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E Mail Marketing
E Mail Marketing
2.1 Introduction
At its core, e-mail marketing is a tool for customer relationship management (CRM).
Used effectively, this extension of permission-based marketing can deliver one of the
highest returns on investment (ROI) of any eMarketing activity. Simply put, e-mail
marketing is a form of direct marketing that utilizes electronic means to deliver
commercial messages to an audience. It is one of the oldest and yet still one of the most
powerful of all eMarketing tactics. The power comes from the fact that it is the
following:
2.2 History
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E-mail actually predates the Internet and was first used way back in 1961 as a way for
users of the same computer to leave messages for each other. Ray Tomlinson is credited
with creating the first network e-mail application in 1971. He initiated the use of the “@”
sign and the address structure that we use today (username@hostname).Dave Crocker,
“Email History,” http://www.livingInternet.com/e/ei.htm (accessed March 18,
2008). E-mail was used to send messages to computers on the same network and is still
used for this purpose today.
It was only in 1993 that large network service providers, such as America Online and
Delphi, started to connect their proprietary e-mail systems to the Internet. This began
the large-scale adoption of Internet e-mail as a global standard. Coupled with standards
that had been created in the preceding twenty years, the Internet allowed users on
different networks to send each other messages.
Direct marketing has long played an integral part in marketing campaigns, but the high
cost meant that only large companies were able to pursue it. However, with the growth
of the Internet, and the use of e-mail to market directly to consumers, marketers have
found these costs dropping and the effectiveness increasing.
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E-mail was first used as a way for users of the same computer to leave messages for
each other.
Spam is defined as unsolicited commercial or bulk e-mail, and today is said to
account for 97 percent of all e-mail.
2.3 How It Works
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1. Understand the different types of e-mail and how they are used.
If you consider marketing as communicating with current and potential customers, you
will see that every e-mail that is sent from your organization should be considered as
part of your holistic e-mail marketing strategy. Does that sound a little complicated?
Consider an online retailer, http://www.zappos.com. Zappos is an online shoe retailer.
What are the ways that, as a customer, you might receive e-mails from Zappos?
E-mails to suppliers
Communication with affiliates
All the communication sent out can be used to convey your marketing message. Every
touch point will market the organization. However, here we will focus on commercial e-
mails.
1. Promotional e-mails. These are more direct and are geared at enticing the user to
take an immediate action. They always feature a call to action and are designed
around a specific goal.
2. Retention-based e-mails. Also referred to as newsletters, these may include
promotional messages but should be focused on providing information of value
to the user, geared at building a long-term relationship with the user.
As with all eMarketing activities, careful planning is called for, as is careful testing and
evaluating, so as to optimize your revenue. E-mail marketing may be highly cost
effective, but the cost of getting it wrong can be very high indeed.
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There are two types of commercial e-mails: promotional e-mails and retention-
based e-mails.
E-mail can be categorized as follows: transactional e-mails, newsletters, and
promotional e-mails.
EX ERCISES
1. Search through your e-mail in-box. Can you find an example of a newsletter? Of a
promotional e-mail? Of a transactional e-mail?
2. Using an advertiser of your choice, write mock copy that may be used in either a
promotion e-mail or a newsletter.
3. As indicated above, the cost of getting e-mail marketing wrong can be very high. Can
you think of an example where that may be the case?
2.4 Nine Steps to Executing an E-mail Campaign
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There are nine steps to executing an e-mail campaign properly. These nine steps should
be considered best practices for e-mail campaigns. If followed closely, a marketer can
expect great results.
The nine steps are as follows and will be addressed in the following subsections:
1. Strategic planning
2. Definition of list
3. Creative execution
4. Integration of campaign with other channels
5. Personalization of the message
6. Deployment
7. Interaction handling
8. Generation of reports
9. Analysis of results
The first part of any e-mail campaign should involve planning around the goals you
want to achieve. These will probably be in line with the goals of your Web site, with e-
mail marketing being used as a tool to help you achieve those goals. As discussed
in Chapter 15 "Web Analytics and Conversion Optimization", you will decide on the key
performance indicators (KPIs) for your campaign as well. Promotional e-mails will
usually have an immediate goal:
Users make a purchase
Users download a white paper
Users request further information
Newsletters tend to focus on longer-term goals, and so your KPIs become more
important here. KPIs include the following:
Open rate
Click-through rate
Number of e-mails forwarded
Return on investment (ROI)
A successful e-mail campaign is most likely to be the one geared at retaining and
creating a long-term relationship with the reader.
Know your audience; they will dictate the interactions. For more information on writing
for your audience, please refer to Chapter 14 "Online Copywriting".
Permission must be explicitly given by all people to whom e-mails are sent. Companies
that abuse this can put their reputation in jeopardy, and in some countries, legal action
can be taken against companies that send unsolicited bulk e-mail—spam.
Growing this database, while keeping it targeted, is a key factor in any e-mail campaign.
The database needs only one entry—the prospect’s e-mail—but the following should also
be considered:
Fields such as name, surname, and title should be separated in your database. You
should also gather date of birth as opposed to a prospect’s age—it ensures your database
can stay up to date.
Don Pepper and Martha Rogers refer to gathering information over a period of time as
“drip irrigation,” since it neither overwhelms nor parches the prospect.Don Peppers and
Martha Rogers, Managing Customer Relationships: A Strategic Framework (Hoboken,
NJ: Wiley, 2004).
However, don’t be tempted to ask for more information than is required. The more
information marketers can gather, the better they can customize their marketing
messages. However, the more information a prospect is required to give, the more
apprehensive he will be about parting with these details. This is in part because of the
hassle involved and in part as a result of fear around Internet fraud. Following the initial
sign-up, further information can be requested over a period of time.
There are a myriad of ways to attract prospects to opt in to a database. An e-mail sign-
up form on a company Web site is key. Visitors to a Web site have already expressed an
interest in a company by clicking through to the Web site—this is an opportunity to
develop that interest further.
Put the sign-up form where it can be seen—on every page and above the fold (i.e.,
on the page where it can be seen without scrolling down).
State your antispam stance explicitly, and be clear about how you value
subscribers’ privacy.
Use a clear call to action.
Tell subscribers what they will get, and how often they will get it. Include a
benefit statement.
Ensure the e-mail address is correct by checking the syntax.
Test to see what works best.
Offer something valuable for free (e.g., white paper, gift voucher, music track),
and ask if they would sign up to your newsletter at the same time.
Add a subscribe box to the checkout process of your retail site.
Use interactions at trade shows to request e-mail addresses.
Opt-in and double opt-in: the integrity of the database can be safeguarded with a double
opt-in process. An e-mail is sent to the e-mail address supplied, and the user has to click
on a link within that e-mail to confirm their subscription. This means that dud e-mail
addresses are kept out of the database and confirms that the user has granted explicit
permission.
Text e-mails are the plain ones—text only, as the name suggests. If you have a Windows
computer and you open up Notepad and type there, then you will be creating a text file.
These e-mails are smaller and plainer. While copy is always important, it is particularly
critical in this case, as it is the key driver of action and interaction.
HTML e-mails are the e-mails with all the bells and whistles. These e-mails can contain
images, different fonts, and hyperlinks. It’s probably what you’ve had in mind
throughout this chapter when we have referred to e-mail marketing.
Parts of an E-mail
Header. This has the “to,” “from,” and “reply to” fields. These are also opportunities to
build a relationship through creating a perception of familiarity. In other words, the
reader needs to perceive that the newsletter is somewhat unique for them and sent
personally by the publisher. Using a personalized company e-mail address (e.g.,
[email protected]) for the “reply” field creates familiarity and builds trust with
the reader. The “from” address should also include the organization’s name. A
meaningless “from” address that the reader cannot identify only serves to confuse the
origin of the newsletter and spark apprehension.
Subject line. The subject line could be considered the most important part of an e-mail.
Subject lines aid the reader in identifying the e-mail and also entice the reader to open
it. The subject line is also scrutinized by spam filters and so should avoid words like
“free,” “win,” and “buy now.” Consistent subject lines, using the name of the company
and the newsletter edition, can build familiarity and help readers to sort their in-box. As
with everything online, testing different subject lines will lead marketers to the formula
that works for them.
Personalized greeting. With a database that has entries for readers’ names, it is possible
to personalize the greeting of the e-mail. “Hi, Kim Morgan” can elicit far better
responses than “Dear Valued Customer,” but it is possible to create a greeting with
personality without personalizing it. Occasionally, the subject line can be personalized
as well to boost responses.
Body. This is where the content of the e-mail goes. Don’t be tempted to use too many
images: it can increase the size of the e-mail, and it can obscure text when images do not
load. Be sure that text is not on the image but rather can be read without an image being
loaded. Readers want value, so where images are used, make sure they are relevant and
not just space fillers.
Footer. A standard footer for e-mails helps to build consistency, and is the customary
place to keep the contact details of the company sending the e-mail. At the very least,
this should include the name and contact e-mail of the company. It can also include the
privacy policy of the sender. One way to grow the e-mail list is add a “forward to a
friend” link in the footer. The most important part of the footer is a clear unsubscribe
link.
Create Content
Relevant and valuable e-mail content is vital to ensuring the success of an e-mail
marketing campaign. Valuable content is informative and should address the problems
and needs of readers. It is important to realize that the reader determines the value of
the content, not the publisher.
Successful e-mail campaigns provide value to their readers. This value can vary from
campaign to campaign. Newsletters can offer the following:
Humor
Research
Information
Promotions
However, avoid being marked as spam by staying away from words like “free,” “buy
now,” and “discount.”
An e-mail client is the software or program that a person uses to access his or her e-
mail. Some are Web based, like Gmail and Hotmail, but there are also plenty of
software-based e-mail clients, like Outlook, Thunderbird, Eudora, and Lotus, to
mention just a few. Theoretically, the same e-mail could look different in every single
one of these, so be prepared. In addition to testing the e-mail to ensure that it will pass
spam filters, the design should be tested to ensure that it renders clearly in as many e-
mail clients as possible. Make sure that images line up, that copy is clear, and that all the
links work.
There should never be a disparity between the content, tone, or design of an e-mail
when compared to the rest of a company’s offerings. In-store promotions can be
reinforced and promoted to an e-mail database, or Web site information can be
summarized for e-mail.
Custom landing pages, as required, should be created for any promotions being
communicated in an e-mail communication.
Execution
Step 5: Personalization of the Message
Customization starts at using the recipient’s name and sending either HTML or text e-
mails based on preference, to sophisticated measurement of a recipient’s preferences
and tailoring content to suit them.
Step 6: Deployment
By creating valuable content, establishing the correct frequency, and testing an e-mail
for display and deliverability, an e-mail marketer should be able to ensure an excellent
delivery rate. Consistency in deploying newsletters also aids in fostering trust and
fulfilling expectation. E-mails should be delivered at consistent times, but the optimum
time for best results should be tested.
E-mail reputation can determine whether or not your message is regarded as spam. It is
determined by the general opinion of the Internet service providers (ISPs), the antispam
community, and the recipients of an e-mail. It can relate to a sender’s Internet protocol
(IP) address, sending domain, or both. This means that if someone sends e-mail using
the same server that you use, you could be damaged if they spam. This opinion is a
reputation score created by an ISP or a third-party provider. If the sender’s score falls
within the ISP’s thresholds, a sender’s messages will be delivered to the in-box. If not,
the sender’s e-mails may arrive in the bulk folder, be quarantined, or be bounced back to
the sender.
Becoming an effective e-mail marketer requires constant list cleansing and hygiene. In
fact, most lists shrink by 15 percent each year due to subscribers changing e-mail
addresses. Make sure you are diligent about maintaining a current opt-in list to achieve
maximum deliverability via reputation.
An e-mail white list is a list of contacts that the user deems are acceptable to receive e-
mail from and should not be sent to the trash folder.
When should you send e-mails? Common sense tells you not on Monday morning or
Friday afternoon, but it varies by audience. Testing will guide you.
When is e-mail an e-mail, and when is it spam? Spam is unsolicited bulk e-mail—it
means that the recipient never gave permission to be sent that e-mail.
If the recipient has given permission to be sent marketing messages by e-mail, then it is
not spam. Users give permission when they check a box that says, “Yes, please send me
offers from your company by e-mail.” The e-mail address can only be provided to
another company if the user ticks a box that says, “Yes, please send me offers from third
parties selected by you by e-mail.”
Permission must be explicitly given to the company to be allowed to market to that user.
Trying to gain explicit permission in a sneaky way will only annoy your users and might
result in your e-mails being marked as spam, which subsequently damages your
reputation.
Postcampaign
Step 8: Report Generation
As with all things eMarketing, tracking, analyzing, and optimizing is key to growth. E-
mail tracking systems produce statistics in a user-friendly manner.
The following are key measurables for understanding the performance of e-mail
campaigns:
Open rate does not necessarily indicate whether or not an e-mail has been read. How do
you think a marketer can determine if e-mails are being read?
Once the reports have been generated, it is time to work out what the numbers are
revealing and to use this information to improve the next e-mail sent out.
With e-mail marketing, split testing across a host of factors will enable campaign
optimization. The following are some factors to test:
All e-mails need to be tested for e-mail client compatibility as well as for any potential
spam problems. E-mail client compatibility can be reviewed
at http://www.litmusapp.com, and an e-mail’s spam score can be checked
at http://spamassassin.apache.org.
Once an e-mail has been sent, results need to be analyzed to pinpoint areas for growth
for the next campaign.
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EX ERCISES