Email marketing

best practice
 • Over 1.9 billion email users /
2.9 billion email accounts
worldwide

• Around 294 billion emails sent

every day. But . . . 89% of
these are spam or end up in
spam filters (one in six
legitimate emails never reach
the inbox)
How big is email marketing?
• Email is a staple of our daily
lives and contrary to some
reports, here to stay!

• Whilst there are specific

differences and technical
considerations, at its heart,
email is direct marketing

Sources: Pingdom, Return Path

A quick look back before
jumping forward...
What makes a mailing work?
 It’s the same as before,
just different

• Outer envelope line = subject line

• Personalise letters = behavioural targeting

• Long copy = links to deeper information

• Make it easy to reply = make it easy to click

• Summary of proposition (Johnson Box) = preview pane

• Short headlines for scannability = short sentences in email

hot zones
 Factors which have the greatest
impact upon communication results

List/Media x 6.0
Offer x 3.0
Timing x 2.0
Creative x 1.35
Response x 1.20

(Source: Common Sense Direct Marketing, Drayton Bird. The difference between best and worst
results in a live DM test.)
Jumping forward...
Tope 5 factors that impact the success
of an email marketing campaign

1. Your data quality

2. Legal compliance

3. Managing email deliverability

4. Content – your email design

5. Technology – the email delivery system you use

Heat map of email viewing

• Focus is heavier in the

upper section of the email

• Note the emphasis on

reading the first two words
of the headlines, followed
by diminishing interest in
the body copy

• As the email extends

downward, interest in the
content rapidly drops off.
 Email pre-header

Hero Message / Image

Secondary Message/Image Rail Pod Anatomy

of an Email

Tertiary Message/Image Rail Pod

Recovery Zone

Email Footer
FOOTER
 Know your (email) audience

Email viewing behaviour

AREA OF EMAIL TREND OF BEHAVIOUR

73% will click on “report spam/junk” based on the content of Easily recognisable, creating Trust
From Name
the from field

Subject Line 69% decide whether to “junk” email based on the subject line Descriptive, evocative and compels open

Emails may not be opened but previewed before a decision is

made about whether the content is relevant Email rendering – usable with images off
Preview Pane
47% horizontal, 37% vertical, 59% block images automatically
(all email clients that use preview pane block by default)

Opened email
Only 11% will read the full email message – ie scroll down Scannability and brevity
(pre-scroll)
Once engaged (email opened and full message viewed), on Content has clear call-to-action that encourages
Full email average, users will spend 51 seconds digesting the information content sharing
provided (4 seconds for mobile viewing)

Sources: Email Sender and Provider Coalition

 Deliverability still matters
• A good data strategy is important to maintain a good “reputation”

• Good data strategy incorporates:

– Bounce management
– Unsubscribe management
– Minimising spam complaints
– Monitoring engagement
– “Adding to safe sender list”
– Marketing to opt-in only
– Communication frequency and relevance

• The better the data strategy, the more creative you can be in the
email design
 Designing for the preview pain
‘hot zone’
600 – 700 PIXELS

The preview pane “hot zone” EMAIL HEADER

should be free of imagery PRE-HEADER

The main offer/message/CTA 250 PIXELS

should be communicated in the PREVIEW PANE

“HOT ZONE”

“hot zone” and above the scroll

(pre-scroll)

Pre-header should contain one

or more (all) suggested in
diagram

FOOTER
FOOTER
 Email Header
• From name and address – remember 73% will click on “report spam” or
“junk” based on this
• Reply address – ideally this should reflect the From name, to present one
coherent journey
• Subject line – remember 69%* decide whether to “junk” your email based on
the subject line

CHECK LIST
 Keep your subject line short, sweet and to the point, i.e. less than 30 characters
 Use it to inform recipients, so the email is seen as something important, timely or
valuable – something the recipient won’t want to miss out on
 Use the subject line to reflect your goals and to help direct recipients to the
desired action
 Ensure your subject line is relevant to your audience

CONSIDERATIONS
 Header testing is free and easy to do – use ‘test and learn’ to develop the
optimum creative header copy for your email campaign
 Examples
Barclaycard example offers a personalised line,
with clear actionable goal and benefit

Guardian – has clarity, appeal and drives action

through the inclusion of the deadline: “Sofa Cinema
special offer – expires on Wednesday March 31st”
 Examples (the not so good)
Omega Travel subject line:
unknown. Make sure you fully test
and proof your email before you
send to check for any problems. A
subject line like this will end up in
your contacts junk mail folder.

M&S subject line example feels a little disjointed:

“DINE IN for £10 + a stylish SUIT saving!”
 Pre-header Section

• This area of the email is the first thing the reader will come across but it is
often overlooked.
• Those that have recognised its value are increasingly using it to their
advantage.

CHECK LIST
 Always offer alternative options for viewing the email i.e. an “Online version”
 Whitelisting – always request recipients “Add to safe sending list”

CONSIDERATIONS
 Increasingly emails are viewed on a mobile phone, so consider creating a
“Version for Mobile” email option
 You could add a table of contents for the email with anchor links to the
features
 Consider including a send-to-friend link, if appropriate
 You could incorporate a call-to-action or offers link up front in the email
 Some consider this to be a more appropriate place to have the unsubscribe
link
 Examples

Cocosa demonstrates how you can

include your ‘white mail’ message, a
‘forward to a friend’, ‘unsubscribe’
and ‘web view’ options clearly in the
pre-header

BG doing the right thing with the

‘Web version’ option but could be
The user is in complete control with clearly
expanded to include ‘Add to safe list’
distinguishable, labelled tabs across the top of the
email
 Examples
A font supplier (below)
entices readers to read
on by disclosing the fact
that this information is not
yet available elsewhere…

Nectar are explicit in terms of the

benefit of adding them to a safelist i.e.
‘ensure our emails reach your inbox’

Staples not only entice the

reader to add to safelist,
also immediate offer a
‘search’ facility to make
the reader’s life as easy as
possible
Examples (the not so good)

Ticketmaster offer no
alternative way to view,
and being reliant on
images this could mean
the contact may not see
the message.
 Preview Pane
• Remember, emails may not be opened but previewed before deciding
whether the content is relevant.
• Two important advances in email should be noted at this design stage –
preview pane (ability to view a horizontal/vertical strip of the email
without opening) and a blocked-images feature which prevents images
in the email being downloaded.

43% use the horizontal preview pane at the bottom of the screen
37% use the vertical preview pane on the right side
B2B – only Outlook XP and Lotus Notes do not block images by default
B2C – all email clients and ISPs that include preview pane block images by default
Up to 59% of people block images automatically

CHECK LIST
 Make sure your main offer is designed for the top left 4-5 inches of the
email (this is known at the “hot zone”).
 Include all “mandatory” important content above the “fold” of the email
(i.e. offer, call to action, contents, etc.)
 Make sure you’ve reviewed your email without the imagery downloaded, to
check it looks ok and still works as a communication
Examples
Both Taste of Edinburgh and Elmwood ensure
the key information – brand / date / location is
included in the top left – viewable in a preview
pane

Home Insurance email (Tower Insurance) – users

download images as usual, however, one image
remains missing – i.e. to represent a piece of art that
has been stolen.
(Open rate - 45% and a total of 61 quotes generated.)
Examples

Tesco email clearly ensures that the key

information is communicated to the user,
even without the imagery downloaded
 Examples (the not so good)

Whereas Play.com have a image heavy email with it’s main message contained solely in the main
image. Their message is therefore lost if the image blocker is on.
 Email Body
• Remember, once engaged (email opened and full message viewed), on
average users will spend just 51 seconds digesting the information provided.

CHECK LIST
 Have clear Brand identity – if this is not obvious and easily recognisable, you risk an instant
delete
 Header (“hero”) Banner – this is the area that should be reserved for the main offer image
 Ensure you have a clear and consistent main message and message hierarchy throughout
 Ensure you have prominent call-to-actions, featured in various formats:
- Text links: make key words / information stand out, include links in headers where applicable
- Buttons: spread links throughout the length of the email to maximise clicks
- Banners: ensure graphics link to somewhere appropriate
 Make CTAs clear and explicit about a) what the reader needs to do and b) benefits they get
from doing so
 For body copy, best practice is to use standard HTML font faces: Arial, Verdana, Times New
Roman, Courier as these can be read by the majority of the recipient’s viewers
- However, when setting text as a graphic, you can use whatever font you want
CONSIDERATIONS
 The right sidebar is often good for the “secondary” offers or call-to-actions
 Focus on no more than FIVE areas of visual emphasis to avoid ‘clutter’
 Use bullet points to aid quick scannability and readability
 Examples
A simple, functional An interesting
email with a clear, logical way to segment
flow (Pulse8) content - using
jigsaw puzzle to
With a clean layout and sparing break up info
use of colour, this email is (Virb)
simple, with CTA’s that
achieves impact and clarity
(Huge Paper) Clean simple
layout
follows,
logical
groups for
easy
viewing,
links are easy
to locate in
both body
copy and in
boxed areas
(Pong)
The use of sectioning block
colours to segment content
and the use of logo’s adds a
visual interest to this email
(eCrime Wales)
Examples

Pizza Express has very clear

branding, keeps copy short
and to the point and uses
good use of ‘chunking’ as
well as spreading out their
CTAs, masking sure these
are above the fold.
Examples (the not so good)
Just a small part of
the very lengthy
‘Love those shoes’
email. Many things
are wrong here:

-no clear offer or

purpose of the
email

- too much copy

and not ‘chunked’
for scanability

- no clear CTAs

-Several brand
names, no clear
branding
 Recovery Module & Footer

• The Recovery Module is the area above the email

footer. It is your last chance to inspire engagement
(e.g. Offer, subscription, call-to-actions and so on).
• The email footer should contain, disclaimers, T&Cs,
unsubscribe option and links to privacy policy.

CHECK LIST

Does your email footer contain:

 Registered company details
 Terms and Conditions – in relation to your offer / content
 Unsubscribe option (opt-out):
- The opt-out process should be as easy as possible for recipients and you
should always include an option to do this with every communication. Opt-
out requests should be processed in a quick and efficient manner - 3rd
party software will do this in real-time.
 Examples

The links across

the foot of this
email are easily
distinguishable,
and offer clear
and actionable
CTAs / sources of
information
 Examples
BG example contains all the
appropriate info – registered
company details, T&C’s link
and a clear unsubscribe option

This accessories company tucks the necessary

Consider making more of a feature of this information out of way, but in a clear and easy
functional information to add visual interest to read manner (Objects of Design)
(ranchcortez.com)
Examples (the not so good)

After some very lengthy body copy in this BeautyFlash.co.uk email, they do not
use the opportunity to link through to offer on the website. This could have
helped reduce their body copy length (which did actually list secondary offers),
add some excitement to the offers and give a greater click through opportunity at
the end of the email (other than ‘unsubscribe’)
Email Copy-writing
 Email Copy-writing principles

• Brevity and Scannability – write no more than 30%

of the text you would have used in a hard copy
publication

• Flow – ensure the subject line (“promise”) links to the

main headline and then the main

• Relevance – with limited space and attention span (of

reader), stick to main message and CTA only

• Trust – created through recognition (from name,

subject line), prior experience, recommendation
(sharing and social) and repetition and consistency
 Subject Line
Do’s
1. Subject lines should be clear, specific and direct
2. State benefits in the first 20 characters
3. Keep it short – 30 to 50 characters (including spacing)
4. Use offers and action words to suggest benefits
5. Subject line must connect with email headline
6. Continually test – eg use of personalisation and inclusion of a
time deadline

Don’ts
1. Be too long
2. Use capital letters to highlight a specific word/phrase
3. Avoid use of symbols, exclamation marks, numbers
4. Mislead with curious/vague statements just to get opens
 Writing email copy
• With 51 seconds (on average) to engage and (hopefully) obtain a response
(action) from the recipients, creative copywriting is vital to ensure the
important information is reviewed on first viewing.
• Information needs to be instantly available and links to find out more need to
be clear, obvious and easy to locate.
• Copy itself needs to be explicit and to the point.

CHECK LIST
Review and assess email copy:
 Chunking – use short 1-2 sentence paragraphs
 Relevance – stick with what matters only
 Accuracy – don’t over-promise on the offer
 Brevity – constantly strive for a reduction in word count
 Scanability – this is the ability to not have to read every word to pick up the
meaning

CONSIDERATIONS
 Maintain a consistent message hierarchy throughout
 Subject line copy is just as important
 Examples
British Airways email example that includes a large volume of
information, but presented in an easily digestible way.
(Open Rate: 41.5% Click Rate: 8.9% / Unique Clicks: 6.7%)
O2 Recommend a Friend
email is an example of ‘less is
more’. It achieves impact and
clarity, with clear actionable
CTA’s.

LeCool – this is a weekly events magazine that uses horizontal

scrolling to enable a large volume of information to be included, but
in a digestible way.
 Examples

The repetition of the

“Cooler” strapline
encourages brand
recognition

The ‘chunking’ of the

M&S offers enhances
The consistency of the THREE messages the email’s
and offers provides enhances the emails ‘scanability’
‘scanability’
 Other considerations
Other email marketing practices that can impact on its success include:

• Use of personalisation
• Segmentation with dynamic content
• Adoption of triggered messaging
• Implementation of a customer lifecycle communication programme
• Before you broadcast your email, you need to make sure you have tested it
thoroughly.

CHECK LIST

 Check the email in different browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari

etc.)
 Check it in different email clients (Outlook, Lotus Notes, Gmail, Yahoo!,
Hotmail)
 Check on different platforms (Mac and PC)
 Click on every link to make sure it works, and check for any
peculiarities or inconsistencies in the image loading, the fonts and line
spacing.
 Measuring success

The four basic metrics you need in order to track and improve
email campaigns:

1.open rates
2.click-through rates
3.response or conversion rates
4.Unsubscribe rates

Develop an understanding of what response to email campaigns

you can expect, and learn to quickly identify where the
opportunities are for the brand.
6 trends
Implications for you
Implications for you
Implications for you
Implications for you
Implications for you
Implications for you
Appendix
 Recommendations on email
templates

• There should be a range of email templates from most basic

to most creative in design

• These templates should be used not according to campaign

concept or execution but based on customer engagement
level(s)
Template 1: Basic
Template 2: Intermediate
 Template 3: Most Creative

• Go nuts . . . do whatever you like

because we know it is
going to engage people
• No set template
• Apple example
Template 4: Newsletter
 Technological limits

• Increasing trend of emails being filtered and sorted by

engagement – the “last in, on top” paradigm is dying

Gmail users can easily change their Priority Inbox

(August 2010) settings to customise what category of
email is served up first