Email service providers are no cake walk either. Many of the most popular ones with large marketing budgets to acquire customers fail to meet best practices when it comes to delivery.

Sending a successful email marketing campaign relies on 3 things:
1. Clean HTML code that renders consistently across the major email clients
2. A reputable email service provider like Campaign Monitor, ExactTarget
3. A solid testing plan cross-browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari) and email client (Outlook, Yahoo!, Gmail,Hotmail) Each has its own quirks to deal with.

To help create a successful email campaign, Campaign Monitor published a guide that allows email marketers to see the various elements that affect how emails are rendered across 24 email clients. They learned that support for even simple CSS varies considerably between clients, and even different versions of the same client.

Download your copy and view the comparison table here. It covers 24 different email clients and all the popular applications across desktop, web and mobile email.

Thank you Campaign Monitor!

Note: Outlook (27% of total market share) and iOS Devices (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) (16% of total market share) are the most popular email clients.

The leaders of the pack with robust and highly-integrated solutions were ExactTarget and Responsys. Liberty Interactive Marketing has been a long-time user and advocate for ExactTarget given a customers complex needs with regard to segmentation, dynamic content, and integrating with other marketing channels like social and mobile.

While clearly the 70+ points of criteria knocked out a lot of smaller solutions like Campaign Monitor and Blue Sky Factory, it doesn’t mean medium-sized businesses should discount these. Before selecting an appropriate email service provider, sit down and determine what your needs are, from customer database integration to segmentation. What assets are you working with and what shape are they in?

And if you thought email was a passe marketing tactic for 2010 and beyond, you’ll be surprised to know that 68% of those surveyed by Forrester said that they anticipate that email marketing’s effectiveness will increase in the next three years.

The main focus for marketers will be to understand who their customers are and how to market to them personally and with relevance.

To stay ahead of the pack or just catch up I highly recommend downloading this email marketing report from Forrester compliments of ExactTarget.

Email marketing ties in well with eCommerce, and is a popular online marketing channel used to drive sales. However, eCommerce companies need to be aware that gaining and retaining a loyal customer base is a key component to the bottom line, and if you’re customers aren’t happy, expect to see that bottom line plummet.

Here is my experience with one eCommerce company and their email marketing campaign. I was less than pleased with the over-all experience, and will share the pros and cons as they relate to both email marketing best practices and overall customer experience.

The Good

• This company did well in quickly shipping the item I purchased. I had the package in my hands in about two days.
• They were also helpful in recommending what size I should choose, the item of clothing fit just right.

Email Marketing: Room for Improvement

• A promotional email was sent to me for 20% off but never stated when the promotion expired. Tip: Always present the user with all offer details – from promo code to expiration date to any hidden terms.
• I received an error when I went to make my purchase saying the code was invalid. I had to contact the company in order for them to temporarily reactivate the code. Tip: Make sure that Marketing is communicating with Operations. Most customers don’t have the patience to pick up the phone. Online chat is an optional tool to handle these types of requests, but make sure they are trained appropriately.

Web site Usability: Room for Improvement

• Product information was incomplete on the site. They did not have photos showing the complete product I wanted to order. I had to contact them and ask them to add an additional picture to the website. Tip: Always ensure you have photos of every item you are selling on your website. Consumers don’t have the luxury of tangibility online so providing as much information about the product is imperative. Angles shots, videos, and customer reviews are all optimal content assets when selling a product online.
• Part of the fun of ordering online is the anticipation of the package being delivered. Tip: Tie your email marketing in with shipping/operations to create a lifecycle campaign that keeps the customer excited to receive their shipment and notifies them of tracking and delivery.
• Further disappointment came when my package arrived and I discovered I was sent the wrong piece of clothing. I sent it back to the company and received the correct order less than one week later. Tip: Always double-check that you are sending the specific product that the customer ordered. Include easy instructions on how to return the item. Tip: Don’t overlook the details of providing a simple thank you on receipts and shipping invoices. A coupon for their next purchase is also a great way to encourage repeat visits.

While I do love what I ordered, my over-all experience with the eCommerce site left me less-than impressed and I will not be making purchases from them in the future. I hope this first-hand customer experience has given useful insight to new eCommerce businesses looking to engage in email marketing and provide users with a great customer experience. Paying attention to all the details and making sure all departments are working together will ensure you a loyal customer base and an increase in your bottom line.

If you’re thinking about implementing email into your marketing plan, or if you’re simply looking for ways to improve upon your current newsletters, I’ve compiled the key factors of email marketing best practices for quick reference.

The Basics:

• Build a permission based list of recipients.
• Manage the list.
• Define relevant content in the proper format.
• Deliver the message.
• Evaluate the results.

The Specifics:

• The message content should be created according to the results you wish to achieve. What is your ultimate goal? Is it to gain sales? Branding? To increase web site traffic?

• Once you’ve determined what your goals are, consider what format your message will be sent in. Do you plan to build it in html or MIME/Multipart? If you decide to build an html newsletter, format the code so that it’s clean and easy to navigate. This will save you a lot of time in the long run because it will help to prevent formatting errors.

• Avoid spam filters by checking your newsletter for content that could be seen as spam. Most email service providers can automatically check your newsletter for any content that could cause it to be placed in the recipients spam folder.

• Having an intriguing subject line is one of the most important elements of email marketing. Lack of an interesting subject line can cause your message to be left unopened completely and most likely deleted. Successful subject lines include an action phrase plus an incentive for the recipient. An example of a weaker subject line is – SFGate Newsletters: Great news and information. This offers no action phrase or incentive for the recipient. An example of a better-crafted subject line is – Save Big on New Arrivals at The Nest Baby Shop. It entices the recipient to open the message in order to discover what the new arrivals are and how much exactly they can expect to save on these products.

• Include relevant links within your email to accomplish your goal. If you want to drive more site traffic, include links to your web site in the copy of the newsletter. Promoting a sale? Give recipients a link to the special offers and sales page of your company web site. Keeping links relevant helps ensure people take action when they click on it.

• Always implement opt-in and opt-out. This means offering an unsubscribe button within your email so that people can decide to stop receiving messages from your company at any time. It also means offering a newsletter sign-up option on your site. To encourage web site visitors to sign up for your newsletter, offer them something they would not otherwise receive without being a subscriber such as discounts and coupons.

• Spell Check! And that doesn’t just mean running spell check on a computer. Actually take the time to sit down and read the copy slowly to yourself. Then have a colleague do the same to double check. Having a misspelled word in your company newsletter comes off as extremely unprofessional.

• Mind the length of your email. Most people don’t have the time to read a long newsletter, so be cautious of how much content you are including. Having a balance of images and copy makes your message more appealing to the eye and easier to read.

• Be aware of the frequency of your emails. Depending on the industry you’re in, set up a schedule that won’t irritate your recipients but will still keep your company in top-of-mind. For example, don’t send 3 emails a week about real estate market updates when once a month will suffice. This is a quick way to lose a lot of subscribers.

• Make sure your company name is clearly identified in the domain name that appears in the sender line.

• Clearly display your contact info in your newsletter.

photo credit: tamaleaver

While commonplace, the “monthly newsletter” still remains highly popular and organizations are still continuing to move onto a more sophisticated email platform (e.g. they are stopping sending bulk email through Outlook) and looking to understanding how to manage their “lists.” If you are still struggling with making that first step of signing up with a professional email service provider I suggest making the decision quickly and moving quickly.

Your competition most likely has already taken this step and is looking now towards changing up their program and staying current with trends, best practices, and coming up with innovative ways to stay current, relevant and valuable.

If your budget doesn’t afford you with the luxury of hiring a Internet Marketing firm to manage your email:

• Hire an Internet Marketing consultant to help you with your email marketing strategy and get your email marketing program set up so that you can manage it internally.
• Have your Internet marketing consultant help you put a plan in place for managing your company’s reputation both with email recipients and ISPs to ensure your message is getting delivered.
• Your consultant should ask you what available resources you have in-house and determine the best program and available options to achieve your desired outcome / goals.
• Request a plan for testing and optimizing your email campaigns, from template layout to frequency of send. Understanding your audience and how they react to the content they are receiving, how they are receiving it and when they are receiving it can help you develop a set of best practices for your company’s email marketing program.
• Schedule either monthly or quarterly meeting with your Internet marketing consultant to audit your campaigns and progress. Often times they will be able to help you with new ideas to refresh your campaigns with regard to content, segmentation, and building your list.
• Don’t be afraid to ask your email recipients how they want to receive communication, what type of content they would like and how often. You may find that you have two or more distinct groups within your audience and that different messages will encourage further engagement as well as show your recipients that you respect them by providing them with the information they want to receive.

Feel free to give us a call, we are happy to get you started.

image credit: piccadilly

Email Marketing cannot be commoditized.  Most people know just enough to be dangerous and don’t know when to draw the line or where the line begins.  Hitting the send button does not qualify as email marketing. If email was as easy as people think, why are their companies out there that solely provide email marketing services?  Attention must be paid to 1) best practices, 2) attention to detail, 3) deliverability and 4) list management and maintenance.

In the past two days, I have become a victim of receiving bad emails from professional service providers in which I am a client. In this post I’ll be providing two examples of how email (both personal and marketing) can go very very wrong and have an impact on your company’s brand and customers perception.

Example #1: Be Professional and Respect the Privacy of Others

I received an email today from a sales rep. The email was the 3rd email I had received about their free trial.  I had purchased their product months ago and even upgraded to a higher level but yet because their email lists of new prospects and current clients are not cross-referenced they were still marketing to me.

Email Marketing Tip #1: Have a well managed and well maintained list, cross reference, tag, flag, etc to make sure you have the most current information on your prospects and customers.  Email addresses are assets, these are folks who have already engaged with your service or company. Respect them, know who they are and address them personally. Don’t abuse email addresses or take new or existing customers for granted. Having maintained lists will also improve efficiency, effectiveness, and your bottom line.

Additionally, this email was sent out to a whole gamut of people and all of our email addresses were their for public consumption.

Email Marketing Tip #2: For internal/private messaging
Use the BCC field when sending to multiple addresses.  No one wants their email address shown to every stranger on your list. Be courteous and respect others privacy by regarding email addresses as assets. Email addresses are to be handled with care.

The email didn’t even utilize basic macro inserts for personalization (e.g. Dear Liberty…) it was simply just a bulk send of all the “L” email addresses. Making me believe that this guy was just going down the list.

Email Marketing Tip #3: Personalize your emails. Don’t be lazy, know who you are sending to, where they are in the sales process, learn why they haven’t purchased yet, or if they have take the appropriate actions to welcome them. Use a professional ESP (Email Service Provider) to send emails so you can track success and deliverability.

I replied politely to the email:

And instead of a personal response apologizing or saying they would remove move from the list and take my suggestion into consideration -  I became a victim of another fatal email mistake. THE ACCIDENTAL REPLY TO: email.

Company accidental reply (translation: I don’t really care about you or that you are an existing customer, and I don’t care to respond to you and actually let you know what we are doing to take care of it) I also like that he calls me a guy:

So naturally I respond to once again notify them of their mistake:

The result? As expected. No response.

Which leads me to Email Marketing Tip #4: Be professional.  Train your staff on how to handle customer communications and how to respond and represent your brand and your company. Especially with a troubled economy, where in recent years it seemed customer service had disappeared, it again becomes the deciphering factor between you and your competition.

I said two examples of email blunders. But I will save the next one for a different post.