Get Better E-mail Results by Adapting for All Devices

With e-mail now viewed on desktops and smartphones, marketers must adapt content to optimize for all device users, and a recent Direct Marketing News magazine article suggests four strategies for success. While mobile e-mail viewing has surged, desktop e-mail has not gone away. In fact, the article notes, Movable Ink's "U.S. Consumer Device Preference Report" for the second quarter of 2015 found that desktop conversions actually increased to 52.6% of total e-mail conversion in the quarter. Nasty winter weather may be a factor (keeping e-mail recipients close to desktops), but it is still a reminder that e-mail needs to be device-agnostic. This is especially true because device preferences differ by market vertical, per Movable Ink data. For example, 49.4% of nonprofit e-mail opens occur on desktops, but 62.5% of apparel marketing e-mails are opened on a smartphone. The article draws on advice from Vivek Sharma, CEO of Movable Ink, to highlight four strategies for adapting e-mail to all device users. First, adjust content for customer e-mail habits that differ by device, by time of day, and even by geographic location (Californians prefer smartphone e-mail but Virginians lean toward desktop viewing). Second, note that post-click behavior also can vary by device. For example, ask a smartphone nonprofit e-mail opener to text to donate but send a publication subscriber opening a desktop e-mail to an online page. Third, avoid a silo mentality and integrate e-mail strategy for all devices with social, direct mail, and other channels. Finally, measure beyond opens and clicks--tracking click-stream and time on site for example--to tailor content more effectively across devices. For more details: http://www.dmnews.com/email-marketing/four-ways-to-make-email-content-adaptable-for-any-device/article/433149/

Messy Marketing? See Stanley Steemer's Cleanup

Stanley Steemer's e-mail and direct mail strategies were sending customers on a messy path through channel silos and poorly targeted messaging, until the company decided to clean up its marketing. Take a look at the national carpet and floor cleaning firm's successful marketing revamp, as reported recently by Direct Marketing News magazine. Stanley Steemer's e-mail and direct mail weren't working together and results were hard to track, the company says of its pre-2014 marketing efforts. The cleaning firm decided to tackle one channel at a time, starting with upgrading e-mail frequency, content, and segmentation. So it went from one promotional e-mail a month to three, with the same offer at the beginning of the month and end of the month and a content-driven e-mail in between. Its e-mail welcome series' design and content were also refreshed. Then Stanley Steemer changed its e-mail segmentation strategy, going from segmenting only by branch or franchise contacts to segmenting by customer engagement (opens and clicks), purchase behavior, and offers, as well as branch or franchise group. By April 2014, it was time to tackle direct mail segmentation and content targeting, too. Now Stanley Steemer sends nine direct mail pieces a year with 10 to 20 different segmented versions per campaign, based on list information and purchase behavior. Results? Stanley Steemer saw a 33% increase in direct mail-generated bookings, and a 200% increase in mail response rates after launching its acquisition strategy. For e-mail, campaigns have delivered a 20% month-over-month increase in online bookings. Just introduced this March, a new e-mail trigger program for incomplete or cancelled orders had delivered a 50% rise in average open rates by April. For more details, read http://www.dmnews.com/email-marketing/stanley-steemer-cleans-up-its-email-and-direct-mail-strategies/article/410071/