nonprofit academy: email marketing 101

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Nonprofit Academy: Email Marketing 101 April 2015

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Meet your hosts

Abby Caschetta • Account Strategist Rachel Muhlstein • Account Strategist

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Table of Contents

4. PERFORMANCE METRICS

2. EMAIL SEGMENTATION

1. BASIC STRUCTURE OF AN EMAIL

3. DESIGN BEST PRACTICES

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THE 6 PARTS TO A PERFECT EMAIL:

Subject Line

Preheader

Header Image

1

2

3

4

5

6

1

2

3

4

5

6

Basic Structure of an Email

Main Message

Call to Action

Footer

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A FEW BEST PRACTICES:

!  Make it clear who your email is from

!  Keep it short

!  Be specific

!  Include a call to action

!  Use questions

Basic Structure: Subject Line 1

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!  Include your brand logo

!  Include any relevant campaign hashtag

Basic Structure: Preheader

2

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!  Quickly capture a reader’s attention using visual content

!  Introduce and reinforce your nonprofit’s brand

!  Leverage the image to contribute to the email’s message and/or story

Basic Structure: Header Images

3

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!  Create copy with dynamic personalization

!  Use bullet points

!  Use different fonts to separate key sections

!  Reserve bold and italic font for impact

Good content always has an objective; it’s created with intent…[and] carries triggers to action.”

Ann Handley, MarketingProfs Tweet this!

“

Basic Structure: Main Message

4

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!  Include CTAs in every email – each email should have a purpose

!  Make the copy specific and compelling

!  Use action oriented verbs

!  Write button copy that reflects the precise step you want someone to take

Basic Structure: Call to Action (CTA)

5

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!  Include a link to your website or nonprofit’s blog

!  Add related contact info

!  Provide easy access to fundraising or donation pages

!  Include social icons to follow or like your respective social media pages

!  Don’t forget to add an unsubscribe link

Basic Structure: Footer

6

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Email Segmentation

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ACCORDING TO A RECENT HUBSPOT STUDY:

!  28% experienced lower unsubscribe rates

!  24% experienced better deliverability and greater revenue

Facts About Email Segmentation

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FIRST DEFINE YOUR EMAIL SEGMENTS:

!  Who are the core groups of people you want to talk to?

!  What do you know about them?

!  What do you want them to do?

!  What types of emails should they receive?

Establish a Communication Strategy

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WAYS YOU CAN USE EMAIL SEGMENTATION TO SUPPORT YOUR RECURRING GIVING PROGRAM:

!  Reach out to DONORS WHO HAVE GIVEN MORE THAN ONE GIFT in a year

!  Target THOSE WHO GIVE CONSISTENTLY year over year

!  Ask current RECURRING DONORS to increase their monthly donation size

!  Create a larger appeal to INDIVIDUAL FUNDRAISERS

Recurring Giving Campaigns

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WAYS YOU CAN USE EMAIL SEGMENTATION TO DRIVE YOUR FUNDRAISING CAMPAIGN:

!  Get INACTIVE FUNDRAISERS off the sidelines

!  Keep the ball rolling with ACTIVE FUNDRAISERS

!  Help POWER FUNDRAISERS reach new heights

!  Bring 3RD PARTY DONORS into the fold

Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Campaigns

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WAYS YOU CAN USE EMAIL SEGMENTATION TO SUPPORT YOUR FUNDRAISING EVENTS:

!  Reach out to PAST PARTICIPANTS

!  Identify and engage with IDEAL ATTENDEES from your database

!  Ask EVENT VOLUNTEERS for fundraising support

!  Promote sponsorship opportunities with POTENTIAL PARTNERS

Fundraising Events

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WAYS YOU CAN USE EMAIL SEGMENTATION TO SHARE YOUR ORGANIZATIONAL UPDATES:

!  Share unique updates with BOARD MEMBERS

!  Recruit and keep in touch with VOLUNTEERS

!  Keep LONG-TIME SUPPORTERS up to date with impact reports

!  Establish a cadence of communication with PAST DONORS

Organizational Updates

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Design Best Practices

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!  The email should look professional

!  The text and visual content should intrigue and inform your reader

!  Balance the use of images and text

Establish a Clean Layout

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!  Use appropriate font sizes (MailChimp recommends 22px for headlines, 16px for body copy)

!  Avoid big blocks of text

!  Avoid using all capital letters

!  Use whitespace

Make the Email Scannable

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!  Use images that capture audience’s attention

!  Follow a balanced image to text ratio (Image-heavy / text-light or image-light / text-heavy)

!  Avoid emails made entirely of images (More likely to be marked as spam)

!  Keep in mind that some email recipients turn their images off by default (Include alt=“Image Description” in <img /> tag)

Use Images Strategically

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!  Include your logo (Use horizontal version rather than vertical if possible)

!  Use your brand’s signature colors

!  Use a consistent font

!  Use language that reflects your tone

Align Each Communication with Your Brand

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!  Format your content for small screens

!  Use a mobile responsive design (including

padding & flexible image widths) so emails look good on any screen

!  Ensure buttons are “tappable” with a finger, or at least 44px

!  Test emails on multiple devices

Deliver Mobile Responsive Emails

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Key Performance Metrics

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METRICS TO CONSIDER:

!  Open rate

!  Clickthrough rate

!  Subscription growth

!  Heat map – Where are people’s eyes being drawn

Fundamental Email Metrics

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METRICS YOU SHOULD WATCH:

!  Unsubscribe rate

!  Bounce rate

!  Opt out rate (and best practices)

Not So Fun Side of Metrics

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A/B TESTS CAN INCLUDE:

!  Subject lines

!  Types of images included in the email

!  CTAs in the email

!  Plain text versus html-formats

!  Storylines

*Note: A true A/B test focuses on testing one variable at a time

Advanced Metrics: A/B Testing

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Questions?

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nonprofit academy: email marketing 101

Government & Nonprofit