Designing for-results

© Exclusive Concepts 2006 – NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION

Newsletter Best Practices
Designing for Results
Herb Osher/ COO

© Exclusive Concepts 2006 – not for distribution

What you will learn

Data Driven Best Practices for:
• Layout
• Design
• Content

We’ll start with some background…


Why use Email Marketing?

It is effective
Permission based email motivates consumers to
purchase;78% of online shoppers have purchased
as the result of clicking on an email link.
54% of small businesses surveyed rated email as the top
online promotion to drive visitors and customers to their
web sites and storefronts.
It’s real-time (85% of responses in the first 48 hrs)
It’s measurable
And it is affordable!


2006 Benchmark Data

• Open rates: down 8%
– Banking: 31%
– Retail 26%
– Real Estate 26%
– Computer/Internet 14%
• Clicks: down 8%
– Banking 9%
– Computer/Internet 6%
– Retail 6%
– Real Estate 3.4%
• Issues:
– Competition
– Spam

Source: 2006 Email Marketing Metrics Report – MailerMailer LLC

Layout Best Practices

• To get the best results:
– Provide your
brand/company name in
the subject line
– Place your logo in the top
left
– B2C: mostly images
– B2B: Mostly text

Source: Silverpop 2006 study: 612 emails sent by 430 companies to 100 or more recipients

Click Rates by Styles


Formats

• Click Rates: HTML vs. Text
– 3.31% vs. 2.71%
– HTML is 22% more
productive
• Image Links for B2C
• Text Links for B2B


Offers

• Type of offer can
significantly affect
results
• Put your offer above
the fold


Layout Best Practices

Messages that included the company name or brand in the subject
line had significantly higher open rates – as much as a 12
percentage point increase.

Placing the call-to-action above the fold is critical for B to B
marketers, lifting average click rates by 3.5 percentage points.

Include both text and image links to attract attention and boost click
rates.

Lifestyle photography attracts consumers and can yield higher click
rates.

There is such a thing as too many options. Past a certain point, the
greater the number of links in a message, the lower the click rate.

If you’re using the same format over and over again, consider
making a switch.


Design for images “off”

Source: Email Design Guidelines for 2006 - David Greiner


Minimize the damage

Source: Email Design Guidelines for 2006 - David Greiner © Exclusive Concepts 2006 – not for distribution

Design for the preview pane

75% of people who use preview panes go for the horizontal version,
while the remaining 25% prefer the vertical version.
•Review your click-tracking reports to identify what content most of
your recipients are clicking on.
•Ensure this content is at the top (and preferably to the left) of your
design.
•Make sure this content is text-based and can always be read.


Get added to the Address Book
•AOL and Yahoo! allow recipients to filter emails from unknown
senders.

•Images are displayed by default if you're in the address book for
all AOL and Hotmail recipients as well as anyone using Outlook or
Outlook Express.

•Ask your subscribers to add your From address to their address
book.
•On the landing page after someone subscribes.
•If you send a confirmation email, mention it in there as well.
•In every email you send out
•Make sure you use the same From address


Design Best Practices
Don’t use images for headlines, links and any calls to action.

Use alt text for all images. This is important for readers like Gmail.

Add the height and width to the image to make sure that any placeholder image
doesn't affect the design.

Add a text-based link to a web version of your design at the top of your email.

Ensure your most compelling content is at the top (and preferably to the left).

Test your design in a preview pane, full screen and with images turned on and off
before you send it.

Ask your subscriber to add your “From address” to their address book at every
opportunity.

Removing admin messaging from the very top. When viewed in an inbox, they are
too high of a percentage of real estate. So move that information further down.

Tack a "boring" Table of Contents at the top

If you run newsletter ads put them in the left column.

Content

Focus on advice and helpful tips

Create an "ask the expert" column with a very tactical answer to one specific and
common question

Article summaries should be carefully written to show immediate value by giving a
useful tidbit of information up front.

Articles should be loaded with the word "you“

Summaries should start with a question (example: "Would you like to close more
listing appointments?") that resonates with the reader.

Content should be described as "Advice," "Ideas," "Tips," "Answers," "Steps," etc.

Adopt this philosophy: “No long and boring articles.” Busy readers don't want
theory. They want tools.

Post back issues


Thank you for joining us today.
Exclusive Concepts offers custom newsletter designs and Net Atlantic
provides a best-in-class Email Newsletter Hosting and List Management.
To learn more please call Net Atlantic Sales at
978-744-6885
sales@netatlantic.com
www.netatlantic.com


Designing for-results

Empfohlen

Empfohlen

Weitere ähnliche Inhalte

Was ist angesagt?

Was ist angesagt? (11)

Andere mochten auch

Andere mochten auch (20)

Ähnlich wie Designing for-results

Ähnlich wie Designing for-results (20)

Designing for-results