Learn to Love Testing

We all know how important it is to make the most of the money we've got and spend it wisely. This being said, you may not think that this is the right time to test out new creatives to see what works best for you and your readers. Testing new creatives is the first step you take towards improving your email marketing skills and create more productive campaigns. Ultimately, this should (hopefully!!) increase your revenue - and the prospect of that alone should be enough to persuade you that testing is undoubtedly very, very important.

Where do I get started? First let's identify and set your goals - do you want to increase performance? If yes, then which aspect of it? Without a doubt, clicks should be your primary focus (of course, hopefully you're using the right ESP to get them delivered). Understand the needs of your business and the needs of your clients. Recession or no recession, your readers don't have a handful of free hours during the day to read emails with a lot of content. Try to keep your content short and to the point.

A/B split campaigns are a great way to test the effectiveness of one campaign against another. Here's how you do it -

- Ensure you've got a list big enough to evenly split for testing and to get a realistic picture of which campaign had a better performance

- Create 2-3 (or more) versions of the same creative/offer using different verbiage, or images (I'm sure you've heard this before, but I'll say it again -- while creating campaigns don't forget the 40% to 60% text to html ratio)

- Choose the subject lines next - keep in mind that your subject line is the identifier of your mailing. It's the thing that prompts readers to open or not open your email

- Make sure to run Delivery Testing prior to sending out the campaign. This will help you understand any flags that rendering or delivery may cause prior to scheduling the mailing. If you need further clarification, please feel free to contact us at (888) 732-8090 and we'll be happy to assist you in understanding the process

Another very effective tool for measuring and testing your creatives is sending an Nth sampling campaign. It allows you to extract a small sample of users from your overall list and allows you to define at what interval/position you want the selection to be. For example, a 10th name selection from a 100 user list will bring back 10 users for your testing. KobeMail allows you to create not only Nth sampling campaigns, but a combination of A/B split testing as well. Once you identify the performing subject line and creative, a follow up campaign can be sent to the rest of the users (excluding the 10 users that have already seen the creative).

After the campaign has been successfully deployed, analyze and compare the reporting for the different splits. You should not only measure the outcome of the split campaign, but compare the reporting with that of the previous campaign. KobeMail clients can easily do a campaign comparison report along with purchase trackng (if purchase tracking is set up). You should be looking at the following for your campaigns:

- Opens - this will give you an idea of which subject line/from name works better. Although, you should limit your deduction on this, as an open is dependent on whether the user downloaded images. In text only campaigns, this is close to impossible to determine unless the user clicks a URL in the email

- Clicks - this will give you a better understanding of the content your readers respond more favorably to. Refer to a previous blog post on call to actions for more info

- Compare the conversion rates from previous campaigns you sent out for the same product/offer - see which campaign had a better performance

- Check to see if a certain campaign increased traffic to your website

- Look at the percentage of received mailings - did one campaign seem to get blocked more? Did it have more images or a risky subject line?

- If you're selling a product/service and have purchase tracking, compare the revenue across the campaigns. Did any particular offer work better than another? Did placing a certain link at the top or bottom of your creative generate better revenue? Did readers buy more when you placed links on the left versus the right?

Comparing the results of test campaigns will help you better understand your reader base and better understand the changes that could be beneficial to your future mailings.

Author: Roopal Sharma
Editor: Courtney Dillsworth

Harnessing the Power of Social Networking Sites

You might've noticed the recent trend in social networking sites rocketing out of control. These kinds of sites have definitely influenced the way email marketers are thinking - if it hasn't for you yet, I'm sure it will in the very near future. They houses on their databases all the info email marketers need to perfect creatives and speak directly to consumers in a very relevant way. You may be wondering how to make social networking sites work for you... luckily there's a very easy answer to this question and it lies in social networking sites themselves. I've got some ideas you can use to make Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and any other social networking site work to your advantage.

If your business is resisting getting sucked into the social networking vortex that has taken over the internet recently, it's time to quit resisting. You should take the plunge and give into social networking, because it holds the key to so much valuable info from your consumers - for free! Here are a few suggestions/examples you can use on a couple of the leading social networking sites:

1. Facebook: If your product is a clothing brand or manufacturer, create a Facebook application that users can download, where they can dress a virtual person in your brand's clothing. This is both entertaining and a great advertisement. Users can share the application with their friends, exactly the way a viral solution works. Your brand instantly becomes associated with fun and entertainment and is accessible to more people than you probably ever dreamed of!
   
   


2. MySpace: If your company deals in music, for example, create a MySpace page linked in your creatives where users can listen to sample songs from the artists you represent. You can create bios for your artists, post pictures, give facts, etc. Doing this not only puts your brand in the middle of a huge pool of users, it also makes your brand seem more user-friendly - more relatable.



3. Twitter: This is probably the most convenient of the social networking sites. Just post a couple times a day with news, or fun facts or promos your company is offering. This should generate followers, who will (hopefully!) subscribe to your newsletters or buy your product. Once again, your company has been instantly exposed to millions of viewers, consumers, etc.

The best part of social networking sites is that there are no spam complaints (haha) - all joking aside, though, becoming a part of these social networking sites really allows you to connect with your readers on a more intimate level. Create profiles for your brand and put links to them in your creatives. Maybe send out a mailing specifically announcing your new profiles on Facebook, MySpace or Twitter to spark interest and begin generating followers/fans/friends. From here you can research exactly what interests your readers; you can create polls about mailing topics, or what promos your readers like best, etc. You can use the info you get from these social networking sites to really fine tune creatives and increase your opt-ins.

Author: Courtney Dillsworth

Happy New Year

Another successful year at KobeMail. Thanking and wishing all my clients and readers a HAPPY & PROSPEROUS 2010 from the KobeMail Team.

Regards,
Yasifur

Increase your email's performance during the holidays

This is the time of year when your users are inundated with emails. Black Friday emails, Thanksgiving discounts, Christmas offers... not to mention the notorious increase in activity from all the spammers sitting around, hoping for a click to make a buck. The question now becomes, how do you have your users look out for your email while sifting through thousands of other offers/promos?

As I had mentioned in my last post, subject lines and building anticipation or including a call to action for your next mailing are some important tools you can use to increase the performance of your email. With all the expenses, preparing for holiday parties, and shopping, your users are more stressed than usual. They don't need the additional stress of going through hundreds of the same offers - buy now, use this coupon and save, etc. You need to come up with a way to better understand your users and differentiate yourself from all the other companies sending emails. Pushing your users over and over or sending the same email with the same promo/offer will get your mailings deleted. You can differentiate yourself by offering informative, effective, non-pushy subject lines - become a friendly voice to your users.

Once you've got the reader's attention, you've already won 90% of the battle. Next you need to monetize on the attention you've got from your readers. One way is to stretch their interest from one email to the next. Here are a few strategies you can try:

- Include an effective call to action, such as, "Look out for a blow out sale happening two days before Black Friday. Stocks are limited." Maybe mention that this promotion isn't for everyone - the users were selected via a randomized process. This will create a sense of exclusivity and increase anticipation for the next mailing to come because you have allowed the reader to believe he/she is the only one privy to this information. It instantly becomes more valuable.

- Send a follow-up campaign to non-opens, or send a special offer to clickers. Historically, this has worked well, but sending test emails before the start of the holiday season is the only way to be sure of what will work for your mailing list.

- Limited Time Offers are another effective way to increase opens, clicks and revenue. Allow your readers a month or 6 weeks to use a promotion, rather than 24 hours or 3 days or something. It's advisable to avoid One Time Offers, because they come across as pushy and forceful - they send a message of urgency, which is the last thing your users need this time of the year.

It's important around the holidays not to push sales too hard. Stress levels are at an all time high and people are looking for that one company to give them a break and not force the sale out of them. This is the time when you make or break user loyalty. Be a friend to them and you will reap the returns.

Co-Author: Courtney Dillsworth & Roopal Sharma

Are you prepared with your strategy for the Holiday season?

I’ve noticed a trend where creating an authentic, consistent personality in your campaigns, which speaks directly to your users, can have a positive effect on your ROI. Being relatable and personal in your communications and not just strictly business has resulted in higher opens and click thru rates.

Spark the reader’s curiosity by including a level of unpredictability and mystery in each of your campaigns. Add elements to the campaign which will make the user look forward to your next email. Include a compelling call to action, such as "look for a 10% coupon in our next email." This is an effective way to keep readers engaged from one campaign to the next. It also increases the probability of higher opens for your follow-up campaigns.

Say you went out to eat at your favorite restaurant and ordered the same entrée you always order. You will more than likely lose interest in that particular entrée fairly quickly and want some variety. Emails work in a similar fashion. Don’t recycle campaign content, as readers tend to get bored with reading the same information, resulting in drops in your open rates. When this happens, no matter how compelling the offer/information appears in your subject line, you have lost your audience and the campaign is doomed.

The fact of the matter is good content should get you the responses you want and help you achieve the goals you’ve set for your campaign. It is crucial to have a striking, informative subject line, as it is the first impression of your campaign readers will see. Sending new campaigns with the same old subject line will probably get your email deleted before it’s opened. Make your communications stand out – be unique and cater your information specifically to users on your opt-in lists. Basically, you should try to find a new way to convey your message, thus differentiating yourself from your competition.

Setting performance bars for your campaigns can also be a good way to improve performance. If an email’s performance rates drop below the criterion you’ve set or the norm from historical data, it’s time to revise the campaign, the content or the subject line. Doing this frequently will allow you to know your consumer base more intimately and send well-targeted and successful campaigns.

Although the level of spending may be lower than previous years due to the recession, the fourth quarter is always the highest spending quarter of any year. 2009 won’t prove to be any different. Testing is the key to capitalizing and monetizing on this increase in consumer spending. Try out new campaign or subject line styles prior to the start of the holiday season so you can really benefit from holiday spending.

The holidays are also a perfect time to send a sequel campaign. For example, send out a campaign with a 10% coupon, and then once they’ve redeemed that coupon, as an autoresponder/trigger-based event, send out a second campaign with a 25% coupon good for their next purchase over X amount of money. This will create anticipation, thus boosting opens and response rates.

Good luck monetizing your Holidays ;)

Co-Author: Courtney Dillsworth

Gmail Spam Messages

Have you ever noticed that when an email hits the Spam folder in your Gmail Account a little message pop’s up at the top? Have you ever taken the time to actual read it? I was surprised to find that these messages, which at first glance look pretty much the same, all mean different things. Each of the 8 reasons below that Gmail provides recipients can be simply categorized and that could be the key for improving your Gmail deliverability. Check them out.

CAUSE 1: Reputation Problems

Be careful with this message. Many people marked similar messages as spam.
Why is this message in Spam? We’ve found that lots of messages from are spam.

Among other factors, proper and continuous cleansing of your database is necessary to avoid reputation issues.

CAUSE 2: Authentication Problems

This message was likely forged and did not originate from your account.
This message may not have been sent by:

It is important to check your email authentication settings as they may not be properly set up.

CAUSE 3: Content Problems

Why is this message in Spam? It’s similar to messages that were detected by our spam filters.
Why is this message in Spam? It contains content that’s typically used in spam messages.

Make sure emails maintain a 60/40 text to image ratio, eliminate words that may get noticed by spam filters such as “cash,” and make sure content is valuable and relatable to recipients.

CAUSE 4: Serious Content Problems

Be careful with this message. It might contain a virus or a malicious link.
Be careful with this message. Similar messages were used to steal people’s personal information. Unless you trust the sender, don’t click links or reply with personal information.

If you see one of these messages, immediate action is required. Generally these messages will be seen as a result of a phishing scam – its important to handle promptly.

 

Best Times to Mail

Clients often ask us if there is a particular day of the week or time of the day that’s best to send to their distribution list. This is a hard one to answer. Although there are periods of time that are generally accepted as being most likely to return the best results, day of week and time of day depends greatly on the client and the purpose of the email.

Below are some things to keep in mind regarding email timing by day:

Monday - Inboxes are filled from the weekend, and people are trying to get back into “work mode.”  If you plan to send Monday its best to send mid-morning after office workers have had a chance to clean out their inbox.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - These 3 days are generally accepted as the best time to send. Why? By this time inboxes should be cleared from the weekend rush and your recipients should be in full mid-week mode. For office workers this entails reading through work emails as well as checking personal mailboxes for your messages. For stay at homes, timing may vary here, but usually at some point within this period (whether it be morning or night) individuals will most likely check their mailboxes.

Friday - There is research that suggests that sending out emails on Friday could present lower opens than other days of the week. On Friday people are itching to start their weekend and checking emails may not be high on their priority list.  If you do plan to send out on Friday, morning is generally best as it gives users a chance to check their message before leaving the office.

The Weekend – Business workers are generally out of the office during this period, which means if they don’t check mail from home they wont see your message until Monday morning when its lost in a sea of weekend emails. Try to avoid bulk mailings on the weekends unless to circumstances are conducive to this type of send.

In regards to time of day, we at Kobemail generally suggest to clients a send time of around either 10am or 1pm in the afternoon. Although time of day will have less of an effect on opens than the day itself, these times are great as a benchmark because recipients have already sifted through morning and lunch break messages.

Keep in mind, with the progression of mobile devices and the increase is accessibility to email these rules tend to fade. For individuals with smartphone devices, emails are checked as they come in and day tends to matter less.

We can’t stress enough that these are simply guidelines and tips for sending; what’s most important is proper analysis of your email marketing campaigns. Know your demographic, look through past data result trends, and experiment with times to find out what works best for your mailers specifically.

Happy Mailing!

- The Kobemail Team