agilon email best practices
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Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Email Best Practices: Actionable Advice About Email
Amanda Miller Marketing ManagerAgilon, LLC
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
2010 Email Benchmarks
• Open rates declined by about 12% on average• Fundraising Response rate fell by 19% & advocacy response rate
declined by 7%.• Unsubscribe rates held steady between 2009 & 2010.
Source: 2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study by NTEN & M+R Strategic Services
Open Rate Click-throughRate
Response Rate
Unsubscribe Rate
All 13% 1.9% - .23%
Fundraising 12% .6% .08% .24%
Advocacy 13% 3.7% 3.3% .16%
Newsletter 12% 2.0% - .22%
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
2010 Email Statistics• Average open rates on fundraising appeals:
– 24% for higher education– 18% for nonprofits overall
• Click-thru rates on fundraising appeals were:– 2.37% for higher education– 1.76% for nonprofits overall
• Response rate was:– .04% for higher education– .16% for nonprofits overall
Source: Convio 2011 Benchmark Report
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
2010 Email Statistics• % of Usable Emails in Database:
– 75% for higher education– 54% for nonprofits overall
• Email file growth was 21% over 2009.• E-Newsletter open rates:
– 24% for higher education– 19.2% for nonprofits overall (decline from 20.4 % in 2009)
• E-Newsletter click-thru rate:– 4.24% for higher education– 3.06% for nonprofits overall
Source: Convio 2011 Benchmark Report
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
2010 Email StatisticsMessage Volume per Month per Subscriber
Source: 2011 eNonprofit Benchmarks Study by NTEN & M+R Strategic Services
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Relevance
Source: http://www.lyris.com/blog/796-Increase-Email-Open-Rates-ROI-with-Deliverability-Analysis-Frequency-and-Triggered-Email
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Relevance
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Relevance
• Target Audience• Message (email &
web)• Timing
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Targeting• Target a high-value segment
– Recency– Frequency – Monetary
• Target one-time big donors– Current email subscriber – Made only one gift in the last 18
months– Gift amount ranked in the top 20% of
all gifts made
• Target by interest areas
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Targeting & Relevance
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Subject Line
• Tell users something they want to know– trigger curiosity– appeal on an emotional level
• Test a few subject lines on a segment of your list
• Avoid promotional words
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Subject Line Segmentation
• Here’s the raw data being used• The TITLE field is merged into the
Subject line of the email.• In this case, it varies according to the
job classification of each recipient. In your case, the subject of email might vary by Alumni, Board Member, Parent, Corporation
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Message Clarity
• Ease of use• Clarity of the message and/or call
to action• Accurate landing and/or
registration page copy• Use landing page, not email body
for details
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Content Preview• Send from a real human being
– Choose two or three people to be messengers– Reflect personality of the sender of a certain type of email– Establish a personal connection.
• Make emails action oriented– Invite the reader to take an action – Engage them in the process
• Keep it short and succinct – Personal– Relevant– Specific
• Make it scannable • Use graphics for a purpose
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Content Preview• Make it scannable• Use graphics for a purpose• Include actual links• Avoid generic links like “click here”
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Content Preview
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Scheduling
• Develop an email and online content calendar– Be flexible to account for unplanned events– Give yourself time to prepare– Send only when you really have something to say– Be cognizant of holidays & world events
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Scheduling
• Frequency of email based on:– Relationship with readers– The news cycle– Timeline of actions you want
donors to take• Campaign Throttling
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Domain Differences• Use test &
actual data• Preview by
domain• Report by
domain
Source: http://www.lyris.com/blog/796-Increase-Email-Open-Rates-ROI-with-Deliverability-Analysis-Frequency-and-Triggered-Email
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Testing• Segment your list• Change the content based on your segments
– Subject Line– Images– Layout– Copy
• Track the data– Open Rate– Unsubscribe Rate– Click Through Rate– Bounce Rate
• Launch your campaign• Analyze the results
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Analyzing Results• Open Rate• Bounce Rate• Click-Thru Rate• Conversion Rate• Rates will go up for more targeted campaigns
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Traffic to Web Site
Use Google tagging on your email campaigns to track them as the source of traffic to your web site.
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Campaign Performance
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Mobile Messages• Keep it small• Keep it short• Key points should be near the top• No more than 600 pixels• Resize images• Include a click-to-call link• Include a text version
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Subscription Best Practices• Comply with CAN-SPAM
– Nonprofits are not exempt– Relate message to mission– Unsubscribe option– Full mailing address of sender
• Click to view as web page• Change email preferences• List Management
– Hard bounces– Soft bounces
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Subscription Best Practices
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
Subscription Growth
• Forward to a friend• Subscriber Link in email• Subscriber link with content downloads/requests• Re-engagement campaigns• QR & SMS codes for online subscription
Info@MyAgilon.com Advancing technology for advanced nonprofits. www.MyAgilon.com
800-480-9015 Ext. 0779
Amanda.Miller@MyAgilon.com
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