Tips to Building Successful E-Mail Lists, Part 3 of 3
As we wrap up our coverage of last month's All About eMail Virtual Conference & Expo, presented by eM+C magazine (sister publication of Catalog Success), this week we continue with Reggie Brady's “10 secrets to e-mail success,” revealing secrets six through 10.
(For part 1, and a recap of the presentation by Arthur Middleton Hughes, senior strategist at the e-mail marketing firm e-Dialog, click here. And for part 2, and secrets one through five on Brady's list, click here.)
6. Optimize your preview pane. Nearly 50 percent of recipients use preview panes, which allows them to see about the first two inches of your e-mail. Therefore, include a marketing message in this space. Teaser text at the top of your e-mail — such as a brief list of headlines or contents — works well here, Brady said.
7. Test. “As direct marketers, you know that testing is important,” Brady noted. Test in your subject lines and the body of your e-mails. Try the following tests:
- dollars off vs. percentage off;
- hacker-safe logo vs. no logo;
- different headlines (e.g., click here vs. get); and
- landing pages (e.g., the color of the “Buy Now” button).
8. Incorporate customer reviews. Customer reviews build credibility. "If you have them on your Web site," Brady said, "then also try including them in your e-mails.” She cited the example of Bath & Body Works, which tested the inclusion of customer reviews in its e-mails vs. e-mails without customer reviews. The e-mails with customer reviews netted a 10.4 percent higher average order value. Recipients viewed 7.5 percent more site pages and sales were up 11.5 percent compared to recipients of the e-mails with no reviews. Remind customers in the e-mail that they can rate and review your products, she advised.
9. Use triggered messages. Triggered messages are “e-mail marketing on steroids,” Brady said. “It makes for a much more personal presentation and develops a relationship a lot deeper.” Opportunities for commercial triggered e-mails include welcome messages, abandoned shopping carts, item now in stock, sale or seminar reminders, clicked but didn't purchase, birthday messages, and sales reactivations.
You also can use triggered messages for transactional e-mails. Examples she gave include new account created, order confirmations, product recalls, products registered online and subscription renewals.
Brady cited an example from 1-800-FLOWERS.com, which sent a simple triggered thank-you e-mail with the subject line, “Thank you for shopping with us!” Also, use triggered cross-sells in order confirmation e-mails, Brady said. Because these are transactional messages, the primary content does need to be the order confirmation and shipping information, among other useful details, she cautioned.
10. Send abandoned cart e-mails. These e-mails have the ability to recoup up to 15 percent of lost sales, Brady noted. Techniques to use in these messages include personalized salutations, putting an image of the product left in the cart within the e-mail, offering an incentive (e.g., free shipping, discount, gift with purchase, etc.), additional cross-sell offers and making it time-sensitive.
Register to view the presentation here.
