CONTENT + CONTEXT = INBOUND EMAIL MARKETING

We will be starting at 2:00 pm ET.

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Question of the day

Use the hashtag #InboundLearning on Twitter 1 2

#INBOUNDLEARNING

8/5 - Designing an inbound email experience

8/12 - How to build inbound emails

8/19 - Review of customer emails

WEBINAR SCHEDULE

Mark Kilens @MarkKilens

Niti Shah @NitiFromBoston

1 Why you should use email marketing

2 How to do email the inbound way

3 What makes emails effective

AGENDA

WHY YOU SHOULD USE EMAIL MARKETING. 1

“Email marketing is…”

“Email marketing is…”

SPAMMY

“Email marketing is…”

SPAMMY OUTBOUND

“Email marketing is…”

SPAMMY OUTBOUND

OLD SCHOOL

Email can be one of your most effective channels when you

use inbound best practices.

95% of online consumers use email; 91% check email at least once a day.

Email has longer lifespan than social media.

77% of consumers prefer email for marketing communications.

Email lets you be highly personal.

Email marketing has an ROI of 4300%.

1 There are more than 3.2 billion email accounts today.

6

2

3

4

5

6 REASONS EMAIL IS AWESOME.

SOURCE: EXACTTARGET (1,2), DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION (4, 6)

HOW TO DO EMAIL THE INBOUND WAY. 2

Convert new leads

You can use it for every part of the Inbound Methodology:

1

2

3

Close leads into customers

Delight customers

1 CONVERT NEW LEADS.

People like to share content they like.

FLICKR USER BEN GREY

That includes email. Send relevant content to the right segments to increase engagement.

Examples

OPTIMIZE YOUR EMAIL FOR SHARING

MAILTO LINKS

SOCIAL SHARING BUTTONS

FLICKR RICHARD.ASIA

When a lead forwards your email to someone, you gain the power of social proof.

Encouraging referrals from existing leads helps you generate new ones.

2 CLOSE LEADS INTO CUSTOMERS.

When you segment lists and tailor emails to each lead, they’ll be more engaged.

FLICKR KY_OLSEN

Build a relationship with your new leads by being helpful.

FLICKR KY_OLSEN

Listen to your existing leads to trigger email nurturing based

on their behavior.

Example: Say someone views your pricing page…

Create a segmented list…

…that triggers a workflow.

Lead receives an email from you asking if they have any questions about pricing.

…that triggers a workflow.

Their sales rep receives a notification that they’ve viewed the pricing page.

…that triggers a workflow.

3 DELIGHT CUSTOMERS INTO PROMOTERS.

Continue to engage customers by sending helpful resources and customer-only extras – Communication & education is key to delight.

FLICKR USER JD HANCOCK

FLICKR USER THE BROKEN ONE

Email is a cost-effective way to strengthen relationships with customers, upsell products, and help with customer retention.

Right Content Right Audience Right Timing

SUCCESS +

INBOUND MARKETING STRATEGY

This is where segmentation comes in.

INBOUND MARKETING STRATEGY

Determine who your audience is

HOW TO SEGMENT YOUR DATABSE.

1

2

3

Determine your audience’s lifecycle stage

Choose your segmentation criteria

4 Add list suppressions to improve list quality

1 DETERMINE WHO YOUR AUDIENCE IS.

BUYER PERSONAS

• Who are your ideal customers?

• What are their interests?

• What are their pain-points

• What are their behavior patterns?

• What are their motivations?

• What are their goals?

Example: Marketing Mary

• 25-40 years old

• Marketing manager or director

• Doesn’t have time

• Struggles to align marketing channels

• Interested in improving ROI

2 DETERMINE YOUR AUDIENCE’S LIFECYCLE STAGE.

The content you send is dependent on where your audience is in the buyer’s journey.

Awareness

The content you send is dependent on where your audience is in the buyer’s journey.

Awareness

Consideration

The content you send is dependent on where your audience is in the buyer’s journey.

Awareness

Consideration

Decision

The content you send is dependent on where your audience is in the buyer’s journey.

3 CHOOSE YOUR SEGMENTATION CRITERIA.

More criteria = more targeted lists.

More criteria = smaller list sizes.

It’s vital to find a sweet spot between targeting the right audience and having a proper list size.

So how do I choose criteria?

FLICKR _HADOCK_

ROLE

Department

Seniority

Experience

FLICKR _HADOCK_

LIFECYCLE STAGE

Subscriber

Lead

Opportunity

Customer

Promoter / Evangelist

FLICKR USER _HADOCK_

FIRMOGRAPHIC

Company size

Company type

Industry

Department size

FLICKR _HADOCK_

BEHAVIORAL

Conversion events

Email opens

Page views

FLICKR USER IRON RODAR

GEOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION

IP Area

Time Zone

Area Code

Address

FLICKR ROBERT S. DONOVAN

MARKETING INTELLIGENCE

# of Twitter followers

# of Facebook fans

SEO search terms

Website Pages

Technology

FLIICKR USER MOHAMMED ALNASER

Some leads are never going to close. But they still love you!

FLICKR IRON RODART – ROYCE VAIR (“STAR SHOOTER”)

LET THEM SPREAD THE LOVE.

Evangelists

Influencers

Students

4 ADD LIST SUPPRESSIONS TO IMPROVE LIST QUALITY.

FLIICKR USER ROSEMARIE HUGHES

Your list decays at 25% a year. A list with 10,000 contacts will only have 5,625 viable contacts in 3 years.

FLIICKR USER HEGARTY_DAVID

Emailing purchased lists increases your chances of being marked as SPAM & decreases deliverability rates.

FLICKR USER REMON RIJPER

Say goodbye to unengaged leads. Suppress them from your segmented lists.

FLICKR USER REMON RIJPER

Example: leads who haven’t opened an email in more than 1 year.

FLICKR USER @NOTNIXON

Suppress other lists that receive emails in the same timeframe. You don’t want to send them double emails.

39%

34%

28%

24%

24%

24%

21%

Increased Open Rates

Greater Email Relevance

Lower Opt-Out/Unsubscribe Rates

Better Deliverability

Increased Sales Leads

Greater Revenue

Greater Customer Retention % ofrespondents

EMAIL LIST SEGMENTATION RESULTS

SOURCE: LYRIS, INC.

WHAT MAKES EMAILS EFFECTIVE. 3

The right content + context

What makes an email perform well?

1

2 Aligning the email content / structure with the email's goal

1 THE RIGHT CONTENT + CONTEXT

Emails should add value,

not ask for it.

• Videos

• Blog posts

• Slideshares

• Free Tools

• Ebooks/Guides

Send persona-aligned content based on The Buyer’s Journey.

• Webinars

• Case Studies

• FAQ Sheets

• Product Whitepapers

• Third-Party Reviews

Send persona-aligned content based on The Buyer’s Journey.

• Free Trials

• ROI Reports

• Product Demos

• Consultations

• Estimates/Quotes

Send persona-aligned content based on The Buyer’s Journey.

2 ALIGN EMAIL WITH SPECIFIC GOAL

IDENTIFY A SPECIFIC GOAL:

• Generate new leads: enable sharing

• Follow up on offer download: kickback email

• Collect audience feedback: surveys

• Increase program awareness: informative copy

• Nurture leads further down The Buyer’s Journey: resources

• Facilitate sales process: CTA such as “call us”

• Educate customers about new features: overview

Cool. Do you have examples?

Come back next week! Same time, same place.

NEXT STEPS

1. To be successful at email marketing you need to send the right content to the right person at the right time.

2. Segment your contacts database to increase engagement and deliverability.

3. Balance segmentation with feasible list size.

4. Optimize emails based on the goal of your email.

RESOURCES

• Anatomy of a Five Star Email

• Science of Email Marketing 2014

• 8 Little Tricks to Make Your Emails More Clickable

QUESTIONS?

THANK YOU.