Optimizing your Email Program for Nurture Marketing, Mobile, Social Media

To do Online Marketing well, marketers need to be good at so much more than Email + Search.

-- Social is the new staple (eROI Q4’09 survey:

70% marketers used social media, 15% of their time)

-- Mobile is next

The Online Marketer’s Challenge

Our world today

History Lesson – starting w/ EmailEmail invented in 1971

“In 1971, Ray Tomlinson developed the first ARPANET email application…he chose the "commercial at" symbol to combine the user and host names, providing the naturally meaningful notation "user@host" that is the standard for email…”

Source: LivingInternet.com

@

History Lesson – Search

1. Jul’03: Yahoo buys Overture; monetizes Search

2. Aug’04: Google pays Yahoo $28.5M in exchange for Bid-for-Placement patent settlement. (Google market cap is now $184 Billion).

History Lesson – Social

History Lesson – Mobile

How Email Fits In 2007: Use Email to Build Online Community2007: RSS to Email (Publishers, Any Business)2008: Nurture Marketing2008: Anatomy of an Email2009: Holiday Email Campaign example2009: Mobile Optimization2010: Five new Tools you’ve never heard of

2007: Use Email to Build Community

Storytelling Drives Results

Community Waiting to be Discovered

Results (14 day campaign)

1. 61,000 unique visitors2. 2,175 user-generated images uploaded3. 150 comments created for 12 Wacom artists4. 2,000+ new subscribers to email house list5. Online sales 150% increase over previous year

2007: RSS-to-Email

Publish One to Many:

Biggest cost for email marketing is a Marketer’s Time

RSS-to-Email applies to Small Biz

1. How do they find you?

2. Where do they land?

3. How do you continue the conversation?

2008: Nurture Marketing

Finding Thru Search: Paid vs. Organic

eROI Google Analytics Stats

eROI Leads by Source

eROI Resource Landing Page…Bad

eROI Resource Landing Page…Good

1. Opt in / Thank you

2. Welcome Messaging

3. First Touch

3 Email Nurture Program Components

Tips for Opt-In

1. Call out your Email Opt-in on every page of your site.2. Don’t expect them to find it.3. Links to samples are effective4. Give subscribers choices! e.g. frequency (daily, weekly,

monthly), event alerts, etc...

5. Tell them specifically what they’re signing up for & how often they’ll hear from you. Keep that promise.

6. Don’t make someone register (user/pass) for email7. Remember, you can get more information later

Examples of Opt-in Questions

Good

Too Much

CBSSports.com Opt-In: Before/After

CBSSports.com Welcome Email Strategy

Thank you after Opt-In

• Thank them

• Confirm the action they took

• Give them the info they need

• Continue the dialogue

A Welcome Email is the first email received after an opt-

in and/or confirmation of subscription

This will likely be your highest open rate ever.

Make it count.

Welcome Email

Email Anatomy

Pre-HeaderHeader

Email Body

Social Media integrationFunctional Footer

2009: Holiday Email - Icebreaker

Campaigns/Frequency3 months of Oct’09-Dec’09: 38 emails3 years of Sep’06-Sep’09: 36 emails

Total emails sent: Oct’09 – Dec’09 ~500kSep’06 - Sep’09 ~450k

Read Rate Oct-Dec’09 – 25%Read Rate ‘06-Sep’09 – 33%

Click Through Rate Oct-Dec’09 – 7.5%Click Through Rate ‘06-Sep’09 – 10.5%

Average Opt Out/Campaign Rate – 0.66%

Icebreaker Holiday Email Findings

2009: Mobile Optimization

2009: Mobile Web for true Engagement, not just impressions

• Email still the backbone for mobile web apps• More popular for B2C

2010: Make Mobile part of Everyday Email

How Email Fits In 2007: Use Email to Build Online Community2007: RSS to Email (Publishers, Any Business)2008: Nurture Marketing2008: Anatomy of an Email2009: Holiday Email Campaign example2009: Mobile Optimization2010: New Apps you’ve never heard of

Tool #1: Flowtown: Append social data to your Lists

Tool #2: Unbounce: Testing and optimizing landing pages

Tool #3: WhichTestWon.com:Email and Landing Page Testing

Tool #4: Email2Mobile: Optimize Email for Mobile + Landing + Analytics

Tool #5: Email on Acid: Content Rendering tool before you send

Thank you.Don’t forget to get a Web/Email Audit right after this.

Ryan BuchananCEO, eROI

ryan@eroi.com