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Email Marketing: Under The Skin of Open Rates
Email Marketing: Under The Skin of Open Rates
of op en ra te s
January 2013
Content s
Outside influences
1.1
1. 2
Customer circumstances
2.
5.
6.
7. Conclusion
7.
(Strategy Director)
Published: January 2013 // Written by: Steve White
Title
Abo ut t his d oc ument
This document is intended to outline the process that I would advise when working to establish
your optimum opening rate in what is an increasingly difficult email marketing landscape.
Intro paragraph
Copy
I have worked at Red C Marketing for approaching a decade and have managed email
programmes for a whole host of different clients from a number of differing sectors
including home shopping, travel, retail, insurance and leisure.
Steve White (Strategy Director)
(1) Refs
Executive summary
My inbox is becoming increasingly busy, increasingly noisy and I simply dont have the time to
open and digest every single email I receive. I have messages relating to work, emails from friends
and family and of course, emails from retailers and businesses (not all of which Ive opted into, I
may add). Marketing focused messages are always going to have to work harder than messages
from bosses, clients or loved ones, so email marketers need to do all they can to ensure that they
give their emails the best possible opportunity of being seen and opened.
1. Outside influences
Outside influences
Preoccupied
Engaged
Holiday
Live
Relationship
Non
engaged
Lapsed
Customer
circumstance
Prospect
Missed
it
Not in
market
Decision
to open
email
Length
From
name
Preview
panel
Manageable influences
Personalisation
Content
Subject
header
Contextually
relevant
Urgency
Time and
day of
send
Title
1. 2 Customer circumstances
Intro
One area
thatparagraph
is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to manage is customer circumstance.
There are hundreds and thousands of different reasons why someone might not open an
email and most of them cant be influenced by an email marketer.
Its a sad state of affairs that no matter how much testing and
refinement you build into your email programme there are always
going to be reasons that are out of your control that could lead to
your well crafted email not being opened.
For example,Copy
we have no control whether an email recipient happens
to be on holiday when your email message arrives in that inbox.
Although that person obviously has the opportunity to engage
with that email message on their return, how many of us adopt a
relatively ruthless filtering system when were faced with a
bulging inbox?
In a similar vein just think about all those disturbances or events that
have the potential to sidetrack you from sifting through your email
inbox. A knock on the front door, a telephone call, Little Jimmy asking
Whats for tea? or screaming the house down after falling over and
grazing a knee. If any of those scenarios were to happen you could
have lost your opportunity of an open!
Another key reason as to why an email recipient might not open an
email is if theyre simply not in the mindset to buy or respond. It is
of course possible to influence that customer into opening with a
persuasive subject header but there will be times when that email
recipient simply wont open no matter what you do. For example,
if your email recipient has just suffered a financial setback such as
a faulty washing machine or an unexpected bill has just hit them
then the content of your email message will have little bearing as to
whether they open or not!
Although it would be extremely difficult to eradicate these outside
influences entirely they could be nullified a little by distributing
emails to your email recipients on days and times when historically
theyre most likely to open and engage (See 5.)
Once youve accepted that there are always going to be reasons why
an email recipient might not open or even consider opening an email
message you can concentrate solely on influencing those factors
that you can manipulate, test and control.
Title
3. The importance of the subject header
Intro
paragraph
There are
thousands upon thousands of blog articles, white papers and discussion
documents that have been written on the subject of crafting the perfect subject
header. I think this is a clear indication as to the complex nature of this task. Every
marketer worth their salt has a view and everyone has an opinion.
So this is my turn, Im going to announce to the world what makes the
perfect subject header. Is it the length? It might be. Is it the content?
Almost certainly. Is it the use of personalisation? Well, possibly.
10
Each of these
factors are important and each of these factors will have
Copy
an influence on your opening rate, and Ill detail why shortly. However,
theyre not the most important thing you require when youre
developing a strategy for the perfect subject header. The most
important thing youll need is time. You have to give yourself time to
test, test and test again. What might work in one industry might not
necessarily work for another. The latest white paper from your well
respected email service provider might very well give you some great
pointers, but I guarantee you that each of their recommendations will
not necessarily work for your database.
You need to invest in time and it is only at this point that you can
comfortably say you are on the way to the perfect subject header.
However, as indicated there are several factors that will certainly
influence the success of your subject headers and each of them should
be tested.
3.1 Length
Historically, the view has always been the shorter the better with the consensus being
that a subject header should be no longer than 50 characters.
There are two reasons for this. Firstly, it is close to a universal rule
that simple messages which can easily be digested are the best way
to take advantage of increasingly short consumer attention spans.
The other reason is more of a technical one, email domains often
limit the number of subject line characters that are displayed in the
inbox. AOL, for example, only allow 38 characters before they are
cut or shortened.
The character limits
AOL: 38
Hotmail: about 45 for their initial line (using word wrap)
Yahoo!: 47
Gmail: 130
Outlook: 255 characters
The growing reliance on mobile devices affects this trend too as their
smaller screens display even fewer characters.
So imagine, youre a swimwear specialist and youre announcing a
sale on a new line of bikinis. You certainly have a few options with
your subject header. You could, for example, be highly detailed and
ignore character length:
Colourful new beach bikinis are now available in a variety of
shapes and styles, and are fifty percent off for a limited time only!
Although descriptive, it does suffer from several fatal flaws. Just look
below how these subject headers would show up in the following
platforms:
AOL:
However, the subject headers biggest flaw is not that its a little too
long for some platforms, its major problem is the subject header
hasnt recognised the character issue, as it isnt using those all
important first characters as effectively as it could be.
(1) Refs
11
Title
3.1 Length (continued)
Intro paragraph
Its absolutely crucial that you front-load your emails message with
the most compelling part of your proposition.
For example, the most important element to this proposition is that
youre offering your customers a whopping 50% off a range of bikinis,
so surely this has to be at the forefront. So the subject header should
be something like this;
Today only: get 50% off bikinis! All styles, all colours, all ready
for summer.
Copy
This works so well, because even when AOL or Hotmail cuts the subject
header the customer is fully aware of the sale and the timing of it:
12
AOL:
Hotmail:
Yahoo!:
Gmail: Today only: get 50% off bikinis! All styles, all colours,
all ready for summer.
Thunderbird: Today only: get 50% off bikinis! All styles, all colours,
all ready for summer.
Outlook: Today only: get 50% off bikinis! All styles, all colours,
all ready for summer.
With a limited amount of time to surf your AOL inbox, which email
would YOU choose to open, if you happened to be in the market for a
bikini?
Today only: get 50% off bikinis! All
or
Colourful new beach bikinis are now
(1) Refs
13
Title
3. 2 Content
Intro
paragraph
Although
the opening rate of an email can be influenced by the length of the
subject line, it is undoubtedly its content that has the greater influence. I could have
two subject headers of the same length but due to their content and structure they
would differ in performance.
Re-engagement email 1
<Forename> we miss you!
Main programme email 1
Just in... great fashion for the beach.
Open now!
Subject line 1.
This weekend only at your local ABC store, special savings
on televisions!
Subject lineCopy
1.
14
Re-engagement email 2
Come back <forename> and have 15% off
Main programme email 2
Got a special occasion? Have 15% off the perfect outfit.
3. 2.1 Personalisation
Subject headers are no different to any other form of marketing, the more relevant and
personal you can make your message, the better the results tend to be. Over the years
Ive conducted several experiments across several industry sectors proving exactly that.
Re-engagement 3
Let us treat you <forename> with 20% off
Main programme email 3
Hurry up to 20% off in our
Summer Spectacular.
15
Title
3. 2. 2 Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency in your subject line can also improve the response of an
email, especially if its combined with a relevant offer. It is human nature not to want
to miss out on something, so exploiting this in the subject line will undoubtedly create
uplift in response.
Copy
Subject line: Enjoy FREE delivery until Friday shop our new arrivals
Subject header: Be quick! Great deals on kitchen and home solutions
from Lakeland
about us
local offices
get a quote
16
Public Employers
Liability Insurance
Fleet Insurance
Landlords Insurance
Haulage Insurance
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as possible, so we can help you process your claim quickly and efficiently.
You can call us on 0845 120 2734 9.00am-5.30pm Monday-Friday
and 9.00am-1.00pm Saturday.
King regards
about us
local offices
get a quote
Swinton Group Limited, registered in England number 756681, is connected for the purposes of the Insurance Companies
Regulations 1994 to MMA Insurance plc, Gateway Insurance Company Limited and Provident Insurance plc. Registered office;
Swinton House, 6 Great Marlborough Street, Manchester M1 5SW. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Calls may be monitored and recorded.
(1) Refs
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life
Over the last few months Ive witnessed more and more retailers
experimenting with symbols, like stars and hearts, within their
subject headers. In the past, the use of symbols has been frowned
upon as there were concerns around deliverability. However, as email
deliverability becomes more of an issue around IP reputation rather
than content, more retailers are introducing symbols into their
subject headers as they strive for stand out in the inboxes of their
email recipients.
Examples:
Home
business
3. 2.5 Symbols
Kind regards,
Offers
3 months
FREE
However, clearly
its important not to take a stance on a particular
FREE
issue or subject such as politics as youll be in danger of alienating a
proportion of your audience.
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More
info
Quote
Cashback
more info
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3 month
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Go
Go
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Car
Home
Van
Bike
Caravan
Travel
Business
Go
Home Page
Life
Offers
Breakdown Insurance is underwritten by Inter Partner Assistance. Personal Accident Insurance is underwritten
by MMA Insurance PLC. Home Emergency Protection is underwritten by Inter Partner Assistance.
With each of my clients I always maintain that our subject headers cant over
promise in an attempt to inflate the opening rate. Its important to maintain a
sense of honesty as misleading or tricking a customer into opening an email could
ultimately destroy trust, damage your brand or even drive your customers away.
Calls may be recorded and monitored.
Swinton Group Limited are not responsible for the content of external sites.
Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am - 10pm, Saturday 8am - 6pm and Sunday 10am - 6pm. Telephone calls may be recorded and
monitored for your protection. Please do not reply to this email. No responsibility is accepted for loss or damage arising from viruses or
changes made to this message after it was sent. Unsubscribe: If you would prefer not to receive any further email communication from
Swinton, please click here.
Swinton Group Limited, registered in England number 756681 is connected for the purpose of the Insurance Companies regulations
1994 to MMA Insurance Plc, Gateway Insurance Company Limited and Provident Insurance Plc. Registered Office: Swinton House, 6
Great Marlborough Street, Manchester M1 5SW. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.
Please do not reply to this email. No responsibility is accepted for loss or damage arising from viruses or changes made to this message
after it was sent. Unsubscribe: If you would prefer not to receive any further Swinton emails, please click here.
The subject header doesnt just have an influence over the opening
rate, it also influences all key performance indicators. So there is very
little point in generating an excellent open rate by stretching the truth
if youre then going to disappoint your openers and ultimately turn
them off from clicking through.
19
The reason why the preview panel is having such an influence is email
recipients have the ability to make a judgement without actually
registering an open and more importantly not seeing the emails
complete proposition. For example, if a recipient happens to be using
Outlook as their email platform, which has preview panel on by default,
they literally could base their decision as to whether they open or dont
open by simply looking at the top 2 to 4 inches of the emails design.
As marketers this presents us with a challenge, as not only are our
opening rates being skewed but we are having to make that top section
of our email design work incredibly hard.
Rule 1. The golden rule when it comes to designing email for the
preview panel is to ensure youre establishing the emails proposition or
key message in that top 2 to 4 inches. If your recipient is scrolling
through their emails using the preview panel then they can be left in
no doubt as to what youre offering in basic terms give them
everything they need to make an informed decision.
Rule 2. You give yourself the best chance of generating an open by
designing your email with a good proportion of its content being HTML
text. The reason for this is more and more email platforms, like Hotmail
and Outlook, have their images turned off by default.
For each of our email clients we ensure we utilise HTML text for key areas
of the email design such as headline message, letter copy, navigation
and call to action. By doing this we give ourselves the best chance of
convincing our email recipients to fully engage with the email.
21
Monday
Pros: Office work has not filled inboxes yet.
Cons: People are in work mode and wont be focused on non-work
tasks.
Best Practice: Send emails late Monday morning, after people have
cleaned the weekend spam from their inboxes.
Tuesday
Pros: People have organised their week, and can find personal time
for emails.
Cons: Emails poised for a weekend response may be too early.
Best Practice: Use Tuesday for emails that request action during the
working week.
22
Although Jenns points make perfect sense and I can see the rationale
behind them, they are based on her own individual experiences and not
on your market or customers, so basing your email strategy on it would
be a risk.
It is entirely possible for you to be left surprised by your own test results
and for them to contradict everything that you thought might have been
the case prior to your testing this is exactly what happened to me
during some testing I conducted in 2009 with a home shopping client.
Wednesday/Thursday
Pros: People are planning their weekends and gearing up for personal
time.
Cons: Time during the working week is running short, and requested
action may be pushed back to the following week, or even forgotten
about.
Best Practice: Focus leisure and weekend notifications during these
key weekend planning days.
Friday
Pros: Studies indicate fewer total emails sent compared to the rest
of the week, increasing visibility among the myriad other messages.
Cons: People hurry to leave the office early, and may not take time
to view non-work related emails.
Best Practice: Send emails early in the day to give consumers more
time to take action. An unopened email from Friday will fall to the
bottom of an inbox on Monday, and is often discarded.
Weekends
Pros: People check emails on weekends, too, so weekends may have
untapped potential.
Cons: A weekend email may seem overly-intrusive to some people.
Best Practice: If possible, try to avoid Sundays and focus on
Saturdays, which may have a better response rate.
23
This experiment lasted several weeks and the results were significant.
Historically, we had always distributed our emails on a Thursday or Wednesday.
However, after conducting a 6 week test it was clear that Friday, Saturday and
Sunday were by far the better days to send our emails. In fact, there was a
49.5% uplift when distributing email on a Saturday when compared
to Thursday.
The first step when it comes to email testing is to divide your data
up into test cells. Personally, Im not a massive advocate of the
classic A/B test as I find it doesnt give you as much flexibility as an
A/B/C/D test does. Make sure that the cells are randomly split as you
need to ensure there is no bias.
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In addition to that you need to make sure the split email creatives
are exactly the same, except for the subject header or From name.
It is also vitally important that the tests are sent out at exactly the
same time and on the same day. Any deviance in this, even a couple
of hours, will undoubtedly result in the results being skewed.
Subject header length, copy style, tone of voice can all be tested
using a simple testing matrix, as can incentives and brand names.
For example:
Cell 1.
Brand name and more than 40 characters
Cell 2.
No brand name and less than 40 characters
Cell 3.
Brand name and less than 40 characters
Cell 4.
Hold out group
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7. Conclusion
Achieving optimum open rates is no easy feat, but it can be done as
long as the right influencing factors for open rate success are
established and made to work together effectively. The key factors that
need to be focused on include the From name, subject header, preview
panel and timing of when an email enters an inbox.
26
Then, once you have worked on your opening rate key factors and
considered the outside influences, it is time to do one final thing: test,
test and then test again. Unfortunately, there isnt a secret formula that
optimises the performance of all email programmes. The only way to
guarantee a successful opening rate is to monitor and test factors such
as subject header, copy style and tone of voice, and then identify any
trends that have driven an increase for that unique email.
Of course, the results from a single test are very rarely conclusive;
multiple tests are often necessary over a series of email campaigns.
Yes, this may be a long and laborious process, but one that is necessary
to achieve the opening rates you desire.
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