Email Marketing Best Practices

Email Best Practices

Email Marketing Metrics

Churn Metrics - How to reduce unsubscribes?

Why segmentation matters?

Increase Open Rates & Click-through Rates Beware of SPAM Examples of Successful Campaigns

Email Marketing Metrics Fishbowl has established certain benchmarks—so you can measure the success of your email program. The

best measure of a program’s success is hard redemption tracking.

Open Rate – the proportion of email recipients that opened the mailing

Industry Average: 22% - 27%

Click-through Rate (CTR) – indication of response to a specific mailing, number of unique individuals who clicked one or more links in your email expressed as percentage of total tracked opens

Industry Average: 2 - 3%

Unsubscribe Rate – the proportion of email recipients that unsubscribed as a result of email message (will fluctuate from mailing to mailing)

Industry Average: less than 3%

Open Rate

LSM 22.08%

Postcard: 19.48%

Fishbowl Marketing Benchmarks Average for QSR

Churn Metrics & List Growth To increase your member list it is important to maintain the number of recipients you

already have.

Email Marketers have the power to control:

1. Frequency – too many emails

2. Relevancy – content is irrelevant, out of date, or repetitive

How to reduce unsubscribe rate:

• Segment and Target –segment using available member data and target with tailored messaging

• Survey and Test – ask your recipients what information they want to receive and how often they’d like to hear from you; then test frequency pattern and content

• Join Page Options – let your members select email preferences when they complete your eClub form

You can also utilize input reporting to gain insight into which methods are resulting in the greatest number of unsubscribes.

Why segmentation matters? Segmentation improves performance in a wide range of metrics.

What this tells us:

Email List Segmentation Results

Utilize the data and information you

collect form your join form, guest

surveys, or data append to deliver

relevant content to increase open

rates and click-through rates

Segmentation allows you to provide

the right information to the right

members ultimately increasing

email performance!

Ways to Segment

Target Markets by Brand

Input Source

Data Append Information

Store Location

Time Zones

Level of engagement – based on the number of

emails a member has opened in given period

Content:

Members who opened emails about

dinner offers vs. members who opened

emails about Kids pricing.

Increase Open Rates & Click Through Rates Factors to Consider

Subject Lines

Calls-to-Action

Content and Design

Social Sharing, Personalization

Frequency and Timing

Testing

The Subject Line is a key factor in open rate success!

Keep it to minimum: aim for 50 characters or less to avoid inbox truncation

Focus on composition of first to words (prime real estate)

Convincing Captions – [Exclusive Offer] or [Limited Time Only]

Give Symbols a Try ♥ ★ ☼ ♫ ☀ ✿ ☆ ♡ ⇒ ☺ ❤ ✈ ✞ → ☂

Provide incentive: highlight the value of the message in the first few words

Personalize: include recipient’s first name — but be sure the name flows well with subject line message

Use actionable language: use proven action words and keywords that inspire and instill a sense of urgency

Be explicit and clear: do not trick your audience with a misleading or vague subject line

Avoid Spam Triggers:

All capitalized letters (ex. STOP BY TODAY)

Excessive punctuation (ex. !!!)

33% of email recipients open an email based on the subject line alone1

1. Convinceand convert.com

Subject Line

8

At about 45-50 characters we see the Open Rate drop below benchmark based on the trend line. Mobile is a large part of the subject line analysis • The iPhone 5 & 6 will only show about 35-38 characters in portrait mode but

80 in landscape mode. • iPhone 6+ shows up to 63. • Galaxy S4 shows slightly fewer characters – about 33 in portrait mode and

72 in landscape. iPad will show 39 characters regardless of the orientation.

Calls-to-Action (CTAs) are one the most important component of your emails.

Visibility is Key: CTAs perform best when located “above the fold” – the space in your email viewable to the recipient without having scroll

Stand Out: make sure to use contrasting colors for your CTAs to ensure readers know to click!

Active Language: tell users what to do and try active language such as “Register”, “Visit”, or “Click Here”

Limit the Numbers: too many calls to action lead to reader confusion and reduce clicks

Keep it Simple and Clear: design clear and concise messaging with a single call to action

Mailings with one action generated the highest click-through rates.

What does this mean?

Other helpful tactics:

Content and Design Appeal

Relevancy

Content has to meet your objectives:

Who is the target of your email? Why will they want to open it? What do you want them to do next?

Use your data! Segment by demographics, preferences, and behaviors — then you can tailor your content accordingly

Incorporate personalization with recipient's name, store, etc.

Consistency

Your branding should be consistent across all mediums – including email

‘From’ lines should be consistent too!

Subject line makes a promise, deliver in message

Layout and Design

The right design layout it key and a smart design will increase click-through rates

You want the design to guide the viewer through the message

Use the right balance of images and text

Keep important information above the fold (just in case the viewer doesn’t scroll)

(MarketingSherpa.Wisdom Report.2011.)

Content and Design Appeal

Pre-header

Text that follows a subject line when an email is previewed

Use as a CTA to help grab attention of mobile users

People are busy – so make you pre-header compelling

Header

Normally contains your logo and navigations elements

Recommendation: periodically changing links featured in navigation, so they related to message content

Headline

First thing your recipient will see when they open message

Engage and excite customer to continue reading

Keep it sweet and short – and to the point!

Content and Design Appeal

Body

Consider your reader: computer vs. smartphone

Sentences: 1-2 lines (especially leading to a link)

Paragraphs: 4-5 lines

Outline all of the details to your offer, invitation, or event

Establish a clear visual hierarchy

Ensure all HTML text links stand out

Utilize HTML text whenever possible – ensure message

content is delivered if images are not enabled

The Footer – HTML text that appears at the bottom of the email. This area generally contains store

information, links, and legal copy.

Be sure to include restriction information for any promotions displayed in your mailing.

Messages must contain unsubscribe links. It’s recommended that this link be found in the footer of the

message as users have been trained over time to expect it to be located there.

Additional Links: Member Profile Management, Social Media Links, Store Locator and Menu

Footers often include copyright and mailing information as well.

Frequency and Timing

In search of greater ROI, brands often default to increasing frequency of

their emails to their entire database.

Increased frequency without segmentation can:

Lead to unsubscribe rates of +140%

Increased spam complaint rates to +600%

Cost email marketers 1/3 of their database annually

Frequency

Adhere to established frequency expectations

Ideally 1-3 messages/month to entire database, with

segmented messages for others – to optimize open

rates and engagement with minimum opt-outs

You can always test to see what works best

2. MarketingSherpa Blog. Infographic: Email open rates by time of day. Oct. 26, 2012.

Social Media and Sharing

Adding Social Media Sharing Buttons to Your Emails:

Will extend the reach of your email sends beyond the recipients in your database, expanding the visibility of your content and brand

The click-through rate of an average email is 2.4% , when you add social icons the CTR jumps to 6.2%3

Ask members to share their experience on Facebook and Twitter – What’s your favorite menu item?

3. MarketingProfs.Social Sharing Boost Email Results. 2013

(MarketingProfs.Social Sharing Boost Email Results. 2013)

Social Media Contests and Offers:

Exclusive Offers and Deals: give members special deals if they “Like” your Facebook page or “Follow” you on Twitter

Photo Competition: want to gain a lot of user generate content and create a stronger bond and customer loyalty ? Set up a photo contest on Instagram!

Idea: ask your members to post their Buffet photos with #howdoyoubuffet and pick a winner every month or select the winner based on “likes”

Facebook Contest: restaurants across the board are seeing the same amount of traffic if not more on their Facebook page as their website

Idea: run a contest around a new menu item and let your followers and members suggest the name

Personalization

Include member’s first name or even their location in the subject line to increase open rates

Personalized emails improve click-through rates by 14%4

Gain a competitive edge! 70% of marketers don’t utilize personalized content5

Take it to the next level – develop targeted content for your list segments

Tailor your messages or offers based on your audience’s behaviors, interests or preferences

Utilize personalization in offer restrictions to prevent fraud

Include first and last name then require member to print offer to redeem so it can be checked against an their ID

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4. Aberdeen. Email Marketing: Get Comfortable with Your Customers. 5. Experien.Email Market Study: Acquisition and Engagement Tactics. 2012.

(Eloqua.5 Ways to Personalize Email and Increase Open Rates.2013.)

Test, Test, and Keep on Testing Subject Lines

Length of subject lines

Symbols

Placement of offer copy

Personalization

Offer “teaser” vs. Specific Offer

Date vs. No Date

Send Dates and Times

Workdays vs. Weekends

Morning vs. Early Afternoon

Email Content

Pre-header vs. No Pre-header

One Offer vs. Two Offers

Personalization vs. No Personalization

Placement of CTA

Design of CTA/Offer

Guidelines for a Clean & Effective Test

1. Restrict each test to one variable 2. Make sure your results can be measured 3. Construct a fair comparison

Go Digital –Design Emails with Mobile Mindset

Test your email templates to see how they appear

on mobile devices

Give your calls-to-action (CTAs) wiggle room –

make sure buttons and links are easy to click for

readers using touch screens

Keep critical information above the fold and keep it

short –readers only devote a fraction of their

attention!

Offer both plain text and HTML versions.

Use descriptive alt text under your images in case

they don’t display

Weekends, Morning and Evenings = most popular

times people read emails on mobile devices

Beware of SPAM Other Phrases & Design Triggers to Avoid

Use of the terms “Click here” or “This e-mail was sent to you because.” Excessive placement of the word “unsubscribe” and the links to do so. Use of “$$$” or the multiple use of “$” throughout. Excessive use of “!” Subject contains "advertisement" Body contains "money back" Body contains "cards accepted" Body contains "removal instructions" Body contains "extra income" Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "$" Subject contains "!" AND Subject contains "free" Body contains ",000" AND Body contains "!!" AND Body contains "$" Body contains "Dear friend" Body contains "for free!" Body contains "Guarantee" AND "satisfaction" OR "absolute" Body contains "more info " AND Body contains “visit” AND "$" Body contains "SPECIAL PROMOTION" Body contains "one-time mail" Subject contains "$$“ Avoid CAPS