Effective E Communications

1
Effective E Communications

• Being an In-box must have
• Being clear about what the communications about
• Adopting established techniques to match content
  to reader
• Using good direct marketing practice in E
  communications
• Taking advantage of unique features of the
  channel
• Peter Larsen.Digital Strategy Consultant _at_
  Nurtural and WorkWithus
• Alastair Dutton.New Media Manager _at_ Workwithus
  and SCVO

2
Effective E Communications.

• Some handy hints to help you move to a more
  targeted, subscriber based approach to your E
  communication strategy.
• Keeping it clean using 5 basic principles
• PERMISSION.PURPOSE.CONTENT.RELEVANCE.TIMIN
  G
• Using a few examples of NFPs who have gained a
  distinct edge

3
Our 5 principles.

• PERMISSION.Getting It.Keeping It.Developing it
  
• PURPOSE.Clarity . Mediating overlap with other
  communications
• CONTENT.Tailoring around interests.preferences.
  usage
• RELEVANCE.Targeting.Personalisation. in
  practice
• TIMING.Delivering. just when theyre most
  likely to use it.

4
So youve got Permission.

• 1. The Opt-out
• Click here if you do NOT want to receive our
  email newsletter.
• 2. The Opt-in
• Click here if you would like to receive our
  email newsletter.
• 3. The Double opt-in
• Click here if you would like to receive our
  email newsletter, then respond to a verification
  email in order to subscribe.
• 4. The Personal Preference opt-in
• Please select which types of information you
  would like to receive from us.Campaign Updates
  Research Events Local Groups and when you want
  it

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Permission.Good Opt In

• Clear Statement of Intent
• Preferences
• Other Salient Data Capture

6
Permission .Legal Framework

• In the UK 2 main pieces of Legislation
• Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations
  2003 (PECR)
• Data Protection Act 1998
• In the US CAN-SPAM
• Important as most ISPs Spam software base their
  AntiSpam rules around it

7
Permission. Legal Definitions

• In short, campaigns must be permission based
  either collected using your own methods or
  purchased from reputable list suppliers
• Individuals must have opted-in
• Receive the email as part of a commercial
  relationship
• There must be an opt-out mechanism. MAKE IT EASY
  
• Personal email addresses should not be shared
  without permission
• The Information Commissioners Office (ICO) has
  the power to impose a5K fine for each breach
  sending without consent.

8
Permission. Making the most of it

• We have an audience of subscribers
• What do we know about them ?
• What do we know about their preferences ?
• Who emails them ? Campaigns.Trading.Fundraisin
  g.Events.All of these?
• What do they get.....Standard Newsletter ?
• Whats in the Newsletter?....Whatevers
  newsworthy at the time. ?

9
Permission. Making it Count long term

• Talk to people in the medium they prefer
• About the things that interest them
• Reflect their use / non use and some of their
  other behaviour
• Take account of the types of people they are and
  where they are

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Or to put it another way....

• Allow them to choose how they want to use the
  channel
• Get them to tell you about their Interests and
  preferences
• Measure transaction history, value , stage
• Be aware of Implicit or observed behaviour
• Impose Demographics, Lifestyle, SIC.any
  classification is better than none
• Because a Subscriber based approach is
• About what they want to hear
• .Its not about what we want to say
• ....and its about when they want to hear it

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So....who are our we talking to ?

• UK 38,000,000 or 70 of all adults
• India 40,000,000 or 5 of all adults
• UK Reach / Penetration of Interactive Services
• The main place for internet use is at home (86)
• 46 said they use it at work
• 28 said they used it at another person's home
• 16 use the internet at a place of education
• 10 use it at a public library
• 2/3rds of those using the internet have bought /
  ordered online
• 25 - 44 year olds the most likely to do so (73)
• Office for National Statistics 2006

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Lies, damn lies and.the office PC
Source Nielsen//NetRatings, Oct 2004
13
With everybody on-line you need to understand the
audience

• Like traditional Direct marketing its about
  targeting segmentation
• Use their Interests Preferences .did that at
  subscription right and now ?
• Implicit or Observed Usage / Behaviour .monitor
  content used / unused use
• Track their origin.(search engine
  /banner/referrals reflect other behaviour?
• Create Information.Incorporate data held on
  other databases in the organisation
• Its effective.
• Watch for Experian and a leading Internet
  provider merging soon..
• Be aware of the pitfalls
• Email allows vast creative segmentation but watch
  out.
• Look beyond single instances of activity (.e.g.
  Christmas gift purchases)

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Improving your understanding.....in practice

• From the Database -
• AgeGenderGeographyRecruitment.FinancialsInfo
  requests
• If they only appear on the E subs list plug the
  Information gaps with online questionnaires..Der
  ive what you can from what you have..
• Their Digital Interaction
• First, last, regular, most recent interaction
• What was it about?
• When was it? (i.e. Time of day)
• Where were they (at home or work)
• Whats opened
• Whats NOT opened
• What sort of feedback
• Cant be sure ? .Infer patternsLook for trends
  Create Rules
• more right than wrong

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Using your subscriber Knowledge.developing the
relationship
Rules Information gathered Behaviour
Tracking ? Highly Targeted Communications
S U B S C R I B E R R E L A T I O N S H I P
Life stage triggers Emergencies
Referrals Advocacy Committed Giving
Upgrade Donations
1-to-1
Promotional Campaign Updates Discrete E
Information Rewards Soft ASKS
Group
Information News Service Information
Gathering Involvement Education
Mass
E BROADCAST SOPHISTICATION
16
Moving swiftly along Getting the Email into the
Inbox

• A few pointers to help optimise delivery
• And a few more to improve usage
• And some guidance on what not to do
• Basically trying to stack the odds in your favour

17
HTML and Plain Text.

Cities Tattler The free monthly
e-bulletin of the Smith County Federation March
2005 Easter Special Edition http//www.
SmithCountyFederation.org
Lorem ipsum
dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit.
Mauris id dui at est consectetuer blandit. Nunc
auctor tincidunt libero. Phasellus rhoncus, felis
sit amet cursus interdum, lacus tortor tincidunt
lacus, in tincidunt nunc pede et est. Fusce
mattis. Fusce sit amet velit vel sapien
condimentum bibendum. Integer in nunc. Etiam
mollis, quam sed ornare condimentum, purus eros
mattis ipsum, eget bibendum pede enim imperdiet
libero. Sed cursus. Maecenas convallis. Nam diam
nisl, venenatis ac, condimentum et, interdum ut,
dolor. In ut neque nec dui suscipit laoreet. Cras
convallis, mi vitae placerat vehicula, nulla diam
dapibus ligula, id pharetra odio mauris et est.
Sed sollicitudin est eu
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The Multipart/Alternative MIME Format.

• Your mail transfer agent bundles your HTML code,
  PLUS a plain-text
• version of the message, together into one
  email.
• If a subscriber cant view your HTML email, the
  old fashioned plain-text version of your message
  is auto-magically displayed.
• Write a script to send email in multipart /
  alternative MIME format, or get someone to do it
  for you

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The Good and Bad HTML .

• Better Response
• Brand Integrity
• Tracking
• Converge with other media
• Loss of formatting
• Spam Issues

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What you need.

• Basic Image Editor
• Resize, Compress and Crop (Free Online Tools)
• Advanced for Splice and Creative
• HTML Editor
• Basic online WYSIWYG
• Dreamweaver or Front Page
• Dont Use WORD
• Somewhere to Host Graphics
• A few Test Email Accounts (web and client)

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Style.7 Common Elements

• Five points/sections
• Brand Identity
• File size under 60K
• Limit Colours, Fonts and Case
• No wider than 600 pixels (550-600)
• Simple Layout

22
Physical size.how it appears in a browser
23
Style.Different Settings.Different Looks
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Style.A Happy Balance ?
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Style.Different Email Clients.Different Looks
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Good Health Newsletter. What's in it?

• Your Orgs Name in the From
• Relevant Subject Heading
• To Field Personalised
• Easy Opt Out
• Links to Privacy Statement
• Valid Postal Address

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Subject Lines.that get the email opened
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Personalisation.please leave Dear John alone.
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Designing around spam filters.

• Bayesian Filtering
• Compares to emails subscriber called junk,
  and looks for common traits in the subject line,
  the content, the hyperlinks and the sender.
• Blacklists
• List of the IP addresses of the servers that
  sent spam
• Email Firewalls
• Corporate filters
• Challenge/Response Filters

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. and avoid them by

• Ensuring permission of recipients
• Benchmarking against your own Junk Mail folder.
• Not going crazy with formatting.
• YELLING WITH ALL CAPS!!!!
• Avoiding contentious words like
  loansmortgage.viagra..
• Click Here FREE
• No text just pics
• Always including that plain-text alternative
  message

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Above all .Test your templates on the big
carriers

• AOL
• Apple Mail
• Microsoft Outlook (various)
• Yahoo!Mail
• Hotmail
• Gmail

32
Structure the Relationship ..say plan a 12 Month
Campaign Cycle
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Examples of that 12 month Campaign Cycle.
A
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Special Editions are fine.
35
Measure.MeasureMeasure..Campaign Metrics
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What do I get out of all that measuring then

• More E communications in the inbox at the right
  time
• Better levels of usage
• Less bounces, undelivered and Unsubscribes
• A stronger, longer term relationship with your
  subscribers

37
Email blends with other channels ..Quick Case
Study..Background

• Number of Emails available80,000 of 350,000
  members
• Annual cost to manage E communications 225,000
  (ex. creative)
• Biggest Membership Service cost Annual Report
  350,000 units ( 3 each )
• Proposition using a scheduled direct mail
  carrier ( ie that years Report).
• Please help reduce cost wastage.
• If you dont read this costly piece please tell
  us via secure page.
• We will make the publication available online for
  Subscribed members and provide more hard copies
  to your local/ special interest groups.

38
Email blends with other channels ..Quick Case
Study..Outcomes

• They gathered 100,000 new Email address (almost
  all) with Permission
• They linked almost 100,000 Individuals to special
  interest groups
• Around 180,000 supporters said Dont post the
  Annual Report to me
•  
• Benefits
• The cost of the Annual Report almost halved
• They gathered key INFORMATION (not data) about
  their supporters
• Initiated the process of mediating supporter
  relationships more cost effectively starts

39
Email in harmony with other channels ..Quick
Case Study..Better than that

• They reduced e-mail running costs from 225k a
  year to 90k a year
• (and thats after adding 1½ new staff !)
• They motivated supporters on the basis of saving
  the ORG money
• They changed the interaction behaviour of key
  supporters
• In 3 years they have converted 80,000 Standing
  Order payers to their online COMMITED GIVING
  program using the same cost saving maxim

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But Im working off spreadsheetshow does it
apply to me?

• 2007..Investment in CRM bottoms out because it
  hasnt returned the massive investment.
•  
• Possibly because SMT thought it was a technology
  issue ?
•  
• Its not. Its about procedure. Its about
  process.
• And its the same with E-communications

41
Quick Win 1 Find out who is behind the Inbox

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Hopefully you captured the day/ date/ time of
their opt IN or the 1st click through. If not
start now . Monitor the time and location -
behavioural patterns will become apparent.
QuickWin2 Busy, Busy, Busy people.Recognise it
Win

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Using those simple criteria to create your E
subscriber profiles

• They use a masked ID like smellywhatsit_at_USbasedfre
  e-Email.com
• They always do it in work hours before lunch
• They only do it once a month
• They didnt respond when you asked for some basic
  info.
• They click through every item in every Email
• They dont exist on any other database in your
  org.
• Compared to
• They click Thursday lunchtimes via n inbox at a
  well known NGO
• They are aged between 30 35 (told us when we
  ran a wee survey ! )
• They click on International campaigning content
• They sign E-petitions
• They have requested information about a local
  event
• They occasionally forward our Email when prompted
  

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Dont forget the Landscape is changing
quickly.Take Advantage
45
Virals can amplify your voice
quickly cheaply
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Thats all folks.. Thanks for joining us today.

• Peter Larsen. . . .Digital Strategy Consultant _at_
  Nurtural and WorkWithus
• Alastair Dutton. . . . . . . . .New Media Manager
  _at_ WorkWithUs and SCVO
• Tel [phone]
• Tel [phone]
• Web www.nurtural.co.uk
• Web www.workwithus.org