“Starting Off Fresh: Re-Validating, Re-Permissioning & Rejuvenating Your 2015 Email Programs”

Starting off fresh: re-validating, re-

permissioning & rejuvenating your

2015 email programs

Your Presenter:

www.highroadsolution.com

Jenny Lassi has been affiliated with

HighRoad Solution for 8 years first as a

client and then as an employee. With

experience handling deployments and

deliverability for a wide range of clients

with optimized recipient engagement

top-of-mind, Jenny routinely trouble

shoots deliverability issues from ISP

level filtering to email client level

filtering (email Forensics as she refers

to them). She also consults with clients

on authentication, content, content

strategy, email preference center

management & other deliverability

optimization tactics.

Today’s Content


• How to turn invalid email addresses

into an opportunity to connect

• Re-permission campaign strategy &

best practices

• Rejuvenating 2015 email programs

• Key Takeaways

It’s Time for a Fresh Start!

Invalid eMail Address Handling

1. 1-Hard Bounce

2. 3-Consecutive Soft Bounces of a

Particular Bounce Type

What’s with the bounce?

1. Email address no longer exists (Hard Bounce)

2. Lack of Authentication

3. Blacklists

4. IP Reputation

5. Filter thresholds met then all other traffic deferred

6. Changes on recipient email server filter software

7. Recipient email server not available temporarily

Getting to the Root of the Bounce

1. Set up DKIM/Sender ID if you haven’t already

2. Make sure email address is correct in the system and your AMS/CRM

3. Review bounce code/reason from Bounce Logs

4. Reach out to abuse@ AND [email protected] to request to whitelist the IP address of your email platform account/HighRoad account and your domain ideally within 48-hours of the sent message

mailto:[email protected]

Getting to the Root of the Invalid

1. Isolate Temp/Perm Invalids

2. Subscriber Analysis

3. Bounce Log Review

4. Data Hygiene Analysis

5. Data Collection

Invalid Export Analysis

The bounce column indicates the present count of either soft or hard bounces the subscriber has experienced.

The invalid column indicates whether the subscriber is permanently invalid (2), temporarily invalid (1), or not invalid (0).

Invalid Forensics

1. Look up subscriber history to see the last message sent that bounced

2. Get to the root of the invalid by reviewing bounce code/reason from Bounce Logs from that specific send

Invalid Forensics

Run all platform invalids through an Email Validation Service to see which invalids are true invalids or which are valid email addresses that you’re unable to deliver to.

Email Validation Report

A quick report can be

run to determine if the

email addresses that

are invalid in your email

database are true

invalids because they

don’t exist or if there

might be other factors

at the root of the invalid.

Bucketize Results

True Invalids

Turn true invalids into an opportunity to reach out to constituents personally and strengthen your relationship

Invalid False Positives

Are you getting bounced, blocked and beat up?

Invalid False Positives

Start the conversation with the blocking domain:

Reach out to abuse@ AND [email protected] to request to whitelist the IP address of your email platform account/HighRoad account and your domain ideally within 48-hours of the sent message

mailto:[email protected]

How do you re-validate an invalid?

1. You can look up each subscriber 1 by 1 and revalidate from their Subscriber Profile

2. Delete invalid subscribers from the system and re-import (Note: you will lose Message History in this process for many platforms)

Once again…ONLY AFTER you get to the root of the issue should you un-flag the record as

invalid.

Re-Validate Single Record

BULK Re-Validate

1. Export File

2. Delete

3. Re-Import

Once Re-Validated…

Measure again.

How soon should you measure?

Was the root issue resolved?

If not, back to the drawing board!

24

Feeling eMoody?Perhaps you suffer from EMS

Re-Permission

A strategic touch-point or series of

touch-points with the goal of

subscriber engagement or conversion

Why should I Re-Permission?Subscribers who do not engage with your emails cost you money and decrease open/click rate statistics.

Re-engage with a Permission Campaign!

When should I re-permission?

If you initiate 1 re-permission campaign

per year, start it mid-May to early-June.

If you initiate 2 re-permission campaigns

per year, start the first in mid-February

and again in mid-May to early-June.

Re-Permission Anatomy

Re-Permission CTA

CTA Motivation:

• Combine RP with Offer

• RP with Emotional

Appeal

• RP with Time Sensitive

Response

Rejuvenate & Grow

Rejuvenate & Grow

Let 2015 be the year you fall in love

with Email Marketing all over again!

Digital Communication Rejuvenation

Breathe new life into your digital communications by stretching beyond your comfort zone to learn and grow.

Routine can siphon the fun and spontaneity out of your job as an email marketer.

You have to shake things up!

How?

Testing… Testing… 123

What is AB Testing?


AB Testing Defined


A/B testing is a term commonly used in web development,

online marketing, and other forms of advertising to describe

simple randomized experiments with two variants, A and B,

which are the control and treatment in the controlled

experiment.

The formal or scientific name used for this process and other

related processes is hypothesis testing. Other names include

randomized controlled experiments, online controlled

experiments, and split testing.

What should I test?


• Subject Lines

• Lead Story

• TOC

• More Text vs. Read More

• Graphic to Text ratio

• Call-To-Action Button Color &

Placement

• Layout

• Image Types

• Send Times

Method & Goal


• Test a sample of your distribution list

and send winning version to the

remaining list recommended 12-24

hours later mid week.

• Highest Delivery Rate

• Highest Open Rate

• Highest Click to Open Rate

Case Study

Workshop

Can you trust your gut?


Case Study

Workshop

Can being more

verbose with

testimonials get a

higher response?



Version A


Version B

Case Study

Workshop

What do you think?

Version A?

Version B?


Case Study

Workshop

Version B won an

astounding 247% more

clicks


Case Study

Workshop

Does a larger lead

story get people to

click?



Version A


Version B

Case Study

Workshop

What do you think?

Version A?

Version B?


Case Study

Workshop

Version B, the one

without bigger featured

content, increased

clicks by 75% and

online registrations by a

stunning 400%


Case Study

Workshop

Does more or less

white space increase

engagement?



Version A


Version B

Case Study

Workshop

What do you think?

Version A?

Version B?


Case Study

WorkshopVersion A Increased

clickthroughs by 5.6%,

and heatmaps showed

that there was a higher

engagement as a

whole across the entire

email.www.highroadsolution.com

55

Thank you for participating in the

Starting Off Fresh: Re-Validating, Re-

Permissioning & Rejuvenating Your 2015

Email ProgramsWebinar!

Note: Be sure to look for an email

featuring a recording of today’s webinar

and a copy of the presentation.

Key Takeaways…


• Address bounce logs within 48 hours of

sending to address potential future invalids

• Address invalid email addresses in a

routine fashion, ideally 1x quarter

• Re-permission inactive subscribers at least

1x/yr but ideally 2x/yr

• Make heavy use of AB testing Q1

to learn, grow & excite