I get a lot of questions about what these services mean to marketers and do they have an effect on deliverability. The topic came up recently during one of my discussions with friend and Deliverability Consultant Greg Kraios (Den Of Deliverability), who emphasized that "it is important to understand why those features exist in the first place. Recipients feel like their inboxes are out of control. And that isn't an issue of SPAM anymore. The large email providers have largely eliminated true SPAM from inboxes."
And that's so very true. And to those of you who just spit out your coffee and shouted "SPAM isn't a problem anymore?!?", calm down. I understand SPAM is still a problem in many ways (from phishing and malware to the the sheer bandwidth and resources it consumes), but SPAM is generally not what is responsible for an overcrowded inbox. The problem they're addressing now is greymail: those emails you may have signed up for, but are either no longer relevant or are coming too frequently.
And why does that happen? Because, in large part, marketers are setting poor expectations and giving little control over frequency at the point of signup. Many marketers take the approach of "keep sending until we get push-back." That "push-back" is often in the form of an unsubscribe (or worse, a complaint.) I've seen growth in the use of profile forms which allow recipients to adjust frequency or type of mailings happening at the back end (after they've decided they've had enough), but very rarely have I seen it being given at the front end.
Keep this in mind as you're creating (or making adjustments) to your email marketing program. Put yourself in the shoes of your audience when examining your sign-up process. Is it apparent what you'll be receiving? Or how often? If not during sign-up, is that information (or the ability to adjust it) conveyed in a welcome message?
Next time, I'll focus more on this from the Marketer's perspective. In the mean-time, if you're looking to evaluate your program or need help making improvements, give us a call. We'd love to help.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein
This is absolutely one of my all-time favorite quotes. As a results-oriented-marketer, I've spent many days (and nights) pouring over data, trying to understand why things are they way they are. But the reality is, data only paints part of the picture.
This is a fantastic blog post from MarketingExperiments, Optimization 101: How to get real results from A/B testing by Paul Cheney, illustrating the entire picture to successful testing. I really liked alot about this post, but this paragraph in particular really rang true to me:
So while most marketers can certainly slap together two treatments and see which one gets a higher conversion rate, the marketer that asks “why” more customers responded to one treatment over the other is gleaning the maximum customer insight.
This may seem like a really basic statement, but how many of us actually take the time to combine numerical data with anecdotal data from prospects, customers or other stakeholders? I'd actually love to have your response! Please reply in the comments section with the types of data you collect to run your testing.
What we find from many of our managed email marketing clients is their need to outsource much of this testing to ensure their projects get done, the right way. As marketers, we've all been there, awesome intentions to run a comprehensive A/B campaign only to get side-tracked with another priority mid-stream. Sure you may glean some high level wins, i.e. a particular subject line yielded higher opens than the other... but by taking it one step further and asking "Why" just might yield the biggest win of all.
At Delivra, we're an email marketing agency that provides software and managed services to our clients. We enjoy putting together testing campaigns and ensuring we paint the entire picture of their email marketing programs. If you're looking for an email marketing partner, give us a call at 866.915.9465
For those who missed it, the 2012 Byte Night, an NPower annual event, was awesome: it's one of Indianapolis's premier networking and leadership events for technologists. By the way, you should be sure to attend next year - what a GREAT organization.
Consistent with NPower's mission, Byte Night provides an opportunity to showcase some fantastic not for profit organizations in Indianapolis. In addition, NPower has a long standing tradition called the Tech Angel awards. This year, Delivra has agreed to be a Tech Angel for two sensational organizations in Indianapolis: the Martin Luther King Community Center and the South East Neighborhood Development Inc. Both have amazing mission statements and are out there on the front lines serving our community.
Delivra is excited to offer both organizations a FULL YEAR of professional email marketing. We're going to partner with both organizations to provide a full suite of not just email marketing tools, but every bit of the strategy and consulting they need to create truly effective connections with their stakeholders and donors.
Check out this quick video that provides a great overview of NPower, the Tech Angel awards, and these two, very deserving organizations.
The advancement of technology and Internet marketing has been highly beneficial for the photo and video industry for perhaps fairly obvious reasons. With email and social media marketing, professionals in this industry are able to share their work quicker than ever with greater detail. Having a strong email marketing campaign, in an industry where aesthetic quality has the heaviest influence on whether or not a consumer chooses that particular business, is key to enticing the buyer to take advantage of current promotions, discounts and new techniques or services offered by the company. Although there are a number of reasons that might account for the photo and video industry's email marketing success, consider the following top three contributing factors.
1. More Subscribers Open Their Emails
It may seem like a no-brainer, but the success of many professional email marketing campaigns in the photo and video industry is in part due to the high open rate this industry has overall. Studies indicate a 28.93 percent open rate for all emails sent by companies in the photo and video industry, which proves strong interest among the general public. Even ostensibly more popular industries, such as retail and education, rank considerably lower with just 17.8 percent and 16.64 percent, respectively. Greater interest means greater profit for any business, and for the photo and video industry this certainly holds true.
2. More Subscribers Click the Links in Their Emails
Any experienced email marketing consultant will tell you the click-through rate of an email marketing campaign is one of the most important factors for measuring its success. For the photo and video industry in particular, studies reveal a click-through rate of 5.7 percent. For those who aren't well versed in proper measurement of click-through rates, this figure is exactly 2 percentage points above the average of 3.7 percent. The population used to determine an average click-through rate included several other notable industries, including real estate, insurance and legal industries.
3. Fewer Subscribers Complain or Unsubscribe
An irresponsible or inexperienced use of email can lead to abuse by overwhelming the consumer with excess emails in a manner technically classified as spamming. When email is abused in this way, it often results in customer complaints and a surplus of customers unsubscribing to the company. Although this abuse of strategy, should rightfully only affect the company at fault, it can often have a negative effect on the customer's perception of the entire industry. With the photo and video industry, abuse complaint rates and unsubscribe rates remain significantly low, with a measured 0.07 percent of the former and 0.26 percent for the latter.
Although the nature of the photo and video industry likely helps contribute to its email marketing success, a well-trained and experienced consultant can often have the biggest impact on compelling subscribers to open emails and further encourage them to click the link embedded in the email. In addition to these highly important components, managed email marketing also decreases the likelihood of abuse, which can frequently have a detrimental effect on the campaign overall. Since statistics indicate email marketing favors the photo and video industry's, companies who are currently taking advantage of professional email marketing opportunities can continue to expect positive returns in the future.
The construction industry has had a rough few years with a sharp decline of demand resulting from the financial crisis of the late 2000s. Although this crisis posed a substantial setback for the industry, the slow recovery of the economy has led to greater business opportunities and promise for the industry as a whole. The gradual improvement of the economy can take most of the credit for this increased success; however, credit should also partially be attributed to widespread integration of email marketing throughout the construction industry. Compared with other industries- including entertainment, health and fitness, and public relations—the construction industry has generated substantially greater interest and success with their own email marketing campaigns.
A Firm Foundation
Recent studies have reported a 28.7 percent open rate for emails sent by businesses in the construction industry, with an equally impressive click-through rate of 8.01 percent. Put in perspective: the business and finance industry follows far behind with a 15.57 percent open rate and a dismal 2.77 percent click-through rate. The music industry lies even further from this point with a 13.95 percent open rate and a 2.43 percent click-through rate. Based on this information, it's clear the construction industry is benefiting much more from managed email marketing than many other industries.
Understanding What Works
Despite the relatively high open and click-through rates of the construction industry and the general success of email marketing among construction companies, surveys have shown many businesses in this field aren't even aware of how well they are doing in terms of email marketing efficiency. When a group of construction companies were asked what their open rates were for their email campaigns, 51 percent responded they didn't know. An even greater 76 percent reported not to know the company's click-through rates either. This lack of communication and data analysis within the company could be caused by a failure to hire an experienced email marketing consultant to analyze data and manage the campaign in an effective manner. With proper management, the construction industry could potentially generate even more success through the strategy of email marketing.
Building Better ROI
Although the construction industry may need better management to ensure maximum email marketing efficiency, collected data indicates the strategy already comes with a great deal of profit potential for this industry in particular. For construction companies working independently or still struggling to get back on their feet, the prospect of email marketing can be especially appealing due to its high return on investment (ROI). Statistics indicate professional email marketing for the year 2012 is projected to generate an ROI of $39.40 for every dollar spent toward the service. This substantial return is unmatched by any other traditional media or Internet marketing strategy available, which is why it's a preferred choice for various industries.
What sets the construction industry apart from other successful industries is the widespread lack of understanding and appreciation of the tremendous benefits they're receiving from email marketing. This industry may be enjoying a unique success now, but as trends develop and more industries become proficient in managed email marketing tactics and understand the implications of increased ROI that result, the construction industry may get company.
Focusing on email marketing may initially seem obsolete when considering how many different forms of media available to businesses as a means of communicating with consumers in the modern digital age. From social media to mobile applications, the consumer base can be accessed with a wide array of media strategies. So, why choose email marketing? One of the best (and most obvious) reasons to stick with the strategy of hiring an email marketing agency is because it has shown incredible success across a wide range of different industries. As a testament to this fact, consider what the travel industry in particular is gaining from this fruitful marketing strategy.
Reaching Out
It may seem elementary, but just being able to get your foot in the door with your consumer base can be a feat in and of itself. To determine the efficiency of email effectiveness, data is collected and analyzed regularly to ensure all emails have been properly sent without error. Measurement of this data is known as the company's "bounce rate," or "non-bounce rate" if the rate of successful delivery is exceptionally high. A 2011 study shows the travel industry has a non-bounce rate of 98.1 percent, with an open rate of 70.7 percent—the latter of which indicates how many email recipients actually open the email. Since the average open rate across several industries is approximately 20.3 percent, this indicates a significant advantage for the travel industry in particular.
Gaining Attention
The real statistic an experienced email marketing consultant would specifically look for is the company's click-through rate in the email marketing campaign. A click-through rate indicates how often a consumer feels compelled to click the link provided in the email they received. Essentially, this rate indicates the appeal of the product or promotion the company is highlighting in the email. Studies have shown the travel industry has a measured click-through rate of 6.4 percent, which is higher than many other leading industries, including the retail apparel industry at 3.5 percent and the consumer services industry at 4.1 percent.
Generating Profit
Let's face it: the bottom line of any professional email marketing campaign is to make money, which is why this is the most important factor in determining the success of email marketing. According to Ken Magill of the Magill Report, the return on investment (ROI) for email marketing in 2011 was $40.56 for every dollar invested. This exceptionally high figure is predicted to drop slightly for the year 2012, with an estimated ROI of $39.40 for every dollar invested. Overall, email marketing is predicted to generate $67.8 billion in sales for the year 2012, indicating businesses involved in the travel industry can expect big gains for the year 2012 by implementing email marketing into their campaigns.
With excellent consumer response to current email marketing strategies implemented by the travel industry, companies who have yet to adapt to these trends or would like to capitalize on the success of the strategy can benefit greatly by utilizing the services of an experienced and well-trained email marketing agency. Integrating managed email marketing not only ensures maximum appeal and outreach to the consumer, but also ensures a substantial profit considering the projected promise of the industry.
Although email marketing has proven effective across a wide range of different industries, the strategy has recently shown especially notable promise in the restaurant industry in particular. This promise is evidenced partially by a recent study that revealed a 20 percent open rate of all emails sent by restaurants in 2010. This may not sound like an impressive statistic by itself, but when compared with other industries surveyed, it ranks considerably higher. For example, the entertainment industry came in at just a 16 percent open rate, followed even further behind by the medical, dental and healthcare industries, which have a 13 percent open rate.
What Email Offers
Again you might be thinking: What's the big deal if customers are opening more of their emails from restaurant companies? According to Forrester Research, this open rate increase is complemented by a 17 percent revenue increase from each customer in this population. This inference is based on a study conducted by Forrester Research, which revealed that there is a 17 percent increase in purchase value of email subscribers versus non-subscribers. Although opening an email may not necessarily solidify a sale right then and there, it can still have an influence on the customer in the future. A reported 87 percent of consumers in the same Forrester Research study claimed email marketing impacted their future purchasing decisions.
The Proof isn't in the Pudding—it's in the ROI
Investing in managed email marketing is something both small and large restaurants truly can't afford to miss out on because of its proven efficacy in generating more business. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing generates ROI of $57.25 for each dollar spent on the service. Compared with alternative options for online marketing, such as social media marketing, the ROI for email marketing is 150 percent greater. Looking at it from a purely objective point of view, it's difficult to argue with an investment generating such a substantial return.
A Recipe for Success
If the proven efficiency of hiring an email marketing consultant isn't enough of a motive to take advantage of this highly lucrative service, consider the fact that many other restaurants in the industry are already following this recent trend. According to a study by National Restaurant News, an average of seven out of ten restaurants in the industry are actively pursuing an email marketing agency for their own campaigns. This statistic indicates that restaurants which don't incorporate professional email marketing may lose customers to restaurants which are more accessible, and thus could be left behind by the competition.
Intuition Matters
The success seen in the restaurant industry is likely due to the widespread popularity of using Internet resources to find information about a particular restaurant. Studies show that 89 percent of customers always research information about a restaurant online before dining there. The benefit of email marketing is it can bring this information directly to the customer, which increases the customer's convenience and improves the chances they will choose that particular restaurant over another requiring an active search to acquire the same information.
With the prevalence of Internet usage today, it's increasingly important for all kinds of businesses to maintain a presence in the same spheres consumers frequent. Since email is a primary form of communication among so many people, and because of the proven potential of email marketing, the benefits restaurants can enjoy from following this trend are immense.
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/.
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!
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.
Recently Ally posted a blog about an amazing customer service experience she received. She explained how well the situation was handled by the company and how they kept her best interest as a customer in mind. The story I'm about to share is the exact opposite of that. I have been shopping at a well known nationwide video game retail establishment for years. I have never run into any significant problems until recently. Last year about this time, they implemented power up cards for an annual fee of 15 dollars. These cards consist of a way to earn points by trading in games, buying games, etc... These points can be used to receive discounts when you make purchases as well. I purchased one of the cards.
Towards the end of the year, after my purchase, I started to become inundated with emails on a daily basis from this retailer. At first, I figured it'd just be easy enough to delete them each day and be done with it. A couple weeks later I got tired of dealing with it so I decided to unsubscribe from their mailings. The first thing that should be noted is nowhere in their mailings does it give you the option to unsubscribe. The only option it provides is to change your preferences. Working in e-mail marketing on a daily basis, this immediately threw up a red flag. I clicked on the preferences link but found no option to completely unsubscribe from their mailings. After digging a little deeper into the preferences, I finally found an option to fully unsubscribe. When I selected this option, I received a message stating it will more than likely take up to 2 weeks to fully unsubscribe me. I'm was not happy with this response but at least the mailings would stop.
The time comes when my card expires and I'm asked if I want to renew by the store manager. I decided to go ahead and renew because I think everything is fine until I go to use the renewed card. I'm told by the in store manager my card is not being accepted by their system. They provide me with a customer service number to call and tell me it should be an easy fix and they probably just have some incorrect information in their computers.
I call the customer service line and after waiting almost 45 minutes, I get through to a representative and tell him what is going on. He proceeds to put me on hold for another 15 minutes and then comes back to tell me he realizes what happened. He tells me I chose to unsubscribe from all of their mailings which in turn apparently cancelled my card...a card which I paid for and has absolutely nothing to do with the mailings they send me. I don't agree with the situation but tell him to opt me back in so my card can be reactivated. He says that's not an option and the only way I can activate my card is to purchase a new one. WHAT?! I ask nicely to speak with a manager and he lets me know none are available at this time so I was sent to a voicemail where I left my number...no call back.
After all this has taken place, I decide to go to the retail store and talk to the manager who I've known for many years. He is shocked by what I've been told and is kind of enough to give me a card for free and also took the time to call customer service while I was in the store(they have a direct line with no wait time.) The customer service rep relays the same information to the manager and informs him that even though they have activated a new card for me, I've lost ALL my points I have earned over the years, and they had no way of getting them back. The manager assured me he will be emailing their district manager about my situation, but I have no faith anything positive will come out of it.
I am extremely grateful for the extra steps the store manager took. He went above and beyond his responsibilities to assist me in any way possible. From a corporate standpoint however, never in my life have I felt so insignificant or helpless as a customer. I will never purchase anything from this company again. Had they just handled this situation in a professional manner, I wouldn't be writing this blog and they wouldn't be losing business from a faithful customer who has been purchasing from them for years.
At Delivra we strive to provide the best customer service possible to our clients. We will always take into account the issues you are experiencing and will do our best to go above and beyond to satisfy your needs and provide you with a prompt and satisfactory resolution. And if you're looking for help with issues such as setting the right expectations, monitoring engagement/complaints for burn-out, or providing recipients with an easy and friendly method of controlling their email preferences, just let us know. We're glad to help.
According to About.com 294 billion email messages are sent per day! This means 2.8 million emails are sent every second and some 90 trillion emails are sent per year! No wonder we all ask the age-old question,“When can I send my email to gain more attention?”Unfortunately, there is no simple answer that can apply to everyone using email to market their business, product or trade. Figuring out the best time of day and the day of the week which works best takes time and research.
Here are some ways to help you gather and use your data to help determine when might be the peek time for your email to reach the inbox of your readers.
- Segment your data by geographic regions – in some cases your email will be going to several parts of the country, if not world. Be sure to set up your mailings to reflect those time changes to avoid sending emails at 4 in the morning!
- Look at past data and mailings – Check to see if your email service provider offers the ability to see open rates and when those actions occurred, review this data to determine when those clicks peek. This gives you a glimpse into when your readers set aside time to look at your emails.
- A/B split tests – Sending your email to just a sample of people with the subject line and content the same but only changing the time can tell you a lot about when your readers are opening your email. Maybe your readers open more in the morning than in the afternoon or Monday vs. Tuesday.
Amy Dolk | Account Manager
A lot of people think that my job is just to sell our software. What a lot of people don’t know until they talk to me or one of our other Business Development Managers is that our job is to make sure you get the most out of your email marketing. That’s not just selling software, but often times it’s applying best practices and leveraging your overall marketing and branding strategy.
So 1 out of 4 of my LinkedIn relationships were on the move this year. What does that mean for customer relationships?
If you're anything like Delivra you probably have noticed:
1. Requests for training customer's new staff are received regularly.
2. Customers stop using your service/product.
3. Customers cancel their contract or cease buying.
4. Customers call asking why they are paying for a service they aren't using.
Here's what we did to get ahead of customer staff turnover.
1. Authorized the expansion of account management resources by four times. Yes 400%, that's not a typo.
2. Made growing roots aka having more than one contact per client, an objective.
3. Initiated free weekly training webinars.
4. Launched a client service portal to make asking questions and getting answers faster, more accurate and trackable.
5. Created a quarterly report card that gave account managers a tool (and a reason) to initiate regular contact.
6. Established a weekly "Tip of the Week" email announcement.
7. Compiled a non-use report as an early warning sign for possible contact turnover.
It appears we are getting a handle on this challenge.
If any of my readers have a related anecdotal story, contact me below. If I receive enough comments we may have the gist for a follow up story.
n_berman@delivra.com
I know this is the Delivra blog, and it's supposed to be all about email marketing and email marketing service providers. It's true that the ability to automate, collate and manage email marketing campaigns is fantastic stuff. But sometimes, the best email marketing is not something you do through an ESP. Instead, it's what you do from your own email program.
There's a crucial difference between email service providers like Delivra and emails sent by you, from a program like Outlook or Gmail. The key difference is the word "bulk." Messages sent in bulk to hundreds, thousands or millions of people are treated differently than those sent individually. Not only are they two different beasts under federal law, but they are also considered entirely different by human beings.
That's why when you meet someone at a networking event or get their card from a conference, you should never add them to a generic email list as your first step. Instead, if you can manage the time to do so, you should type them a personal email yourself and reference the context of your interaction. An individual email is a form of email marketing, but it is one more likely to generate a dialogue or establish true permission.
The ultimate goal of email marketing may be to establish new customer relationships. However, to achieve that goal you may need to start with some old-fashioned email. Consider writing a message to get the authority to follow-up with useful, automated content.
Guest Blogger | Robby Slaughter
Robby Slaughter is a Principal with Slaughter Development, an Indianapolis-based business process and workflow consulting company. His new book, Failure: The Secret to Success is available now at www.failurethebook.com.
It might seem kind of sad to have birthday presents that never get unwrapped. They pile up year after year in a closet and are totally ignored. That's what it is like to have a subscriber who never actually opens your marketing email.
Clearly, something is amiss. Maybe you have a bad address. Maybe your messages are being silently routed to spam. Maybe that person is too busy and deletes messages without reading them.
Non-openers should be taken off your main list. The main list database is for people who actually read your messages. Instead the non-responsive should be put into a special list of problem prospects. Either something went wrong during the process of getting these names or when they opted-in to your newsletter.
Good email marketing packages let you quickly and easily manage lists. But the most important step comes after you've built a pattern of routinely moving non-openers to their own list. You need to establish time in your schedule to figure out what went wrong. Can you pick up the phone and call the prospect? Can you determine which sales rep or online form produced the name? Can you check with your email service provider to see about deliverability issues? These names in the "gray area" are perhaps the greatest possible customers. You know they want your stuff but haven't ever had the chance to get it!
Guest Blogger | Robby Slaughter
Robby Slaughter is a Principal with Slaughter Development, an Indianapolis - based business process and workflow consulting company. His new book, Failure: The Secret to Success is available now at www.failurethebook.com.
When I left the search marketing world a few weeks ago to join the Delivra team as their Director of Marketing, I got a lot of advice. One in particular that's stuck with me is:
Choosing an ESP is like car shopping. There's a make and model to fit everyone's demands.
Boy, isn't that the truth. As I continue to look under the hood (pun intended) at this new space I'm in, I'm simply amazed at the variety and scope that each service provider offers. And, it's not a coincidence that the same values you place on your personal purchases (automobiles, homes, etc.) absolutely roll over into professional purchases as software and other crucial vendors.
One thing, among many, that really sold me on Delivra was the intense focus the company has on its customers. You see this in the company's messaging platform: We are answerable only to our customers. As the first statement among our Vision and Values: We exist to serve our customers. And, through our action, Rachel, an Account Manager is on the road no less than five days a week meeting and strategizing with clients.
As I continue to put the pedal to the metal (I know, stop with the corny puns already!) at Delivra, I look forward to learning from our clients and prospective clients. I'm eager to hear, in their own words, what type of make and model we are to them, and how we can continue to assist in building successful email programs that mirror their own values.
Megan Glover | Director of Marketing
The Delivra blog, eMailchatr, focuses on assisting readers to improve their email marketing efforts. One way to accomplish this is by better understanding your audience in order to create email messages that will appeal to them.
To help you organize your thoughts and create more effective email campaigns, it might be appropriate to create customer personas or profiles. To create a persona means to describe different members of the audience you are trying to reach, basically by creating a brief biography for them. The goal in creating personas is to have a better understanding of who your target audience is so that you can better market to them.
I'll provide an example. (Please note that I am not affiliated with the 6 Second Ab Machine in any way except that I used to own one and it gathered dust in my garage. The following is a fictional customer persona only to make a point. Thank you.)
Meet Cindy
Name: Cindy
Age: 35
Marital Status: Married
Kids: Raising a young son and daughter
Career: CFO of a Fortune 500 Company
Location: Midwest
As you can probably tell from Cindy's short biography above, she is extremely busy. She holds a management position which proves to be demanding, with the added responsibility of raising two small boys. In addition, she is also responsible for taking care of her home and her marriage. Needless to say, she is busy and does not have a lot of time to dedicate to exercise. Therefore, being able to quickly pull the 6 Second Ab Machine from a closet and complete several sets of ab crunches would be of interest to her. She could squeeze in a quick ab workout in between everything else she has to do in her day.
This information could be priceless for a marketing manager in charge of creating an email campaign for this product. In fact, this customer persona offers insight into the majority of the target audience which makes creating a message based on this information very effective.
For some products or services, it may make sense to create several personas to portray the different members that make up the entire audience. Still, having a reference to rely on when creating an email campaign, can prove priceless.
Do you have other suggestions for creating customer personas?
Lavon Temple | Marketing
Human beings are suckers for consistency. We love it when people show up on time, we love it when a system works the same way as it did before, and we love it when bills are paid like clockwork. In general we love it when we know exactly what to expect. That's why when people ask me about their email marketing campaign, I tell them the most important factor of all is to be consistent.
In truth, however, that answer is a little bit of a cop-out, because "consistency" refers to everything:
- Deliver your messages at a consistent time and day of the week
- Produce content that is at consistently high level of quality
- Make consistent use of your partners, employees and customers to drive content
- Treat your subscriber list consistently and fairly
- Respond consistently to problems, issues or questions that arise
That's not to say that you need to be an email marketing robot that sends out exactly the same message each time. But rather, that you are consistently in control of any variations. If you do make a change, it should be part of a conscientious test. And if you do make a mistake, follow up in a measured and appropriate manner. That's what people like!
There are a lot of email marketing service providers out there, and most of them are pretty good at the basics. But there's more to the story than just deliverability, usage statistics, custom templates and campaign management. A great email provider will also treat you consistently and encourage you to reach out to your customers consistently. That's the hallmark of great service, and it's the one characteristic that human beings love.
Be consistent!
Guest Blogger | Robby Slaughter
Robby Slaughter is a Principal with Slaughter Development, an Indianapolis-based consulting company. His new book, Failure: The Secret to Success is available now at www.failurethebook.com.
[Editor's note: this is the second in a series of posts celebrating the history of our company on the anniversary of Delivra's founding. If you missed the first installment, you can read it here.]
Like many American companies, Fred Delivra & Co. played a role in supporting the Allied war effort during World War II, and was profoundly changed by it, suffering both losses and triumphs.
Iconic WWII-era "Doris the Deliverer" poster
The first loss occurred even before the U.S. formally joined the fighting. Fred Delivra's right-hand man, Alphonse Jones, suddenly resigned his post in December 1940 to fight alongside the British in North Africa. Jones had formerly been a soldier-of-fortune, and told Fred that he found the life of a deliverability manager too "passive" and "unfulfilling." Jones' adventure was short-lived, though; he disappeared during a German offensive in Libya in April 1941.
Jones' presumed death haunted Fred Delivra, and cemented his devotion to the Allied cause. When America declared war, he was quick to volunteer his services, but found no takers in Washington, due to suspicions concerning his ambiguous national origin. However, military planners soon found themselves in need of Delivra's legendary skills in pigeon training. The generals' forward-thinking prevailed over the bureaucrats' fears about Delivra's loyalty, and President Roosevelt personally requested Fred's services, which were gladly given.
Fred Delivra, Little Freddie VI, and lady admirer at Dickin Medal ceremony, London, 1944
Delivra's pigeons proved unerring in their accuracy and targeting instincts, earning several Dickin Medals for "conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty." The success of the so-called "Minneapolis Project" resolved any questions about Fred's loyalties, and led to Fred Delivra working for the newly-formed Office of Strategic Services. Not everything about his role in the OSS is known, but according to documents declassified by President George H.W. Bush in 1990, we at least know that Delivra worked to secure communications between the Allies and the resistance in France and Holland. Also, British documents show that, near the end of the war, Delivra was working on a system of validating authenticity of messages carried by pigeons. Following the fall of Berlin in May 1945, Fred Delivra's proposed Pigeon Key Identified Message (PKIM) system was no longer seen as necessary, and was never implemented, but his design has been cited as an inspiration for the email authentication technology of today.
Fred Delivra (back row, 2nd from left) at Yalta Conference, 1945
Fred Delivra also played an important role in the organization of the Yalta Conference in February 1945 to discuss the reconstruction of postwar Europe. Delivra was responsible for supervising messengers, telegrams, and translation, as well as snacks and afternoon tea. This latter role proved most valuable, as Fred's daring introduction of American-style orange soda was well received by Josef Stalin, and led to a softening of the Soviet leader's stance against the inclusion of France in the eventual occupation of Berlin.
Propaganda Poster produced by Delivra Design Services, March 1945 (click to enlarge)
Meanwhile, back on the homefront in Indianapolis, Delivra's facilities had been quickly converted to wartime production shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, when the nation's electronic mail needs shifted abruptly from commercial to military communication. A contract with the Office of War Information--the company's largest order to date--called for Delivra to establish a Design Services team to create propaganda posters to rally popular support for the war and to encourage conservation, productivity and vigilance. But with the men and pigeons of Delivra serving the cause of freedom overseas, it fell to a workforce of mostly women to keep Delivra's messaging factories in production, breaking a 40-year tradition of chauvinism, because of what Fred Delivra termed "patriotic obligation." Teletype operators worked tirelessly to relay messages between GIs and their loved ones back home, and to publish to the American forces the latest news from the States.
The acceptance of female employees in the work force, the diversification of services to include design, and the exposure of an entire generation of Americans to electronic messaging would lead, in the decade that followed the war, to unprecedented growth and prosperity for Delivra & Co., and for its founder, who returned to Indiana after turning down the ambassadorship to the newly-formed nation of Syria. However, Delivra has never ceased remembering the sacrifice of its employees who gave their lives in World War II:
Naval aviator and Delivra employee Lt. Arthur Stone, 1920-1945
Army
Buck Taylor
Christopher Bligh
Christoper Smith
Christopher Thompson
Giuseppe Amato
Patrick Donnelly
Salvador "Sonny" Juarez
Navy
Arthur Stone
Lawrence Douglass
Pigeon Corps
Aphrodite
Millie
Little Freddie IV
Zeke
Last known photo of Alphonse Jones in N. Africa, 1941.
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