1. www.ascendix.com Conference Call # 866.634.1106
Code 469.916.8280
Getting to the inbox Email Marketing
BEST PRACTICES

2. Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series
A few words about your host Ascendix Technologies
Wes Snow
Co-founder/Partner
Ascendix Technologies, Inc.
• Founded in 1996
• Located in Dallas, TX
• CRM is all we’ve done for the past 13 years
• Over 75 years of collective experience in project management,
development, training and implementation
• 2008 President’s Club Member for Microsoft
• Business partner w/ MSCRM and Sage SalesLogix products
• Developer of Real Estate AdvantageTM and other productivity tools on the
Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform
• Developer of Sponsor AdvantageTM on the Sage SalesLogix platform

3. Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series
E-Mail Marketing in the CRM portfolio

4. Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series
Email Marketing Best Practices
Guest Speaker – Rhonda Wunderlin
Director, Marketing Best Practices and Training @ Eloqua

5. “Customers’ buying
<<processes have evolved in
our world of ubiquitous,
instant, global
communication
… but companies’ selling
processes have for the most
part stayed the same.”
- Thomas Stewart, Editor
Harvard Business Review
August, 2006 Issue Editorial

6. Marketing Today - Build Relationships
$
Acquisition Retention Development
Measured and Managed Cost Effectively

7. Understanding Your Customer
Interest Evaluate Purchase
Marketing Effectiveness Determines Volume and Velocity

8. EMAIL
Design and Deliverability

9. It isn‟t just an email…
From line
Subject line
Header
Personalization
Offer
Creative/Image
Landing Page
Auto Responder

10. The 3 Second Rule
You have 3 – 5
seconds to persuade
your recipient to
take action.
10

11. Agenda
Step 1: Optimize Visibility
Step 2: Optimize Relevance
Step 3: Optimize Layout
Step 4: Ensure Compliance
Step 5: Test and Measure
Step 6: Leveraging Marketing Response Activity

12. Step 1: Optimize Visibility
 From Line: Who is it from?
 Subject Line: Does it communicate value?
 Preview: How does it render in preview pane?
12

13. Who is it FROM?
The FROM line is single most important element in
building trust with recipient
Opportunity to build brand recognition – always
have the company brand in the FROM line.
If someone will personally be following up –
introduce the person to build name recognition.
TEST and be consistent.
From: Eloqua
From: Jane Doe, Eloqua
From: Jane, Eloqua
From: Jane with Eloqua

14. Leverage Company Brand & Match Signature
14

15. From and Subject Lines
<< Work Together…
“80% of email recipients
open their inbox, read the
„from‟ line and then the
„subject‟ line, and then
delete. Then, they read the
remaining emails in their
inbox.”
- Digital Impact Study -

16. Subject Line Guiding Principles
1. Get to the point. Communicate value to recipient
in first 35 characters.
2. Engage. Provide a sense of urgency and prompt
them to open the e-mail immediately.
3. Be relevant. Speak to the needs and interests of
your recipients as individual people.
4. Build trust. Do not over promise or mislead. This
can destroy trust and damage your brand.

17. Subject Line Examples

18. Preview Panes
What do horizontal and vertical preview panes have in common?
Design for the common denominator!

19. Step 2: Optimize Relevance
 Value Proposition: Is it meaningful to recipient?
 Personalization: Does it match the relationship?
 Imagery: Does it engage or repel recipient?
 Tone: Does it reduce anxiety or read like fine print?
19

20. Value Proposition: What is in it for me?
20

21. Personalization: Build the Relationship
21

22. Imagery - Engage
Images are visual
clues to engage and
inform recipient
Not just any old image
will do - images must
be relevant to value
prop
Scanning clusters
around discontinuity
– i.e. bolding or
highlighting

23. Tone – Speak Human not Corporate
23

24. Tone – Good Copywriting
Write for the customer, not for
yourself!
Get to the point! – use < 100 words
Place primary call-to-action links
above the fold
Write short sentences: easy to
scan, punchier, more active
Use benefit-oriented subheads
Use bullets to capture value
proposition
“So-What?” Use this repeatedly to
help you get to the real message

25. Step 3: Optimize Layout
 Images Off: Can you still identify value prop?
 Eye Path: Where does your eye go with images on?
 Call-To-Action: Is it clear and accessible?
 Layout: How does it render across email clients?
25

26. Reality: Images Off
Be sure to also communicate
value outside of images.
Add a text-based link to a
Web version of your design at
the top of your e-mail.
Use ALT Text to describe all
images.
Always add the height and
width to the image to ensure
the placeholder doesn't throw
your design out.
Test your design with images
turned off before you send it.

27. Effective ALT Tags

28. Effective Designs for Disabled Images
28

29. What Is Driving Mobile Email Adoption?
Real-time responsiveness
Increased productivity – not better, more convenient
Divided attention
Source: Exact Target, Email Marketing for the Third Screen

30. View in Mobile Devices
Blackberry
iPhone
HP / Toshiba

31. Targeting Mobile Recipients
Don’t forget… up to 65% of your audience may be
viewing email on mobile devices
Stay true to permission
Sender and subject lines
Get your message flagged for follow-up
• First screen shows average of 100 characters;
approximately 20-25 words
Leverage the text version
Think about how you use links
TEST!!!

32. Images On: What is the Eyepath?
Squint Test: Close your
eyes, open, and
immediately identify
first thing you see
above the fold. Is it the
value prop?
Start to identify where
the eye drifts positively
and negatively to
optimize layout.

33. Rendering Across Email Clients

34. Step 4: Ensure Compliance
 Privacy Policy: Does the email adhere to your
policies?
 Reputation: Is the email being received / read?
34

35. CAN-SPAM http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.htm
1. E-mail communications that are a “transaction or relationship
message”
Do not require an opt-out function
Do not have to include the disclosures that apply relationship
messages.
2. E-mail communications that are NOT a “transaction or
relationship message”
Have Opted-in
• Must include a functioning return e-mail address
• Must contain an opt-out function
Sent to recipient without the recipient’s prior affirmative or
implied consent
• Must include clear notice that the e-mail is an
advertisement
• Must include a valid physical postal address of the sender
• Must contain an opt-out function

36. Brand Reputation
Deliverability Best Practice:
Obtain clear consent
List maintenance
Sender Score is like a credit score, it is an indication of
the trustworthiness of an email source.
www.senderscore.org

37. Resources on Deliverability
ReturnPath -
http://www.returnpath.net/blog/whitepapers.php
Deliverability Experts - http://blog.deliverability.com
Sender Score Certified - www.senderscorecertified.com
ISIPP (Institute for Spam and Internet Policy) -
www.isipp.com
Goodmail Systems - www.goodmailsystems.com
Pivotal Veracity - www.pivotalveracity.com
Word to the Wise - www.wordtothewise.com

38. Step 5: Test and Measure
 No absolutes: What’s working and what’s not
working?
 Measuring: Are recipients engaging with my
communication?
 Testing: How do I optimize results?
38

39. Important Metrics
Received rates: measure email list
quality, health
Open rates: measure subject / from
line effectiveness
Click-through rates: measure interest
in offer
Click to Open rates: measure
effectiveness of email once opened
Unsubscribe rates: measure interrupt
rule compliance and personalize
effectiveness
Bounce rate: large volumes of hard
bounces can indicate problems like
bad data hygiene, poor sign-up
practices that accept invalid e-mail
addresses, and ISPs blocking your
domains

40. Benchmarks – Email Delivery
http://bronto.com/stats#

41. Benchmarks – Email Opens
http://bronto.com/stats#

42. Benchmarks – Email Clickthrough
http://bronto.com/stats#

43. No Best Time To Send
Source: eROI. Q3 2007 study
Best day for “opens” is not necessarily the best day for “clicks”.
Analyze your web logs to see when people are choosing to use your
web site. If you look at the last 6 months you’ll discover busy times. It
is a fair conclusion that this is your preferred time to send.
You must be aware that previous email promotions may have skewed
your results.

44. Testing Answers Questions
Is the messaging easy to understand?
Is the call to action more compelling?
What are barriers for prospects to convert to a
lead?
Do prospects understand the offer and find it
valuable?
Which topics resonates the best with this segment?

45. Getting Started
Decide WHAT to test
Test each element separately Email A
You can observe to what degree Offer A on Landing Page
response differs to that variation
A Results:
Set up a control group and a 30% Open
5% CTR
test group 20% Inquiries
Use 5-10% of your list
Determine which variable
showed the best results
Email B
Average responses will come within Offer B on Landing Page
24 – 48 hours
B Results:
Use the variable with the best results 35% Open
for the remaining list recipients 7% CTR
25% Inquiries

46. Sample Testing Matrix
Component Measure
Opens Clicks Unique Form Revenue
Visitors Submissions
A B A B A B A B A B
Subject Line
Email Signature
Offer
Alternative Experience
Layout / Design
Day Sent
Time Sent
Headline
Content / Messaging
Landing Page

47. Step 6: Leveraging Response Activity
 Digital Body Language: Are my prospects and
customers engaged with my brand?
 Nurturing: How do I help my prospect through the
decision process?
 Sales: How do I leverage marketing activity to drive
revenue?
47

48. Gain Visibility of Marketing Activity in CRM

49. Simple Nurturing: Auto-Responders
Use Them Everywhere!.
• Stay Top of Mind
• Drive them to related content/ events
• Serves as a good reference for user

50. Personalized Direct Mail to Landing Page
Goal: capture new leads to a “preview
weekend”
Solution: Direct Mail with a PURL
(Personalized URL).
Recipients land on this PURL page as
printed on the DM piece.
Custom content based on segments
(i.e. price specials differ by geo)

51. Best Practices in Lead Nurturing
Keep it simple to start Email 1
Provide value-added content
Relevant – based on lead’s activity / profile 7 days
Timely
Automate the program; provide a real-time feed Email 2
from different lead sources
Include explicit “hand raise” opportunities as
secondary CTAs
14 days
Track online activity to determine when a lead’s
interest has increased Direct Mail 3
Measure, measure, measure!

52. Leveraging Digital Body Language
Contact
Activity Overview

53. Expected Results
Improve conversion rate for leads to contacts
(more qualified leads)
Improved quality in all leads worked by Sales
No lead leakage; follow-up to all leads
(after an event for example)
Extracting more value from existing leads database
Source: Forrester Open Avg. Avg.
rate CTR Conversion
Untargeted broadcast emails 20% 9.5% 1.1%
Lifecycle messaging campaigns 26% 9.3% 2.3%
Clickstream-based campaigns 33% 14% 3.9%

54. The Power to Succeed
FURTHER
T
External E Internal
C
H
PEOPLE N PROCESS
O
L
Interactions O Relevance
G
Y
FASTER

55. Rhonda Wunderlin
Director, Marketing
Best Practices &
Training at Eloqua
rhonda@eloqua.com
Twitter: @rhonda

56. Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series
Q &A

57. Ascendix Technologies Webinar Series
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To contact Ascendix Technologies, please contact Marissa Hernandez at:
mhernandez@ascendix.com or (972)889-8090 ext. 280