Connect Newsletter and Email Marketing Blog

Tip 1: Make notes for next year

Consider tip # 98 on what worked and did not work last season. Make next year’s holiday promotion easy by noting what went well and what requires improvement next year.

It’s easy to forget, especially with 8 months of advertising ahead so prepare what you can in advance.

Tip 2: Target gift card receivers after Christmas

In 2007, consumers purchased an estimated $26.3 billion in gift cards. While this represents a substantial piece of the holiday revenue pie, retailers can’t count gift cards as sales until the cards are redeemed.

Send at least one email promotion to your subscriber list to encourage redemptions. Offer a free gift bag, t-shirt, or something else to get subscribers to spread the word.

Tip 3: Stress your shipment delivery dates

Last minute shoppers may be hesitant to purchase online for fear that their orders won’t arrive on time. Stress your delivery dates and work with your shipping company to ensure your items get delivered on time.

Ideas:

1. Send a confirmation email (with tracking information) once the item has been shipped
2. Dedicate a team of customer service representatives to work with your shipping company to ensure delivery dates
3. Have realistic delivery dates (don’t promise what you can’t deliver)

Tip 4: Focus on men, they'll be behind...

This may appear to be stereotypical, but it’s backed by some truth. Men historically purchase their gifts closer to the holiday deadlines. So, make sure to target men as the holidays’ approach.

Segment your list by gender. Send encouraging emails to the men, including gift ideas, coupons, and store locators. At the same time, send women an email that’s also focused on men’s clothing or products. It’s hard shopping for the opposite sex so many women may have left these purchases to the end as well.

Tip 5: Find out your best day and time

While there is no universal best day or time of day to send an email, you can determine what works for your company, based on your audience and industry.

Use your campaign reports to follow subscriber open rates. If you send multiple types of emails, each type should be considered independently of the others.

You’ll need at least 10 to 15 campaigns in order to start comparing results. Start comparing open rates each day to see if a trend appears. Do consumers like to receive promotions on Sundays, for example?

Remember, your campaign calendar is unique to your company. Consider your audience, their schedules, and any environmental factors that affect them in order to compile your full email timeline.

Tip 6: Win back dead leads with new offers

Scan your email database for subscribers who haven’t purchased or interacted with your email program in 6 months or more. Create a win-back email to entice old leads to purchase again.

Expect lower than average results from this group as most have lost interest. Even a few sales from this promotion should be regarded as a success.

Tip 7: Use your knowledge to re-market

Re-work campaigns that didn’t produce the desired results. If your holiday campaigns didn’t measure up to your objectives, revise and try again.

Consider some of these re-marketing tips:

1. Re-send the same campaign to subscribers who did not open (DNOs) with a new subject line
2. Revise the email messaging or offer and re-send to subscribers who did open, but did not click
3. Send a follow up email to subscribers who clicked through but did not purchase

Tip 8: Always check your reports

Review your campaign one and two days after its send date. Most subscribers who decide to view your campaign will do so within the first 48 hours. Use campaign reports to see when the majority of your subscribers interact with your email and what (if anything) they click.

Your results can help create re-marketing and win-back plans and can even determine the best day and time for your emails. The next three tips will give more information on using your reports to your advantage.

Tip 9: Make sure your subscribers convert

Conversion rate = sales (downloads, etc..) ÷ clicks

Ultimately, the goal is to convert subscribers. This metric is more general and reviews how all parts of your campaign worked together – including subject line, email creative, landing pages, site flow, and checkout process.

Conversion should always be part of the measurement process, but for A/B testing, it will be difficult to analyze any given variable independently.

Tip 10: Ensure your subect line speaks for your content with click-to-open rates

Click-to-Open rate = total clicks ÷ opened emails

This metric measures post-open activity and directly ties subscriber action back to the email open. It answers the question, “Did my subject line create the right expectation for my email content?”

Use click-to-open rates along with click rates to get the full perspective on your A/B subject line tests.

Tip 11: How Netchemia improved messaging and customer action

Netchemia, LLC provides Internet-based software and services to educational organizations. They use CampaignerPro to nurture incoming leads and refine program and product messaging.

Netchemia understands that while their email program was successful, in marketing, there is always room to improve. That’s why they continuously test elements of their email message. Using A/B Tests, Netchemia even found they could improve click rates using a new product tagline.

Netchemia updated the SchoolRecruiter product tagline which was originally referred to as a ‘Candidate Management Solution.’ Netchemia sent out two campaigns with two new product taglines to see how leads would react. Using click data as their guide, the company found that their audience more easily identified with the SchoolRecruiter product when it was called a ‘Hiring Management Solution’. The campaign’s click rate was 600% higher than normal and almost two times higher than the other tested alternative. The new tagline has since been updated in all of their collateral.

Learn more about Netchemia.

Tip 12: Refine email content based on click rates

Click rate = total clicks ÷ total delivered email

Your click rate provides insight into the effectiveness of your copy or graphics. It answers the question, “Does this encourage action from my subscribers?” Use this metric to test everything from messaging to layout.

Messaging: No matter the message, there is always room to improve. Test everything from text length to new phrases, but make sure to only test one variable at a time.

Layout: Does your email template optimize your space and encourage attentiveness? Try moving around images and playing with button links. Determine your optimal layout and then place the most important text or graphics in the best real estate (the locations that get the highest response rates).

Tip 13: Use open rates to test subjects

Open rate = unique opens ÷ total delivered email

Generated based on a tracking pixel that renders as each email is opened, this metric answers the question “Does my subject line get the most people possible to open my email?”

Split your list and send the same campaign to both sections with different subject lines. Which subject line resulted in more opens?

Remember, your open rate does not gauge what happens post-open. To learn how your subject line leads to the email content, you need to look elsewhere.

Tip 14: Follow the ABC's of A/B Tests

No campaign is perfect at first. It takes time to hone your program and learn what consumers want. Don’t leave your campaign success up to chance; use A/B tests to find out what gets responses and what doesn’t.

What to do:

a) Test 1 variable at a time. The more changes you make, the more difficult it is to pinpoint what worked. Remember that change takes time.
b) Compare test segments A and B based on open, click, click-to-open, and conversion rates.
c) Update the remainder of your campaigns with the winning variable

Test subject lines, copy, offers, creative designs and much more. The next few tips will review each metric independently and how it relates to your A/B Tests.

Tip 15: Show character over YouTube

Create a short video that showcases your company’s character and host it on YouTube, Google video or another rich media site. Keep the video fun and avoid blatant sales attempts. Make sure your company name, website, and store focus come across and then wait to see if it spikes interest.

Video advertising can be cost effective if you create the storyline and produce the video in-house. The goal is not to produce a video worthy of an Oscar, but to have fun and create something that will get buzz.

Tip 16: Leverage customer purchase databases

Integrate your email and customer database in order to leverage your customer purchasing trends. Tailor promotional offers to the product, brand, price point, or other purchase trend preferences of each subscriber for more relevant and effective marketing campaigns.

The past is your best indicator of future action. With the right messaging, you can leverage your historical data to get better future results.

Tip 17: Trigger automated nurturing campaigns

Especially during the holiday season, retailers are busy and can’t spend their entire time online worrying about their subscriber list. Take some of the hassle out of your program but automating key messaging.

1. Set your welcome message to deploy after one of these actions is completed: download, purchase, or registration.
2. Automate your win-back program so that customers that haven’t purchased within X months or subscribers who haven’t opened your email within X months receive an incentive to purchase from you again.
3. Create an online shopping cart abandonment email to be sent X days later. Offer an incentive to complete the purchase.

To learn more about setting up automated campaigns, watch our webinar with DIRECT Magazine.

Tip 19: Top tips to optimize your landing page

Whether you’re providing coupons, gift ideas, or anything else, use a landing page instead of a web page to organize your content.

A web page is meant to help readers decide what they want and should link to multiple places. With a landing page, you know what the reader wants (or what they’ve clicked to learn more about) so the content should be focused. Make the entire page lead toward the same action, the sale, download, etc.

Tips for optimizing your landing page:
1. Describe only what the subscriber had clicked through to learn about.
2. Design the page based on the general Z reading pattern. Put the most important information in the top right section of the page.
3. Keep the design consistent with your overall branding. But simplify so that all graphics and backgrounds support the content of the page.
4. Avoid navigation links to anything but the main call to action.
5. Place multiple links for the same main action throughout the page.

Tip 20: Create a community where people can post feedback

Whether you like it or not, consumers will talk about you. Good and bad. So why not jump onboard and be part of the conversation? By encouraging your audience to post their experiences on your website, you’re able to moderate and learn what your customers really think. Benefit from your customers’ praise and improve those aspects that they dislike.

Once your online community is established, use email to get the word out:

1. Encourage subscribers to post.
2. Include the most recent post within every email campaign. Link back the community so readers can learn more.
3. Ask customers to provide feedback post-purchase.
4. Link all products to their most recent mention in your online community.

Tip 21: Compliment email with SMS

Short message service (SMS) is not for everyone, but for the holiday season, it just may be the extra advertising muscle that makes a difference.

Use email to keep an open and consistent dialogue with your subscribers but add SMS to the mix when an immediate notice is in order. For example, use the occasional SMS notice when you know your subscribers are out shopping, like on Black Friday (the Friday following Thanksgiving). Include the closest store location and a discount for any purchase completed that day.

SMS Tips:

1. Ask first: an email opt-in is not an SMS opt-in
2. Make communication easy: make sure they can text back to find out more or unsubscribe
3. Create a new SMS layout: you have 160 characters or less to make your point
4. Use coupons: With little tracking available to date, coupons will allow you to better measure campaign success