Listrak: One To One Newsletter
Vol 1: Q1 2003
The "One to One" Listrak Newsletter supplies email marketing intelligence to permission-based marketers. Allow us to increase your understanding of response-based modeling, segmentation, real-time reporting, testing, and message composition. In this issue we see click through rates fuel the rise of email marketing; we discuss new technologies for enhancing list performance; add a taste of some email industry news; what it takes to deliver a great subject line; finally a showcase email of "the best of the best."
Enriching e-Relationships
SOARING
CLICK THRU RATES FUEL RISE OF EMAIL MARKETING
According to the toughest of direct marketing critics, email has finally come of age. More and more, traditional marketers are opting for the bottom line benefits of email, such as increased responses and decreased postage. In fact, industry leader, DoubleClick, states that in 2003, 62% of marketers will raise their email marketing budgets 17% - 20%.
Further supporting the popularity of email is the fact that relevancy drives response. In the playing field of marketing, simply maintaining contact might get you on base, but it’s the personalized messages that are hitting home runs. Incorporating customer profiling into campaigns—knowing what they like, dislike, and when they want it—are the driving forces behind growing response rates. Direct Marketing magazine recently reported that companies in the B2C sector, utilizing profiling and personalization in their campaigns, are starting to report click through rates as high as 10% to 15%.
For more information on adding and using profiling and personalization in your email campaign approach, contact marketing expert Dan Miller at dmiller@listrak.com.
Tech Know
LIST HYGIENE DELIVERS UNDELIVERABLE EMAIL
You know the scenario. You tire and toil to acquire new subscribers, deploy your campaign, and then watch as your messages—and money—wastefully bounce back, thanks to a plethora of "undeliverable" list addresses.
But there’s good news on the e-horizon.
Listrak™ has recently introduced List Hygiene—an email-broadcasting feature that automatically identifies and corrects undeliverable email addresses, significantly enhancing list reach.
Here’s how it works. As the List Hygiene System receives a bounced-back message, it matches the address to an internal list of company mergers, acquisitions, common misspellings, and their new domain names. Once an undeliverable section of the address has been found, List Hygiene replaces it with the correct information, and then automatically resends the email message.
For example, an undeliverable address, say, jerry@yahoo.cm, will be corrected and resent as a deliverable jerry@yahoo.com.
In the wake of the October 2002 Direct Mail Association (DMA) announcement stating the preferences of marketers to use email more often than postal mail, features like Listrak’s List Hygiene are proving to be one of the next big trends in the Direct Marketing sector. “Email campaigns are growing in popularity, especially among mid-sized businesses,” says Ross Kramer, president of Listrak. “Our goal is to create superior campaign options, such as List Hygiene, that are priced for the mid-market.”
Since activating List Hygiene In November 2002, Listrak reportedly delivers over 4 million email messages per month.
News Flash
ABOUT.COM EXPERTS
APPROVE LISTRAK™
About.Com, the popular Internet site where specialists help you find the very best of anything on the web, has recently rated Listrak™ among the top email campaign management tools in the industry.
Described as “powerful,” “flexible,” and easy to use, Listrak™ received a nearly perfect score— 4.5 stars out of 5—from About.com experts.
“Listrak’s strength is where email marketing has its great potential: personalization,” says About.com. “Listrak offers highly flexible user profiling via forms and usage tracking, and provides powerful mail merge functionality.”
And while our About.com rating is fantastic, we at Listrak LLC, continue to forge ahead. Listrak™ users can expect to see new features and system enhancements being introduced over the next few months.
To read the full About.com review of Listrak™, log on to: http://email.about.com/cs/marketingasprevs/gr/listrak.htm. For more information regarding the Listrak email application, visit www.listrak.com.
Composure
SUBJECT
LINES THAT PROMPT CLICK-THRU’S
The inbox is rapidly becoming the marketer’s battleground. Some messages get read, some get deleted, and some never make it to the inbox at all. What determines the fate of each email? It all boils down to the “subject line.”
Importance of Subject Lines
We live in a fast-paced, information overloaded society where
attention spans are short and interests are usually self-serving.
So when an email is received, we glance at the subject line
and, in three seconds or less, make a decision to open, delete
or ignore it.
With such a small window of opportunity to gain readership, today’s subject line’s must be precise, calculated, and intriguing enough to inspire a click. Consider the following tips when creating a subject line:
Personalization
If you’ve done consumer profiling, personalize your subject line and message. Studies show that personalized messages receive a much higher click-thru rate than non-personalized messages.What’s In It For Me?
Remember, it’s all about the reader. Don’t bore them with product facts and features—focus on the benefits. Address how your product will make their life better and easier.Size Does Matter
Human attention spans are short, keep your subject lines even shorter. Experts agree, don’t use more than 5 to 10 words—around 45 characters—in your subject.Tease
Reveal a bit about who you are and what your message is about, but don’t tell the whole story. Trigger curiosity. Compel readers to open your message.For example, the subject line: "Why you’ll want our new diet guide" sparks more curiosity than, "Our new diet guide is now for sale." By using the words “what you” or “why you,” you’re implying a benefit. Subject lines with implied benefits are more likely to be opened.
Ready to write a compelling subject line? Not
so fast. You’re message will never see the light of day
if it’s not SPAM-proof.Avoid Being Mislabeled as SPAM
A 3-month study conducted by Assurance Systems, a company that
helps permission-based email campaigns be delivered, revealed
that 12% of messages are improperly identified as SPAM or junk
mail. Of those messages, 32% were denied delivery of any kind. Why? Because legitimate email messages sometimes contain red
flag words.
Red Flag Words to Avoid
To protect your permission-based campaigns from being incorrectly
labeled as SPAM, steer clear of using these words and symbols
in your Subject line:
- Avoid CAPITALIZING words for emphasis
- Avoid exclamations, such as NOW! and HURRY!!!
- Avoid the word “free”
- Avoid $$$ signs and 1-800 phone numbers
- Avoid the words “guaranteed and “confidential.”
- Avoid “bad words,” profanity, and words related to criminal activity.
The subject line—if you can create one using safe words that inspire a click-thru, you’ve won half of the marketing battle. Best of luck.
Email Showcase
Email
Rating: *****
Featured in this quarter’s Listrak™ Email Showcase
is Redken’s “Concert Connection Sweepstakes” message
designed by Ground Floor Interactive.
Email
marketing design turns heads
Sometimes,
looks “are” everything,
and that’s
the case with this Redken email. The shape of the email
resembles a tabbed 5x7 card, which gives it an informative
feel while
displaying content that offers a quick read.
The color combinations and graphics are vibrant and enticing, yet not over-bearing. Selecting the right mix of color appropriate to your message will help generate readership.
Notice the text. It’s short, sweet, and easy to read. Redken realizes they’re not writing an informative web page on how to color your hair, they’re using small amounts of text to pull readers into a clickable landing page where more information awaits.
Another five star feature: Redken uses only one call to action button, making it easy for readers to enter the contest.
Better still, this message performed as wonderfully as it looked. Its high click thru rate truly gives this email campaign “great volume.”
