Orange Juice

Based on lessons learned, knowledge of the industry and customer challenges, we’ve identified 11 best practices to “bulk” up your email marketing program for a successful 2011.  You’re subscribers will be happy if you do.

Our suggestion on how to get started is to evaluate where you are currently then map out a process with a time line to improve your email marketing strategy.  If you need an extra hand, we’re always here to help.

1. Get permission!

Map out each customer touch point to identify opportunities for organic list growth in a comfortable environment (store front, call center, sales representative, website, social media, viral campaigns, etc.).   Compose a value statement of “why” they should subscribe and communicate that statement through each touch point.

2. Say hello.

Welcome your new subscriber to thank them, set expectations and enhance their experience.  Most email service providers have built- in automation to streamline this task.  Read More.

3. Mind your voice.

The tone or “voice” of all communication should reflect your corporate culture and your brand. I highly recommend the book “Delivering Happiness” to explore corporate culture, establish core values and create customer loyalty.  This book is excellent and easy-to-read.  I couldn’t put it down!

4. Listen.

Ask questions to get to know your subscriber to guide relevant communication.  This includes frequency.  Identify how often your subscriber would like to hear from you then honor that request.  Read More.

5. Segment.

Take the information obtained above and segment your audience to send relevant content.   Learn more.

6. Organize.

A marketing calendar and / or schedule not only makes your job easier but will keep fellow employees and vendors on task as well.

7. Set goals.

Set at least one goal for the campaign with a clear call-to-action.  Prior to send, double check that you met that goal.

8. Design.

Design goes beyond pretty pictures and performance-driven design will improve results.  Learn More.
Outlook, Yahoo and Gmail have made a few changes that challenge email marketers.   Learn More.
Incorporate social media into your email campaigns.  Learn More.

9. Test.

Test, test and retest.  Send a test to different email clients to make sure your campaign is rendering properly and your message is getting across.
Conduct and A/B Split Test prior to hitting send to enhance engagement.  ExactTarget is launching a new feature in a few weeks to simplify this important task.

10. Measure results.

Data leads to great insight that will only improve your email marketing program.  Listen to your customer.   If you add value to their lives, positive results will follow.

11 Automate.

Work smarter.Use automation to enhance the customer experience.  Automate to send relevant life cycle campaigns such as happy birthday, happy anniversary, customer service evaluations and reminders based off of purchase behavior.  Tie automation into your CRM or POS and wow!

Lisa Wester is the strategic marketing director for Inbox Orange, a passionate one to one marketing agency with offices in Kentucky and Missouri.

As a permission-based email marketing agency we follow the philosophy that Subscriber’s Rule:

• Serve the individual.
  
• Honor each individual’s unique preferences with regard to communication,
  content, frequency, and channel.
• Deliver subscribers timely, relevant content that improves their lives.

In fact, Inbox Orange in partnership with our customer, Bluegrass Hospitality Group, received industry recognition last month for doing so with BHG Rewards.

Below are two examples of tracking data pulled from recent email newsletters; one within the B-to-B industry and one within B-to-C. The email campaign that offered relevant content based on profile data, purchase history or the relationship with the sender, tracked greater open and click-through results with substantially lower unsubscribes.

Becoming a one-to-one marketer takes time.  Simply asking your subscriber about their interest and frequency preference is a great start.  Being creative with contests or polls is another approach.  Utilizing features such as Smart Capture for Landing Pages or the survey tools incorporated within the email service provider we recommend, ExactTarget, offer a seamless approach to collecting data and storage.  Both the ExactTarget Core and Advanced accounts allow for 200 attributes (data fields) – that’s a minimum of 200 ways to segment your audience!

rel·e·van·cy = the relation of something
to the matter at hand.

Relevancy drives loyalty. Loyalty begins with trust.  Trust begins with creating an exceptional experience.  Maintaining trust involves listening to your audience.  Listening leads to growth and understanding.  Communicating with your audience through the preferred channel with the right message drives engagement and loyalty.

To explore how Inbox Orange can assist with data collection, segmentation, campaign development and analysis, please contact us at info@inboxorange.com.

The Bluegrass Hospitality Group (BHG) and Inbox Orange were recognized on screen Wednesday at the 2010 ExactTarget Connections Convention as a nominee for a Subscriber’s Rule Award. Best Buy took home the award but what a great honor to be in the same space!

Best Buy does an amazing job with sending relevant and targeted emails. If you are looking to follow a company that does it right, sign up to receive their email communication through Best Buy Reward Zone. Recently I purchased a new printer and within 24 hours I received a thank you email asking me if my questions were answered, directed me to the Geek Squad for assistance on set up and a link to a survey to evaluate customer service. Timely and relevant.

Best Buy is a proven leader in our industry and we’re proud to be a close contender!

Read our case study to learn more >

Yesterday I received this unique 15% off “gift” from my favorite store, Anthropologie, wishing me a happy birthday. I must say it stood out and has remained front and center on my desk since. I admire the uniqueness and relish the value of this customer touch point.

Not only was the gift timely, relevant and personal but it reminded me of the experience I enjoy each time I visit the store, and the satisfaction I’ve had with each purchase.

Next week Bill and I head to Indy for the ExactTarget Connections convention. I’m not a huge shopper, especially when it comes to clothing, however my plans for this weekend will include a visit to the St. Louis Galleria Anthropologie store. I need a new outfit for the convention and this unique gift has intrigued my interest to see what’s new. You can bet the color orange will be somewhere in the mix and I’ll be wearing my new Happy Birthday / candle necklace as an accessory.

1.    Make it personal.

2.    Email early and consistently.

3.    Add an incentive.

4.    Include a clear call to action.

5.    Send a holiday greeting.

I’m not a big text person, so when I received one the other day I was curious to find out who it was. It was AT&T texting me about American Idol Season 8. Funny, I didn’t ever remember signing up to receive text alerts from American Idol or AT&T. With economic pressures mounting look out for companies Spamming via text. Although some would argue that the AT&T message was not Spam because it was free, it did ruffle some feathers.

As an email marketer, I fight the uphill perception battle that Email marketing is Spam. I figured the best way to combat this perception is to learn about SPAM and try to help others understand what they can do to fight it.

What do we do with all of the junk we get? If your Spam filter isn’t catching everything these sites may help:

Spam information resources:

Federal Trade Commission

Spamcop.net

The Spamhaus Project

Spambusters.org

Abuse.net

Spamresource.com

Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group

Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email

International Mail Consortium

Spamlaws.com

Email Sender Provider Coalition

Conference on Email and Anti-Spam

Get Net Wise

Melon Stork

Spam Blockers or Services

Spam Assassin

S-Mail

Blue Bottle

I hope to be posting from the Connections 2008 conference in Indianapolis next week. ExactTarget is hosting some of the industry’s top experts on permission marketing and Inbox Orange is going with a half of dozen people to catch up on the latest trends in the industry. I will share what I think is interesting or relavant.

(I love new media/technology. I am posting this update from my iPhone).

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of SPAM. So what is it exactly and how can you prevent it?

If an email doesn’t meet these criteria, it is considered SPAM (according to the Federal CAN-SPAM Act)

• It bans false or misleading header information. Your email’s “From,” “To,” and routing information – including the originating domain name and email address – must be accurate and identify the person who initiated the email. 
• It prohibits deceptive subject lines. The subject line cannot mislead the recipient about the contents or subject matter of the message. 
• It requires that your email give recipients an opt-out method. You must provide a return email address or another Internet-based response mechanism that allows a recipient to ask you not to send future email messages to that email address, and you must honor the requests. You may create a “menu” of choices to allow a recipient to opt out of certain types of messages, but you must include the option to end any commercial messages from the sender. Any opt-out mechanism you offer must be able to process opt-out requests for at least 30 days after you send your commercial email. When you receive an opt-out request, the law gives you 10 business days to stop sending email to the requestor’s email address. You cannot help another entity send email to that address, or have another entity send email on your behalf to that address. Finally, it’s illegal for you to sell or transfer the email addresses of people who choose not to receive your email, even in the form of a mailing list, unless you transfer the addresses so another entity can comply with the law. 
  
• It requires that commercial email be identified as an advertisement and include the sender’s valid physical postal address.Your message must contain clear and conspicuous notice that the message is an advertisement or solicitation and that the recipient can opt out of receiving more commercial email from you. It also must include your valid physical postal address.

Since starting Inbox Orange, a permission-based email marketing firm in Lexington, Ky, I’ve had people ask me “so what do you do if someone Spams you?” The answer is Spamcop.net. It is a free Spam reporting service that allows those who receive unsolicited commercial emails to report the sender to their ISP (Internet Service Providers).

Not all ‘Mass’ emails are Spam. If you’ve provided your email address to a business, then expect to receive communication from them, unless you specified otherwise. And if the information is that you receive from that company is not relevant to you, don’t report them, just unsubscribe from their list. According to the law, it should be fast and easy.

I hope to be discussing this more in future posts, including understanding the difference between explicit permission (where one specifically requests to receive info) vs. implicit permission (where permission is obtained from a previous customer/client relationship.)

Join us for Exact Target’s email marketing conference in Indianapolis Sept. 22-25. Let us know if you would like to go. A couple of folks are already headed up there from Inbox Orange and we hope to bring you updates while there.