Email Marketing A N H U R A D A YAN H UR A DAY Create Relationships and Revenue with Winning Email Marketing Campaigns A Step-by-Step Guide Email delivers signifi cant ROI, increases brand loyalty, and is one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal when used properly. Are you getting the most out of your current efforts? Are your campaigns profi table? Are you building brand equity? Are you integrating campaigns with other channels? Renowned email marketers Jeanniey Mullen and David L. Daniels offer a fresh, insightful look at modern email marketing in today’s customer-centric marketplace. They’ll alert you to the newest concepts, hottest trends, most budget-friendly tools, and best practices— while they help you build, deploy, and manage a smart, day-by-day plan for success. • Leverage eight different ways to use email for better results • Use website analytics to improve your email efforts • Create multichannel marketing strategies from your email database • Set up high-impact video- and audio-enabled emails • Develop email strategies for mobile devices and social networks • Track, measure, analyze, and report your results You’ll also fi nd: • What not to do when you send an email • Straightforward tools for adding email to your current marketing plan and getting budget approval • Online resources, cheat sheets, a glossary, and much more • Real-world “From the Trenches” case studies that illustrate successes to learn from and mistakes to avoid $29.99 US $32.99 CAN ISBN 978-0-470-38673-6 Mullen Daniels www.sybex.com www.sybex.com/go/emailmarketinghouraday COMPUTERS/Internet/General About the Authors Jeanniey Mullen is the Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Offi cer for Zinio and VIVmag and is also the founder and Chairperson of the Email Experience Council. She is an expert in the email and online marketing world and has more than two decades of experience helping B2B and B2C clients such as IBM, Yahoo!, and American Express harness the power of a digital dialog to drive revenue, improve brand impact, and enhance customer relationships. David L. Daniels is a multichannel marketing consultant who has been the leading analyst voice shaping the email marketing industry. David currently serves as Vice President and principal analyst with Forrester Research. Prior to his role as an industry analyst, David held senior level positions at Apple, Urban Outfi tters/Anthropologie, MicroWarehouse, Genesis Direct/ProTeam, and CDA Computer Sales. Praise for Email Marketing: An Hour a Day “You don’t have to quit your day job to start or radically improve your email marketing program. Just set this book and a decent pen next to wherever you brew your coffee. You and your bottom line will be glad you did.” —Tom Gerace, CEO and founder, Gather.com “Jeanniey and David have written a book in which the power of email marketing becomes simple to understand and easy to implement.” —Dr. Ramesh A. Lakshmi-Ratan, Executive Vice-President and Chief Operating Offi cer, Direct Marketing Association “Common wisdom advises that ‘the money is in the list.’ That is absolutely true if you provide the proper experience. This book gives you real-world advice on planning campaigns for maximum impact, how to measure and improve your campaign’s effectiveness, and how to do it based on your budget and resources.” —Bryan Eisenberg, New York Times author of Waiting For Your Cats to Bark? Email Marketing Jeanniey Mullen and David Daniels A N H U R A D A YAN H UR A DAY SERIOUS SKILLS. Foreword by David Gilmour, Chairman of Zinio and founder of Fiji Water 86736ffirs.indd i86736ffirs.indd i 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM Advance Praise for Email Marketing: An Hour a Day “ Email Marketing: An Hour a Day is one of the best overall guides I’ve seen for bring- ing marketers quickly and painlessly to a place where email can be a truly strategic marketing channel. It is, quite simply, the on-ramp for the next generation of sophis- ticated email marketers.” — Bill Nussey, CEO, Silverpop; author of The Quiet Revolution in Email Marketing “ David and Jeanniey have taken their years of knowledge of the email marketing industry and stuffed them into a readable book jam-packed with little a-ha! nuggets that are certain to improve any email effort. Written to contain layers of information for all levels of email marketers, beginner to advanced, this book ensures that you will take away from it what you put into it.” — Jordan Ayan, chairman and founder of SubscriberMail; author of Aha! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas and The Practical Guide to Email Marketing: Strategies and Tactics for Inbox Success “ There is so much unnecessary mystery around email marketing. David and Jeanniey have put the myths to rest and given marketers a straightforward and actionable primer on how to build a fantastic, customer-centric email marketing program. If you read only one book on this topic, this should be it!” — Dan Springer, CEO, Responsys; board of directors for ITI, E-LOAN, and the Randall Museum “ The world-renowned expertise of Daniels and Mullen is at its best here, because they break down the mysteries of email marketing into digestible nuggets that make it easy for every busy marketer to consume.” — Alan Chapell, Esq., chairman and founder of Chapell and Associates “ Email marketing is a powerful tool. It is also complicated. Just when you get your strategy right, your reputation is challenged. When you fi x that, your creative for- mats are not adhering to best practices. Email marketing could possibly be one of the most challenging and complex marketing channels out there. Knowing where to go and how to focus are key. Jeanniey Mullen and David Daniels have taken our collec- tive challenges head-on and provide you with the solutions you need to know in this book. Read this book, and you will immediately have a better handle on your email marketing efforts.” —Matt Blumberg, CEO, Return Path 86736ffirs.indd i86736ffirs.indd i 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM “ David and Jeanniey are tremendous advocates for the responsible and effective use of email marketing. These impressive thought leaders understand that email market- ing is the backbone of all digital communications. When others predicted the demise of email, both of these industry champions defended the medium and pointed out its evolving value to marketers and subscribers alike. Their insights are thought- provoking, are humorous, and always deliver value to marketers. I read every word that both authors write.” —Scott Dorsey, CEO, ExactTarget “ Technology evangelists are a rare breed. They not only need to be the experts in their fi elds—on top of every new innovation, thought, and trend—but they also need to be able to express their knowledge with enthusiasm, passion, energy, clarity, and excitement. It doesn’t hurt if they are entertaining as all get out as well. I’ve shared more stages, rental cars, airplanes, and bar stools with David and Jeanniey than I care to remember, and I can tell you these two are the best in the business. What the heck…buy the book and fi nd out for yourself. You won’t be sorry, and you’ll be a much smarter person on the last page than you were when you started on page one.” — Bill McCloskey, chairman, cofounder, and chief evangelist, Email Data Source, Inc. “ For any marketing channel to stay viable, it has to constantly improve. I am impressed with the enthusiasm and fresh ideas that David and Jeanniey continue to bring to the email industry. In Email Marketing: An Hour a Day, David and Jeanniey do not disappoint, because this book offers compelling and proven tactics to advance the effectiveness of email as well as practical guidance on how to prioritize and inte- grate emerging channels such as social and mobile communications. It’s a must-have for any marketer.” —John Rizzi, CEO, e-Dialog “ While there are many books on email marketing, few come with the credentials and real-world breadth of exposure that David and Jeanniey bring to this research. Balancing vast experiences in the email marketing space with a very broad analyst reality of the dynamics in the channels, vendors, and market dynamics, they’ve devel- oped a book that provides a baseline understanding of the email channel in a very logical fl ow and that provides the relevant context that helps marketers understand how to improve this ever-evolving channel. As two of the leading thought leaders in the email marketing space, this is a great contribution to our industry and a worthy read for anyone doing email marketing in their business.” —David Baker, vice president of Email Solutions, Razorfi sh 86736ffirs.indd ii86736ffirs.indd ii 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM Email Marketing An Hour a Day Jeanniey Mullen David Daniels 86736ffirs.indd iii86736ffirs.indd iii 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM Senior Acquisitions Editor: Willem Knibbe Development Editor: Jim Compton Technical Editor: Jared Blank Production Editor: Melissa Lopez Copy Editor: Kim Wimpsett Production Manager: Tim Tate Vice President and Executive Group Publisher: Richard Swadley Vice President and Executive Publisher: Joseph B. Wikert Vice President and Publisher: Neil Edde Compositor: Maureen Forys, Happenstance Type-O-Rama Proofreader: David Fine, WordOne Indexer: Jack Lewis Cover Designer: Ryan Sneed Cover Image: © Thomas Northcut / Digital Vision / GETTY IMAGES INC Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana Published simultaneously in Canada ISBN: 978-0-470-38673-6 No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani- cal, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except as permitted under Sections 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Legal Department, Wiley Publishing, Inc., 10475 Crosspoint Blvd., Indianapolis, IN 46256, (317) 572-3447, fax (317) 572-4355, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions. Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a par- ticular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organiza- tion or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read. For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S. at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mullen, Jeanniey. Email marketing : an hour a day / Jeanniey Mullen, David Daniels. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-470-38673-6 (pbk.) 1. Internet marketing. 2. Telemarketing. 3. Electronic mail messages. I. Daniels, David , 1970- II. Title. HF5415.1265.M853 2009 658.8’72—dc22 2008040281 TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 86736ffirs.indd iv86736ffirs.indd iv 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM Dear Reader, Thank you for choosing Email Marketing: An Hour a Day. This book is part of a family of pre- mium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practi- cal experience with a gift for teaching. Sybex was founded in 1976. More than 30 years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles, we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you the best books available. I hope you see all that refl ected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your com- ments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at nedde@wiley.com, or if you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex. Best regards, Neil Edde Vice President and Publisher Sybex, an imprint of Wiley 86736ffirs.indd v86736ffirs.indd v 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM Acknowledgments The email marketing is one of the most supportive and tight-knit marketing com- munities there is. Every person in this fi eld truly works to ensure their own programs are fantastic yet is quick to lend a hand (or a case study) to a fellow email marketer in need. Being part of this industry gives you a sense of pride that is unmatched. With that said, there are so many people we owe thanks to for making this book the work of art that it has turned out to be. So, with no further ado, here they are. First and foremost, a tremendous amount of thanks goes to our families (Chris, Giovanna, Kristina, Cherry, Ashley, and Ethan) for putting up with us while we took on this project. It truly has been a labor of love. David would like to especially thank his parents and stepfather, authors and educators alike, for instilling the passion of continuous improvement and the value of authoring a published book. David is also grateful to his brother Marc who started and shaped David’s direct marketing and online commerce journey back in the 1980s. Jeanniey would like to extend a special thank you to her parents, whose pro- vided encouragement in whatever it was she set her mind out to do has helped build her undying spirit and perseverance in every endeavor. Also a special thanks to David Schatsky at JupiterResearch, a Forrester Research Company, and the Email Experience Council for their generous offering of the use of data and their support of our efforts in undertaking such a project. Thanks to the entire Zinio and VIV teams for their continued support during the completion of this book at a time when we were also undertaking the transformation of the publishing world. For those of you in the email world—a huge thanks to all of you. But a very special thanks to those who helped make this book so powerful, including the following: Kathryn Waters, Stephanie Jackson, Andrea Allman, and Ali Swerdlow—not only great friends but the bestest girls in email Jared Blank, the best tech editor out there 86736ffirs.indd vi86736ffirs.indd vi 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM Alan Chappell, of Chappell & Associates, our favorite privacy attorney Dylan Boyd, Boba Fett, and the team at eROI Lisa Harmon and Aaron Smith from Smith-Harmon David Atlas, Charles Styles, and Jordan Cohen at Goodmail Systems Des Cahill, Eric Mott, and Ray Everett-Church Josh Baer, Quinn Jolie, Dave Hendricks, Lana McGilvray, and the entire Datran Media crew Lizzie Maughn and her amazing team at Think Eyetracking, who knew where we really ever looked Matt Blumberg and the knowledgeable Return Path team Chip House, Morgan Stewart, Jeff Rohrs, and the entire crew at ExactTarget David Baker, Chris Baggot, Bill McCloskey, Jeanne Jennings, Reggie Brady, and the entire old-school team of email marketing experts that contributed to this whole phenomenon Loren McDonald and the team at Silverpop Craig Spiezle of Microsoft and of Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (AOTA) fame Willem Knibbe, Jim Compton, Kim Wimpsett, Melissa Lopez, Pete Gaughan, and the entire team at Wiley And to MP for knowing how to inspire a great fi nal product Lastly, we’d like to acknowledge you for taking the time to pick this book up and begin the journey that we believe will make you a master of email marketing. 86736ffirs.indd vii86736ffirs.indd vii 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM About the Authors Jeanniey Mullen is executive vice president and chief marketing offi cer for Zinio, the global leader for digital publishing products and services. She holds the same position for VIV Magazine, the fi rst fully interactive and all-digital lifestyle magazine for women. An accomplished expert in the email and online marketing world, Jeanniey is recognized as a pioneer and visionary, advocat- ing for and driving change that redefi nes the impact of various marketing channels. Prior to Zinio and VIV, Jeanniey was the senior partner and global executive director of the Email Marketing and Digital Dialogue Practice at OgilvyOne Worldwide. In 2005, Jeanniey founded the Email Experience Council and currently maintains her role as its executive director. A digital entrepreneur, Jeanniey founded and ran her own interactive agency as well as an online entertainment marketing company from 2001 to 2004. Prior to that, Jeanniey started the fi rst agency-run email marketing division at Grey Direct. Jeanniey also held a number of roles at JCPenney, spanning an eight-year period. Jeanniey is known as one of the most well-respected voices in the world of email, digital publishing, and online consumer brand awareness. She is a columnist for ClickZ, has pub- lished numerous white papers and best practices guides, and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times numerous times. She is on the board of advisors for a number of online marketing companies and events and is a frequent keynote speaker for various compa- nies and organizations including the Direct Marketing Association, Shop.org, OMMA, IBM, NaturesMade, and the American Association of Publishing. David Daniels is a tenured multichannel marketer, consultant, and researcher, and since 2000 he has been the leading analyst voice shaping the email marketing industry. David currently serves as vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, which acquired JupiterResearch in July 2008. Prior to Forrester’s acquisition of JupiterResearch, David served as vice president and research director of the company’s successful Operations and Industries product grouping where he authored and collaborated on market research that informed, evaluated, and accurately forecast the future of the broader online economy. David’s compass-setting research studies on email marketing are famil- iar and cited throughout the industry. With 20 years of experience in direct-to-consumer marketing, Daniels is recognized as a thought leader in his domain, is a frequent keynote speaker, and is often quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and other major media outlets. Outside of serving as the leading email marketing market analyst, David founded the Email Measurement Accuracy Coalition in 2006, and in 2008 it became the Email Experience Council’s Email Measurement Accuracy Roundtable, which David co-chairs. David is also a board advisor to a variety of industry associations and events including the Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (AOTA) and MediaPost’s Email Insider Summit. Prior to joining JupiterResearch, David served as president of his own marketing and operations consulting fi rm (1 World Design). Before striking out on his own, David held senior- level positions at Apple Computer, Urban Outfi tters / Anthropologie, MicroWarehouse, Genesis Direct / ProTeam, and CDA Computer Sales, which was one of the fi rst personal computer cata- log marketers and merchants on CompuServe. 86736ffirs.indd viii86736ffirs.indd viii 10/19/08 11:17:38 PM10/19/08 11:17:38 PM [...]... stop and think about it, the concept of email as a communication vehicle is a revolutionary one Long before email became a marketing tool, it was a communication device The impact that email has had on our culture and our lives is tremendous Yet, many people forget the vast change in communication that email has produced and think of email marketing simply as a cheap or fast way to sell a product Email. .. 187 Monday: Measuring the Role of Email in a Customer’s Purchase Tuesday: Determining the Value of Your Email Addresses and Campaigns Wednesday: Increasing Email Sending Costs to Improve Top-Line Results Thursday: Exploring Web Analytics and Email Integration Friday: Finding and Targeting Your Advocates 188 193 196 198 202 Week 4: Promoting Your Email Results Within Your Organization 206 Monday: Affecting... Viral Thursday: Making Your Video Email an Integrated Part of a Larger Campaign Friday: Allowing Your Reader to Create Their Own Video Email 227 228 230 232 233 Week 3: Creating Mobile Email 234 Monday: Why Your Email Needs to be Mobile Tuesday: The Mobile Email Creative Wednesday: How Many Readers in Your Database Are Reading “on the Run”? Thursday: Defining Your Mobile Email. .. that power insights and drive growth I can say this to you fi rsthand, because I experience these successes daily through the marketing and advertising message employed by Jeanniey and her team at my companies VIVmag and Zinio I assure you, email marketing is no small feat, yet Jeanniey and David make it look simple and fun As you read this book, you will be immediately drawn into the world of email. .. Monday: Leveraging Email Surveys Tuesday: Designing an Email Survey Wednesday: Polls in Emails Thursday: Email Focus Groups Friday: Email- Driven Testimonials CONTENTS ■ xii 216 217 220 221 222 Week 2: Creating Video- and Audio-Enabled Emails 226 Monday: Deciding Whether Using Audio or Video Is Right for Your Emails Tuesday: Building the Five Layered Emails Wednesday: Making Your Video Email. .. understand the strategic elements that drive results and how to avoid the technical faux pas, as well as how to design creative, analyze results, and navigate trends Email marketing is one of those rare trades that requires specific expertise in many broad categories Therefore, this book offers an organized and unique approach to crafting a successful email program from start to fi nish As you read, you... strategy, and questions that will challenge and encourage you to redefi ne and rethink your approach to leveraging email as a communication and marketing vehicle The structure of this book was carefully designed to enable every reader, whether a newcomer to the discipline or a veteran, to walk away feeling a sense of broader understanding and appreciation for email marketing Our biggest challenge was... rar rar yenc rar yenc rar yenc rar rar rar rar rar rar yenc rar yenc rar yenc par2 CD/DVD rar rar iso rar par2 par2 par2 yenc par2 yenc par2 yenc alt.binaries.* Upload to Newsgroup Convert to Binary Image Split and Compress Create Parity Files Encode Again to Prepare for Upload Figure 1.2 The complicated process of uploading content and messages to Usenet Over the past ten years, email marketing has... think about a new type of email: email messages that create and drive consideration Unlike awareness-related emails, consideration emails contain educational elements that actively move the reader toward taking an action to buy or try your product These emails focus on specific benefits of the product and in many cases provide a means for people to self-qualify themselves as viable prospects Chapter... create awareness that you exist in a consumer’s mind-set Now let’s get back to email Think about how your email campaign—from segmentation to creative and copy design to the call to action and even reporting analysis—will change if the main goal of the email is not to sell but to drive awareness of a brand, product, or service Awareness-focused emails often do not work alone They are meant to drive a . that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Mullen, Jeanniey. Email marketing : an hour a day / Jeanniey Mullen, David Daniels. . 11:17:38 PM Alan Chappell, of Chappell & Associates, our favorite privacy attorney Dylan Boyd, Boba Fett, and the team at eROI Lisa Harmon and Aaron Smith from Smith-Harmon David Atlas, Charles. take away from it what you put into it.” — Jordan Ayan, chairman and founder of SubscriberMail; author of Aha! 10 Ways to Free Your Creative Spirit and Find Your Great Ideas and The Practical