email newsletters workshop hertfordshire funding fair 2007 17 th october 2007
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Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Email Newsletters Workshop
Hertfordshire Funding Fair 2007
17th October 2007
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Workshop structure
• Session 1 E-newsletters Do’s and Don’tsThe fundamental principles of creating and delivering successful email newsletters.by Maria Diaz E-Communications Manager - CTT
• Session 2 Q&A and sharing experiences.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Session 1
E-Newsletters Do’s and Don’tsFundamental principles of creating and delivering successful email newsletters.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Why using email as a media?
Perceived informational value
Low cost to charity
Environmentally friendly
Not intrusive
Quick response to a call to action
Drives people to your website
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Email lists
Have you got permission to email them?
Email and mobile information as well as sensitive data needs to be collected with opt-in.
If not, it is never too late to start….
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Collecting permission
Use the ‘tone of voice’ of the charityPoint out that it is “a cost effective media”Fit the message to the audience (age/demographics etc.)Cover all future uses/channels to market (email, mobile, etc)Be clear about who is collecting the information (NB Trading arms/affiliated companies)Give them a reason to provide information
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Collecting permission - TIPS
Don’t use pre-ticked boxes. Email permission is an opt-in.
Include a click through to your privacy policy on the data collection screen.
Data collected via “viral” promotions may only be used once to gain future permission.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Who is your audience?
General interest in your work
Donors/Stakeholders
Fundraisers
Campaigners
Trustees
Other
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
If you don’t know who they are…
… ask them:
– Do you want to receive emails from us?– What areas of our work are you interested on?– How often do you want to hear from us?– What format do you want to receive your email?
HTML – Fancy version with picturesPlain text – No formatting
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Write the content
Relevant to the intended audience
Personalise the email
Be concise – Use click through links to your website for more information
Be clear – What do you want the subscriber to do – Call to action
Avoid - where possible - spam words/characters
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Spam words/characters
Avoid exclamation or interrogation marks as much as possible, in the text and very importantly, on the subject line.
Avoid spam words like free, software, save, marketing, click here, etc.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Template Design
Template - What is it?
Determine your template’s visual identity- Consistent with your online identity?
- New for the particular online publication
- Similar to your offline publication/s
Design it to work for you- Sections on the e-news
HTML and plain text version
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Some design tips - HTML
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Template Size
The mean size for screen resolution is 1024 x 768pixels
The template width should not exceed 750 pixels, ideally 700.
Bear in mind the frequent use of email preview pane
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Template Size
√ Right LengthAvoid vertical scrolling where possible
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Call to Action
Place your call to action at the top of the e-newsletter
i.e. if you want a donation, place the donation button/link at the top.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Bear in mind graphic blockers
Avoid having the call to action inserted only on a graphic (banner or button)
If you use a graphic button, remember to add the same link within the text too.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Avoid using tables with thick borders
X Wrong – Border thickness is 4 pixels
√ Right – Border thickness is 1 pixel
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Visual balance
√ Right – Consider image per text ratio.
In the example, there is a visual balance between the amount of text and the pictures included
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Use ALT tags on images
√ Right – Always use ALT tags (mouse over text) on all images.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Warning - Use of colour
X Wrong – Some colour combinations are tiring to the eye and difficult to read
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Avoid using style sheets
Different email clients interpret style sheets in different ways
To achieve best results, avoid using them
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Use a popular font type
Use a popular font type (Arial, Times New Roman, Helvetica, etc) despite the font on your brand guidelines being different.
Most users will not have that font available on their computers and substitution may occur.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Plain text design
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Plain text version
Make it as attractive as possible…
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Cheat!
Write a brief introduction to the e-news and ask them to click through to a link where the HTML version lives
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Functionality
Both version should include:
– Personalisation – where possible– ‘Forward to a friend’ link– Subscribe to receive our e-news– Very top – ‘Web Online version’ link– Automatic change your details– Comments or suggestions email link– UN-SUBSCRIBE - Mandatory
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Be original – Experiment!
• Don’t be frightened to try new things
• Fragment your data and send them different layouts - Note what works best
• Use your email call to action to engage your audience with other media (SMS, Video, Audio, etc)
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Test before send
• Send a test to various colleagues and ask their opinion (share the guilt!)
• Test that all the links work• Test the same campaign on different
email clients – Outlook, Hotmail, AOL, Lotus…
• Test all the functionality links• When possible, leave it for a while and
come back to it
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
When to send
• Regular publications (monthly, weekly, etc)
• Core days of the week (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)
• Core hours of the working day (Mid morning, mid afternoon)
• Consider just before lunch time when is raining or when it’s very cold!
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Delivery
The mechanism used to send and deliver bulk emails
Three types of email tools
- Outlook/Eudora/Lotus/other PC/pop3 based email system
- In-House bulk email broadcast software
- ASP (Application Service Provider) bulk email broadcast software
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Email toolsOUTLOOK In-House s/w ASP s/w
Fit for purpose X √ √
Address Books X √ √
Subscriptions X √ √
Manages Bounces
X √ √
HTML and plain text part send
X √ √
Templates X √ √
Reports X √ √
HTML X √ √
SPAM X X √
Bandwidth X X √
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Email tool specification
Address Book Address Management/history/export/import
Subscriptions Subscribes and unsubscribes
Bounces Hard (email not there) and Soft (unavailable)
2 part send HTML and Text versions
Templates Design, look and feel management
Reports Open rate, Click throughs, bounces, unsubscribes
HTML HTML email with WYSIWYG editor
SPAM Being blocked
Bandwidth Internet Pipe size
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Post send
Clean your data
– Safely remove un-subscribes – Delete hard-bounce emails – follow up
phone call?– Manage changes in existing data – Email
address changes, email format, etc.
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Post sendOpen ratesClick through ratesWhich link was most successfulMake a note of what peak time/s% Un-subscribes% Hard-bounce emails% Soft-bounce emails – Correlation with holiday period, half term…Use click through information to further segment your data – Subscriber retentionForward to a friend – Who is promoting you?
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
CTTM@il
CTT provides an email marketing service to charities using an ASP system that ticks all the boxes.
For a FREE DEMO accountwww.ctt.org / hatfieldor email maria@ctt.org
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Session 2
Your questions
Maria Diaz – maria@ctt.org
Thank you!
Maria DiazE-Communications ManagerCharity Technology Trust
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