Blog Box

An email marketing review by Andrew Beeston

At Brown Box we regularly help our clients with best practice for their email marketing efforts including, legal requirements, content development and sending practices. When I recently received an email (from a company we do not serve) I felt compelled to show it to everyone and because we are passionate about our work, the decision was made to share with you a few things you can learn from the email received. We appreciate that not everyone has expertise on these matters so we have decided to omit the name of the business who sent the email.

The Problem

Now that is a long email!

Looks pretty long for a text email doesn’t it? Not the type you’d expect to get from a friend let alone a company sending through any email. I know what you’re thinking, ‘how long is that email?‘ Well I did a count and it came to 3028 words. That’s a VERY long email. Nobody will read that email.

Not only that, but the email was very wide. My screen is 24″ wide, so it went very very wide. Click on the image of the email and see how hard it is to read an entire line. Nobody will read that email.

Apart from the length there were grammatical issues, spelling issues and legal issues in the introduction and it got worse from there. It certainly wasn’t an email I wanted to read. Nobody will read that email.

So how can an email like this be fixed? What can you learn from this to improve your email campaigns? Here’s 8 ways to fix this email covering three of the big issues presented here.

1. Make it Readable

The email itself was simply text so traditionally this would be ‘readable’. But even with it being plain text, there was much that was wrong with the email. The email was clunky, wide and boring, to help this:

• Make the text scannable with a bit of bold. In 3000 words, 7 phrases were bold. Use bold at least once per paragraph, if you’re not saying anything worth bolding - remove it.
• Limit the width of the email. This email was as wide as the screen allowed, so on my 24″ screen it was massive, help me - keep your emails at a maximum 600px wide for readability (an industry standard for all email messages).
• Use lists just like this one. They’re easier to digest.

2. Get To The Point

My best guess with this email is that the main article was about chess and business. I saw it somewhere as I glanced through the text in an Internet induced haze. I don’t know because the mere fact that the email was that long meant I never bothered to even start reading it. If you must, link to the full version.

• Get to the point quickly and simply.
• Use images to convey meaning - after all they are worth a thousand words.

3. Link To A Longer Version

With short attention spans and multitudes of choice online people want to know what they are getting before they commit to anything. Entice readers to your full article online by providing:

• Short teaser paragraphs or interesting imagery linking to your longer article online.
• A pdf download link. With 3000 words this is more of a paper than an article. Help people print it off and read it later with a nicely formatted pdf.
• A blog or alternative news site. We create news websites for some clients who cannot or do not want to put articles up on their primary website. This has proven to be extremely useful in performing a function they wanted but could not otherwise have.

A Final Word

There were so many other ways that this email could have been improved that it would have been unfair to bring out them all. Grammar, spelling, the subject line, legal issues with unsubscribing, newsletter archives and other less significant issues. If you are sending emails like this and not getting the results you want, speak to me. I’d be glad to assess your work and help you develop something that works. You can find us on Twitter, email (andrew or rob (at) brownbox.net.au) or Skype me (username: Niphal) or of course contact Brown Box.

I can just imagine Print Marketing and Email Marketing standing 100 meters apart in a dusty one-street town.  The Old Sheriff and Johnny-Come-Lately with his shiny new hat ready to mix the town up.  Though, Johnny’s not so ‘lately’ and he already has mixed the town up.  And seeing them standing there I realise they each serve important purposes and neither has yet found it’s time to leave so the bullets miss, or never leave, and a strange peace prevails.  As long as different people access information in different ways, some on a screen and some on a page, some both, bedfellows they will remain.  But similar they are not.

While perhaps this is an exaggeration, we do know that on the web, people approach communication very differently than they do print.  This is obvious.

Even the same people.

Different expectations, different opportunities. So the challenge is being aware stepping into the different opportunities and expectations?

In light of this I was dwelling on a few thoughts this week and I hope these might be of interest:

• More ‘touches’ can be allowed online than offline, but expect a number of these to be user-initiated. Facilitate that
• There is an expectation of discourse over broadcast
• Don’t keep making the same pitch. Don’t send something you wouldn’t want to receive yourself
• Narrative is powerful.
• When it comes to print people appreciate that you’ve taken the time to mail them something that looks good. Yet no matter how ’shiny’ your campaign, email is a perceptually lower-value item with a different set of typical responses.
• We expect propaganda in our mail-boxes however people feel a type of ownership over their email in-boxes. Respect that.

Now, if you’re Coles or Clint’s Crazy Bargains, I would feel very weird if I received anything other than a simple ‘here’s our specials’. But most of us are not involved in selling groceries and two-dollar tools. We have important relationships with key customers. Where is your value to them? Can you provide more of it via email? That’s a good place to start.

Some thoughts I’ve been chewing on recently anyway.

~ Rob

Key 1. Provide clear, attractive choices to your users (rather than monopolising the conversation)

Yes, you’re at this party with no girlfriend or wife to rescue you (only males read this) and resigned to the fact that even if you could fit a three letter article somewhere inside the incoming monologue it would probably be a waste of air. So your peripheral vision starts seeking an escape and that little mental book opens to record another name under ‘who-not-to-make-eye-contact-with-at-parties’.

I shall name it ‘Customer Claustrophobia’.

To be honest, I don’t think the party experience is that dissimilar to what many of us experience from the many charities and retailers all vying for the various digits on your credit card.

As I’ve mentioned it’s tiring and, I am convinced, detrimental.

Fig. 1 - Original Email

While I won’t delve into established theories regarding the evolution of the conversation and resurgence of the communal marketplace, working with Dunham + Company and Samaritan’s Purse we’ve finally had the chance to address some of these very common errors. 

Clear Choices - The Email

The new email is now enjoying a high open rate with the highest click-through percentage yet seen for a Samaritan’s Purse email (28.5% of people who opened the email clicked a link) and beyond that, those visiting the site read on average over two articles.

What’s changed? Traditionally Samaritan’s Purse’s emails were similar to what many of you may have seen in your inbox from other organisations. Well formatted (we did them) but very singular in their focus - if you were not interested in the primary article there was not any clear idea of what else might be of value/interest.

If your mailing list is of any size you can safely bet there will be wide range of interests seeking accommodation in the material you distribute.

Fig. 2 - Current Email

Back to the party analogy, if your listener isn’t interested in your topic, allow a change of subject. We applied this truth firstly with Samaritan’s Purse via an overhaul of their newsletter email. Our goal was a more visually engaging format (recognising online users low copy-tolerance) and allowing readers to choose the subject they are most interested in.

However, as the copy is removed from the email itself, we needed infrastructure for providing the content on subjects requested. Yet we needed to be wary of the false ‘more-words-means-more-information-in-someone’s-head’ position.

Key 2. Allow conversation (stop yelling with your hands over your ears)

‘Hi, I’m Rob’ - The Site

Like some of you perhaps Samaritan’s Purse didn’t have infrastructure needed to implement a dynamic of this type so we worked closely with Samaritan’s Purse and Dunham + Company to develop an online archive, presentation and correspondence system developed using as a starting point the fantastic WordPress. Many hours later we were happy to see a model emerge where clearly formatted design, quality images, formatted text and user response were facilitated on budget ensuring a valuable experience for all members.        

Visit the newsletter site here.

I think Facebook address this well by having made almost everything ‘commentable’. While not entirely applicable in this situation (or maybe yours), the expectation is now interaction.

Changing Samaritan’s Purse’s method of email correspondence required changes in both the email and supporting frameworks.  The site and email now complement each other and provide far more opportunity for Samaritan’s Purse to converse with those interested and involved in their work than before.

So again, provide choices and facilitate conversation.  Important thoughts I think.

It’s an evolving process with a long way to go, but I think application of these important principles will allow for new growth for Samaritan’s Purse.

Thanks for reading,

Rob

While Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is not a company we work for or have any affiliation with besides some small financial support, they are a fantastic organisation and we’ve watched their email newsletters roll in for some time now.  

They have in the last 12 months made a dramatic revision in the formatting of their HTML email newsletters and their evolution is worth considering if you have been adhering a certain type for a while now in your own email marketing.

I’ve attached a screenshot saved from a 2008 newsletter we received from MSF.  It may remind you of the odd newsletter you’ve seen, or maybe of your own. :)

While we received these regularly and it kept MSF in our minds, they were rarely read due to the heavy amounts of text and the inability to clearly see any subjects of interest to us.  This ‘heavy’ format inhibited MSF’s ability to communicate by forcing the user to stop and read lengthy copy they may not be interested in in order to find something they might.  Almost as fun as eating Weet-Bix with no milk.

Significantly this older style of email makes assumptions about what content is relevant to publics rather than helping recipients to select areas of interest to them within the organisation’s sphere of activity.  I have illustrated the effectiveness of such emails in a graph I generously made for you here.

So, in the words of Dana Carvey from that-movie-I haven’t-seen-and-don’t-intend-to, ”This is what you doing.  This is what I want you to do.”

So, we were particularly interested when MSF recently transitioned to a very different email format (see second image). Beyond providing an emotional appeal through images of their work, I am now able to quickly see if there’s anything of interest in less than two seconds. Often I find myself clicking through to one or more areas. That possibility may have been there before, but, I just didn’t see it.

Succinctly, their emails have transitioned from a  monologue to a question/opportunity.  This is a far more acceptable method of digital communication respecting the recipients online sensibilities and time poverty.

Readers now follow through on areas of interest to them and click into an environment where they can fully engage with the area that they care about most and easily donate/register/forward/comment etc.

They choose, rather than being told.  This facilitates an even greater likelihood of further action.

So, what are you doing with your email newsletters?  Are you stuck in a marketing rut, where the only way to get a message out there is to cram it down like fairy floss in a fat kids face, or do you entice the user, respect their time and achieve a far more, er, healthy result.

MSF since launching their revised template has been very careful never to overload or grow it beyond the current ‘hero’ image, two article images, two paragrah-type-text areas and persistent footer links.  

Just looking at it now you can see how attractive and easy to decipher it is.  They are still careful to ensure all the images are ALT tagged and a kind disclaimer resides down the bottom.  But beyond that, I believe their understanding and consideration of their constituents has resulted a far more effective email.

Another great spin off is that you will be able to better judge what people actually are interested in as they follow through on particular topics.  You’ll be able to tailor your emails and begin a cycle of increased effectiveness.  So while you may not have powerful pictures relating to important issues of justice, you might just be able to change the way your emails are sent to facilitate easy communication and action using few words and clear links.

Love to know your thoughts,

~ Rob

We spend a lot of time advising on best practice for our many clients who use our email marketing services, but for those of us in Australia, we happen to be the beneficiaries of some of the most progressive (and strict!) spam legislation in the world, so it’s worth getting to know and ensuring that your campaigns are conforming with some reasonable rules.

Please note I am NOT a lawyer and my writings do not constitute legal counsel of any kind. But hopefully I can present some good information and links to relevant law to help you in formulating your companies SPAM policy. There’s a lot to digest, so I’m going to break it down into this introduction and three bite-size chunks for you to get your heads around over the next month or so.

Now if you’re feeling keen, the Australian government has produced a helpful document called “Spam Act 2003: A Practical Guide for Business”. It’s an invigorating read and if you want to dig deeper it’s a good place to start. However, I’ve read it, chewed it, thought about it and have emerged victorious. So let’s start at the bottom, what is ‘SPAM’ according to the Aussie pollies?

According to the SPAM Act, SPAM is, ‘unsolicited commercial electronic messaging’, and can be a single message sent via Instant Messaging (IM), SMS, other mobile phone messaging (MMS for example) or email. What isn’t covered is non-electronic matter, voice phone calls, pop up windows (sadly) and ‘Messages without any commercial content that do not contain links or directions to a commercial website or location’ (Spam Act 2003: A Practical Guide for Business: 4). For the messages to covered by the law they must either a) originate in Australia or b) contain and Australian link.

Address harvesting software or addresses gained from this type of software must also never be
used. Ever. Ever Ever Ever.

Some of the penalties which might interested you are: A single day of contraventions of the law can result in a fine of $220 000 and multiple breaches can lead to exposure to 1.1 million of fines. So if you’re planning on being caught you better have extra close ties to the Nigerian government and the hidden money of which you are the only beneficiary.

Back to business, how does one work to ensure complicity and avoid legal action and ensure your sending facility isn’t blacklisted through poor practice? There are three primary areas where a business needs to take care and I’m going to give a brief overview as best I can. Again, I recommend taking a look at the government’s document and also other relevant information on the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy’s website. The three areas are:

1. Consent
2. Identify
3. Unsubscribe

We’re going to look at each of these in a little more detail in the coming days, but so that I can leave you with something practical here are two quick points on what a message must contain by law.

1. Accurate information about the sender of the message
2. A functional way for the message’s recipients to indicate that they do not wish to receive such messages in the future – that they wish to unsubscribe.

So, easy. If know your list is clean and not sure about what actually has to be in the email to satisfy your legal requirements, just make sure you have accurate and legitimate contact information regarding your business and a way for the recipient to opt out. Easy! But don’t get too excited about your awesome fulfillment of these two simple directives, we’ve got the big three areas in SPAM law to come. Stay tuned!

~Rob :)