Plan Event Marketing E-mails That Lead the Pack

Event marketers often ask for guidance on event industry response for e-mail campaigns. Now we can enhance data pulled from our proprietary research with Eventbrite's new "2017 Event E-mail Benchmarking Report," comparing survey responses from over 340 event organizers across the U.S. and U.K. for a range of event types and sizes. If you're an event marketer with a fuzzy notion of the basic response measure of click-to-open rate (CTOR), you're not alone. The benchmark report found that 39% of respondents said they didn’t know their average CTOR. That's an ignorance that these event pros need to remedy if they hope to catch up with even average e-mail results. The rest of the U.S. event organizers surveyed reported an average CTOR of 12%. That was higher than their U.K. brethren, who only cited a 9% average, but far behind the enviable 17% in the U.S. who reported a CTOR of 21% or higher! Festivals scored the best average e-mail CTOR (14%), while classes and workshops had the lowest (9%). Event marketers who want to improve CTOR can commit to a number of basic creative tactics for layout, copy, mobile-optimization, and use of engaging images. But as data brokers, we must remind that response is even more dependent on the quality of targeted opt-in e-mail data, whether house or rental lists, and use of professional software and database support for list segmentation, updating and permission management as well as results tracking, testing and analysis. Indeed, regardless of carefully crafted e-mail creative, results measurement and analytics are essential to a direct marketing basic: testing of creative, lists and targeting to find what works best. Automation of event updates and confirmation/thank-you e-mails has also proven its value in maximizing click-through rates and conversions/registrations. And, finally, e-mail gains the most reach as part of a consistently branded, multi-channel effort, including social media and direct mail. For more and a link to the free benchmark report, go to at http://www.acculistusa.com/push-your-event-marketing-e-mails-ahead-of-the-pack/

Amid Digital Clutter, 'Simple' Mail Wins Notice

With multiple digital channels now used to communicate with customers--e-mail, online, mobile and social--businesses risk creating so much marketing clutter that they bury message and response. We've found that targeted direct mail is one way to cut through that marketing noise--and sometimes the simplest mail message speaks the loudest. Paul Bobnak, director of Who's Mailing What!, provides a good example in a recent Target Marketing magazine article. Independence Blue Cross, a healthcare insurer, wanted to contact members ahead of a deadline for renewal of 2016 health plan coverage. Since e-mails may be ignored in busy inboxes, the insurer decided to gather text opt-ins for renewal communications with members via a single, easy response channel--their ever-present mobile phones. And then Independent turned to a direct mail postcard as an outreach device that was sure to be delivered and "opened." The company mailed a two-sided 6-inch-by-11-inch postcard prompting mobile phone sign-ups for its text-messaging service. The front of the postcard simply announced "2016 health care coverage" and "Right from your phone," and drove home the point visually with a photo of a cell phone with a big "easy" text message bubble displayed. The reverse side of the postcard laid out the few steps, via a single call, to opt-in to insurer text alerts. For a look at the actual piece, go to http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/article/ibx-keeps-mail-simple/

Many Websites Miss the Mark on E-mail Sign-ups

The e-mail subscription efforts of commercial websites are surprisingly spotty, according to a recent study by digital marketing firm Publicare Marketing Communications. Publicare attempted to subscribe to e-mail lists on 6,757 websites. Shockingly, given the value of e-mail acquisition, 10% of sites did not even offer e-mail subscriptions, and 18% made it hard for visitors to sign up by hiding the subscription form on subpages or requiring a user account prior to sign-up. So congratulations to the 87.3% who put the subscription form on the home page, and the 29.7% of those who then promoted a simple form with a pop-up layer. But shame on the 13.2% who got folks to join their e-mail list and then dropped the ball, failing to deliver even one e-mail within two months of winning a subscriber. And despite the high ROI of e-mail marketing, only 18.8% offered an incentive, such as a coupon, for joining the mailing list. By the way, opt-in strategy ran the gamut from confirmed opt-in (46%) to single opt-in (34.2%) to double opt-in (19.8%). For a useful infographic, see https://hive.publicare.de/en/email-marketing-benchmark-part1/

Tips for Welcome E-mails That Win Engagement

Welcome-to-our-list e-mails are key to subscriber engagement, yet some marketers either don't send them or don't take care to make them effective. With two to six times the open rate of other e-mails, that first welcome is a once-in-a-digital-relationship opportunity, so get it right! Courtesy of a recent article in Target Marketing magazine by Cyndie Shaffstall, here are some tips for improving welcome e-mails. Start by using a short subject line that reminds the recipient of the new relationship ("Welcome" is one obvious word choice). A simple text e-mail is more likely to dodge spam filters, while interactive html encourages engagement. But why choose? You can send a text and follow with an html. As far as content, write clear and direct copy, repeat the WIIFM message that inspired subscriber opt-in, and personalize as much as possible. Send that welcome message immediately before they forget they opted in; an auto-response makes it easy. Set expectations on frequency, format and content -- and deliver as promised. Increase engagement and retention with a reward (any gift promised or a surprise offer) and make it easy to redeem rewards. Boost social sharing with incentives, too. Remind new subscribers to save/archive the message if it contains important account data. Of course, you can then use A/B testing to craft the best possible "thanks for subscribing" e-mail. For more detail and examples, read the article at http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/blog/thanks-subscribing-10-tips-great-welcome-emails#

E-mail Sign-up at Purchase Is Top List Building Tool

To grow e-mail opt-ins, 63% of marketers found e-mail registration during purchase very effective for list building, yet only 41% of marketers used the tactic to collect e-mails, according to MarketingSherpa's latest E-mail Marketing Benchmark Report survey. Capturing e-mail addresses during purchase involves both online and offline transactions, and appears to be a continuing challenge for marketers. Online issues include required e-mail subscription as a barrier to purchase, communicating the value of joining an e-mail list, location of the e-mail sign-up request (shopping cart or thank-you page), clarifying opt-in options to avoid unsubscribes, and excess e-mail post-purchase. Offline issues include set-up and training for coordinated e-mail collection via stores, call centers and direct mail, and providing incentives for e-mail sign-up, such as contests, coupons, additional discounts and exclusive content. For more detail on the benchmark survey, go tohttp://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/chart/registration-during-purchase-list-building

Grow Your E-mail List With Social Media

Given that e-mail marketing is one of the most effective lead generation channels, head and shoulders above social media, turning social media followers into e-mail subscribers is a marketing no-brainer. How to do it? A recent Social Media Examiner article gives some tips. First of all, set up a simple e-mail opt-in form on your social channels and make it easy for fans to subscribe to your e-mail list. On Facebook, you can dedicate a tab at the top right-hand side of your page, with an icon linked to an e-mail sign-up form. There are many different options for setting up an e-mail opt-in form, including apps from MailChimp, Constant Contact, Benchmark, JD Subra and iContact. You still have to make it desirable to join your e-mail list, however. You can offer free premium content to subscribers, for example, such as eBooks, white papers, infographics, long-form articles or newsletters. Create an e-mail form landing page for each offer and use social media to promote. Share excerpts on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and Google+, for instance, to send traffic to e-mail sign-up pages. Other incentives driving e-mail subscriptions could include a discount, free sample, or coupon. And if you host a webinar for social media followers, make sure to set up for e-mail collection. A webinar hosted on a Google hangout can share links to resource landing pages with e-mail sign-up forms, for example. Webinars hosted via programs like AnyMeeting, GoToWebinar, PGI, Ready Talk or Join Me can include an opt-in form to collect e-mails from viewers before they enter the webinar. A tried and true option for e-mail list building is to promote a contest, sweepstakes or giveaway to social media fans. There are many apps for contests, sweepstakes or giveaways on Facebook (and often other social channels), but be sure to choose one with e-mail sign-up for entry. For more detail on tactics and apps, go to http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/how-to-grow-email-list-with-social-media/

Marketers Wrestle Robocall, Texting Consent Rules

Telemarketers opened a troublesome gift from regulators going into the holiday season. Marketers using prerecorded or auto-dialed calls, as well as mobile texts, to reach consumers now must meet the Federal Communications Commission's stricter consent rules. Updating of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which went into effect Oct. 16, requires marketers to get prior written consent from consumers before delivering auto-dialed or prerecorded calls, or mobile texts. Unfortunately, this means that many companies' current opt-in databases do not comply with the new consent rules. Companies also can't claim an exemption due to a prior business relationship with a consumer, as they could in the past. In the consent agreement, companies must ask consumers to agree to receive automated or prerecorded messages and must make clear that a purchase is not a condition of the agreement. This creates a wording quandary for companies delivering a coupon or announcing a sweepstakes since no purchase is involved. It is also unclear whether a company can seek written agreement by asking a consumer to text back using a short code to receive a confirmation message that will ask for a "yes" reply to consent language. In a comment to Adweek magazine, Marc Roth, a partner in the advertising, marketing and media practice of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, concluded that the courts will likely end up deciding how much latitude companies have in seeking consumer consent: "No one is concerned about the FCC, because they do little enforcement. The big fear is class actions. It's going to be the courts that decide what is necessary and what is not in terms of consent." For more discussion in the Adweek article, see http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/are-marketers-ready-new-telemarketing-rules-153079

Survey Finds Top Tactics to Get E-mail Subscribers

Digital marketers recently shared both the most popular and the most effective ways they use to acquire e-mail subscribers in a survey by ExactTarget. Unfortunately, some of the most common tactics are not also the most effective. A general e-mail sign-up form on the website was the most common e-mail gathering tactic, for example, used by 74% of the 395 digital marketers surveyed. But those website sign-up forms were rated as effective by only 42%. Conversely, some tactics rated as very effective in capturing e-mail addresses are not widely used. Effective but underused tactics included paid search ads driving to landing pages with opt-ins (50% rating as effective but only 27% using); opt-in options with mobile app content (59% rating as effective but only 12% implementing); and requiring an e-mail address to register a mobile app (seen as effective by 55% but in use by just 13%). Business type and facilities led to low usage of some other highly rated tools: Capturing e-mail during inbound sales calls (71% rated effective), inbound customer service calls (63% rated effective), and in-store loyalty program registrations (67% rated effective) were limited to the survey's marketers with brick-and-mortar locations and call centers. For more on e-mail acquisition tactics and trends, see the MarketingProfs report on the ExactTarget survey at http://www.marketingprofs.com/charts/2013/12044/the-most-effective-tactics-for-acquiring-email-subscribers