What’s eMail marketing?

It’s just another medium of communication channel just like other marketing channels which can balance lower costs and higher response rates much better than any other marketing media (otherthan PR). But…the challenge is to maximize its effectiveness through improved content, targeting and tracking.

Amongst eMail Marketers, 65% of marketers use eMail communication as a channel of marketing medium for Retention (Relationship marketing) while the rest use it for Acquisition.

Why eMail Marketing?

All kinds of small & medium businesses including dry cleaners, restaurants, travel agencies, nonprofits, retailers, educational institutions, associations and others are turning to email marketing to expand, and even replace, their other marketing efforts because these businesses know that email Marketing is easy, affordable, instantly actionable and highly effective. And when you add email to your marketing mix, you spend less time, money and resources than you with traditional marketing vehicles.

• Effective: Email marketing achieves 5 times the response rate of direct mail and 25 times the response rate of banner ads making it the most effective way to increase sales, drive traffic and develop loyalty.

• Immediate: Email marketing is immediate – 85% of your responses will occur within 48 hours. In contrast, direct mail can take six to eight weeks to see results while the results of other types of traditional advertising are even harder to quantify.

• Measurable: Because you can develop and send email campaigns very quickly, your time-sensitive information can be communicated to your audience in minutes, instead of weeks. There’s no waiting for design work or printing. Email marketing results are highly measurable. Your email marketing service provides reports on the number of emails sent, the number of emails opened, and clicked-through. You can also tell who opened your emails, which links in your emails were the most popular and who clicked on each link. Reports also provide email bounce, subscribe and unsubscribe data. This useful information can help you dramatically improve your results over time.

• Targeted: Targeted With email marketing, you can easily segment your lists for better targeting using interest groups or other criteria, so that your communications go to the individuals most likely to be interested and respond.

• Preferred: Both senders and recipients increasingly prefer email marketing to other types of communication including direct mail, telemarketing, radio and TV.

• Affordable:

Email marketing is an affordable way to stretch a tight marketing budget. There are Web-based email marketing services for small and midsized businesses that are inexpensive and designed to make email marketing easy for the non-technical user. Using a service, email marketing can cost as little as fractions of a penny per email!

Close Email marketing offers business owners an opportunity to reach out to customers and prospects, and increase customer retention in ways that were simply not possible just a few short years ago. Email marketing really should be a big part of your marketing efforts.

Communication Medium Comparison Metrics

Where can we use eMail Marketing?

Event Driven Communication:

An event-driven communication is informative and timely. A press release announcing quarterly profits, An invitation to a restaurant's wine dinner, A retailer's open house or a nonprofit’s upcoming fundraiser are all good examples. Event-driven communications can help you: ·

• Soft -sell products and services.
• Position you and/or your company as a valuable resource.
• Build relationships with your members, customers and prospects.
• Keep your audience informed.

Promotional Communication

email promotions are primarily one-way communications designed to achieve the short-term goal of driving traffic and sales. An email promotion generally contains one or more direct calls-to-action such as “click here to buy now,” or “sign up today” to get a response. Some examples are a preferred customer sale announcement from a retailer, a coupon from your favorite drycleaner, or a Valentines Day reminder from your local florist. Promotional communications can help you: Introduce new products or sales Boost sales, appointments or traffic Promote your brand Reward your most loyal customers

Regular Communication:

Regularly Scheduled Communications Regularly scheduled communications help you stay in touch with your customers on a consistent basis and encourage a two-way “conversation.” While a regularly scheduled communication can contain a call-to-action that provides short-term benefits, it is uniquely suited to accomplish the long-term goals of customer retention and loyalty. A monthly newsletter from your financial advisor, a company shareholder or member update and a holiday greeting from your real estate agent are some examples.

Regularly Scheduled Communications can help you: ·

• Build relationships with your customers, prospects and members
• Position yourself and/or your company as a valuable resource
• Obtain and retain the mind share of your customers, members or donors
• Educate and inform while also illustrating the advantages of your offering
• Widen your audience through word-of-mouth referrals

They also serve as a subtle reminder to return to your website, buy your product, use your service, visit your retail store or get involved.

The Essential Elements of eMarketing

Whether you’re planning an acquisition or retention campaign, whether your marketing mix includes direct mail, advertising, email or newsletters, the fundamental concept behind eMarketing is that your Web site should be the hub of your marketing program. The goal is to drive traffic to your site so that every interaction with prospects, leads and customers can be measured, tested and tuned.

• List management
• Creative development
• Fulfillment
• Tracking and reporting

List Management:

Success of any eMail/Direct Mail marketing depends on it hygiene of the target/list/data base. Traditionally marketers used to assign weightage to gauge the success of the DM as mentioned below;

When a list is been prepared for an eMail campaign, it should cover the aspects of earlier communications (if any) like removing UN-subscribes / hard bounces of the previous campaigns.

Standard Checklist that we follow before sending any eMail communication through our Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) is:

I. Standard Exclusions:
Remove all those email ID’s which does not end with.

.com .org .net .edu .us .gov .mil

BUT be Careful when removing/deleting those ID’s ending with .au, .fr, .jp, .mil, etc., (they may still be valid in some case where their country ID is been added in the end of their email ID e.g., you@yahoo.co.in (where in represents India).

• Remove all those eMail ID’s which does not contain @ in email ID string.
• Remove all those eMail ID’s which has special characters like: #, $, %, !, /, &, *, ( etc.,
• Remove all those eMail Id’s which has “www” string attached with them.
• Remove all those email ID’s which starts as : no@, no@email.com etc.,Any other marketing exclusions / Filtrations as per the briefs.

II. Data Standardization:

• Make all eMail ID’s in lower case
• Make all Names in Title case ( e.g., if the list has name SHAM SUNDAR make it as Sham Sundar)
• Make sure to incorporate Title/Salutation Column in the data to identify whether consumer is Mr./Mrs./ Ms. / Dr./ Cdr./ etc…etc…
• Correct the data interms of it’s spell’s not been typed in proper like shamsundark@hotmail, some-one doing data entry would have omitted putting .com / .edu / .org / .net etc.,

III. De-duplicating Process:

· Duplications can be either eliminates by running a simple query stating to select only the Distinct email ID’s e.g., : select distinct(*) from

group by email_id.

· Duplications can be removed by manually sifting through the entire list.

IV. Data Preparation for eMail Software (Arial)

Fields/Variables/Columns which needs to be tracked back into the source data file needs to be created with an initial default values 0 e.g., (otherwise we might face problems in producing customized Reports)

Creative Development:

Copy: Conceptualise your go-to market strategy and put the direct proposition direct in front of the audience with any gimmick.

Design: Design your templates and highlight on your concept. "Action Speak Louder than Words". So appeal / look N feel of the template is more important than the words

Offer: Offer triggers more number of responses than the eMail itself.

MIME Messaging: Compose your eMail message both in HTML & Text format so that you don’t miss-out on those consumers who use old eMail client like AOL < style=""> 95% of any targetbase/email base which we use in today-market is compatible to view eMail composed in HTML and care should be taken to avoid mistakes in HTML codings;

1. CSS cascading style sheets: No Style Scripts ( NO CSS ) : (a). style scripts are not allowed in major MTA interfaces. (b). lot of eMail clients will accept these style in a different formats...like Hotmail will not recognise style scripts. If it's too necessary use the style scripts for each and every sentence ( but again the eMail size will increase as and when we put-in lot of coding into it and the max limit of any eMail campaign must be below 40KB...ideally they should not exceed more than 10 KB).

2. IMAGES/Text: Use limited text as for as possible, instead use more images than often, but not 1 full image for 1 page. The reason for this is (a). text is more sensitive towards getting in to JUNK Box through words filterations or getting to SPAM filters (b). when text is used applying some stylescript they will not look exactly the way they look at design stage

3. JavaScript: NO Java Scripting. Majority of web-based email clients such as Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo! as well as Outlook Express 6.0, Outlook 2000-2003 and updated versions of Outlook 98 will strip out JavaScript content automatically and disable any active scripting contained in the eMail campaign. A security warning will also be displayed, potentially damaging Client relationship with the recipient.

4. Image Sources - Absolute Path: Unlike giving relative path for image sources in HTML coding for web designing, eMail campaign will not accept relative paths. So when coding HTML for eMail campaign give absolute paths.

5. Use GIF/ (Simple) Animated images when pointing towards an URL: "Action Speak Louder than Words".

6. No mapping from Image to Pointng to an URL (can be done unless the image itself is been tracked for CLICK-THRU)

Headers & Footers:

Header: Include a link where the recipients can click to view eMail via a Web version page of your message example Having problems viewing this newsletter? Click here...this will solve the problems of compatibility between the diffirent eMail clients not displaying proper formated images / links / fonts etc.,

Footer: Footer must actually contain a physical address of the sender so that ISP won’t block / flag off messages as SPAM since they think the eMail is coming from a known / existing path where they can trace back if they get complaints regarding SPAM compliance.

Fulfillment / Delivery:

Fulfillment—the management of outbound and inbound campaign traffic—is a critical and sensitive component of your eMarketing program, and you need to have the tools and expertise to manage fulfillment professionally.

A tool which communicates with end user 1-2-1 can either be Software independent or an ASP. Both have their own merits & de-merits.

A tool that will:

Send emails individually to everyone on your list (not cc:)
Address each email from a real address at your company
Personalize each email with a name and/or a source code
Handle bounced mail and unsubscribe messages

Just like the 4 P’s (principles) in general marketing terms, eMail delivery also have 4 P’s when done correctly eMail communication will yield much more than what’s expected.

PERMISSION
Permission is the real key to successful email marketing. If you don’t have explicit permission to send an email to a recipient you are SPAMMING them – sending unsolicited commercial email. Most email marketers do not SPAM. In fact, the majority of North American jurisdictions are enacting or developing specific privacy and permission laws to address issues like SPAM.

PRIVACY
Similar to Permission, but Every company that markets products and services should develop a clear, concise and easy-to-read Privacy Policy and then implement it. Not taking your privacy policy seriously can certainly damage brands not to mention corporate reputations.

PROFILING
One reason why email marketing is an effective marketing tool is because of its inherent ability to collect data and then implement programs to accommodate and satisfy this information. In its simplest form, profiling is asking recipients about their preferences so that marketers can provide them with relevant information and offers on products and services that are of interest to them.

PERSONALIZATION

Personalization doesn’t mean sending the same message to your entire database and changing the opening line with “Dear .” In email marketing there is no “one size fits all.” Email marketing provides you with the capability to ensure that each person gets “personal” treatment from your organization. Experience has shown us that email marketers using personalization tend to have better open and response rates.

Standard Checklist before sending any eMail communication is;

Compliance	Definition	Explanations
Permission:		Are you using a good permission policy? Make sure you have a pre-existing business relationship and/or affirmative consent.
1	Pre-existing business relationship ?	Preexisting business relationship - The recipient of your email has made a purchase, requested information, responded to a questionnaire or a survey, or had offline contact with you.
	Affirmative consent?	Affirmative consent - The recipient of your email has been clearly and fully notified of the collection and use of his email address and has consented prior to such collection and use. This is often called affirmative consent.
From and Subject Lines:
2	FROM line	Does your "From" line include your company name or brand?
3	Subject Line	Is your "Subject" line the right length? (5-8 words, 40-60 characters including spaces)
4	Benefit in Subject Line	Does your "Subject" line incorporate a specific benefit?
5	Brand in Subject Line	Does your "Subject" line include your brand (if for some reason your "From" line does not)?
6	Urgency in Subject Line	Does your "Subject" line create a sense of urgency?
Email Copy:
7	Does the copy relates to target	Is your email targeted, relevant and timely?
8	Is the email been personalized	Is your email personalized with the recipient's first name, last name or both, if appropriate?
9	copy clarity	Is your email copy clear and concise?
10	call-to action	Does it contain a strong call-to-action?
11	Benefits	Does it focus on benefits?
12	Urgency	Does it create a sense of urgency?
Important Details:
13	Response Handling (if any)	Are you prepared to handle inbound email responses and questions resulting from your outbound email campaigns? Follow through is as important as the first contact. Do not miss the opportunity to open a two-way dialogue with these interested recipients.
14	Graphics relating to target/objective	Have you used appropriate graphics while also making good use of white space?
15	Proof read	Have you proofread the "From" line, "Subject" line and email copy thoroughly?
16	Cross-check the links	Have you checked all links to be sure they work properly?
17	Test	Have you previewed and sent yourself a test in both HTML, and text?
Delivery / Spam Compliance:
18	Opt-out	Does your email include a way for recipients to unsubscribe, e.g. an unsubscribe/opt-out link and/or instructions?
19	Opt-out Handling Mechanism	Are you prepared to handle all unsubscribe requests within 10 days of the request?
20	Opt-out Handling for complex campaigns	If you use multiple email products, or have multiple databases from which you send emails, are you prepared to process all unsubscribe requests across all lists?
21	Mailing Practice (software)	Are you using good mailing practices? Have you been honest and truthful?
22	Header	Have you used a legitimate header?
23	Valid FROM address	Have you used a valid from address?
24	SUBJECT line	Is your "Subject" line straightforward, vs. misleading?
Miscellaneous
25	Size Limit of eMail	Ideally should be within 20-30 KB, but smaller the email-better the delivery
26	Day of sending eMail	Preferablly on Tuesdays, Wednesday & Thursday & on Holidays
27	Time of Sending eMail	Ideally between 11 AM to 3 PM
28	Physical address in the eDM Blast	Is your physical address included in your email campaign?

Tracking & Reporting:

Email marketing has become popular because of the many automated features that save marketers tons of time, but one of the biggest perks is the ability to calculate metrics for each message sent. Marketers can measure the success of their various communications through tracking reports and use that feedback to continually improve their programs.

Measurements of successful eMail Marketing communication:

Delivery Rate: Number delivered is the actual number of emails sent minus the number of messages that bounce back

Open Rate: In order for message to be tracked, a hidden piece of HTML, an image

tag, is inserted into the message. Each time this image tag is downloaded, the

message is considered opened. Only rich text and HTML messages are able to be

tracked. You cannot track plain text

Click through Rate: Click-through means that a recipient clicked on a link within

the message that you sent to them

Undelivered Rate: Undeliverable messages were unable to be delivered due to a

problem with the email address or because the message was blocked. Check the

detailed tracking report for the actual error message as to why the message bounced

Hard Bounce:

· Hard - The mail server could not send the email. The most common example of a hard bounce is if the user doesn't exist on that domain. This usually indicates a miss-typed email address or the user ID is no more exits in the domain directory.

· The following addresses had permanent fatal errors

· Host unknown (Name server: attbi.com: no data known)

· You have mailed an address at uesf.org that is no longer active or has been misspelled.

· : unknown user: "no such user"

· The recipient name is not recognized

· User mgivens (mgivens@vwrsp.com) not listed in public Name & Address Book

· User unknown in local recipient table (in reply to end of DATA command)

· MAILBOX NOT FOUND

· Mailbox unknown or not accepting mail. 550 No such recipient

· Bad sender's mailbox address syntax, The sender's address was syntactically invalid. The message has a faked from address (envelope From: address doesn't match message From: address e.g., hussain@logixworld.com does not match with service@andersonhonda.com)

Soft Bounce:

· Soft - The mail server is temporarily unable to accept your email. This usually happens when the user's mailbox is full, or if the mail server is unable to be reached.

· Blocked - The recipient's mail server is blocking you from sending email to them.

o Some Clients/Server would have configured their mail ID to receive only communication from the unknown ID’s

o SPAM Filters by Server, Once a customer identifies that he is not aware of the Brand ID / Email ID from where he is getting eMails, chances are they tag that particular mail ID with SPAM filter, so whenever a mail comes from this particular ID, it usually goes to SPAM box/Junk Box.

· Temporary (Transient) - The mail server is temporarily unable to send your email.

· Auto Reply - An automatic response from the recipient or An email auto-generated from the recipient. Usually indicates that the recipient is out of town or out of the office for the time being.

· Generic - b*Bounce was unable to detect what type of bounce the message was.

· Challenge-Response - Challenge-Response email systems were created as a reaction to the increasing circulation of spam. Dubbed as a 100% effective solution to stopping spam from ever reaching users' inboxes, Challenge-Response systems like EarthLink SpamBlocker and SpamArrest, among others, require human intervention for an email message to reach its intended recipient.

o In short, a Challenge-Response message is an automatic response from the recipient, requesting that the sender confirm a real person is sending the message. Generally, confirmation is completed manually by clicking on a hyperlink within the Challenge-Response message itself.

· Non - Indicates that the message was not one of the above types of bounces, or it was a bounce type that b*Bounce couldn't recognize.

Other parameters like number of subscribes, unsubscribe, forward’s, forward-to-friend’s which are relevant to type of communication with audience.