? Under 10 point is cruel and unusual Black and white for most text Some color highlights Don’t go nuts with the font – simple is best
Graphics Load well Are clear and consistent Nice sizing Don’t “jump” Always work!
How to Find Your Look
What do you like? What do you read? Collect as many examples as you can
Ones you get and actually read Ones you get and DON’T read – why not? Your colleagues
Ask your audience for examples of what they like
How long, how often
Depends on purpose Frequently once a month for newsletters
and as needed for others Are you keeping in touch? Or are you
informing of latest developments? What do people click on?
How long? More than three scrolls? How many links? What do your stats say?
ACC Chapter Stats
Additional Resources
Beth Ziesenis 619 231 9225 [email protected] Free eNewsletter evaluation Content and eNewsletter services
Avenue Z Survey: October issue of FourWayStop FourWayStop archives and other resources
Improving Open Rates Constant Contact Opt-In News
