Email Marketing Techniques that Drive Results

I attended a seminar recently on the title of this blog that was led by Jay Schwedelson, Worldata, on email marketing.

The following are my notes based on his presentation and you may be surprised by some of his suggestions which is based on recent research in the email marketing sector.

Email Marketing - how much is too much?

• 92% who unsubscribe haven’t opened that email in a year.
• Delivery to the inbox is the key - engagement from a previously sent email!
• Studies say open rates go up if you’re sending at least 5x a month.
• Don’t send emails about your keynotes or registration info.

You Must Be Relevant

• FOMO is the key to email marketing.  Fear of missing out!
• Offers that expire have a 62% overall respond rate for BtoC and 55% for BtoB.
• An offer must have urgency to it!
• Subject lines.  Go to subject line dot com.

Top Words to Use

• Free, limited, exclusive, tomorrow, today, last chance.
• Free is the number one word for the subject line for emails.
• 38% open rates increase if you use the word urgent.

Quick Tips

• Half sentence subject lines...
• “The most valuable...” - People will open to learn what it’s about.
• “Our keynote is...”
• Title casing - capitalize each word in your subject line...
• Use brackets or parentheses boost open rates by 31%
• Inbox rate is key, not deliverability rate.  The difference is showing up in spam filters.
• Subject lines that start with a number “5” has a 21% increase in open rates.  Think listicles.
• Pre-headers - the words after the subject line will increase your open rates by 24%.
• Single offer emails work.  One email, one offer.  Don’t send an email with multiple offers.
• Use light box to get emails - it’s a pop up on your website.

He went on to talk about auto opens and auto clicks being done by companies and associations to protect their networks.  Think of it as a different version of your current spam filter.

Tools and Free Stuff

• If you're looking for a great resource on evaluating your email "subject lines" go HERE.
• For a great resource on when to send emails based on days and times go HERE.

Good luck with your email marketing campaigns!

High Impact Marketing on a Small Budget

I attended a breakout session recently on the title of this blog and jotted down the following suggestions from the speaker.

The following 8 tips are worth a review as you look for ways to get your message out to not only your members but to your non-members in the community.

Here's also a great website to get more ideas on marketing on a small budget from Entrepreneur Magazine.

#1 Exclusive Campaigns

• TBT (throw back Tuesday) is a great example of an exclusive campaign in social media
• Get pictures from past events - pictures, facts, etc.
• Tie it to each programs (i.e., months lunch, annual meeting, etc.)
• Book it on Hootsuite
• History Monday - facts on your chamber

#2 Thought Leadership

• Staff as experts (networking tips)
• Content marketing
• Visit a member and write about it
• Building the brand

#3 Earned Media

• Relationship building
• Be a source in good times and bad (answer the phone)
• Find the hook
• Find the human element

#4 Testimonials

• On your events or mission
• On helping a business grow
• On a legislative victory

#5 Out

• Membership plaques
• New member orientations

#6 IN

• In-window clings
• E-plaques
• Membership 101 (for everybody, including new members)

#7 Public Service Announcements and Media Partnerships (free)

• Radio station (quote something from research, etc.)
• One minute spots each week (interviews with business owners)
• Spots run 8 times a day for a week

#8 Video

• Storytelling
• Everyone is going in this direction
• Use your smartphone, hold phone horizontally and use a business card holder to keep phone steady
• Portable light for phone (battery powered) - side of face
• Put yourself between the light and the interviewee
• Keep camera rolling at all times
• Do not script answers, ask questions
• Know what your story is going to be about - asking 2, 3 or 4 questions should do it
• Use iMovie to tweak the finished product

Great tips to think about as you market your chamber to your members and the community at large.

Recruiting New Members: Use Multiple Marketing Channels

It's important that you consider using all available communications channels when recruiting new members.

I'm sure you've already used the following at some point in your past campaigns:

• Direct Marketing
• Member-get-a-member
• Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
• Print ads
• Radio
• TV
• YouTube
• Etc.

Make sure all the channels you're using have a consistent look and message (i.e. branding). That's key!

The following also play a major role in an effective campaign:

• Frequency - the number of times you mail your offer will improve with the frequency in which you send.  And remember, you should know the lifetime value of a member. Think long-term and not short-term when it comes to your campaigns.

• List - the most important aspect of your campaign. You need to have clean data. If your data is bad, your results will be equally so. You can read all the articles you want on recruitment, sales, etc, and they will all tell you the same thing - it's the list!

Also, always remember the four key elements of your campaign. Each will affect your results:

• List
• Offer
• Timing
• Price

Clean your data first, then start your campaign.

Measure your results and tweak as needed!

For a couple of blog posts on a marketing plan by Marketing General, Inc. go HERE.

For their 2015 Membership Marketing Benchmarking Report go HERE.