MDR's Free Webinar Series
January 16, 2008
Email Marketing:
Recent Trends & Getting the Best Results From Your Message
Presentation Questions Answered:
Q: When "click-through" is referred to, is that gross or net click-through?
CZ: Net click-through—only one click is recorded per email address sent.
TF: It depends on the information that the email deployment company provides. It’s a good question to ask. Usually both are counted, but you should be provided with a unique count.
Q: Is there any difference in effectiveness in reaching teachers through their school email addresses versus their personal addresses?
CZ: This can vary based on the time of year that you send the campaign and by the type of product/service you’re offering. Some products are better looked at in the less busy or constrained environment of the school. Others that are so related to their job make sense for them to be reading on the job as they will immediately resonate. Offers in the later part of the school year or over breaks can get more attention if sent to the home address.
Q: If your email marketing effort is to promote something non-digital (a hardcopy curriculum), what would be the best way to promote that? Links to the Web site? Stats from users/the field? Other suggestions?
CZ: You might try to create some kind of digital teaser or snippet of content that would generate interest in the non-digital product. Or you can offer a case study or PDF of your product in use, a sell sheet, or other marketing material that can benefit from the very visual and immediate nature of the Web. You then utilize email and your Web site to capture the leads and further qualify them.
Q: What is the best day of the week to send an email blast?
CZ: This is a very subjective question and an ever-changing answer. A recent study concluded that there’s no “best” day, but certain days have higher rates than others, depending on the type of customer, the offer, among other factors. However, in MDR’s email trends report 2007, we do report on the average open/click rates by day of the week.
NF: After looking at multiple studies, most research seems to agree that overall, Wednesday is the best day to mail, in terms of response.
TF: While audiences vary, Walter Karl Interactive has found that mid-day delivery is better than mornings or late afternoon. Tuesday and Wednesday have often achieved better results than the other days of the week. Your audience may be different. It’s best to test multiple days of the week and different times of the day to determine when your best response would be.
Q: It seems like sending images is a catch-22. What should we do?
CZ: Images can still be very effectively used in email prospecting, and studies (MarketingSherpa’s Email Response Report) have shown email messages with a well utilized image(s) can produce higher response rates. Images can re-enforce your brand and add color and depth to your text. However, they should be treated as additive to your message rather than core to it. For an informative article about utilizing images in an image suppression world, go to Educational E-Marketer's Guide to Working Effectively With Outlook 2003.
NF: Test, Test, Test. Although many Webmail and Desktop clients disable images by default, you should still test it out. Try comparing a few plain text messages with HTML messages with images and compare the response. Some offers might do well as a text version; some will do much better as an HTML with images. In either case, even if your images are getting suppressed, your text copy will still show up, so you don’t have too much to lose. Also, many people still click the “enable images” button automatically without thinking. So, as long as your images aren’t causing the email to get blocked, then I would definitely still send them. Make sure you’ve got the ALT tags (text the recipient can read when the image cannot be displayed) in there also.
Q: How often is too often to reach out to prospects via e-blasts?
Q: What is the optimal frequency for sending both prospecting and retention emails? How many times per month?
Q: What is the acceptable repetition (frequency) of sending the message to recipients?
CZ: This question doesn’t have a single right answer. Many feel that more than once a week is too much; some feel even that can be too frequent. A best practice is to keep a close watch on your email campaign feedback loop (hard and soft bounces from the deployment, opt outs, spam or complaint rates, emails sent to the reply-to address), and monitor any changes if you modify your sending frequency.
NF: As long as you’re not hitting the same people with the same offers more than once a month, I’d say you’re in the clear. If you plan on hitting the same audience multiple times, make sure to change up your offers or at least your subject lines. Work with your Email Service Provider to monitor any feedback you’re getting from the mailings. If you’re mailing people multiple times and getting negative feedback and high complaint rates, then I would scale back a little.
TF: There’s no definitive answer. Generally speaking, for prospecting, budget would play a big part in how many acquisition emails you should send out, rather than the frequency of them. However, for retention mailings, you can mail them more often since a relationship has already been established. But be careful not to overwhelm them with emails, as they may unsubscribe.
I think the biggest impact on this question will be how much budget you have readily available to you. Most likely you won’t mail to every single subscriber available within a week’s time, unless you’re targeting a very niche market. If that is the case, I would say twice a month is sufficient without overkill.
Q: We offer subscribers the choice to receive their email in HTML or text. Is this a good work around for the image suppression issue?
CZ: Yes, since you’re signing up subscribers and offering them a choice, this will help with the image suppression issue, but it will not totally eliminate it. You should still suggest that they add you to their address book, and keep in mind that they may not see images, as they may sign up for HTML and still get emails with blocked images.
NF: I think this is definitely a good process and will help alleviate a big chunk of the image suppression issues.
Q: Is it better to send a "newsletter-type" message or a "text-only" message?
CZ: This is very dependent on your product and your audience. Test both to determine which performs better.
TF: There’s no definitive answer. It really depends on the audience that you’re mailing to.
Q: Is there a preferred or successful formula of the email message that gets results?
CZ: Yes, one that offers both relevance and value to the recipient.
TF: Content that is relevant to the recipient is the most important thing you can do, regardless of what format it’s in.
Q: Are there any stats or a general opinion on email marketing success rate to educators in campaigns utilizing a newsletter format?
CZ: A newsletter format or other styled HTML format is generally easier to read, and as long as it presents your message with value and relevance near the top or at the beginning of the message, it should perform well in prospecting campaigns.
Q: What is the best practice to avoid school firewalls?
CZ: There’s not enough room here to give a detailed answer. See our Email Best Practice document for some guidance on this: MDR's Email Best Practices for Education Marketers.
Q: What is B2C?
CZ: Business to Consumer. Sometimes written as B-to-C.
Q: Does your research show any differences for PCs versus Macs?
CZ: Really don’t know what this question refers to…differences in what? Response rates? Image rendering?
Q: Do emails see HTML codes? Or would the email show as <HTML> code </HTML>?
CZ: Most all new email clients can recognize and properly display HTML code. However, users can set their preferences to only email in text format, or the email can end up being forwarded to a handheld device. The best practice is to include a text version for these scenarios. MDR e-marketing solutions always send out a combined HTML/text message known as a multi-part message. Depending on what email client is being used to view the message, the appropriate version will be displayed.
Q: What is image suppression?
Q: Can you explain what image suppression is?
NF: Image suppression is basically what happens when your email client (Outlook, AOL, Yahoo, Lotus Notes, etc.) does not allow images/pictures to show up in an email. When you send an email message out to someone, depending on the type of email client they use, the images may or may not show up.
CZ: For more information about image suppression, check out this article: Educational E-Marketer's Guide to Working Effectively With Outlook 2003.
Q: Can you clarify the "1 pixel transparent images" statement on Slide 30?
CZ: This reference to a 1 x 1 pixel transparent image is used by email deployment systems to track open rates. This very small image, usually only 1 pixel in width by 1 pixel in height (the smallest image you can create), is also transparent as to make it invisible within the email message. Opening the email message, either in the preview pane or by clicking on it, places a call to a Web server for the image. This call is recorded by tracking software which counts it as an open. If images are suppressed, this call to the Web server for the tracking pixel is stopped, and therefore, no open is recorded.
NF: If you can imagine an image or picture on your computer screen, it’s made up of pixels, which are “picture elements.” These pixels are reproduced as little dots, each of them have various color dimensions. Each letter in this sentence is made up of tiny pixels or dots. For example, the period at the end of a sentence or the dot on the letter “i” is about the size of one pixel when viewed at normal font size.
Q: Has the definition of open rate changed? Does it only count if the email actually displays on the subscriber's computer as opposed to the preview window?
CZ: The definition of open rate has not changed insomuch as the tool used for recording the data has been affected. Open rate is recorded by use of a 1 x 1 pixel image used by email deployment systems to track open rates. (See above for an explanation of 1 x 1 pixel image.)
NF: When someone views an email in a preview pane, it does register as an “open,” as long as all images are enabled.
Q: Do you have any research on color usage in email campaigns?
CZ: Our study did not specifically look at color usage. However, spam filters do in fact check for font colors in combination with bolding and size. So you might run into issues with some of these filters if you overuse color fonts in a manner that would typically be seen in a spam email message.
Q: Wouldn't it be better to ask reader to click on link to see images?
CZ: This is the technique in the presentation that refers to the hosted Web page version of the email. How the link is worded is up to the marketer, but I have seen it simply worded as “Click here to view images,” which takes them to the hosted Web page version of the email.
Q: Although not used a lot, what is an “image map”?
CZ: The references to “image map” used in the presentation refer to a technical HTML component that generally takes the form of a large image with subsection of the image being hot linked or otherwise active. Sometimes they can simply consist of simply taking a pure graphic creative from a graphic program, like Illustrator or Photoshop, and chunking it up into a jigsaw puzzle of images that get assembled in the HTML message. In either application, the potential issue with their use is that if images are suppressed, there’s usually no text accompanying these purely graphic presentations visible; so unless the reader takes an action to download images, your message goes more or less unread.
A couple of examples of image maps:
http://javCZ:sun.com/applets/jdk/1.4/demo/applets/ImageMap/example1.HTML
http://www.cssplay.co.uk/menu/imap.HTML
NF: An image map is used to create links within an image. For example, if you have a large image that you would like to place in an email, you can select portions of that image that would link to different places using map coding. Without image mapping, you would have to make the entire image link to the same place.
Q: If you use an image as a button, when the image is suppressed, will clicking on the suppressed image space activate the button's response?
CZ: This can vary by email client/browser, but in the case of Outlook 2003, the suppressed images would still have active hot links associated with them, and if the reader clicked the box where the image was suppressed, it would take them to the designated link.
NF: All email clients are different; however, in Outlook 2003, links are still active even if the images are disabled. So, if you have an image hyperlinked and the image is disabled, the recipient will still be able to click on the link.
Q: Are you aware of any image suppression issues with Eudora? I don't recall seeing Eudora on your list.
NF: Eudora’s stats are: images enabled by default (not disabled). ALT text is not rendered; however, Eudora replaces ALT text with an absolute URL to the location of a respective image. For example: Lady_in_hat/image.jpg truncates the link origin, so this image URL is incomplete, and when clicked, the user will most likely get an error message.
Q: What do you mean by text links? As opposed to what? Thanks for clarifying.
Q: What is a text link?
Q: What are text links? Does that mean that you can see the whole Web address rather than a highlighted embedded link?
TF: These are URLs comprised of text characters only, such as http://www.wkinteractive.com/, versus clicking on a link that is embedded in an image.
Q: Are hyperlinks more likely to get the email blocked by spam filters?
CZ: No, generally speaking, hyperlinks, when used correctly, do not increase the likelihood of being blocked by a spam filter.
NF: Hyperlinks are not more likely to get the email blocked unless the link itself contains words likely to be read by a spam filter or if the site that the link directs to is a known spammer or is on a blacklist.
Q: Conflicting info: It seems to me that more links are good and add to click-throughs. However, MDR won't let clients do more than two links per email. Perhaps MDR offers more than two for an extra fee, but data indicates the base product should offer more links.
CZ: MDR e-marketing solutions offer many email marketing products—E@quire, E@ppend, Educators at Home (EAH) E@quire—that do not have any restrictions on the number of links allowed in the message. Please give us a call at 800-333-8802, and we can take you through all the solutions available.
Q: How are MDR's “for sale” email lists built?
CZ: MDR’s e-marketing solutions are built on the same “best-in-class,” industry-leading education institution compilation methods that are used to compile institution- and individual-level data on virtually every education institution in the U.S. This compilation process is continuous year-round, with first-to-market updating during peak enrollment and roster-creation cycles. For more information, contact MDR at 800-333-8802.
Q: Can email lists be rented that have titles (Director of Curriculum) and physical location (i.e., New York State) for K-12 schools?
CZ: Yes, MDR e-marketing solutions can be segmented by many attributes, including title and states. For a full list of institution-, demographic- and name-level selections, contact us at 800-333-8802.
For a complete listing of all selects available on MDR, download a digital copy of our catalogs.
Q: Is MDR able to track click-through rates if the message is viewed as a Web page?
CZ: Yes, MDR e-marketing solutions automatically report on all links within an email campaign, including any link that is used to send recipients to an HTML version of the page. Once the reader is taken this link to the hosted Web page version, we are no longer be able to track actively. But you can track this activity via standard Web tracking analytics depending on page hosting.
Q: We collect email addresses from customers' orders. Is it okay to send mass emails to them if they did not opt in?
CZ: You should familiarize yourself with CAN-SPAM requirements at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm. In addition, you should also refer to your company’s privacy policy (if you have one) and determine how it would govern your communications with your customers.
TF: This depends on whether or not you asked permission to email them when you collected the email addresses. If not, the answer is no. You should follow all laws as it pertains to CAN SPAM: http://en.wikipediTF:org/wiki/Can_Spam_Act_of_2003.
Q: Do you have any statistics regarding e-newsletters from manufacturers?
CZ: MDR does not have any statistics on e-newsletters from manufacturers.
TF: Walter Karl interactive does not have any stats on e-newsletters from manufacturers.
Q: How do you insert a person's name (individualized from large list)?
CZ: Inserting a person’s name is an example of Dynamic Content Insertion. How Dynamic Content Insertion is coded varies by email broadcasting platform but is fairly standard functionality that most support. Check with the maker of your software package or your Email Service Provider.
Q: What is the percentage of emails that are read in the preview pane?
TF: In a study by EmailLabs, more than nine of ten email users have access to a preview pane, and seven of ten use it on a regular basis. Virtually every email client in use today has the preview pane option.
Q: Is it safe to assume that those that preview the message in the preview pane are NOT included in the open rate?
CZ: Open rate is recorded by use of a 1 x 1 pixel image used by email deployment systems to track open rates. Opening the email message, either in the preview pane or by clicking on it, places a call to a Web server for the image. This call is recorded by tracking software, which counts it as an open as long as images are enabled.
NF: When someone views an email in a preview pane, it does register as an “open,” as long as all images are enabled.
Q: On Slide 14, is the percentage in the charts of “campaigns” or of “open rates”?
CZ: Slide 14 shows the percentage of campaigns that utilize the words listed in the chart in the subject line of a campaign.
Q: Can you email a chart that has the percentage of open rates for each item listed?
CZ: The charts and graphs presented in the presentation are available via the webinar archive.
Q: Where can we obtain a copy of Email Trends in the Education Market 2007?
CZ: By contacting MDR at 800-333-8802 or by clicking here: http://www.mdrorders.com/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=mdr/Publication.htm.
Q: Will you provide example emails that were highly successful?
CZ: MDR does not share the content of any of the elements of customers’ email campaigns without their expressed written consent. We will from time to time offer best practices documents and reference elements of successful email campaigns in an aggregate format.
For more information, see our Email Best Practices document for some great tips on creating highly successful emails: MDR's Email Best Practices for Education Marketers.
TF: Walter Karl Interactive doesn’t share any statistics or clients’ creative without permission.
Q: Re: Using the marketer’s name in the subject. We typically do not include the marketer’s name as the “friendly from” line because we are using a dedicated e-marketing inbox (spam filters recognize that the name of the person and the address do not match). Has this occurrence been seen by a wider group, or is that just us? What suggestions might you have for working around this, as we typically send messages with the company name as the "person"?
CZ: Use of the “friendly from” or the “display from” will not create any spam filter issues. The “display from” is a legitimate field—an email header that will allow for a more reader-friendly formatting of the sender’s name. It does not have to match the exact “user” in the sending address. Here, in this example, DMA Virtual Seminars is the “friendly” or “display” from line, and the actual sending address (from address) is Seminars@email.the-dma.org.
Q: Can you clarify what you mean by the “friendly from” line?
Q: I'm not clear on what a "friendly from" is or how to apply it. Can you please offer some insight?
TF: The “friendly from” is a field that will allow for a more friendly formatting of the sender’s name. It does not have to match the exact “user” or sending address in the sending address, but it’s preferred for best results. An example would be Walter Karl Interactive is the “friendly” or “display” from line and the actual from address is WalterkarlInteractive@yourdomain.com.
CZ: The “friendly from” or “display from” is a field—an email header that will allow for a more reader-friendly formatting of the sender’s name. It does not have to match the exact “user” or sending address in the sending address. Here, in this example, DMA Virtual Seminars is the “friendly” or “display” from line, and the actual sending address (from address) is Seminars@email.the-dma.org.
Example of Inbox View of Display (Friendly) From in Outlook 2003
Example of Message Header Display of Display (Friendly) From in Outlook 2003
Q: Do you have any best practices or any things to keep in mind to make sure email messages are readable on BlackBerries and other mobile devices?
CZ: Always include a text version of your message in your campaigns so that a readable and effective version will be delivered on every device. MDR e-marketing solutions always send out a combined HTML/text message known as a multi-part message. Depending on what email client is being used to view the message, the appropriate version will be displayed.
Q: Is there any data on effectiveness of simple text emails being opened versus HTML? I'm aware that you cannot track simple text emails.
CZ: No, the only mechanism that can track open rate is the use of a 1 x 1 tracking pixel. By their nature, simple text messages or pure ASCII messages cannot contain images or links to images.
NF: I would say the major factor here is the offer. If the offer really needs a picture to support its selling points, then you should try to stick with HTML, if at all possible, even at the risk of the images being disabled. In my experience, text emails do perform fairly well in some instances, such as surveys. In other cases, I think you’re better off sticking with HTML and keeping them well-balanced between copy and images. You do not want your emails to be too image-heavy.
Q: How do you create an unsubscribe link?
CZ: Unsubscribe links are normally provided by the Email Service Provider (ESP). If you’re not using an ESP, then you would have to determine some way to capture opt out requests yourself.
Q: Can you discuss out-of-the-box email marketing programs versus services such as Email Brain, Constant Contact, and others?
CZ: Email Brain, Constant Contact, and others are all examples of Email Service Providers (ESPs). MDR does not endorse or recommend any particular ESP. You can find plenty of reviews of these providers on the Internet from sites such as this site: http://email-marketing-service-review.toptenreviews.com. Again, these are the opinions of their respected authors.
One thing to keep in mind is that when dealing with outside lists (prospecting lists that you rent versus emails that you own and have on your database), you often need to work with the deployment services of the list owner or manager.
Q: I use MonsterCommerce as my online host. I suspect that some people I send emails to are not receiving them. Are some domains blocked entirely?
CZ: Yes, entire sending domains (and associated IPs) can be blocked. IP blocking can occur at the large ISP level or at the email server or client level. You should check with your online host to determine what their policies are for maintaining proper white listing status with the large ISP (AOL, MSN, HotMail, Yahoo, Earthnet, etc.). Additionally, there are tools available to look up IP/Domains by what blacklist they are on. This information can be difficult to decipher if you’re not very familiar with email blacklists. For an example of a blacklist lookup site, see: http://www.mxtoolbox.com/index.aspx.
Q: We use Swiftpage email. Does a product like that automatically address most of the technical issues outlined in your presentation?
CZ: No, Swiftpage is an email deployment provider, which like all ESPs, is subject to many of the client-side issues, such as image suppression, that were discussed in the presentation.
Q: How do we go about asking a school or district to put our emails on white list, since emails come through the central server?
CZ: If you have a relationship with the school (for example, if they are your customers) and you need to get your transactional emails through, you could reach out to the technical coordinator or other administrative staff for global white listing. If you’re prospecting, you should adhere to the best practices outlined in the webinar to send only relevant and valuable messages to highly targeted groups with instructions for add to address book.
Q: Where does the link to the "safe sender list" go to? Does it automatically add it to my safe sender list for me, or does it just give me instructions on how to do it?
Q: Can you share the HTML code for "add me to your safe sender list"? How would you get someone's unknown system to pop up their safe sender list?
Q: What is the embedded URL you would use when including a link that says, "Please add us to your safe sender list"?
CZ: The link in the email creative about safe sender usually will take people to a hosted page (on your Web site) that will list instructions for adding the email address to their email client’s safe sender list. These instructions can vary for different email clients. Examples of Add to Address book instructions.
Q: What is a good resource for domain name authentication?
NF: You would have to partner with an Email Service Provider first, as “email authentication” is just one of the services they would facilitate for you. Yesmail and EmailLabs are two of the more well-known ESPs.
Q: Is the "add to address book" option available through MDR?
CZ: No, it’s not available through MDR. Since it generally sends them to a page on your site, in addition to providing instructions for adding to safe sender, it can also be used to promote your brand or some other messaging related to your business. Additionally, you might use this same page during email newsletter sign-ups or other areas on your site where you have the opportunity to promote this practice. |
