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For the second year in a row, Delivra, an email marketing agency has been recognized as a Best Place to Work in Indiana. Companies on the list are determined through employer reports and comprehensive employee surveys. 

There are a total of 70 companies included.These companies will find out their actual rankings at an awards dinner on May 3rd, 2012. Delivra is exctied to be on the list with such good company, like Slingshot SEO, Fusion Alliance, Indiana CPA Society, and many more! 

For more information about Best Places to Work in Indiana, please click here.

Looking for email marketing consultants to help with your email marketing needs who are as dedicated to their employees as they are to their clients? Check out Delivra today! 

 

It's that time of year again - Valentine's Day. For many, it's filled with roses, boxes of candy, and cards telling that someone special how much they mean to you. You wouldn't send those things to someone who ignored you, would you? You would not put in the effort to show them how much they meant to you if they were not going to return it, right?

Should you consider having this same mindset when thinking about your email subscribers? Perhaps. 

An unengaged subscriber is one who does not engage with the email campaigns you send. They don't open your emails let alone click through them. Based on their zero engagement with your emails they are likely not interested in receiving what you are sending. 

So, the question is? Should you continue to send to these people? My suggestion is: 

1) Work with an email marketing agency to create a re-engagement email campaign. Send to everyone that is unengaged, encouraging them to start engaging with your emails. This might include offering an incentive to motivate them to come back. 

2) If they responded...great!  Try to send them an email reminder to update their preferences to determine how often they would like to hear from you. Then start creating those campaigns with the idea they may still need to be motivated to open and click through your emails with catchy subject lines, bold copy, or more incentives. 

3) If they didn't respond? Perhaps it's time to suppress them from future mailings.  It might help your statistics and deliverability to not send to these people. However, you might want to consider continuing to send to them for the off chance THIS time will be the time they open, click through, and buy. 

It's a judgment call. To send flowers or not to send flowers? That is the question :-) 

Gosh, it has been a while since my last post... but things have been a little busy at Delivra. And, there's one thing in particular making us smile.

For the past couple of months, we've been focusing on our own email marketing program. As a best practice, we believe it's very important to do a data clean-up every year, as well as evaluate all email content being sent. What was a relevant email schedule last year (or even last month) may not be so relevant anymore, and this is exactly what we found.

To ensure our data was clean, we did a re-engagement email campaign to our subscribers. This consisted of a few emails over the course of three weeks which asked email subscribers to update their preferences.




Once we had the data in place, we were ready to start drafting content and send schedules. One of our goals for this process was to do a better job incorporating highly relevant and personalized content in our emails.

Delivra's email marketing software has a feature called Conditional Content. What this feature allows us to do is create one email and swap out pieces of content or images based on data unique to the recipient.

For our own emails, we decided to use this feature to swap out Account Owner information. Many of our retail clients use this feature to swap out product information based on things like region, buying behavior, age, interests, occupation...the sky is the limit! Here's an example of what our email looked like:



Overall, the email "felt" good but ultimately, it's up to the data to let us know how we performed.  Some of the basic metrics we look at:

• Open Rate
• Click-through Rate
• Engagement Score
• Unsubscribes

We look at these metrics compared to data collected from previous mailings, we call these baseline metrics. Having these metrics are super important when you change any aspect of your strategy.

Finally, we can't forget the ultimate intent of the email. Our goal for this particular email was to raise awareness about new software features and gauge interest among our client base. In order to collect this data, we created a unique form-submit landing page that funneled info into Salesforce, our CRM. As the clients filled out the form, they were immediately put in the appropriate campaign and their Account Owner was notified.

Such a simple user experience, and yet, it allowed us to gather feature interest and another layer of data to determine the success of the mailing.

So, what were the results of our efforts?

• 14% increase in Open Rate
• Doubled our Click-through Rate
• 5% Conversion Rate for people interested in new features.

All of this goes to show that with a little effort and a lot of thought, you can take an existing list and re-invent results.

"Studies show that untargeted email programs increase costs by as much as 3.6 times the cost of targeted programs, according to the Relevancy Group Publication, 'Realizing the Value of Email Marketing' (2010)..." (Check out this iMedia Connection blog for the full article.) It offers some great information on segmentation to B2B marketers. 

Segmentation is a key part of a successful email campaign. If you are a B2B marketer reading this, don't think segmentation doesn't apply to what you're doing. In fact, segmentation can take an ordinary email campaign and make it more relevant to the buyer and, therefore, more effective. 

Here are 3 segmentation tips for B2B marketers to keep in mind when starting to use if for their email marketing campaign. 

Study. Learn who your customer is and what motivates them to buy from your company.  Understanding this is going to greatly improve any email campaign regardless of whether it's going to include segmentation. 

Segment. Determine the most efficient way to segment your list. For B2B marketers, it might make the most sense to segment based on past purchase cycles of clients and when those companies are most motivated to buy. 

Send. Use the information you've gathered and segmented to send targeted, relevant messages to these people to encourage them to buy. 

• Consider adding information about their last purchase to remind them of what it included.
• Consider adding recommended items based on what they have already purchased. 

To stay on top of the ever-changing landscape, John St. has opened the world's first cat video division. With production, filming and seeding all in-house. Ask yourself, what can can videos do for your business?

1.5 million people have viewed this  tongue-in-cheek video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkOQw96cfyE .

I know this content is a stretch for an ESP blog, but it is marketing and most of all - it's fun to watch! :-) 

With all the Super Bowl craziness going on in Naptown this week, it's a little hard to catch your breath! As an email marketer though, you probably know the feeling. This week's madness is really no different than what you normally deal with on a regular basis at the office while trying to send out immaculate email campaigns to your subscribers. 

Do you feel overwhelmed sending out emails because you alone are the entire email marketing team or because you only have a handful of burned out help? It might be a good idea to look into an email marketing agency to help manage your email marketing program who offers more than just the software. An email marketing company can act more like your email marketing partner and offer services to help ease some of the pressure and stress from your team.  Some of those services at Delivra include: 

Consulting. Who wouldn't appreciate an email marketing pro offering advice on how to make your email marketing program the best it can be and boosts your long-term results? 

Design. We have a design team at Delivra who is dedicated to making client email campaigns look professional and get them results. 

Account Management. Each Delivra customer has a dedicated account manager who is paired with them to answer questions, provide email marketing insight, and assist in long-term goals and objectives. 

To find out what else Delivra can help you with, click here: http://www.delivra.com/managed-email-marketing/.

I love charts!

Here is a chart of 10 popular tactics, starting with the most effective on top. The chart is pulled from the new MarketingSherpa 2012 Email Marketing Benchmark Report. 

 As the Super Bowl makes its way to Indy, it's hard to miss the preparations taking place around the city. Personally, I can't wait to see how well Indy hosts such an event. As an email marketer, are you trying to get in on the Super Bowl action too by sending out an email to your subscribers about the big game? 

Papa John's is. As a sponsor of the NFL, it's' not a huge surprise they are, but I was interested in how they were incorporating the email aspect. (For full details about the giveaway, click here to read the full article from PizzaMarketplace.com.) In short, they are doing a Coin Toss Experience with fans where America guesses whether the coin toss will result in Heads or Tails. If they get it right, everyone enrolled in their Papa Rewards program will receive an email with instructions on how to claim their reward. 

Planning on sending out a Super Bowl email? Here are a couple of things to keep in mind: 

1. Make it fun. You are going to be in the inbox with a lot of competition. Not that this, in particular, is anything new, but you'll be competing with several other companies trying to get a piece of the Super Bowl pie. 

2. Rewards. To keep people engaged with your email through the Super Bowl and beyond, include a reward. Papa John's is engaging their audience by incorporating a poll, a reward, and a follow-up email. 

3. Buzz. Once you have established your contest, reward, or poll, etc, start creating some buzz around it. Share the news on social media, blog about it, add a CTA on your website, and send reminder emails. Talk it up! 

4. Test, test, test. You'd hate for a big email campaign around the Super Bowl to flop, wouldn't you? Be sure to test first. 

What examples have you seen of Super Bowl emails? I'm always interested, so send them my way! 

I own two cars. A 2009 4-door sedan and a 2008 SUV. 

The sedan is quiet on the road and handles like a sports car. The SUV, with its high profile and all wheel drive, is perfect for maneuvering after a snowfall. Plus it holds the big stuff that won't fit into the sedan. 

I wouldn't want to choose between them. This got me thinking, can there be a parallel argument for email service providers (ESPs)? 

If I send a simple bi-weekly templated newsletter to the same audience, a basic low-cost ESP may fit the bill just fine. 

However, if I need a high-touch provider with strategy consulting, analytics integration, and transactional messaging capabilities, I will need a more robust solution.  It will cost more, but if the ROI (return on investment) makes sense - I'm good with that. 

So next time an ESP calls, don't say, "I already got one of those." Ask yourself if you need another one. 

Today, we are excited to announce the launch of our new website!  Delivra's new website was designed to embrace the modern demands of managing email marketing campaigns. Check out our new site! 

HubSpot published an exhaustive list of spammy words last week. 

It's important to note that there are numerous other factors that influence inbox delivery. That's why organizations pay email service providers like Delivra to manage this complex ever-changing environment. None-the-less, it's a fun read. 

Take a look! 

As a marketer, we would love for everyone to actually subscribe to our email updates so we can reach out to them every week to keep our brand in our consumers' minds. However, email is one of the most prominent aspects of our daily working lives, where we are inundated by work emails, social media updates, and email advertising campaigns. Therefore, getting someone to actually subscribe to your email can be tough. 

Instead of immediately asking someone to subscribe to your email updates, my suggestion is to ease them into the process to give them exposure to the types of emails you are sending out. Here are 2 ways to do this: 

1. Use social media to promote your email. 

Every email has a link associated with it, generally located in the header or footer of the email. Use this link to share your most recent email via social media. Mention the most important content of the email, and make sure to ask people to subscribe to your updates. Think of the most important content in your emails as almost a blog post - if people like what's being said, they will most likely subscribe to your blog, or in this case, to your email.

2. Have an email archive widget/page on your site. 

One of the best ways to let more people read your emails is to have them on your site. My suggestion is to have an archive widget on  your site, either located on the sidebar, or having a page specifically dedicated to your email archive. I would organize this by month, week, or whatever works best for your email campaign. You can create an RSS feed for your emails so they automatically show up in these sections. 

I know some brands might be skeptical doing these things since it might decrease email conversions, but they of it this way: if visitors like what you're saying, they will want more. Why wouldn't they want to subscribe to your email updates if the only other option is to continually go back to your site or social media networks every week to read your newest email? 

Email marketing is permission-based marketing at its core. Giving your potential consumers an idea of what content you are providing will allow them to make a more educated decision when subscribing to your email updates. As a result, you will have more dedicated subscribers and less unsubscribes.  

Guest Blogger | Jenn Lisak 

Jenn is a relationship manager with DK New Media. Jenn consults and manages marketing strategies for clients and speaks and writes on marketing and social media. 

Recently, I received a direct mail piece from my dog's veterinarian. It was a Healthy Pet magazine featuring William Shatner (Of course?). Although it was a direct mail piece, there are still relevant lessons that can be transferred to using personalization in emails. See the image of the piece below.
I enjoyed several aspects of the mailing...

1. Personalized Image. The picture of the dog on the front looks exactly like my Henry - down to the crazy pug eyes and the tongue always sticking out. It was perfect and got my attention right away. 

2. Name. I noticed they had included Henry's name on the front as well. (Even though it was spelled wrong, but more about this later.)

3. Last Visit. If you glance through the pages, you notice the vet also included the last appointment date we had.  I added it to my planner right away as a reminder to schedule the next one. 

Here are some factors to consider if you plan to use personalization in your email program...

1. Correct Information. Using personalization can be tricky. You need to be sure you have the right information before deciding to incorporate it. For example, I loved how they used Henry's name, but part of the effect was lost on the fact I was distracted by the misspelling. If you are going to use personalized pieces in your email be sure you have the correct information for everyone in your database. Otherwise, it may not turn out well when sent. 

2. Permission. This is a tidbit specifically for using personalization in emails - make sure you have permission before sending them any kind of emails. Using personalization will be the least of your problems, if you have not previously obtained permission. 

3. Social Media. There were several mentions on the mailing to visit their Facebook page. I assumed it meant for my specific veterinarian, but no. When I got there, it was basically an empty site. I made it to the appropriate one, but still it lost some of it's pizazz. When incorporating social media into your email, be cautious of all sites and aspects. You don't want your subscribers to go astray. 

The survey data below is from 2010 but the lessons are fresh for 2012.

IBM recently unveiled another of their Five-in-Five series. If you've never heard of it, IBM makes an annual prediction of five trends or innovations that will alter the modern technological landscape within the next five years.

After predicting increased biometric security and actual mind reading powers, the last point in the series caught my eye: We're going to see the end of impersonal email.

Due to the amount of data that can be stored and analyzed quickly, every single mailing can, and will be, personalized not just to a recipient, but personalized towards what the recipient will find most relevant.

An article discussing the Five-in-Five series analyzed an opt-in procedure categorizing recipients' email request based on their driving, shopping, and eating schedules. Emails were specifically targeted to individuals based not only on their personal history, but also targeted based on when they were most likely to ‘need’ those emails, i.e. before leaving the house to go to the mall or deciding where they should meet with friends for lunch.

Delivra’s demographic fields allow our customers the ability to send email tailored personally to the recipient, and to the recipient’s interests. How much do you know about your recipients? How engaged are they? Are you utilizing all of the demographic fields available to better target your email campaigns?

I read a study by Marketing Sherpa. It said that 4 out of 10 recipients reported emails as spam only because it wasn't relevant. Sherpa also reports that emails which use segments get 50% more clicks. 

Below are a few segmentation ideas to help get you that needed lift. 

1. Geographic: Send invitations to local events or use geographic limitations on service delivery to choose your audience. 

2. Role: For example, a salesperson has different interests than a marketing manager. Segment with targeted content. Industry verticals also may demand a different approach. 

3. Interest: Review the content your recipients have viewed. Re-market based on this information. 

4. Behavior: You can use audience behavior as a filter for your communications. Of course, you need to have analytics set up on your site and you should integrate other purchase behavior into your email marketing system as well. 

5. Brand Advocates: Your brand advocate segment could contain - frequent buyers, social media fans, or customers who have recommended you. 

Segmentation can grow to be a beast, but even the slightest segmentation can increase your email success rates. Start small and expand as you encounter success. 

Need help? Delivra's professional services team is ready to assist. 

The other day, I went to the store and purchased exactly 3 items.  What I received in return was a receipt that was 3 feet long.  It got me thinking, when you get an email, how far down are you willing to scroll.  I don't know what the email marketing best practices are for the maximum length of an email, but I know how far I'm willing to scroll - NONE!  A lot of Delivra's customers use landing pages they have created in our system or anchor links to jump down to the relevant content.  

Utilizing just these 2 things will increase your overall email clicks.  After all, we are trying to get the best email engagement and at the same time prevent your recipients from getting carpal tunnel. 

Here is a picture of some holiday puppies I found on the internet!

If you are like me, you love your mobile phone. I like having so much information at my fingertips, whether it's my email, my social networks, or just being able to Google anything! As most people move towards mobile phones today, you should definitely start considering mobile when discussing any marketing plans. Text-to-Subscribe is one avenue to consider and I'm going to give you three reasons to love it! 

1. It's Universal. If you have an audience with mobile phones that allow them to text - you are in. Text-to-Subscribe isn't limited; it works with every major US cellular carrier, such as Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint. 

2. It's Easy. For example, all you have to do to sign up for Delivra's emails is text Delivra to 71813. Any company can create a Text-to-Subscribe program equally as simple and just like that, people can start subscribing to your email list with their mobile phones. It's instant gratification! 

3. It's Quick. Joining a mailing list by using text-to-subscribe is quick too. Dealing with long lines during the Holiday season? Invite people to sign up as they are waiting in line at a store. Giving a presentation at a conference? Have people sign up as you're speaking. In a rock band? Have concert-goers sign up during a show! j

Setting up text-to-subscribe is easy and the benefits are huge! It makes it so quick and easy for people to subscribe to your mailing list. So, what are you waiting for? Contact Delivra today to get started! 

I ran across this report recently. No surprises here, but it is a nice checklist for brainstorming subject lines. 

For the full report from Experian, click here! 

Today's post is from Robby Slaughter of Slaughter Development, a business process improvement consulting firm here in Indianapolis.

Email marketing is absolutely crucial to your business. I get it. And it's the holidays, and you feel the need to use your email marketing platform to reach out to customers with a greeting.

That's great. I feel you. But for the love of pete, please stop the holiday card madness!

You know what I'm talking about: the generic messages that just read "Happy Holidays from ABC Corporation!" Do you have any idea how many of those I'm going to receive today?

Answer: A half dozen or more.

Here's what I think when I receive a "seasons greetings" email from you that says little more than just "seasons greetings":

• You've got email marketing software, but you don't know how to use it
• You don't know what to say, so you're just copying everyone else
• You count every email open as a "win", no matter how instantaneous the deletion.

Okay, that's a little brutal. Maybe I need to calm down a bit.

This is not a case of the bah-humbugs. I do like the holiday season. And I want to hear stories about what your company is up to. Maybe you are raising money for some important cause. Maybe your employees are taking some interesting vacations. Really, telling me anything beyond just general well-wishes is going to be interesting.

In fact: being interesting is the secret to email engagement. You can pique my interest in many different ways. Maybe it's a special offer. Perhaps it's a distinctive story. No matter what you choose to do, if you're different than every other message in my inbox, I'm more likely to read it.

If I could sum up all email marketing best practices in just one word, I'd choose "unique." If your message could only have been sent from your company, it's got a good chance of real engagement. Keep this in mind, not just for the season, but for your email marketing strategy year-round.

Happy Holidays!