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Learn how to optimize your email marketing ecosystem to improve factors like like strategy, validation, design, development and compliance - for maximum delivery.
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Digital Wavefront - Your Technology Partner for multi-channel marketing
Creating Email Awesomeness!Nirmal Parikh
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Ray TomlinsonKnow who this is?
@
Wired
Wikipedia
1971
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Ray used this machine, a DEC-10, back in 1971 to send his first email.
And, have we come a long way since!
3.2 billion email accounts
838 billion marketing messages (2013)
3 out of 4 marketers use email marketing for retention
2 out of 3 consumers have made a purchase as a result of an email
$1 = $44.25 in email ROI
400+ marketing messages per month
Source: ExactTarget, Forrester, DMA, ReturnPath
Fast Forward to 2013-14!
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Email marketing can be very effective
It can/does influence purchase decisions and behavior
Email is context-agnostic (no matter where, what, when)
Email has control over us. Yes, it’s true!
We have very little patience & an even smaller attention span
We make decisions based on FROM names and subject lines
So, What Does All This Mean?
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@Modeling
Delivery
DevicesCompliance
Development
Design
Validation
Strategy
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<HTML>
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1: Strategy
There are 3 parts to an email strategy…
@
film.vic.gov.au
Part 1. Your Target Audience
@valuablecontent.co.uk
Part 2 – Your Content.
@ewaydirect.com
Part 3: Your Offer.
2: Validation
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Validation > Syntax Checking
jon’[email protected] <valid
[nirmal]@yahoo.com <valid
jenny”o”[email protected] <not valid
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This is the most basic form of validation that checks email for syntax errors.
Validation > Spam Traps Re-activated accounts
Re-activated [email protected]
Classic “honeypot” addresses used for [email protected]
So, why do we validate? Well…one of the reasons is to simply to avoid spam traps set up by ISPs.
Validation > Better Delivery Ratios!Use Case A
Start 100
Post-validation 100
Delivered 80
Deliverability 80%
Use Case B (validated list)
100
88
80
90%
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-12
Validation is the process of “pinging” an email address w/o actually sending an email; one of the most critical things from a perspective of data hygiene.
3: Design
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Design > Mobile
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65%
69%
66%
Source: ExactTarget, Forrester, DMA, ReturnPath
Of email is opened first on a mobile device.
69% delete emails that don’t display correctly on mobile.
66% of Gmail emails are opened on mobile.
Design > Email Clients
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Client Market Share (based on March 2014 opens)
Apple iPhone 26%
Outlook 14%
Apple iPad 12%
Gmail 11%
Apple Mail 8%
Google Android 7%
Outlook.com 6%
Yahoo! Mail 5%
Windows Live Mail 3%
Windows Mail 2%
Source: Litmus
53%Mobile email clients have 53% market share.
From Point & Click to Touch & Scroll
Users are accustomed to scrolling
Long-form content is perfectly OK!
Single-column layout
Design for touch accuracy
Animated GIFs?
Font sizes
Design > Optimization
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Here are some email designs that were targeted for and maximized for mobile device compatibility. The common theme across all of them is again “long-form” content and big/bold CTAs.
4: Development
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Standards-compliant <html></html>
Email client compatibility
Device compatibility
Responsive style-sheets (@media queries, CSS3)
Image ALT tags
Plain-text alternative
Email pre-header or
Johnson Box
Development > HTML
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Development > Respect the Inbox
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Consider feature advancements and developments with different email clients.
Gmail Promotions Tab – List View
Gmail Promotions Tab – Grid View
For example: your promotional emails may end up in the Gmail promotions tab, but you can maximize that space by designing for grid view.
5: Compliance
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Content Compliance Accurate FROM address
Relevant Subject line
Physical address of publisher and/or advertiser
Unsubscribe Compliance A visible and operable unsubscribe mechanism
Opt-out requests are honored within 10 business days
Country and Local Legislations• Canadian Anti-Spam Laws (CASL, Jul 1st 2014)
• EU Safe Harbor Policies
Compliance > CAN-SPAM
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6: Devices
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Devices > Ubiquity
@5-6am 8am 6pm 8pm
We live in a “multi-screen” and “multi-context” world, constantly switching devices over the course of the day.
Devices > Context
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Consider the context – when and where your emails will be read.
Devices > Form Factors
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Consider the different form factors you are targeting. From smartphones with 4-5” screens, to mid-sized tablets, all the way to laptops and wide-screen monitors.
Devices > Wearable Tech
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The Next Wave?
It’s wearable computing. Your emails are going to have to be “wrist-friendly” in the near future.
7: Delivery
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The Subject line is your Elevator Pitch. Master it.
33% of email recipients open email based on subject line alone
Try special characters (vFJQRST)
Keep it under 70 characters
Make it intriguing but relevant Avoid spammy words and phrases
FREE, mortgage, insurance, limited time, click now, open immediately, etc.
And, PLEASE don't!!! USE UPPERCASE, or a lot of punctuation!!!
Delivery > Subject Line Optimization
@Source: ExactTarget
@http://litmus.com/resources/subject-line-checker
Check how your subject line will render across different clients and interfaces.
Delivery > Tactical Considerations Aligning emails with in-home delivery of direct mail
Response rates 10% - 30% higher*
Acquisition costs 25% - 35% lower*
Time-zone localization 9am EST, 9am CST, 9am PST
Time-lapsed delivery 9am vs 2pm
Weekday vs. Weekend vs. Holiday delivery
* internal client benchmarks results, actual results may vary
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Delivery > Reputation
@Source: ReturnPath
Inbox SPAM83%
One of the biggest influencers of delivery is your ESP’s and/or server’s IP reputation (affecting delivery by 83%).
Sender Scorehttps://senderscore.org
Use this as a resource to check your sender score.
Delivery > Calibrating Sender Score No volume = No reputation = No Sender Score
Sudden influx of email = Potential spam
30 days of mailing = +46
Reverse DNS setup = +16
Complaints > 1.5% = -40 Target: < 0.1%
Bounce rate > 10% = -40
Spam trap = -40Source: ReturnPath @
90+
Delivery > DNS Records SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
v=spf1 mx ip4:72.19.227.112 a:me-ss2-6qydu7.mailengine1.com ~all
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
_domainkey.yourdomain.com IN TXT "t=y; o=~;"
k1._domainkey.yourdomain.com IN TXT "k=rsa;
p=MIGfMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUAA4GNADCBiQKBgQDk2qnamPIxlqH4q44Y3ZHutl
00nv83vl5wuR+/dkrwwFqENtsf1vk68QjbblRZ/mtfwoFeQcLrsqiuqQIDAQAB“
Sender Scores of 90-100 are 42% more likely to pass DKIM - ReturnPath @
Delivery > Choice of ESPs
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8: Predictive Modeling
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Predictive Modeling > Why?
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Send fewer, more targeted emails
Model after positive behavior and “look-alikes”
Improve delivery
Gain a better reputation & SenderScore
@Modeling
Delivery
DevicesCompliance
Development
Design
Validation
Strategy
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<HTML>
Recap
And That’s How YouCreate Email Awesomeness!
@Digital Wavefront - Your Technology Partner for multi-channel marketing
@
Nirmal Parikh
www.digitalwavefront.com
@BOSMarketer
@Digital Wavefront - Your Technology Partner for multi-channel marketing
