Most emails today are advertising; like any other activity that aim to describe and promote a product or service, e-mail campaign is design to reach a specific target market by using email as a reaching tool in a timely, repetitive and consistent matter for a period of time. The idea is create an advertising sequence of e-mails containning a variety of messages that respond to certain marketing consideration like the target market and customer profile. Many objectives are behind such marketing campaign besides selling a product or service; corporate product branding and positioning can be some of them.
While this strategy sounds simple it is the most complex, cost intensive and behavior sensitive of all. Complex because of the spam problem nowadays, most internet service providers (ISP) as well as intenet users today have relied on filters to protect themselves against unwanted emails and possible harmful viruses to enter their computer network. Any commercial company looking to create an email campaign today is comfronted on how to be able to reach and achieve its communication objectives using the email services. Email marketing is strategy # 1 with a 83.2% among marketers for 2007.
Email target effectivity list have being determine be the aceptance level coming from users that allow senders to contact them; saying this email lists are categorized as Single Opt-in, Confirmed Opt-in and Double Opt-in and are define as follows:
• Single Opt-in: this method consists of one basic step: a subscriber provides his email address to you through a Web form, email, or some other channel, and then receives your next mailing with no further administrative steps.
• Confirmed Opt-in: If you add another step to the Single Opt-in method, sending the subscriber a one-time confirmation message (e.g., “Thank you for joining...”) then you’re using a confirmed opt-in approach.
• Double Opt-in: Mail with permission is the highest, most ethical subscription standard and it requires prospective subscribers to actively confirm their memberships before receiving your next mailing. In this process, prospective subscribers submit their email addresses, and then
receive confirmation requests to which they must reply in order to join your list. Requiring prospective members to confirm their memberships protects them from receiving mail they didn’t sign up. Best of all, those who confirm their subscription are most likely to remember it when they
receive your email, making it less likely that they’ll report the message as spam.
Email Campaign: When companies want to launch an email effort they have few options:
- Use inhouse email list: To have in house reliable list (Double Opt-in) is the optimal situation; but in general for most cases it is very rare to own suitable email list unless your company have through the years collected emails along with client information; emails are good one day and obsolete the next; contacts change, companies close and others disapear; to maintain email list updated is a long term valuable commitment. Nevertheless it is suggested to collect your clients emails as part of marketing effort to keep contacts alive with them.
- Rent third party email list: Look for well stablished email marketing companies that provide the lists as well as the delivery service with all the Spam compliance rules and regulations. Not every company specialize in the same markets so it is suggested that you do your homework by searching the niche or target market; use the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) that apply best to your business; this will allow you to get quantities and depending on volume you will be able to budget your campaign. In general the more emails are available it will cost less per email and the fewer emails will cost you more. E-mail list prices are quoted per Mil (thousand).
Make sure to ask them to provide you with some metrics from their campiagns like:
1) Open Rate average per job
2) Click through Rate %
3) Return % per job
4) Remove % per job
5) Unsubscribe % per job
6) Bounced email: Blocked emails %, Hard bounced emails % (address is invalid), Soft bounced emails % (recipient's mailbox is full)
7) Do you have a Statistical Result averages (metrics)
8) Email conditions or requirements (html, text and maximum size = 80 kb)
9) Are your email lists "double opt-in"
10) It is possible to target lists by regions (state and city)
11) Cost table per CPM (3 drops with "email A" and 3 drops with "email B")
12) Response Rate average
- Buy third party email list in bulk. Very unexpensive list sold by the thousands if not by the millions; list sources are not targeted nor segmented therfore they are not a reliable. This type of email lists are usualy consider in spamming activities. Open Rate average is very low and the risk of being reported as a spammer, therefore it does not worth the effort.
- Hire someone to handle email campaigns. Unless your company is planning to invest a lot of resources in this strategy, a marketeer maybe the person right for this kind of work. You may think about investing in equipment and software to handle mailings in an organize and consistent manner; you will need a static IP (Internet Protocol address) in order to for your mailings not be rejected by other internet service provider (ISP) servers as they will know your are a legitimate registered email sender and not a ocasional email spammer. Make sure this person knows how to analyse server logs as he will need to test and measure email campaign results.
- Outsource campaigns to third party companies. Outsourcing may be the best way to go with the least of risks and the most cost-effective. Nevertheless you should take in account that email lists need to be searched and rented and that there is in general a minimal fee (six months) cost in order to start seing measurable results. Video Dimension offer outsourcing services (See Email Campaign) for those companies that need to rely on professional and reliable work. Call us at 305-223-9104 or contact Video Dimension.
Email Campaign response is definetly a behavior sensitive process; many perception factors play at the moment you receive an email, some are objectives and others are sub-jectives. Here are some email interesting statisitics (metrics) that can help you visualise an email campaign
• What prompts Users to open Emails:
- 54% Products & Services
- 40% Written Copy
- 35% Subject Line
- 33% Compelling Offers (Discounts + Free Shipping, gifts, coupons, etc...)
- 12% Large Single Images
- 9% Multiple Images
- 6% Search Box in Email
- 3% Recipients get only Text Email
• Timing:
- Most Popular Days to Send:
- Week days: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday
- Time of the day: (Early Morning to Mid-Morning)
• Most Open Emails:
In the first 3 quarters of 2003, Wednesday was the most popular day for opening emails, followed by Tuesday. In the third Quarter, 62.1% of emails were opened between Tuesday and Thursday, while only 9.1% were on weekends.
• Size of Emails:
- 20 - 79 KB: Higher Open Rate= 26.6%
- Subject Line: Limit to 49 Characters = Click Through Rate 27% (2004)
- Commercial Email Messages sent are HTML (Plain Text & Graphics) = 75% - 95%
• Lists Cost average (min. quantity: 5000 emails). Prices are per Mil (thousand).
- B2B (business to business) = $100/M to $500/M
- Generaly = $250/M to $450/M
- Let's Say: $300/M (Negociable)
- B2C (business to customers) = $50/M to $200/M
- Click Trought Rate (CTR): Typically 1% to 3% (2004)
- Other says 4.8% to 7.9% (2004)
- Responses Depends on: List quality, Timing of Campaign (Season, Day of Week, Time of Day) , Creative HTML/Text, + Offers and Type of Product, + Effectiness of Web Site.
Most lists Include:
- 2 Test (Free of charge)
- Delivery + Spam Compliance requirements.
- Note: Some companies include a certain amount of "drops" or "rounds" depending on campaign length and volume.
Emails start years ago in the form of basic text and moved to enrich text and html; today 91% of emails are html and the email industry is moving to higher and better grounds. As technology is moving along with new advances in network communication, we are starting to see the arrival of infomercials through the use of video streamming and video emails through the internet; they are basically TV productions infomercials in a compressed version attempting to captivate target consumers with a specific message and lure them to click and visit a specific web site. Podcasting videos are paving the way where this technology is leading us and how the video email campaign concept is moving to computer destops, mobile phones, etc....
Video Email is the latest trend in on line marketing and internet communication technology. Nowadays people are use to see most of mass media messages in image formats no matter if they are printed in paper or viewed electronically through television. While technology evolves everyday, the internet now is becoming the most cost-effective mass media; but users are demanding that it becomes more TV like but keeping its inter active functions; in other words that more message are image oriented (Graphics, Sound, Animation, Video).
The same happen with the email industry; it started as "simple Text" then evolves to "Enrich Text - HTML, and now with DSL technologies getting better and better users are expecting Video Emails messages. There are over 800 million people online today sending over 40 billion emails daily; 99% of people have never received a Video Email; imagine the impact you can create by being among the first ones using this amazing communication tool. It is estimated that marketing with video media can produce average response rates of up to 40%, compared to email (CTR - typically 1% to 3%) and 0.1% up to 1% for print media.
Video emails are commercial video productions using small frame usually 320 X 240 pixels and a duration of no longer than 20 to 30 seconds Max (1.6 mb to 2.0 mb or less); main video formats are WMV (windows movie video) and Quick Time (QT). As internet communication technology companies (ISP) and phone lines companies evolves with better modems to handle higher broadband capacity (currently commercial DSL), product oriented companies are seeking to expand their media scope in a more visual, direct and entertaining manner.
This new video trend (24% of online advertisers 2006 use video - source: Nielsen) is already bringing infomercials through direct streaming to users computers; also, different attemp to show these video productions through "smart marketing" videos are found through cyber space like "youtube", "myspace", "Google Video", "Yahoo Video", among others.
Nevertheless, email video production must respect different guidelines than TV production; when planning to shoot and edit video emails; avoid using video if the content doesn't take advantage of the medium's dynamic nature; think Impacting, Fast, Exiting, Concise and Direct video message.
Video formats are more effective for marketers, and more lucrative for publishers. Advertisers, marketers, publishers and content provider who are using or considering this very fast-moving medium can quickly get up to speed on the formats, considerations, strategy, results and creative aspects by searching further in specialized video forums.
Video Emails like traditional emails must comply with the same CAN-SPAM Compliance Act. It is always a good idea to practice the following Email Best Practices:
1. Mail with permission
2. Set and meet expectations
3. Test your HTML formatting
4. Optimize for delivery
5. Optimize for the inbox
6. Cultivate industry relations
7. Comply with the law
8. Analyze results and close the loop
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