7 email marketing rules you must break
DESCRIPTION
DJ Waldow, co-author of The Rebel's Guide to Email Marketing, presents "7 Email Marketing Rules You Must Break" in Coralville, IOWA on October 18, 2012 - Social Brand Forum 2012TRANSCRIPT
October 18, 2012
7 Email Marketing "Rules" You Must Break
DJ Waldow @djwaldow
Waldow Social
waldowsocial.com/email
DJ Waldow WaldowSocial.com @djwaldow
wa l d o wSOCIAL
slideshare.net/djwaldow
Isn’t email DEAD?
Most emailed article of the day
How many of you have...?
Download Report
91%
ü Email trending down (but still in the lead) ü Text and social trending up
Download Report
77%
Email is not dead. It’s THRIVING. - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12
Good. Moving on …
!!!!!
Email Marketing Best Practices
You should ALWAYS…
Email Marketing Best Practices
You should NEVER…
Flickr: financialaidpodcast
1 Never use
“free” or ALL CAPS in a subject line
Gmail spam “false positives”
Gmail spam “false positives”
FREE?
Which subject line was the winner?
It’s okay to use “free” or ALL CAPS in a subject line - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12
2 Never send an UGLY
A
B
A
B
• Sent 20% old template (A); Sent 20% new template (B)
• Subject, From Name, content &
date/time of send the same • Ran for 24 hours
A|B Test Methodology:
• Old template (A): 25.7% open rate; 4.2% click-through rate
• New template (B): 27.0% open rate; 4.7% click-through rate
Results:
A VIRTUAL TIE!
YUCK! right?
99.2 40 87
99.2% inbox placement
40% open rate
87% click-to-open rate
Beauty is in the eye of the email subscriber - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12
3 Subject lines
should always be between
30-50 characters
“Off-the-Court Gear in Tournament Colors”
Sesame Street Asks Obama Campaign To Take Ad Down, Anderson Cooper vs. Star Jones, Die Hard Obama Supporter Freaks Out
Sesame Street Asks Obama Campaign To Take Ad Down, Anderson Cooper vs. Star Jones, Die Hard Obama Supporter Freaks Out
Get up to 70% off children‘s fashion
Get up to 70% off children
One Oil Change, Three Oil Changes with Inspections, or a Four-Wheel Alignment (Up to 78% Off) | 10 or 20 Gym Passes (Up to 69% Off) | Salon Package with Cut, Style, and Two-Color Highlights; Shellac Manicure; or Acrylic Nails (Up to 51% Off)
An actual Groupon subject line
One Oil Change, Three Oil Changes with Inspections, or a Four-Wheel Alignment (Up to 78% Off) | 10 or 20 Gym Passes (Up to 69% Off) | Salon Package with Cut, Style, and Two-Color Highlights; Shellac Manicure; or Acrylic Nails (Up to 51% Off)
An actual Groupon subject line
42 words 421 characters
It’s okay to write long (or short) email subject lines - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12
4 Never used a popup to
collect email addresses
nooooooooooooooo.com
Pre-Popup: 80-100 new emails/month
Pre-Popup: 80-100 new emails/month
Once popup was installed: • Aug – 388 new emails • Sept – 478 (a 482% increase)
83% list growth from popups; zero complaints!
Popup accounts for 75-80% of list growth!
“To this day, after 4 years, I have not heard anything [negative] about it.” - Patrick Starzan, VP of Marketing & Distribution
ChristopherSPenn.com
ChristopherSPenn.com • 30 signups per month prior
to popup. • Once installed, average shot
up to 133 • As of Feb ’11, trending at
250 per month.
733% increase in subscribers.
It’s okay to use a popup to collect email address! - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12
5 Never send an email with one big image
It’s okay to send an email with one big image, but get creative with alt text! - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12
6 Never make your unsubscribe
link obvious
Can you find the unsubscribe?
Can you find the unsubscribe?
Huh?
Unsubscribe
OR
Mark as Spam
It’s okay to make your unsubscribe button/link obvious! - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12
7 Never have fun
It’s okay to have some fun with your email marketing campaigns! - @djwaldow #SocialBrand12
1. Never use “free” or ALL CAPS in a subject line
2. Never send an UGLY email
3. Subject lines should always be between 30-50
characters
4. Never use a popup to collect email addresses
5. Never send an email with one big image
6. Never make your unsubscribe link obvious
7. Never have fun
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
http://waldowsocial.com/free-email-reviews/
ar.gy/rebelsguide
REMEMBER
Smile. Laugh. Dance. Have Fun.
[Read post & watch video]
waldowsocial.com/email
DJ Waldow WaldowSocial.com @djwaldow