Email Marketing Best Practices

Create compelling content

- A SL that captures people's attention - Give readers what you promised in the SL - Tailor your email voice

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance)

- An email authentication protocol - DMARC builds on the widely deployed SPF and DKIM protocols by adding a reporting function that allows senders and receivers to improve and monitor protection of the domain from fraudulent email

Aquire New Subscribers Best Practices

· Be clear in the subject line. - Email subject lines like, "Verify your subscription continue receiving [XYZ]" or "Your subscription will end soon" tend to work well · Restate your value proposition - A simple reminder of what your email program offers · Use YES and NO options - There is something about seeing both options that drives more people to respond. Maybe these emails seem like less of a gimmick, more genuine, or more serious. Whatever the reason, the reality is that by including that NO option, you will actually get more people to click YES. (See the Peppermill Example below) · Try sending a second request - If you have used the YES and NO options cited above, the non-responders are a prime target for a second request for email permission

CAN-SPAM Overview

· Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003 - It means you shouldn't spam - Spam may be legal, but it also allows ISPs to block it, and all competent ISPs block as much spam as they possibly can - Your mail is not likely to deliver well if it's spam · Marketing cloud servers are based in US, so technically come out of the US

Bounce + Purge

· Even though most email marketing systems stop sending to addresses that bounce a set number of times, a bounce rate over 20% for any single mailing can have serious consequences - If deliverability is bad, the IP address can be put on a blocklist or even shut down · It is recommend to purge old or inactive addresses from mailing lists - Don't keep those names and emails that have not been emailed in months - Don't spend money on sending emails that aren't even being opened

Grow Your List

· Important to ensure the subscribers that you acquire are quality subscribers - the engaged subscribers who want to be on your list · Organic growth - Give your customers every opportunity to opt-in to your list after they've initiated contact with your brand · Sell Value - Successful email list growth begins with gaining permission from your subscribers. But you want your subscribers to take the initiative to sign-up without feeling coerced or trapped - Clearly articulate the value of your one-to-one program · Diversify, track, and evaluate - Don't rely on a single technique to grow your list - Employ multiple email list growth strategies and closely track and monitor all of your list sources to determine your most successful tactic · Don't look for a silver bullet - Many marketers gravitate toward email list growth tactics that promise quick results - However, these tactics doesn't necessarily bring quality results - And the quality of, not quantity of, your subscribers should always be your end goal · Use Technology - Take advantage of Salesforce Marketing Cloud social products to grow your list via social networks and word-of-mouth - Or try using a mobile text capture campaign to attract subscribers who prefer mobile interactions

Common Writing Mistakes

· Overusing Acronyms · Writing in the Passive Voice · Writing too many words - Use bulleted lists - Embrace the white space - Delete words

Sender Information

· Some Internet service providers show only the From address, rather than the name and address of the sender · Because the From address can be just a mixture of letters and numbers instead of a recognizable name, recipients can think your email is spam - To avoid this, include an actual name in the From address · Another way to ensure your subscribers recognize an email is from you is to add the name of your organization to the subject line - Using your organization name in both the From address and the subject line will decrease the chances your email will end up in spam folder

Show your style *explained*

Subject lines are meant to be persuasive, so don't settle for a boring message. Instead, make it personal and infuse your brand style into the one-liner

Email Deliverability Best Practices Continued

- Email list capture process and recommendations on opt-in method - Email From address branding - Email subject line branding and optimization - Email content consulting to avoid common words and phrases targeted by spam filters - List hygiene - ISP compliance - IP address warming - Ensure That All Subscribers on Your Lists Have Given You Permission - Deal With Bounce Rates Greater Than 20% - Purge Old or Inactive Addresses - Manage Frequency and Content - Authenticate your email to avoid bulk folder delivery - Mention how the subscriber opted in to receiving your email communications

A/B Testing Possibiliites

- Front-loading the brand name - Front-loading keywords - Length - Styles - Personalization - Calls to action

Aquire New Subscribers Overview

- Grow Your Audience - Website Sign-ups - Mobile Sign-Ups - Single Opt-In v Double Opt-In - Social Media - In-Store Promotions - Sales + Customer Service Calls

Offer readers something of value

- Offer them useful + helpful information about the things they find difficult or inconvenient - 'how tos' often work well - or give them new insights into an area of interest - Work towards making yourself a trusted friend and you should see open rates and sign-ups increase

Email Deliverability Overview

- Play by the Rules of ISPs and Filtering Companies - Reduce SPAM Blocking with Permission-Based Email Marketing - Use Double Opt-in to Avoid Getting Blacklisted - Maintain a Consistent From Address and Subject Line Recognition

Test, test, and test again! *explained*

- The best way to find out which subject lines resonate with your audience is to regularly test different variations - Be sure to test various lengths, personalization, and styles to determine what motivates your readers.

CAN-SPAM Restrictions

- Use a false or misleading 'from name' - Use a subject line that masks the purpose of the email - Harvest email addresses off the Internet - Launch dictionary attacks - Use open relays to send email

Email Deliverability Best Practices

- Use clear + simple signup processes + disclosure - Ensure subscribers have opted-in - Have a recognizable from name and email address - Manage a cadence of messaging + frequency of content - Purge old/inactive emails - Authenticate your emails: domain keys, sender ID, and SPF configuration - Do not mail non-responding emails - Do not buy lists or use 3rd party data

Effective emails are:

- actionable, clear, easy to read, short - Be concise (long emails do not get read, no matter how great the writing is) (Introduction-Context-Call to Action) - Guide the reader: section headlines, formatting

CAN-SPAM Guidelines

1. Accurately identify the sender in the header information 2. Use a subject line that accurately represents the content of the email 3. Identify the message as an advertisement 4. Include your physical mailing address 5. Honor opt-out requests promptly. Process an unsubscribe request within 10 days, and keep your unsubscribe mechanism operational for at least 30 days after the mailing 6. Provide a mechanism to opt out. You cannot require a subscriber to log in or visit more than a single page to unsubscribe

Dedicated IP Address

Assign a unique IP address to your account + manage your own sending reputation - When your send volume is high enough that your sending reputation is hard to control in a share IP pool, investigate using a dedicated IP address

Engage Subscribers

Best Practices: - Don't Force It - Offer Incentives - Make a Good First Impression - Set Up a Welcome Series - Plan Content Carefully - Personalize It

Preheaders

Best Practices: - Don't skip preheaders - Limit the preheader to about 100 characters - In Email Studio, you can test different preheader lengths and how they appear on different devices

Subject Lines

Best Practices: - Keep them short + sweet - Use your branding to your advantage - Test, test, and test again! - Write your subject line like a headline - Show your style - Avoid spam filters by not including the following characters and terms (RE, FW, text in all caps, Hello, exclamation points, special offer)

CTAs (Call to Actions)

Best Practices: - Urgent: use CTAs that create a need for urgent action - Brief: state the CTA briefly, with no more than five words - Action-oriented: begin your CTA with a verb - Clear and predictable: be clear and link to a place that doesn't surprise subscribers - Limited and visible: foccus subscriber's attention on one to two prominent CTAs

Golden rule of email content

Built trust + credibility and don't sell too hard

List Opt-Out

Customers choose list unsubscribe when they want to unsubscribe from a specific list. - Ex: Say you're subscribed to the company Cloud Kicks' monthly newsletter and weekly specials emails. You like the monthly newsletter, but you no longer want to receive the weekly specials. you unsubscribe from just the weekly specials list.

Target your content

Deliver different types of content to each group according to what is of the most interest to them

Aquire New Subscribers

Demonstrate appropriate + effective subscriber acquisition methodologies Key Concepts: WebCollect, Landing Pages

Improve Email Deliverability

Differentiate elements of an email that can impact message deliverability Key Concepts: IP Address, DMARC, SAP, Bounce + Purge, Spam Filters

Personalization

Dynamic content speaks to the individual: - Dear %%First Name%%, - We know how much you love %%Interest%% - We want you to know about an exciting event coming up in %%City%%

Craft effective marketing campaigns

Evaluate the elements + techniques of email marketing to design an effective email campaign Key Concepts: Subject Lines, Preheaders, Personalization, Dynamic Content, CTAs, AB Testing

IP Warming

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are inherently suspicious of mail received from IP addresses lacking history, as their data suggests that most connections from new IP addresses are attempts to deliver unsolicited spam or other unwanted mail - The largest ISPs and webmail providers recommend that you build up a sending reputation on any new IP address by slowly and methodically sending in small volumes, then gradually increasing your volume of desirable mail to their users - This sending reputation is referred to as the warming or ramping up of your new IP address

Global Examples

Let's say you are receiving emails from the company Cloud Kicks. You no longer want to receive their emails and request a global unsubscribe. This unsubscribes you from receiving any email sent by Salesforce Marketing Cloud. So when Northern Trail Outfitters starts using Salesforce Marketing Cloud, they can't import your information because you globally unsubscribed. However, it's good for Northern Trail Outfitters because they can't send communication to a globally unsubscribed customer

SAP (Sender Authentication Package)

Marketing Cloud account branding tool that provides the ability to customize links + images to match branding tools for the authenticated send domain

CAN-SPAM

Marketing Cloud requires that all messages comply with CAN-SPAM, regardless of the sender or recipient destination country

Spam Filters

Most Internet service providers use filters to sort legitimate email from the junk or spam - There are more than 300 spam-filtering companies - They vary in the filter logic they use, but most spam filters use content—or keyword-based logic - Others might incorporate email volume from any one sender, customer complaints into their algorithms - Some function on a score basis and filter messages that rate high as spam after the characteristics of the message (content, volume, response, and sender) have been reviewed using anti-spam filters

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

Provisions and requirements protecting the personal data of European Union (EU) citizens. Transfers of personal data outside the EU Single Market are restricted unless protected by like-for-like regulations, such as the US's Privacy Shield requirements.

Follow Legal Compliance Guidelines

Recognize situations where legal compliance may be an issue during an email campaign Key Concepts: CAN-SPAM, GDPR, Opt-Out, Data Protection + Privacy

Keep them short + sweet *explained*

Shorter subject lines generally have higher open rates than long ones

Global Opt-Out

When customers choose global unsubscribe, they unsubscribe from every email sent from Marketing Cloud.

Master Opt-Out

With master, or account-level, unsubscribe, customers choose to unsubscribe from emails sent by a given company. - Ex: So, you don't receive any emails from Cloud Kicks, but you can still receive emails from Northern Trail Outfitters.