the power of email marketing - constant contact

Copyright © 2008 Constant Contact Inc.

The Power of Email and Social Media Marketing

Connect. Inform. Grow.

Presented by Gina M. Watkins

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CONFIDENTIAL Copyright © 2010 Constant Contact, Inc. 2

Thank You for Attending

Copyright © 2008 Constant Contact, Inc. 3

Overview of Email Marketing Best Practices

Connect | Inform | Grow

■ Connecting to build customer relationships

■ Informing people who will buy in to your message

■ Growing your business with targeted marketing


What You Will Learn Today

How to easily create an email and social media marketing strategy through 3 easy steps:

1. Build Your List of customers and prospectso Add sign ups to your emails and social networking sites

2. Create Great Content that has valueo Identify topics via social media, surveys, direct feedback

3. Review Campaigns regularly for maximum effecto Measure & manage using reporting, Nutshell Mail tools

Why Do We “Market”?

CONFIDENTIAL Copyright © 2010 Constant Contact, Inc. 5

We Want More!

More… Customers Clients Volunteers Donors / Members Brand Awareness Sales Website Traffic Time in the day!


Marketing Today = Building Relationships


Five Types of People

Raving Fans

Customers

Prospects Suspects Disinterested


Acquiring Customers Takes Effort

Time… Money… Energy… Effort

On average, it takes 7 touches for a sale to occur.

■ Some buy right away

■ Others research and try

■ Some show interest but don’t trust you

Challenges?

Education & Differentiation


Keep Customers Coming Back

The Value of a Customer

■ You’ve already paid for them■ It’s 6-7 times more expensive to gain

a customer than to retain a customer 1

■ They spend more■ Repeat customers spend 67 percent

more 2

■ They are your referral engine■ After 10 purchases, a customer has

already referred up to 7 people 2

Sources:1. Harvard Business Review2. Bain and Company, 2002


Why Email?

Because almost everyone your business needs to reach reads it:

■ More than 90% of Internet users between 18 and 72 said they send and receive email, making it the top online activity¹

■ If email was a country, its 1.4 billion users would make it the largest in the world. Bigger than China, bigger than the populations of the USA and European Union combined²

Sources: 1 Pew Internet &

American Life Project, 2009

2 Email Marketing Reports, 2009


Why Email?

It’s Cost-effective: Direct Mail vs. Email

■ For the same response,direct mail costs 20 TIMES as much as email 1

■ Email ROI is the highest when compared to other internet marketing mediums 2

1 Forrester Research, Inc.

2 Direct Marketing Association


Junk email

Unsolicited and unwanted email

Email from an unknown sender

Dubious opt-out (if any)

Email Marketing Is Not…


Email Marketing Is…

■ Delivering professional email communications

■ To an interested audience who have asked to receive your emails

■ Containing information they find valuable


Build Trust with Email Marketing

■ Setting Expectations■ How many emails sent

■ When are emails sent

■ What type of information

■ Delivering on Promises■ Matching expectations

■ Providing relevant content

■ Abiding by CAN SPAM Act■ Including physical address

■ Providing opt-out

■ Gaining Permission■ Do they know me?

■ Do they care?

■ Utilizing Professional Services


Regular Email vs. Email Service Provider

Standard Email Programs(e.g. Outlook, Hotmail)

■ Limited # of emails sent at one time

■ No formatting control

■ List break up more susceptible to filters

■ No cohesive branding

■ No tracking and reporting of email results

Email marketing services automate best practices

■ Provide easy-to-use templates

■ Reinforce brand identity

■ Email addressed to recipient only

■ Manage lists – adding new subscribers, handling bounce-backs, removing unsubscribes

■ Improve email delivery, track results and obey the law


Email Basics Checklist

Ask yourself before you begin email marketing…

■ Do repeat and referral customers help your business?

■ Do you have a plan for delivering multiple communications?

■ Is your audience interested in your message? Is it valuable to them?

■ Can you make your emails look professional and reflect your brand?

■ Do you have an Email Service Provider to help manage your strategy?

Build Your List Where You Connect

Customer & Prospect Database

57% of consumers will fill out a card to receive email alerts when asked to by a clerk at a local small business.

Source: Transact Media Group

1

2 34

Incoming or Outgoing Calls

Eventsand Meetings

Email Signature

Place of BusinessGuest Book

Guests5

Online Presence


Collect Information and Permission

■ Include your logo and brand identity.

■ Describe your email content and how often you’ll be sending

■ Ask about your customers’ interests to stay relevant

■ Ask for additional contact information when necessary


■ Include your logo and brand identity

■ Personalize your message

■ Reinforce permission and ability to change preferences

■ Plus: Add links to your social media presence

Send a Welcome Email


Keep Your List Current

■ Include your logo and brand identity

■ Provide a link so subscribers can update contact info

■ Ask for feedback


List Building and Permission Checklist

Ask yourself as you build your list…

■ Are you collecting contact information at every customer touch point?

■ Are you asking for permission as well as contact information?

■ Are you clearly describing your email frequency and content?

■ Are you sending a welcome email or a confirmation email?

■ Are you using permission and subscription reminders to stay current?


The Basics of Valuable Email Content


Informative EmailAdvice,

research, facts, opinions, tips

Quality Knowledge

Savings

Relational EmailSpecial

privileges, acknowledgem

ent

Promotional Email

Discounts, coupons, offers,

incentives.

Content Has to Have Value to Your Audience


Vary Your Content Offerings

■ Share your expertise

■ Share other people’s expertise

■ Use facts & testimonials

■ Give guidance & directions

■ Give tips & advice

■ Entertain

■ Offer discounts & coupons

■ Exclusivity & VIP status

■ Hold contests & giveaways*

■ Acknowledge your audience

* Check applicable regulations before deciding to hold a contest or giveaway


Keep Email Content Concise

Host large bodies of content…

■ On your website

■ In a PDF document

■ In a longer archived version*

Email only essential information

■ Use bullets or summaries

■ Link directly to the information

■ Give instructions if necessary

*Yes! We’ve added document hosting!


Call Your Audience to Action

Calls to Action Include…

■ Links to click on

■ Information to print out

■ Phone numbers to call

■ Instructions for reading the email

■ Instructions for saving the email

Describe the Immediate Benefits…

■ What’s in it for your audience?

■ Why should they do it now?


Frequency & Delivery Time

How often to send

■ Create a master schedule

■ Include frequency in online sign-up “Monthly Newsletter”

■ Keep content concise and relevant to planned frequency When to send

■ When is your audience most likely to read it?

■ Day of week (Tuesday & Wednesday)

■ Time of day (10am to 3pm)

■ Test for timing

■ Divide your list into equal parts

■ Send at different times and compare results

Maximum impact with minimum intrusion


Email Content Checklist

Ask yourself as you create content…

■ Are you trying to promote, inform, or relate?

■ What is your audience interested in?

■ Is your email format branded and supportive of your message?

■ Is your email concise and does it include a strong call to action?

■ Does your content match your frequency and timing?


Get Your Email Opened

The “From” line – Do I know you?

Use a name your audience recognizes■ Include your organization name or

brand

■ Refer to your business in the same way your audience does

■ Be consistent

60% of consumers say the "from" address most often determines whether they open an email or delete it. Source: DoubleClick


Create a Great Subject Line

The “Subject” Line – Do I care?

■ Keep it short and simple

■ 30-40 characters including spaces (5-8 words)

■ Incorporate the immediate benefit of opening the email

■ Capitalize and punctuate carefully

■ Avoid copying the techniques inherent in spam emails.

Emails with shorter subject lines significantly outperformed emails with longer subject lines.

- MailerMailer (2008)

30% of consumers say the “subject" line most often determines whether they open an email or delete it.

Source: DoubleClick


Avoid “Spam-speak”

The words: free, guarantee, spam, credit card etc. ALL CAPITAL LETTERS Excessive punctuation !!!, ??? Excessive use of “click here” $$, and other symbols No “From:” address Misleading subject lines

Example: Typical spam “From” and “Subject” lines


Email Delivery Checklist

Ask yourself before you send your message…

■ Are your images working together with text to identify your email?

■ Are you avoiding spam-like content in your emails?

■ Is your Email Service Provider authenticating your email?

■ Is your From line familiar and are you using a familiar email address?

■ Does your Subject line include the immediate benefits of your email?


Email Tracking CodeESP Interaction

+

Tracking and Reporting


Analyze “Open” Rates

Use open tracking to spot trends

■ Open rates trending down■ Fewer subscribers are

enabling images

■ Fewer subscribers are clicking links

■ Steady open rates■ Assume email is being

received

■ Check your ESP’s average delivery rate


Capitalize on Click-Throughs

Use click tracking to determine…

■ Audience interests■ Clicks tell you what

topics were interesting

■ Save clickers in an interest list for targeted follow up

■ Goal achievement■ Use links to drive traffic

toward conversion

■ Compare clicks to conversions and improve


Encourage and Reward Email Forwards

Use your forward report to…

■ Thank people who forward your emails

■ Learn about the value of your email content

Help your audience spread

the word. Ask them to forward your email and interested people can subscribe to your list


Email Tracking and Response Checklist

Ask yourself after you send…

■ Are there any bounced or blocked emails that require attention?

■ Is your open rate trending upward or downward?

■ Did your audience take action on your email by clicking through or forwarding your email? What were they interested in?

■ Did anyone unsubscribe from your list? Did they give you feedback?

■ Did you identify any areas for improvement so your next email is more targeted and more effective?

What is Social Media Marketing?

Using tools like…

To listen and interact with real people

To get to know your customers/clients/members

To share resources, connections and information


Today’s Social Media Tools

Microblogging site with 140 character space – share tips and links, monitor tweets for customer service

Online profile site – share company personality, photos, staff, post news and events

Online networking – share, solicit referrals and recommendations, and connect to interest groups

Publishing space – build credibility as an expert and increase search engine results

Video sharing site – gain recognition, offer how-tos, and increase search engine results


What Social Media Should You Do?

Ask: what Social Media do your:

Prospects Customers Raving fans Influencers Business partners Even competitors…

use, post to, read?

Begin there!


How do you access social media?

These are INBOUND marketing channels that your audience must actively visit in order to interact with you, so you should:

Monitor Regularly

Answer Effectively

Post Regularly



Maximize Social Media Marketing

■ Listen to conversations and react – address customer service issues, pull topics to use in email or blog content

■ Write once, post twice – push email content to social sites; write a blog and use content in email newsletter

■ Update your status – send updates that generate interest in email and other marketing campaigns – include signup option

■ Join the conversation – become a trusted source by answering questions and providing thoughtful comments in groups and blogs

■ Be authentic – talk like a human, not like a marketer

■ Think before you start – make sure you have time to show up, interact, and generate questions, comments and advice regularly

Start with your passionate

customers and interesting content

Social Sharing

Targeted Sharing

■Email Marketing■ Help them get to

know & trust you

■ Inspire repeat business & deeper engagement

■ Encourage broader relationships through SMM (endorsements, referrals)

■Social Media Marketing

■ New relationships

■ New prospects

■ Encourage deeper relationships through EM

Email Marketing and Social Media Marketing

43CONFIDENTIAL Copyright © 2010

Constant Contact, Inc.

HOW do you easily integrate both channels?

Make social media opt-in available in all emails

Make email list opt-in available

on all social media

platforms

Allow readers to share email content to their social media networks


Link Email to Social Media Campaigns

■Embed videos easily in your email

■Consider your own Youtube channel

■Link to discussion threads on Facebook

■Promote a topic-related hashtag for your Twitter users

■Offer instruction, customer testimonial, tours via audiocasts

■Create excitement for social media offers, coupons, via email

46

Easily Manage Social Networking Sites


47

NutshellMail from Constant Contact


Social media updates directly to your email Inbox.

48

NutshellMail – It’s FREE!


www.NutshellMail.com


What next?

Just getting started?

■ Start building your list

■ Sign up for a free trial

■ Create and send your first email

Ready to learn more?

■ Attend an in-depth webinar

■ Read Email Marketing for Dummies or the Constant Contact Guide to Email Marketing

■ Sign up for email marketing newsletters

Want to expand your expertise?

■ Join Constant Contact’s online community

■ Get trained in email marketing best practices through the Experts Program

ConstantContact.com


Thank You!

the power of email marketing - constant contact

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