Marketing

communications
using digital
media channels
Chapter 6
 Digital Media Channels
Social
Media

GA Email Content Stra

tegy
Digital
Marketing
SEO Mobile

Adwords Online Lea

SEM DDA
d Generatio
n
Great Content Needs to be all of the
following
1. Credible
2. Shareable
3. Useful and Fun
4. Interesting
5. Relevant
6. Different
7. On Brand: Consumers of content expect to see a link between the content and the
brand. So if Ferrari produces an interactive guide to Formula 1 their consumers
would see the connection. However, a top 10 list of cars that dogs prefer would
probably not.
Common Types of Content
Some of the most common content types are listed below (this is not meant to be an exhaustive list but hopefully
demonstrates the many guises that content can take):

● podcasts.
Website articles News

 
Case Studies White Papers
Blogs, Video
Mobile Apps Testimonials
E-books Infographics
Images Online Presentations
Annual Reports Research Papers
E Mail Marketing - Introduction
1. With a much larger number of people having access to
the Internet, businesses are able to reach out to a
greater number of people using email marketing
2. Email marketing is the act of sending out emails to
customers, both current and prospective.
Email Marketing – Key Components
1. Direct Email: Emails are sent directly to current and potential customers
2. Retention Email: Frequent and regular emails are sent to current
customers
3. Email Placed Ads: Marketing ads are placed within emails sent by others
Direct Emails
1. Receiving direct email is like a
flyer from a local business
2. The difference is that with email,
you are not confined to receiving
mail solely from local businesses
3. The Internet is a place where the
market and competition has
become global, and everybody
wants to compete for you
Direct Vs. Retention emails
1. In recent years, businesses have become better when it comes to marketing
to the right demographics,
2. Laws against SPAM and customer sensitivity have also become key
elements to how they handle their practices
3. The distinctive element of direct emails is that it is a call to action on the part
of the customer.
4. Compared to direct emails, retention emails are the equivalent of printed
newsletter
5. While still promotional in nature, retention emails attempt to retain customer
loyalty by offering the customer something
Email Placed
ads
1. Another way to advertise
via email is to get some
advertisement space
within other email.
2. Knowing what other types
of businesses your
potential customers go to
and listen to is a great
advantage because it
allows you to strategically
place your ads in emails
likely to get clicks.
Does Email marketing work?

One study reported that55% of subscribers to promotional emails and

newsletter delete the material without even looking at them

But….
 Email Statistics
1. Over 347 billion emails will be sent and received per day
by 2022.
2. There are about 3.9 billion unique mobile Internet users
worldwide, representing around 51% of the global
population.
3. Checking email is what 58% of adults do first thing in the
morning.
4. There are more than 1.5 billion Gmail accounts.
5. 85% of users use smartphones to access email.
6. Mobile accounted for 46% of all email opens in 2018.
7. The ratio between received and sent emails is 3:1.
8. 47% of consumers use a mobile application for checking
their email.
9. 66% of consumers made a purchase online as a result of an
email marketing message
10. Average return on every $ 1 spent on email is $44.25
Why does it
work so well?
1. You can target audiences
2. Your marketing is driven by
data
3. You can directly sell
4. You are able to build
relationships, trust and
loyalty
5. Your marketing and sales
are supported through
other channels
Spam: The Big No-No in Email
Marketing
1. The word “Spam” means “Unsolicited Bulk Email”
2. Unsolicited means that the recipient has not granted verifiable permission for the
message to be sent. Unsolicited email can be normal email (e.g. first contact
inquiries, job inquiries, sales inquiries)
3. Bulk means that the message is sent as part of a larger collection of messages,
all having substantively identical content. Bulk email can be normal email (e.g.
subscriber newsletters, customer communications, discussion lists)

“A message is spam if it is both unsolicited and bulk. Never

send it!”
Spam Filters
1. The following email
characteristics can trigger
spam filters:
I. Image / Text imbalance
II. Use of all capitals
III. Irregular font sizes
IV. All Images
V. Attachments
VI. Phrases like: “Click
Here”, “sale”,
“attention”, “offer”,
“free”, obscene terms
etc.
Spam is in the eye of the beholder!
1. The recipient decides if you’re
spamming due to:
I. Unfamiliarity with your, your
business or brand
II. Forgetting that they have opted
in
III. Irrelevant content
IV. An unpleasant experience
V. Having already opted out
Email Marketing Rules
1. Don’t buy lists
2. Don’t share lists
3. Never assume
4. Have a process for unsubscribes (automate!)
5. Don’t mix your messages
Using Email Marketing Software

1. The most important part of starting up

your email marketing program is to obtain
software specifically for sending out
emails
2. ESPs (email service providers) are
companies that provide email services,
such as email marketing and bulk email
services
3. ISPs (Internet Service Providers) do not
normally allow high volmes of emails to
pass through. You need an ESP for this
service
Advantages of Email Service Providers
1. No hardware required
2. No mail server required
3. No server upgrades
4. No white list / black list issues
5. Low cost of entry
6. High levels of functionality and
reporting
What to look for in an ESP
1. IP address: Private or Shared?
2. Customer Support / Training
3. Robust infrastructure
4. Good reporting
5. List Segmenting / Categorization
6. A/B Testing
7. Free Trial
8. No Term Contract
9. Pricing Plans
Customer Relationship
Management Software
1. Method of marketing, online or offline, that is tailored to individual,
returning customers.
2. CRM focuses on current customers because they know these customers
are already loyal to the company
3. CRM implements a strategy specific to those returning customers by
offering specific incentives
4. CRM software can be used separately or synchronized with your existing
email software
Customer Relationship
Management Software
1. Active Campaign
2. Hubspot
3. Softworks
4. Opentaps
5. Tunesta
6. OpenCRX
7. Pipedrive
Analyzing & Tracking your Email
Marketing Strategy
1. Tracking and analyzing the performance of emails is very easy with the
help of tools featured in ISPs
I. The Kinds of data you can track include, but not limited to, the following:
II. Email bounce rates
III. Who opened emails
IV. What links were clicked
V. Customers that unsubscribe
VI. Email forwards
Bounce Rate
1. Bounce rates are the % of
emails that were not
successfully delivered to a
recipient
2. Happen for a number of
reasons, like firewalls,
misspelled addresses or a full
inbox.
Open Rate
1. Open rates are the number of interactions an email server gets as a
result of a recipient opening an email
Click through rate
1. Are the % of users that click on links to an email
2. Companies can use click through rates to personalize a customer’s
email preferences and offer recommendations (for example, offering
them related offers)
3. You can also use click through rates as a means of testing out different
versions of an email
Email Tracking Data: Offline
1. You might want to track how well your emails are
doing for certain components of your entire
marketing strategy
2. However, using click through or open rates in this
scenario will not work
3. Some situations where you will want to know if your
emails are effective include:
I. In-store purchases: giving you their email when
they make a purchase
II. Phone calls: giving you their email when they
call you
III. Event attendance: giving them a special code to
enter viewable only via email
Building email lists by Quantity
1. To get people to subscribe to you and to gain their permission, you should
try and give your potential customers as many opt-in points as possible.

2. Opt-in points are online / offline places where a potential customer grants
permission to receive emails from your organization

3. However you create it, the opt in is a place that says “We have something
to offer you; would you like to receive it?”
How to place opt in points
1. Putting them on popular pages of your website
2. Putting one in the signature of your mail
3. Placing them on printed ads such as coupons or promotional flyers
4. Placing one on the landing page of a pay-per-click ad and marketing ads
5. Placing them on purchase confirmation emails, or even printed receipts
6. Putting them on the pages of your social media profiels
Signing up at an opt in point
1. You must offer some kind of
incentive to get people to sign
up.Some examples include:
I. Coupons or discounts
II. Relevant, information rich
white papers or ebooks
III. Contests
IV. Videos or podcasts
V. Webinars
Single Vs. Double Opt in
1. With single opt-in, a user subscribes to an email list and their email
address is not verified.
2. With double opt-in, a user subscribes to an email list and their email
address is verified.
Opt Out
Opt out points should be
simplified for users to be able
to unsubscribe in single click.
Using List Brokers to build a list
List brokers are companies that specifically collect email contacts and sell
them to other companies
How not to build your email contact
list
1. Do not purchase an email list from companies offering you to keep it as a
data file
2. Do not collect email addresses from websites and directories
3. Do not use another’s business email to send your own emails
4. Do not do business with an email collection service, unless they have
documented permission from the customers
5. Do not rent email lists
What do users consider SPAM?
1. They cannot verify its source
2. They think the emails are too frequent
3. They simply do not want emails
4. Even if the user does not think your emails are spam, they may still hti the
spam button because:
I. They could have accidently hit the spam button
II. They may not trust the unsubscribe link
III. The unsubscribe link is confusing
 Legitimate emails & practises
1. Thank you
2. Reminder paragraphs
3. Reminder emails
4. Brand your emails
5. Make your emails familiar
6. Make valuable email content
7. Emails to those who unsubscribe
8. Describe what your subscription entails
9. Send emails with user expectations in mind
10. Allow for individual preferences.
Building email lists by quality
1. Though you want to obtain new
customers as well, tailoring your email
marketing to current, loyal customers
will drive continual sales and perhaps
even make a loyal customer out of a
newer one.
2. When you install email marketing
software from an ESP, it should have a
feature to allow you to categorize and
segment email addresses
 Segmentation
1. Defining and subdividing a market into
clearly identifiable segments having
similar needs, wants and
characteristics
2. Segmentation is important because it
allows you to personalize
communication based on the specific
characteristics of the target group.
3. Segmentation can be dynamic based
on information gathered throughout the
customer lifecycle / relationship and
based on their behavior
Segmentation based on Behavior
Smart Bargains sent out this clever
email to bring back old, inactive
customers who have not made a
purchase in a while. The email headline
says “Sorry it’s been so long.” Then, the
company offers an extra 25% off the
whole website for 2 days only. This
creates a sense of urgency for the
customer to shop now.
Segmentation based on
Demographics
Segmentation based on
Psychographics
1. Women’s retailer Intermix used their
customer data to make 3 segments
related to the customers’ purchase
patterns. These segments were:
I. VIP customers, who made more money
and liked to buy the latest trends. These
customers received exclusive invites to
special events.
II. Sale shoppers, who made more
purchases when there was a discount.
These customers received 30% discounts.
III. Brand shoppers, who were loyal to certain
brands and are willing to spend a little
extra for them. These customers received
10-15% discounts on their favorite brands.
Segmentation based on geography
Crafting an Email
1. The email message you send out is
going to be the most crucial element to
getting customers involved in your email
marketing message
2. Customers are scanners of information,
so crafting an effective email that entices
them to want more is crucial to keeping
your email marketing strategy effective
Crafting an email
1. The “From” Line: Some ESPs allow you
to have this line state the organization’s
name rather than the email address from
which it is sent. Creates familiarity and
trust with the company.
2. The “Subject” Line:
I. Relevant subject lines prompt
audiences to take action immediately
II. Subject lines are industry dependent.
Price works for travel, not for education
III. Test A/B
3. Portions of the Email shown through
Email Clients
Email
Client
Crafting an Email: Subject Line
Get your point
across: The
highlights of your
statement should be
in the mail itself, so
be sure to state the
broad claim or
importance of your
email.
Crafting an Email: Terrible Subject
Lines
1. “Chris, you won’t believe what we have in store for you!!!”
2. “See What’s New this November”
3. “We Know You’ll Love This”
4. “We Did a Study and Now We Want You to Read the Whole Thing Right
Now So That We Can Get Feedback and Sell You Something”
5. “You Have to Act Now”
6. “This ebook will change your business forever!!!”
7. “Our Service is So Great, Let Me Tell You About It”
8. “Marketers are raving about a new tool that…”
Crafting an Email: Sense of Urgency
Use time-sensitive
words. This will
enhance your reader’s
reaction time. These
words instill a sense of
need into your readers.
I. Hurry
II. Quick
III. Now
IV. Never
V. While supplies last
VI. Ending soon
Crafting an Email:
Branding
1. Branding is the use of graphic
and artistic elements to give
your organization and unique
and consistent look.
I. Familiarity
II. Authenticity
III. Consistency
IV. Personality
V. Distinction
Crafting an Email:
Layout
1. Customers ‘read’ the layout of an
email as a whole before they read
the actual written content
2. Show Branding
3. Headline
4. Call to Action
5. Visual Anchors (links to your
websites or coupons etc)
6. Copy / Image balance
7. Links & Attachments
Images
Many email clients by default
have images turned off
Images should never carry
the meaning of the email,
rather they should support
the meaning of the mail
Balance images in email, to
avoid triggering SPAM filters
Use alt text in email
messages which is visible
when images are turned off
What is Alt text?
Alt text (alternative text) is a word
or phrase that can be inserted as
an attribute in an HTML (Hypertext
Markup Language) document to tell
Web site viewers the nature or
contents of an image.
The alt text appears in a blank box
that would normally contain the
image
Attachments
1. Be aware of the risks with
using attachments. They
may cause:
I. Lower open rates
II. Trigger spam blockers
III. Create security concerns
Communication Zones
Know that a key
feature of e-mail
marketing is that it is
personally directed
to the user, into their
personal inbox, and
placed within a
personal
environment vs. any
other communication
tool except mobile
phone
Email Client Perusal
How the end user sequentially peruses the content when it arrives in their
email client

Messag
From Subject
e
Name Line
Preview
Risks
1. Even with opt in email marketing, there are risks with marketing directly to
subscribers on email in their personal communications zone (Inbox)
I. Relevance of the Message (Segmentation)
II. Frequency of Sending
III. Interruption Factor
 1. Users scan their incoming mail and prioritize based on :
I. Time of day
II. When email sent / received (
III. Location (user & sender)
I. Try to use real names instead of info@ or
response@

Subscriber II. Allow to respond (don’t use no reply@)

IV. Sender familiarity & Attitudes (incl. cultural & gender
Prioritization bias etc)
V. Work and family priorities
Criteria
 Unsubscribe

The Perfect
email!