state of the state of email marketing

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10/1/2013 1 State of the State of Email Marketing Karen Talavera President, Synchronicity Marketing Karen Talavera, President of Synchronicity Marketing Providing enlightened email marketing coaching, training and consulting since 2003 Who is Karen? Nationallyrecognized email marketing expert, educator, writer, speaker and thoughtleader DMA Email Marketing lead training instructor since 1999 Member Email Experience Council, Only Influencers Top 100 Women in Ecommerce 2012 (WE magazine) Yoga teacher, writer, international traveler living in south Florida 2 About Your Speaker

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Page 1: State of the State of Email Marketing

10/1/2013

1

State of the State of Email Marketing

Karen TalaveraPresident, Synchronicity Marketing

Karen Talavera, President of Synchronicity MarketingProviding enlightened email marketing coaching, training and consulting since 2003

• Who is Karen?Nationally‐recognized email marketing expert, educator, writer, speaker and thought‐leader

• DMA Email Marketing lead training instructor since 1999• Member Email Experience Council, Only Influencers• Top 100 Women in Ecommerce 2012 (WE magazine)• Yoga teacher, writer, international traveler living in south Florida

2

About Your Speaker

Page 2: State of the State of Email Marketing

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© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.

Source: SmarterTools presentation give at Hosting Con 2011

3

Scale of Online Marketing Communication Channels

• Worldwide, there are about 2 billion people online with a total of 3.4 billion email accounts– On average 75% are consumer accounts, 25% corporate

Source: The Radicati Group Email Statistics Report, 2012‐2016

Global Email Channel Size

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.4

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Email’s Global Penetration Rate• The 3.4 Billion worldwide email accounts represent more than 60% 

of the population of the “more developed” countries as defined by the UN– 35.8% use the English language

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.5

Source:: Litmus

Email Marketing Is THRIVING

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.6

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US Internet Population Almost At Saturation Point

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.7

Fast Facts: Email in the US• About 79% of the Adult US population – or 189 million Americans ‐ are 

online in the US (this is 95% of US adult internet users) (eMarketer)

• 83% of people online say email is their primary reason for using the Internet (Price Waterhouse Coopers)

• 61% of adults send and receive email daily (Pew Research Center Internet and American Life Project)

• 65% of Internet users age 15 and older made a purchase in response to receiving an email marketing message (Exact Target)

• About two‐thirds of emails sent by companies to consumers are promotional; the remainder are transactional or administrative in nature (DMA)

• The annual US commercial email volume is expected to double between 2010 and 2013 from 420 to 840 billion messages/year (Forrester Research)

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.8

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Increasingly Mobile

• 60% of all email is now opened initially on a mobile device (Litmus)

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.9

• Top channel for promotional/marketing messages sent from companies granted permission

Source: ExactTarget 2012 Channel Preferences Survey February 2012

10

Consumers Prefer It For Marketing

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.10

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Email Has High Trust Factor• Compared to other both mass and targeted marketing 

channels, email ranks higher in trust

Source: North American Technographics Interactive Marketing Online Benchmark Survey 2010 – US Online Adults 

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.11

Yet Subscribers Demand Relevancy• Marketers need to do a 

better job on frequency, segmentation, and relationship building

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.12

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Relevancy Defined• What exactly is relevancy anyway?

“The intersection of content and context that is metered by frequency”‐ David Daniels, CEO of The Relevancy Group

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.13

• Although email is growing as preferred, trusted channel for promotional/marketing communication, it islosing ground to text and social media for personal communication

Source: ExactTarget 2012 Channel Preferences Survey February 2012

Communication Preferences AreEvolving

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.14

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• 66% of consumers have made at least one purchase as the result of an email marketing message

Source: ExactTarget 2012 Channel Preferences Survey February 2012

Do They Buy From Email? Of Course!

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.15

Economic Impact is HUGE• Email Marketing generated 

$63.1 Billion in 2011 sales compared to $57.8 Billion in 2010– Social Media‐driven 2011 sales: 

$31.9 Billion– Total Internet Marketing‐driven 

sales 2011: $576 Billion• Email‐driven sales expected to 

exceed or at least match social media‐driven sales through 2016– Both will grow at expense of 

offline DM (Source: DMA)

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.16

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• For every dollar spent on email marketing in 2012 marketers achieved $28.50 in return

• Email's ROI index is 70 percent higher than any other direct‐response marketing channel

DMA

• Email generates 1% to 2.5% of sales for 18.7% of all retailers in the survey

• 11.1% of online merchants count on email messages and campaigns to drive more than 25% of total sales

Internet Retailer

Highest ROI Of All Direct Channels

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.17

• According to the DMA’s annual Response Rate study for 2012, the average purchase value from email is double that of direct mail:

Most Cost‐Effective Of All Direct Response Channels

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.18

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Marketers Rate Highly Effective For a Variety of Objectives

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.19

• Email is crushing social media when it comes to new customer acquisition and is second only to organic search– In last four years online 

retailers have quadrupled the rate of customers acquired through email

Source: Custora E‐Commerce Customer Acquisition Snapshot June 25, 2013 

Email Also a Top‐Performing Channel for Acquisition

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.20

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• The recession slashed marketing budgets and motivated more businesses than ever before to move dollars online due to low cost of entry

• Majority of Small Businesses rely heavily on email and social media as low‐cost ways to promote themselves

• 25% of small businesses using social media marketing; 60% using email

Channel Use Flourishing Due to Cost‐Effectiveness

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.21

Email Budgets Continue to Rise• StrongMail survey found two‐thirds of companies plan to 

increase spending on email marketing, more than any other online channel

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.22

Page 12: State of the State of Email Marketing

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Email Budget Distribution

• Almost one third of email marketing budgets are allocated to Email Service Providers (ESPs)

• Most email marketers outsource to an ESP vs. use a home‐grown software or delivery service

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.23

With Rapid Growth Comes Volatility

• Despite rapid increases in the total number of email addresses, email address turnover has remained constant at about 30% 

– Every year about 25% of all email addresses become undeliverable due to subscriber address changes

– The average organization’s email list experiences 60% growth in combination with 25% attrition (mostly from unsubscribes) per year, for a net growth rate of 35% per year

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.24

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Integrating With Other Channels

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.25

Email Is Not Without Challenges• According to the 

2012 EEC Email in Action Report, competing for online time/attention and resource constraints top the list of email challenges

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.26

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But Is Continually Evolving• Ongoing innovations and recent changes in both consumer use 

and email technology create challenges AND opportunities

• Video• Dynamic Content

• Mobile and “mobile triage”

• Foldering• Shrinking time and attention span

• Send‐time• Behavior‐driven algorithms

• Predictive modeling

• Greater Anti‐spam measures

• Structured inboxes (Gmail tabs)

• Growing volume

Inbox Landscape

Response Optimization 

Tools

Creative Innovations

Access Devices & Habits

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.27

How We Got Here

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.28

Page 15: State of the State of Email Marketing

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Why Permission?

• Permission=Recognition=Trust=Engagement

• The email box is perceived as personal space ‐ intrude uninvited, and you may not be welcomed back

• Cost of receiving email is borne by both sender and recipient 

• Spam has created suspicion, caused measurable harm, and made consumers defensive

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.29

Why Permission Is So Confusing

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.30

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Consumers Value Consent and Relationships

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.31

Permission email marketing is an advertising medium which facilitates interaction between organizations and 

individuals who have given their permission

to receive promotional messages and other information via email

Organizations (Senders)

Email Address Owners 

(Recipients)

Permission Email Defined

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.32

Page 17: State of the State of Email Marketing

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Permission

CONSENT A person consciously

agrees to receive email CHOICE

Subscribers choose 

frequency, content and 

format preferences

CLARITYThe sign‐up 

process is easy and non‐deceptive

CONFIRMATIONThe sign‐up process is 

acknowledged and verified

CONTROLThe subscriber may adjust or stop the flow of email at any time

CANDORThe sender of 

each communication is 

clearly and honestly identified

The Six C’s of Permission

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.33

Degrees of Permission2x

Opt-In

Confirmed Opt-In

Pre-Checked Opt-In

Opt-Out

Spam

Constitute 100% opt‐in, self‐initiated action and affirmative consent

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.34

Page 18: State of the State of Email Marketing

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What is Opt‐Out?• Also known as “negative option”

• At the lower end of the permission scale 

• Requires no action before being added to a list• Opt‐out requires recipient to take an action if they don’t want to 

receive email rather than requiring an action if they do

• Status quo for offline marketing, but online is different • the cost of postal mail is paid by the sender, but the cost of email is 

shared by sender and recipient

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.35

A Step Up: Pre‐Checked Opt‐In

• Subscriber joins through a pre‐checked box or pre‐determined condition of registration/membership– May or may not realize he is being added to a marketing list– Be conscious of “division of permission”

• Proceed with caution; can be considered– Sneaky:  “I’m going to sign you up anyway just in case you decide not to”– Desperate:  “I might not get enough sign‐ups any other way”– Lazy:  “It’s just easier this way and I’ll get more names”– Hard sell:  “I’m going to flood you with enough offers that you’ll have to eventually buy something”

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.36

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Pre‐Checked Opt‐In Example #1• National Geographic

– Example of good pre‐checked box clarity

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.37

Pre‐Checked Opt‐In Example #2• Movie 

Tickets.com– Good use of 

multiple opt‐in requests

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.38

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• The key to solid permission is not whether a box is checked or un‐checked, it is

Clarity!• If using a pre‐checked box for email address gathering: 

» Is it clear to the subscriber that they’ll be receiving marketing emails above and beyond functional emails?

» Do they know what to expect? What the marketing email messages will look like?

» Do they know how often marketing emails will arrive? 

• Clarity is enhanced by asking subscriber to affirmatively grant permission by taking a definitive action ‐ like checking a box

• If you want the clearest permission, do not pre‐check boxes

Pre‐Checked: Good or Bad?

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.39

Confirmed Opt‐In• Email address owner grants explicit permission by taking a 

self‐initiated action to receive future email communications from a known sender

• A confirmation from the list owner is provided either via• A return email message

• A web page

• When no further action is required, this process is known as “single opt‐in”

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.40

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Single Opt‐In Example

• Clear Benefits Statement

• Not asking for too much information

• Custom Data gathering

• Un‐checked boxes

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.41

Single Opt‐In Confirmation

Source: Blue Hornet 2013 Consumer Email Study

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.42

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Double Opt‐In• The “gold standard” in email marketing

– Better‐qualified subscribers– Higher response rates– Lowest opt‐out rates– Better deliverability; least problems

• Makes fraudulent sign‐ups impossible

• Email address owner gives and confirms explicit permission to receive future email communications

• User must take a confirming action required by list owner:– Click on link in confirmation email message

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.43

Double Opt‐In Step 1: Invite to Join• Ducerus, College 

Planning Services for Parents and Students

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.44

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Step 2: Send Confirm Request

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.45

Step 3: Subscriber Confirms• Clicking on confirm link leads to web page 

acknowledging confirm action

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.46

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Step 4: Send Sign‐Up Confirmation• This welcome message 

completes the subscribe process by confirming subscriber has verified their sign‐up, welcoming them, and commencing “onboarding”

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.47

Step 5: Onboard/Provide Access

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.48

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Double Opt‐In: Quality over Quantity

• Double opt‐in may result in fewer registrations, but the tradeoff for quantity is more responsive names, higher open rates, lower deliverability issues and better reputation

Source: Marketing Sherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2010

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.49

Permission Affects Not Only Deliverability, but also RESPONSE

• A study by Merkle found 52% of respondents will delete an email from an unrecognized sender without opening it– ISPs now monitoring consumer inbox behavior and this can impact your future deliverability, or put you in junk folder 

• Responders said about 40% of permission email is actually valuable, while another 40% is deleted without being read

• Why?– No permission = zero trust, poor relevancy, and low or no recognition 

of sender

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.50

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Components of a Successful Program

List & Data –Building & 

Management

Technology

Legal Compliance

Offer & Messaging Strategy

Design & Content

Testing

Metrics & Analytics

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.51

Four Areas Needing Ownership

DatabaseOffers,

Messaging & Content

Deployment Analytics

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.52

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Ownership Areas: Database1.  Database (List)

• Inventory:• Number of records• Database management/segmentation ability• Subscribe/unsubscribe processes

• Assign Responsibility:• Subscribe/unsubscribe process/audit (and overall Legal Compliance)• Frequency controls• Suppression (opt‐out) file• Data correction• Overall list hygiene

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.53

Select & Map Permission Practices by Channel & Source

Select Allowable Permission Practices• Single opt‐in?• Double opt‐in?• Pre‐checked?

Map by Channel• Email• Mobile• Blog

Map to Contact Data Sources• Email Addresses• Mobile numbers

• Postal Addresses

Monitor & Audit

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.54

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Ownership Areas: Offers/Messaging2.  Offers and Call‐to‐Action Strategy

• Inventory:• Consider Past offer performance• Life‐stage specific offers• Partner/affiliate offers• Legal terms and conditions

• Assign Responsibility:• Map offers by objective• Map offers by customer life‐stage• Offer approval• Retired offers• Offer progression• Maintain “Offer Stable”

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.55

Ownership Areas: Content3.  Content & Creative

• Inventory:• Copywriting resources (internal? Agency? Freelancer?)• Graphic design resources• HTML layouts/templates• Content itself (see Content Library Inventory slide)• Administrative functions/boilerplate language

• Assign Responsibility:• Design & graphic standards compliance• Copywriting• HTML coding• Proofing (including technical/link tests)• Image Rendering

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.56

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Join/Subscribe

• Free information• Sweepstakes• Premium

Buy (hard offers)

• Savings• Fee Waiver• Convenience/speed

Onboarding/Welcome

• Show and tell• Teach, inform• Sneak previews

Develop Offer Stable, Strategy• Different offers work better in certain channels and for specific objectives

Resell/Upsell

• Exclusive Discount• Gift w/purchase• Deadline

Retain/Grow 

• Interactive Tools• Useful information• Exclusive savings/incentives

Reactivate

• Interactive Tools• New Information• Behavior‐driven reward

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.57

Ownership Areas: Deployment4. Deployment & Deliverability

• Inventory:• System for processing/managing bounced messages• Problem resolution for failures• ISP Relations• Reputation score

• Assign Responsibility:• Service bureau oversight• Frequency rules• Bounce processing working as intended• Authentication• Reputation management

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.58

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Ownership Areas: Analytics5.  Performance Tracking, Measurement & Analysis

• Inventory:• Response tracking capability (delivered, opens, click, redemption, conversion)• Reporting• Analysis/comparison system• Past performance benchmarks/history

• Assign Responsibility:• Campaign response measurement• Key metrics/performance indicators• Channel analysis/attribution• ROI analysis

© Direct Marketing Association & Karen Talavera. All rights reserved.59

List Growth, Management & Optimization

Austin Bliss, PresidentFreshAddress, Inc.

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Austin Bliss• Speaking at shows since 2003• Awarded “Rising Star” award by DMEF• Past Chair, EEC List Growth Roundtable • President & co‐Founder, FreshAddress

• Email Database Services Company• Founded in 1999• Exhibiting here at EEC

Agenda

List Growth

Starting Clean

Staying Clean

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What’s the easiest wayto grow an email list?

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Find & Keystroke

Buy

Scrape/Extract

Why Not?• The addresses have no “permission”• It may break laws• It WILL contain spamtraps

Outcomes:• Low/no performance• Angry recipients• Blacklisting • Kicked off your ESP

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So what’s the SAFE way to build your email list?

Get people to • Opt‐in• Volunteer• Give Permission

…You Have To ASK!

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Ask!• Website

• Paper (order form, etc.)

• Phone (customer orders, etc.)

• In Person (POS, check in, etc.)

Can I Have Your Email Address?

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Not all emails are created equal!

• Deliverable (non‐bouncing)• Accurate (reach the right person)• Primary (at the right email address)• Permission (volunteered)

Easy

Beneficial

Safe

Three Components To A Successful ‘Ask’

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Easy

Beneficial

Safe

Three Components To A Successful ‘Ask’

Value… WIIFM?

Make sure there is an ONGOING value exchange

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Easy

Beneficial

Safe

Three Components To A Successful ‘Ask’

Reassure

How you will use their email addressHow you will use their email address

How you will protect their privacyHow you will protect their privacy

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List Growth ‐ Recap

Ask and…

• Make it EASY (KISS, say why)• Provide a BENEFIT (wiifm, sample) • Make it SAFE (reassure, give control)

… Is There More You Can Do To Build Your List?

Ask EVERYWHERE!

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Postal Mail

Name Address EmailJoe Smith 15 Shire Street, New York, NY 10024

Sarah Watson 643 Main Street, Palm Springs, FL 33406 

Ken Chapman 514 Broadway St., Los Angeles, CA 90079

Austin Jordan 13 Green St., Salem, NH 03079

Email Append

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected]

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d) A Welcome Email is sent to your customers to confirm deliverability and confirm permission.

a) Send your postal database in for processing.

b) Your file is matched against vendor’s database. Make sure it is 100% opt-in!

e) The enhanced file with deliverable email addresses is sent back to you.

c) Suppressions are run.

Email Append

Twitter

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Google Adword

Facebook

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Landing Pages

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Agenda

List Growth

Starting Clean

Staying Clean

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• Lowered response rates

• Inadvertently abandoned prospectsLost revenuesOpens door for competitorsCustomer dissatisfaction

• Wasted marketing effort and expense

• Risk of being blacklisted

Typos Are A Problem

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Typo Prevention ‐ Design

Vs.

Typo Prevention ‐ Design

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Typo Prevention – Double Opt‐in

List protected but customer lost

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• Simple software code can enforce RFC standards

• More advanced software and services can filter out invalid addresses

• The best services and APIs can actually notice and correct typos in real‐time

[email protected]

Typo Prevention – Services

…Caught and Corrected before it entered their database

Typo Prevention ‐ Services

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Agenda

List Growth

Starting Clean

Staying Clean

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Stop Fearing Unsubscribes!

If someone wants out, let them  … and make it easy!

But all is not lost.

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Over 50 million people changed their email address this year

– Switched Jobs– Changed ISPs– Graduated from School– Abandoned b/c of spam– Corporate rebranding– Etc.

Run Regular List Audits

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Question Assumptions

Get A Backup

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• Just like NCOA, but for your email list

• 6‐15%+ Update Rate 

• Ideal for large (100k+) lists of bouncing or inactive email addresses

• Pay per email address recovered

Use Email Change of Address (ECOA)

Try Postcards

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Final TakeawaysAsk!

Improve your ‘ask’1. Easy2. Beneficial3. Safe

Invest in your growth– Ask EVERYWHERE– Consider vendors– Prevent typos

No email address is forever– Allow unsubscribes– Do routine list audits– Get an alternate address– Consider ECOA or postal recovery

My “Ask”

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Thanks!Austin [email protected](617) 965‐4500

www.freshaddress.com@FreshAddress

Understanding Your Subscriber: Data Analysis Fundamentals

Phil Davis, CEO, Rapleaf

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IntroductionPhil Davis, CEO

@[email protected]

About Rapleaf

• Technology-based consumer data company

• At least one data point on 80% of all U.S. emails

• Over 30 demographic, purchase and interest data fields

• Highest coverage and accuracy in the industry

www.rapleaf.com @rapleaf

• Email marketing veteran• Launched digital agency• 15 yrs experience in data 

driven DM

Understanding Your Subscribers

• Data driven marketing provides the science that drive direct mail 

• It’s time to apply lessons learned from direct mail to improve email and digital marketing

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Perfecting the Customer Experience

Great companies provide great customer experiences.

Customers with great experiences spend more money.

The Traditional In-Store Experience

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The Email Experience…

The Customer ExperienceKick off your email campaign by making a great first impression.

• Create a experience for your new customer.

• Differentiate your brand by providing for an engaging experience with each communication.

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A customer signs up for your email list

First Impressions

[email protected]

Who is [email protected]?

First Impressions

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131

Male

FemaleMarried Female

w/ Kids

Use 3rd party data to get to Know your Customer

I’ve lived in my

house 10 years

I’m a Mother

I am a High

Earner

I’m a bargain shopper

I buy baby products

I live in the

Northeast

Listen to the data to better understand your customer?

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Create a Great First Impression

Armed with the right data.

Ongoing Optimization

Continue to:• collect behavioral data• use data to optimize your 

marketing campaigns.

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Customer Data Sources• Who is this customer?

– Demographic Data• How do they interact with

the brand?– Purchases– Email responses– In-store behavior– Social interactions– Web analytics

• Greater customer engagement• Differentiate your brand in the inbox • Greatly improve your open and conversion

rates• Consistent multi-channel experience• Improve sender reputation scores

Benefits of Data Driven Campaigns

Purchase Data

3rd Party Data

Behavioral Data

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Challenges with Data

Budget

Different Platforms Consolidating Data

Different Levels of Sophistication in Data Analysis

6 Ways You Can Use Data to Improve Your Email Program

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1. Clean email address

2. Customize Subject Lines

Personalized email subject lines using data see 26% increase in open rates.

Married Female w/ Kids

Fun links for singles

10 restaurant chain your kids will love

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3. Customize Content

Personalized email content using data sees 30% higher clickthrough rates

4. Customize Image (and Content)

Gender Based Email

Gender Based + Marital Status

Increase Engagement !

Jane, Tired of holiday shopping for your loved ones? You deserve it: Treat yourself to a day of relaxation at ABC Spa: $25 o $100 purchase.

John, Looking for a way to show your wife just how much they mean to you? Treat them to a day at ABC Spa. She deserves it. $25 o $100 purchase.

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5. Customize Formatting

41% of consumers buy more from retailers who send personalized emails

6. Create automated customer profiles

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Other ways to create campaigns that convert:

• Customized Offers• Personalized Call to Actions• Landing Page Relevance• Engaged Social Interaction• Upsell/Cross-sell Automation

What should that Nordstrom’s email have been?

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Q & A

Any questions

?

Email Content Marketing in the New Marketing Democracy

Chris MarriottVP & Principal ConsultantThe Relevancy Group

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Who Am I?• As agency ad‐man spent a decade 

working for agencies such as Ogilvy & Mather

• Worked at one of the first ESPs, Digital Impact; ultimately ran world‐wide services for Acxiom Digital

• Board member of multiple technology start‐ups and industry conferences

What We’re Going to Cover

• The New Marketing Democracy• Can Email Help you “Win Election”s in the New Marketing 

Democracy?• What is Content?  Where Does it Come From?• The 7 Rules of Content Marketing

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Say Hello to the New Marketing Democracy

• Power to the people– Everyone can contribute; – Everyone has influence;– Everyone has a voice.

• Empowered by digital channels,people now “vote in” for the winners & losers in the battle for their hearts, minds & wallets —& THEY decide when & where these “elections” are held

In the New Marketing Democracy

• Consumers trust each other more than they trust you 

• Online conversations…– Persist…forever– Immediately global & 

potentially hyper‐local

• Word of mouth… amplified by Internet & mobile

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In the New Marketing Democracy

• Non‐linear accounts for 1/3 of mass‐market TV viewing

• Media glut = tuning out– Between 30–50% of users have spam 

blockers– At least 20% have pop‐up blockers– 58% regularly delete the tracking 

cookies

• People don’t share ads… they read & share things that interest them…

Sources: Ramsey Report eMarketer Oliver Wyman

Understanding the Challenge

“Google always gets me everything I want, whenever I want it, so I don’t have to pay attention until it’s convenient for me”

Media hyper-saturation+ Time-shifting technologies+ Selective filtering

Consumers who choose to remain“unaware” until they inform themselves

Your marketing is a faucet with each customer’s hand on the spigot

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Marketing Democracy in Action

"recommendations from others" and even "consumer opinions posted online" significantly outrank TV, radio, print, and online advertising on the trust scale

73% of consumers say positive customer reviews make them trust a business more (up from 58% in 2012)

So when your prospect is in the store, will they remember this? 

or this…. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GURvHJNmGrc

They’ve Got Their Own Web Site

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Marketing Democracy On Facebook

How To Win Elections• Remember every interaction 

(and learn!)– Know where I’ll be seeing you– Whenever & wherever I see 

you, recognize me & treat me like an old friend

• Seek to understand & predict– Build strategies around me– Remember what I’ve already 

told you– Know what I might – & might 

not – be interested in at that moment

The “Groundhog Day”theory of marketing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hq5jZrFTbE

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159

Can Email Help you Win Elections in the New Marketing Democracy?

How Important is the Email Channel?  We Asked!

Question Asked: What are the primary ways that you stay aware of a brand or store online that you have purchased from and continue to purchase from online? (select all)Source: The Relevancy Group, LLC Consumer Survey, n=1052 1/13, United States Online Consumers Ages 13+

15%5%

10%13%

19%22%22%23%

38%41%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45%

Not sure

Via ads, messages or apps on my mobile device

Brand information on Social Networks

Online social recommendations from friends, etc.

News stories in a paper, magazine or online news sites

Ads on the Internet

TV commercials

Face to face recommendations from friends, etc.

The brands own corporate/brand web‐site

Email marketing messages

Primary Ways Post Purchase, That Buyers Stay Aware of and Engage with Online Stores and Brands

Pct. of US Online Shopping Consumers Survey Respondents

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Email

Each channel has its own hurdles in regards to engaging the marketing democracy, and email is no exception 

Email

• In theory, an opted‐in customer should represent someone who has “turned on the faucet” 

• In practice, you face that moment of truth every single time someone opens his or her email and sees one of your emails in the inbox. 

• At this point, consumers can turn on the faucet (open the email), or keep it turned off (ignore or delete your email)

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To Mail or Not to Mail?

• How do you keep customers engaged between transactions?• The time between transactions could be anywhere from 2 

weeks to 12 months!

This Guy Has the Answer!

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The Permanent Campaign!

• Successful email marketing goes beyond selling products at a great price– Hammering with “buy now” messaging quickly turns to noise  – Savvy email marketers find ways engage customers between 

purchases– Leaders create messages that don’t hard sell

• Winners create the content that keep customers engaged between transactions – Reviews, promotions, rewards, special sales to share, forums to 

connect with other customers

166

What is Content?Where Does itCome From?

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What is Content?• Today it’s often viewed as the association of a brand with popular entertainment—branded entertainment

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What is Content?

• However, any approach that focuses on branded content can be very expensive!

What is Content?• 60 Years ago branded content was a new idea…

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What is Content?• Today some companies—like Whole Foods—assume they have the burden of creating original content

77%!!

Biggest Content Marketing Challenge

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Is This Where You Find Content?

This Is a Better Place to Start

Your Customers Your Team

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Content Is Everywhere!

CatalogsExtensive product selection- Sorting tools (low to high,

bestselling)

ContextInformation to assist shoppers

- Product Selectors- How to’s

- Unexpected uses for same product

ConversationsForums for customers to connect with

the brand and with each other-Reviews, blogs, user videos, social

(SWYN)

Content is Everywhere you Look

• Customer reviews (remember, consumers trust each other more than they trust you!) 

• Videos that educate/demonstrate• Webinars• White Papers• Product purchase guides• Sponsorships• Promotions and contests• Mobile Apps

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B2B Content Marketing Usage (by tactic)

Let’s Start With The Obvious

• Some product and service categories are inherently more interesting than others– Automotive, travel, apparel vs. laundry detergent

• The more interest a consumer holds in a product or service the easier it is to create content

• “That’s just the way it is”– Thomas Pfeiler (my father‐in‐law) 

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Catalogs

Catalogs

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Context

Context

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Context

Conversations

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Conversations

Conversations

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187

The Seven Rules of Email Content Marketing

Rules of Email Content Marketing1. Never say “buy now”—if that was the objective we’d call it 

“content selling”2. Understand your audience to ensure that tone and 

substance of your content sits correctly with the subscribers you already have, or want to attract

3. Engagement is your goal—top of mind awareness is your reward4. It’s ok to ask for things other than a purchase—information, 

contest entry, feedback5. Reviews and pictures are very relevant content—and can be 

crowd sourced from your list! (yes, I hate that term too)6. Don’t try to compete with publishers—your job is to inform, not 

entertain (though it’s a lucky strike extra if you are also entertaining!)

7. Always be prepared to react to “I’m now ready to buy” signs

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1. Never say “buy now”, if that was the objective we’d call it “content 

selling”

2. Understand your audience

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3. Engagement is your goal—top of mind awareness is your reward

4. It’s ok to ask for things

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5. Reviews and pictures are very relevant content

6. Don’t try to compete with publishers—your job is to inform, 

not entertain

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7. And Finally, Always be Prepared

Getting Started

• What’s your purchase cycle?• What would your subscribers value?• What’s already “lying around”?• What role can automated campaigns play?• What are the “buying signs” for what you offer?

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Questions? The Relevancy GroupConnect - [email protected]

203-856-1296Connect on Twitter @csmarriott

Produce Engaging Creative–Every TimeWacarra YeomansDirector, Creative StrategyResponsys, Inc.

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Reaching the Inbox: What Subscribers (and the ISPs) Really Think of your Email Program

Melinda PlemelReturn Path

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Training Goals

• Understand the rules of reputation and engagement in the email ecosystem

• Steps to take improve 

reputation and avoid filtering

Agenda• Email

• Why it’s Important• Reputation

• What is it • Why it matters• What can you do

• Spam Filtering• Engagement

• Why is it important• Challenges

• Trusted Network• What can you do to improve engagement and reputation?

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Email is perfect for developing loyal and active subscribers.

But what good is it if your subscribers never see it?

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No Inbox.  No Click. No ROI

The Main Players• The Email Marketer• The ISP or Mailbox Provider• And The End User

In fact, 1 in 5 emails sent never sees the inbox!

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Good money down the drain

Why are my emails being blocked?

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Sender reputation drives inbox placement and therefor, response.

I’m a rock star. This guy 

can’t get anything done.

Reputation

ISPs use your sender reputation to make 

filtering decisions. A poor reputation means, your email will get filtered. 

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Heading• Text here

Reputation is the leading factor impacting inbox placement.

6%

17%77%

What is Reputation?

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Reputation is a set of metrics based on your sending behavior

1.  Keep complaints to a minimum

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Marketing Emails 

Generate the Most 

Subscriber Complaints

What can you do to reduce complaints?

• Manage the registration process so that it meets your subscribers expectations

• Always respect unsubscribe requests

• Recognition

• Understand that content/program relevancy impacts behavior

• Conduct complaint analysis

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Sign up for Feedback Loops

• AOL http://postmaster.aol.com/Postmaster.FeedbackLoop.php

• Bluetie http://feedback.bluetie.com/• Comcast http://feedback.comcast.net/• Cox http://fbl.cox.net/• Fastmail http://fbl.fastmail.fm/• Hotmail

https://support.msn.com/eform.aspx?productKey=edfsjmrpp

• Open SRS http://fbl.hostedmail.com/• Synacor http://fbl.synacor.com/• Rackspace http://fbl.apps.rackspace.com/• RoadRunner

http://feedback.postmaster.rr.com/• Terra http://fbl.mail.terra.com.br/• USA.net http://fbl.usa.net/• Yahoo! http://yahoofbl.senderscore.net/

2.  Keep your subscriber list healthy and clean  

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Unknown Users

Spam Traps

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60% of all emails received by spam traps are sent from commercial marketers.

How do I keep my list clean?

1. Know and Monitor your Unknown User Rate

2. Collect good data up front

3. Grow Your List Organically

4. Monitor Bounce Logs for high unknown user rate or Spam Traps

5. Remove Bad Email Addresses Immediately

6. Keep an eye on blacklists

7. Review Offline Email Entries

8. Be cautious when using list vendors

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3.  Maintain a solid Infrastructure

4.  Sending Permanence

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Stay put and build your reputation

5.  Message Quality

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Test Campaign RenderingSee how your content behaves in every desktop, webmail and mobile email environmentQuality AssessmentIdentify content issues that would affect your inbox placementSpam Filter TestingGet spam scores and filtering results before your deploy your email

What can you do?

6.  Engagement

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Why is engagement so important?

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50 Shades 

of Graymail

But there are some challenges

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Slightly Different Goals• Email Marketer

• Increase ROI• Increase Opens/Clicks• Keep their subscribers 

happy

• ISP• Keep their systems 

safe• Keep their 

subscribers happy• Everything Else

Each ISP has their own rules that are used to determine inbox 

placement

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Spam Filtering: A Cat and Mouse Game

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• Most sophisticated systems for measuring Engagement• Trusted community

• The power of this is and this is not spam• The greater the community is involved the more 

likely for inbox placement.  • The less the community is involved, the  more 

likely for bulking or filtering• List Hygiene is key

• How active are the subscribers with the mail• Email Marketer’s data

• Open/Clicks/Conversions

• ISPs/mailbox provider data• Who is the mail being sent to?• How much time do they spend reading ?• Do they move messages (tabs)• Time to deletion• Who is the end user?

The Trusted User Community

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Yahoo!: Spam vs. Not Spam

0.38%

0.21%

0.19%

0.53%

0.08%

0.16%

0.22%

0.13%

0.29%

0.31%

0.11%

0.25%

0.00% 0.10% 0.20% 0.30% 0.40% 0.50% 0.60%

Business

Education

Entertainment

Finance

Groups

Home

Jobs

News

Real Estate

Shopping

Social Networking

Travel

Average Yahoo! “Not Spam” Rates by Industry

What Subscribers are Really Reading (Or Not)

1. Messages read, then deleted

2. Messages deleted without being read

3. Messages replied to4. Frequency of

receiving and reading a message from a source

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Sender Reputation Data – the Microsoft Spam Fighter’s Club

Smart Network Data Services

https://postmaster.live.com/snds/

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Gmail, Engagement, and the Priority Inbox

• Social Features – how much mail from that sender is read by the recipient?

• Content Features – what headers or recent terms are used that are correlated with the subscriber engaging with the email?

• Thread Features – how has the user interacted with the thread so far?

• Label Features – how is mail labeled?

How Gmail Priority Inbox Works

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Spam and Not Spam a major indicator of 

wanted and unwanted email

.01% ‐ .1% is an Acceptable Complaint 

Rate

Gmail: Spam vs. Not Spam

Primary (Default) ‐ person‐to‐person conversations and messages that don't appear in other tabsSocial (Default) – messages from social networks, media‐sharing sites, online dating services, and other social websitesPromotions (Default) – deals, offers and most other marketing emailsUpdates – personal, auto‐generated updates including confirmations, bills, receipts, and statementsForums – messages from online groups, discussion boards and mailing lists.1% is an Acceptable Complaint Rate

Gmail: Tabs

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AOL Mail

What can you do to improve engagement and your reputation?

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39% of Marketers Remove Inactive Subscribers to Improve Deliverability

Use Data to Define the Lifecycle

Re‐Engagement Opportunity

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Be Pro‐Active in Messaging to Non‐Responders

• Recognize the change in interest• Provide options (preferences, anyone?)• Encourage them to re-engage• Revisit subscribe benefits• Provide clear and easy unsubscribe• Honor those choices!

Create Killer Content Using Data to Understand What Resonates (and What Doesn’t)

Website Page Views

Email Content Click Detail

Facebook Posts with the Most Likes/Shares/ 

Comments

Tweets with the Most Re‐Tweets

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Use a Recency‐Based Segmentation Strategy to Identify Changes in Subscriber Response

Group A Group B

• 0-30 Days• 30-90 Days• 3-6 Months• 6-12 Months• 12-18 Months• 18+ Months

• 0-30 Days• 30-90 Days• 3-6 Months• 6-12 Months• 12+ Months

Review

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Components of Reputation

• Complaints

• List Hygiene

• IP Permanence

• Infrastructure

• Message Quality

• Engagement

How to Improve Reputation• Complaints

• FBLs and remove• List Hygiene

• Keep it clear• Remove Unknown Users• Monitor for Spam Traps

• IP Permanence• Stay put and repair

• Infrastructure• Review and monitor

• Message Quality• Test

• Engagement• Send relevant and engaging content

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How to Improve Engagement

• Ensure you are mailing to the most active users and purging aged/inactive subscribers

• Be relevant! Ensure your messages are striking a chord with your subscribers and peak their interest

• Segment your mailstreams

• Remind your users to add you to their address book

[email protected]

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The Answer is Always, “It Depends” – So Test It!

Ryan Phelan

• Prior Industry Experience– Vice President, Strategy at BlueHornet– Director, Email Marketing & Acquisition at Sears 

Holdings– Responsible for East Coast Operations at 

Responsys

• Thought Leadership– DM News : Email Gets Personal (Cover Story)– Keynote address – March 2012, EEC12– Ranked as one of the top 40 Digital Marketing 

Strategists in the country by OMI– Co‐Chair of the EEC– Member of:

Ryan PhelanVice President, Global Strategic Services

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“ OMG Honey, look atthat compellingsubject line ….totallymade me open it”

This is more like it…

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Tier 3:Advanced

Tier 2:Medium Complex

Tier 1: Foundation programs

Existingprograms

Persona development, cluster analysis, next logical product, behavioral \attitudinal segmentation, dynamic messaging, shopping cart abandonment, 

preference center phase 2, social messaging

Video in email, creative testing, promotional optimization, triggers, win‐back, preference center, social media

Testing & Reporting

Welcome, transactional messaging, opt‐down, acquisition, promotional, attrition

Optimize programs based on easy changes (Low Hanging Fruit)

Testing & Reporting

Testing & reporting

Email Program Development

1,000Consumers from across the United States

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Nearly49%of respondents have an email 

account for emails they rarely intend to open

Lesson: Ensure that when you ask for an email address, you make the reason very compelling

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

268

When an email is saved to be read 

later, 60%never read it

Lesson: Make your CTA immediate, urgent, laced with benefit and time sensitive in email 

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

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Lesson: 21% to get updates and 13% because they love the brand269

40% of consumers sign 

up for email to receive discounts

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

270

36%of 

respondents check email, social media and texts beforedoing anything else after they wake up

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

Lesson:  Think about your message and test the optimal time of the day to send your message.

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Lesson: Test when you send and be wary of complex CTA in the morning.271

21% check their email before breakfast

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

Consumers have shifted their consumption and are active at the very start of the day

Lesson: Try testing in the evening or even Friday evening for retail based business.2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

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273

Things are tiny in the morning…

Lesson:  If you have to pinch it, you’re doing it wrong.  Track mobile opens and design a template.

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

274

Phone calls, texts, browsing the internet and email are the top uses for 

smart phones

Lesson:  Lesson: Track statistics for your consumers that are consuming email on a mobile device.

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

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Lesson: Track statistics for your consumers that are consuming email on a mobile device.275

The shift in consumption is increasing based on consumer need for and ease of access

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

276

Consumers don’t see silos, they see devices

Lesson:  Consumers have adopted more devices and marketers have to be truly Omni‐Channel

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

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Lesson:  Capture and track the mobile opens of your subscribers and implement a template277

91% of consumers check email on their mobile phones

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

278

…25% of those that use iPhone Passbook used it to access coupons

Of those that use iPhone Passbook (33%), 22% use it for Movie Tickets…

Lesson:  Try linking a coupon for a sale or event to the Passbook functionality and then track use

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

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279

72%of consumers read email when they are bored…

…29%read email while in the bathroom

Lesson: Don’t make your email creative boring –inspire, delight and amaze

2013 Acxiom Digital Impact Consumer Digital Behavior Study  n=1,006

QUIZ: WHICH TEST WON?DMA2013 | Email Testing in the Digital Age

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Which Test Won?

Up or Down Arrows

Which Test Won?

Up or Down Arrows

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Which Test Won

Which Test Won

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Which series won?Images Courtesy of:

Which series won?Images Courtesy of:

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CHALLENGES OF THE EMAIL MARKETER

DMA2013 | Email Testing in the Digital Age

The email marketer’s challenge

• More subscribers• More data• More email

• More targeting• More expectations• Poor attribution

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What do we struggle with

You’re not alone…everyone struggles with email

Chart 4.21 Email campaign element testing and optimizationWhich of the following email campaign elements do you routinely test to optimize performance?  Please select all that apply.

86%62%

58%48%47%46%

44%44%

42%32%

26%

Subject line

Call‐to‐action

Message (eg greeting, body, closing)

Days of the week sent

Layout and images

Time of day sent

Landing page

Target audience

Personalization

From line

Layout and images specifically formobile viewing

Other

None of the above

Source: ©2013 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded December 2012, N=264

2%

2%

Message (e.g. greeting, body, closing)

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Why do we care?

• Campaign on 10/17– 166 individual 

email segments 

– 84 were tests

Images Courtesy of:

Does this look bad???

The highlighting worked…for a while

Images Courtesy of:

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Testing Challenges

We don’t (as an industry) know how to test

Types of TestingA|B Testing• Testing one element against a control 

Multi‐Variant• Testing multiple elements against a control

Local Control Groups• Isolation of a population on a campaign level to see % of lift

Universal Control Groups• Isolation of a permanent population to see percentage of lift over time

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A|B Testing

Cons• Populations must be equal• Time periods must be 

significant to judge results• Limited to one variable so 

extended testing can be long

Definition• 2 email creative that are 

identical but with one element changed in one version

Pros• Simple testing that is built 

into most email platforms• Systems usually handle 

division of population• Results are easy to 

understand and act upon

Multivariate Testing

Cons• Populations in each group 

must be equal• Most email populations do 

not have enough equal parts to be statistically relevant

DefinitionUsing one region in multiple email creative with changes in each sent to equal populations to determine a better performing email

Pros• Multiple elements can be 

tested at the same time

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Local Control Groups

Cons• Sometimes hard to manage 

from a population• Some people that are 

active/buyers will not get a message

• Must involve pre‐planning

DefinitionIsolation of a small but significant population from an email campaign to see what happens with their behavior against those that received an email

Pros• Can show the influence that 

and individual email has on a campaign level

• Population must be reflective of the entire list

Universal Control Group

Cons• Isolation of a population 

means that some customers don’t get an email

• Hard sell internally• Must educate various groups 

internally

DefinitionIsolating a population over a longer period of time to see what their behavior is against those that receive email

Pros• Gives email a true ROI 

number

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CONFIDENCE INTERVALSDMA2013 | Email Testing in the Digital Age

Sample Size DeterminationThere is no perfect answer in determining sample size.  It is a trade‐off between sample size and the difference between A and B it is important for us to detect.

Acxiom presents a chart (as seen below) to help clients find their optimal balance.

300

The smaller the difference we want to be able to detect, the greater the required 

sample size

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Example Confidence Interval

• We have some results from an A/B Test:o How much confidence do we have in these estimates?

o Do we feel comfortable enough in the observed gain of .3% to switch 

to B?

– It’s all about Sample Size when considering confidence in Response Rates.

301

Example Confidence Interval

• The 95% Confidence Interval indicates we are 95% certain the RANGE of the interval captures the True response rate

• We observed B as 0.3% greater than A.

• We can now use our confidence interval for the difference (B – A) to establish how tight that 0.3% difference is based on our sample sizes

• The range includes A being .8% greater than B all the way to B being 1.4% greater than A.  With this wide range of possibilities, taking action based on our estimates becomes very dangerous

302

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Example Confidence Interval

• Let’s say we have the same results, but instead of results based on samples of 1,000 each, they are now based samples of 50,000 each.

• We now have more evidence, due to our greater sample size.  This results in greater belief in our results (estimates), and hence tighter intervals

• We still observe B as 0.3% greater than A, however now we can now conclude B is greater than A by between 0.1% and 0.5%.

303

THE RULES OF TESTINGDMA2013 | Email Testing in the Digital Age

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buck∙shot mar∙ket∙ingn. Marketing without a plan, clue, intelligent design or path toward success

Rules for Testing

1. What needs to be tested2. Get a plan3. Execute the test4. Report on the results

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What needs to be tested

• To develop a plan, take time to define what’s broken– Mobile creative– Subjects– CTA– Lifestyle images vs action images– personalization– Audience/Segment– Landing page– Discount type

Get a Plan

1. Develop a plan that lasts from 1‐3 months1. Set rules for populations

1. What determines a valid population2. What is success in each test

1. What is the KPI that will be judged2. Define from prior test/campaigns what the range of KPI success 

exists3. Determine the right amount of time to build a significance to 

achieve the desired KPI4. What are your exclusions5. Get extra pairs of eyes – make it a team effort

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One point to remember about the plan

• Does the result really prove the point?– Always work to validate your 

testing– Sometimes thing “win” 

because they’re different• Recognize the “shiny objects”

Images Courtesy of:

Execute the Test

• Define equal populations• Define the optimal timeline for response and adhere to it• Monitor results• Verify that the test has been carried out

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Report on the Results

• Each test should have a post‐mortem report– Reason– Goal– Creative– Population– Results

• Should be one page per report and stored• How does the result inform the next test

1. Track results1. You must be able to track testing results2. Determine who’s on the strike team to examine results

EXERCISESDMA2013 | Email Testing in the Digital Age

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YOU NOW ALL WORK FOR

…AND GET PAID $1,000,000 A YEAR(SO DON’T SUCK)

• Come up with a testing plan for this creative

Images Courtesy of:

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Small Groups• Define what you could test (10 things 

over 3 months)– Cannot be subject line– Why are you testing it

• Define how you would test it• Define the audience• Define the exclusions

Assumptions• Customer is a male• 42 years old• Lives in Half Moon 

Bay, CA• 20 miles south 

of SF• Single

Teams will present their testing plan to the group.  Best one, wins something gooooooood.

Go…now…be smart

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Conclusion

• Think about your testing plan• Find equal populations• Test things that move the needle• Stop testing only subject lines

Questions?

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© 2013 Acxiom Corporation. All Rights Reserved.

Ryan PhelanVice President, Strategic [email protected]

Thank you!

Keep the learning going.  Follow me on twitter@ryanpphelan@acxiom

APPENDIX

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Example  Confidence Interval

321

How did we get the confidence intervals?

Confidence Interval for one proportion:

Test A = 0.015    +/‐ 1.96*SqRt (  (0.015  x  0.985)  /  1,000 )    =   0.015   +/‐ 0.008   =   (0.7%, 2.3%)  Test B = 0.018    +/‐ 1.96*SqRt (  (0.018  x  0.982)  /  1,000 )    =   0.018   +/‐ 0.008   =   (1.0%, 2.6%)

Confidence Interval for difference between two proportions:

Test (B – A) = 0.003    +/‐ 1.96*SqRt (  ((0.015  x  0.985)  /  1,000 )  +  ((0.018  x  0.982) / 1,000)    )Test (B – A) = 0.003    +/‐ 0.011   =   Test (B – A) = (‐0.8%, 1.4%)  

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10 Cool Ideas to Test or Steal

Stephanie Miller

VP, Member Engagement

DMA

1

10 Cool Ideas1. Be shocking.2. Don’t believe your test results.  Be data‐driven in all things.3. Send a welcome series.4. Keep your data clean. Combine offline and online data.5. Celebrate your best customers.6. Don’t be so serious.7. Personalize.8. Hype the Holidays.9. Invest in your people10. Ignore everything you heard in this workshop.

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Tourettes Action Fools the Spam Filter

3

61% Click Increase!

Was it the “skinny” mobile design?

4

Page 164: State of the State of Email Marketing

10/1/2013

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Take 2!

Clicks were exactly the same on both 

versions.

5

Zulily Welcome Series

6

Page 165: State of the State of Email Marketing

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DOI Data Is Perfect.  Right?!

• 100% Double Opt In 

• 1,000 Invalid Confirmation Message a DAY

• Sources with 2‐5% undeliverable

7

Welcome Back, Active 

Checker‐In!

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Don’t be So Darn Serious.

9

Personalize

10

Increase In Repeat Visits/Purchases

Highest Engagement Rates

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Hype the Holidays

11

Permeate the Season

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7

Never Assume SWYN

13

Choice: By the Piece

14

Page 169: State of the State of Email Marketing

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Stop Selling, Already. Be Human.

15

Make Collection of Email #1

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Content Rules.

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Resources/Inspiration

• DMA Advance Blog & Email Experience Council

• Only Influencers (Membership Required)

– http://www.onlyinfluencers.com/

• Why Email Rocks!  From Mark Brownlow– http://www.email‐marketing‐reports.com/basics/why.htm

• Exact Target Swipe Files– http://pages.exacttarget.com/resources/HolidayInspirations

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