Get tips for improving your email marketing. Using findings from our recent email marketing survey as a framework, we'll show you the best ways to create, send, and track high-impact emails that stand out in a crowded inbox.

1. Email Marketing for Nonprofits
Tips for improving your email marketing now
Lara Brown
Senior Marketing Manager
Sage Nonprofit Solutions
#NPEMKTG 1

2. Agenda
• List growth
• Campaign elements
• Deliverability
• Testing and optimization
• Segmentation
• Automation
2

3. “The reports of my
death have been greatly
exaggerated.”
- email
3

4. Why Email Marketing?
Does your organization • Inexpensive
conduct email marketing? • Immediate
• Effective way to communicate
with supporters
• Able to quickly test and
optimize
• Able to segment audience for
customized messages
4

5. Successful Organizations:
• Define clear objectives and measurable goals
• Benchmark and track email performance metrics
• Take measures to improve deliverability
• Use tactics to grow and retain email contacts
• Send emails that are relevant and engaging
• Integrate email with other marketing channels
• Segment their list according to behavior and interest
• Test and optimize key campaign elements
5

6. Objectives and Measurable Goals
What are your
organization’s top 3
objectives?
What are your
organization’s top 3
measurable goals?
6

7. Why Email Marketing Fails
• The one and done email
– Need to send messages multiple times before a supporter
notices it, let alone responds (unless it’s tailored for them)
• The stand-alone email
– Lack of integration with other on- and offline marketing
channels (where social media comes in)
• Generic emails (not targeted to areas of interest)
• The registration / donation form is overly
complicated or requires too much information
• Key campaign elements like the subject line are
ineffective
• Deliverability issues 7

8. Ready, Aim, Fire
• Growing and retaining email contacts
– Get your message to your audience
• Deliverability
– Get your email to the inbox
• Subject line (The promise)
– Get your email opened
• Copy (Delivering on the promise)
– Get your email read
• Content (Making it relevant)
– Get your target to engage / respond
8

9. GROWING YOUR LIST
9

10. Growing and Retaining Contacts
Does your organization
actively work to grow
and retain email
contacts?
Which statement best
describes your
organization’s email
list growth trend for
the past 12 months?
10

11. Email Contacts
Unaware
80% The Donor
Aware
Funnel
15%
Active / Engaged
50%
Click on Form
15%
Donate
11

12. Tips for growing and keeping contacts
• Online
– Facebook registration page
– Web site registration
– Offer incentives for signing up
– Make it easy, don’t ask for unnecessary information
– Referrals: Forward to a friend / give advocates the tools to
share your emails and your story
– Social media sharing icons
– Blog sign up
• Offline
– Direct mail, events
• Retain contacts by delivering value and making it
worthwhile for them to stay 12

13. Facebook Registration Page Tip: Lower
the Barrier
to Entry with
a Soft Ask
13

14. DELIVERABILITY
14

15. Tactics for Improving Deliverability
• Regularly clean your data
– Remove hard bounces
– Remove inactive contacts
– Evaluate soft bounces
– Update email addresses
• Monitoring inbox placement
• Spam checking software
– Your email service provider (ESP) should include or offer
• Ask contacts to add you to their Safe Senders
15

16. Tactics for Improving Response
• Make it possible to view email as a web page
– For those who have display images turned off
• Use text and graphics, not just graphics
• Use consistent from line: credibility / recognition
• Reactivation campaigns to non-responders
• Survey results show average unsubscribe rate is 4%!
16

17. CAMPAIGN ELEMENTS
17

18. Key Email Campaign Elements Tip: Write a
simple brief to
• Subject Line guide the process
– Same rules as apply to a headline.
– Attract attention. Be provocative, enticing:
“We had no idea”
– Specific, urgent, compelling, concise (40-60 characters)
– Question marks okay, no or limited exclamation points
– Don’t be afraid to include the Ask: “Donate to Save an Kitten Today”
• Call to Action
– Strong v. Soft (Give now v give today), sense of immediacy
– Exclusivity (Part of a special club)
– People want to know WIFM (what’s in it for me?)
• Simplify donation pages
– No need to sell them at that point
– Reduce the number of clicks
– Don’t send them off to a third-party site to donate
18

19. Landing Page
19

20. Content Tip: Write
the copy,
then delete
the first line.
• Deliver on the promise made in the
subject line (how measured? CTR)
• Don’t bury the lead / Cut to the chase quickly
• Make it scan-able (bullets, short paragraphs)
• Tone: compelling, action-oriented, conversational
vs. formal
• Keep important content / links above the fold
• Stop talking about yourself (the wewe test)
• Personalization and video
20

21. TESTING AND OPTIMIZATION
21

22. Elements to Test
• Subject Line
• Call to Action
• Target Audience
• Landing Page
• Donation Form Fields
• Content
• Time / Day
• Personalization / Video
• Frequency
22

23. Types of Testing
• A/B Testing
– Test one element at a time
– Don’t waste time testing “whispers”
– Tip: Split a small portion of your list and send 2 different
emails with 2 different subject lines. Send the winning
email to the rest of the contacts.
• Multivariate Testing
– Testing multiple elements at a time (e.g, subject line +
headline + list)
– Pro: speeds up optimization
– Con: complex
23

24. SEGMENTATION AND
AUTOMATED MARKETING
24

25. Segmenting Your List Tip: Set up a
preference center
so supporters can
• Reach the right prospect with the right opt-in to specific
content.
message at the right time
– Send messages to a segment of your audience
based on behavior and what you know about them
• Benefits
– Cuts through the clutter, more likely to get opened
– If providing value, can send more frequently
– Improve open rates and reduce
opt-out rates.
– If their behavior
indicates interest in
cats, give ‘em cats!
25

26. Automated Marketing Tip:
Use for driving
people to an
• Multi-step, trigger-based on if / then upcoming event
scenario
• Score to prioritize for follow up
– Explicit: Their activity (opens, clicks, etc.)
– Implicit: What you know about them (adopted a dog)
Sage E-marketing Lead Scoring
26

27. Automated
Trigger-Based
Marketing

28. TRACKING
28

29. Benchmark and Track Key
Performance Indicators
• Click-through rate
Does your organization • Open rate
benchmark email
performance? • Total contacts
• Total new contacts
• % active, email-able contacts
• Unsubscribe rate
• Bounceback rate
• Total emails sent
• Conversion rate
• Campaign ROI
29

30. Successful Organizations
• Define clear objectives and measurable goals
• Benchmark and track email performance metrics
• Take measures to improve deliverability
• Use tactics to grow and retain email contacts
• Send emails that are relevant and engaging
• Integrate email with other marketing channels
• Segment their list according to behavior and interest
• Test and optimize key campaign elements
30

31. Q&A
• Download the complete Email Marketing
Report
– x
• Get a free trial of Sage E-marketing
– http://bit.ly/y0RgOs
• Learn about Sage Fundraising Online Thanks for
– www.sagefundraisingonline.com Attending!
• Sage Nonprofit E-Books
– Event Fundraising Best Practices
– Year-End Fundraising Guide
31

32. Appendix
32

33. Challenges and Obstacles
What are your
organization’s most
significant challenges?
What are the
barriers to
overcoming
them?
33

34. Top Campaigns / Appeals
• Events / Year End Campaign Best Practices
– Create an email timeline
– Mention event date in every email
– Send a save-the-date email
– Use after-event email or survey
– Make it easy to donate / register
34