Email Marketing 101 – Beyond the Monthly Newsletter

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Email Marketing 101 – Beyond the
Monthly Newsletter
Rich Dietz
August 20, 2013
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Rich Dietz
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Nonprofit R + D

Online Fundraising 101
www.NonprofitRD.com
Email Marketing www.NonprofitRD.com
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Email Marketing 101
Beyond the Monthly Newsletter
Rich Dietz
Nonprofit R+D
rich@nonprofitrd.com
@nonprofitrd
www.NonprofitRD.com/FB
www.NonprofitRD.com/IN
www.NonprofitRD.com/gplus

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Our Speaker
Rich Dietz
Founder of Nonprofit R+D - Technology
Training for Nonprofit Professionals
Richard has over 20 years' experience working
in and with a wide variety of nonprofit,
political, and government organizations and
holds a Masters in Social Welfare (MSW) from
UC Berkeley.
You can find Rich on his website
http://www.nonprofitrd.com
or tweeting @nonprofitrd.

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Best Practices?
• A “best practice” = what works in your org
• Testing is the key,
– Much easier to do online
– If it works, do more.
– If not, try something else.

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Agenda
1. Introduction
2. Building Your List
3. Email Best Practices
4. Storytelling

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1. Introduction

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Strong Foundation

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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslows_hierarchy_of_needs

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Online Hierarchy of Needs
Need a strong
Foundation

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Email is Still #1
Many new “tools”
in the press
Email still takes
the prize

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Email is still the most effective online method
• 69% prefer electronic over print communication
• Cygnus Donor Survey
• High Return on Investment (ROI)
• $42 for every $1 spent - VerticalResponse
Relatively inexpensive
Easiest way to connect and follow-up
• 7 touches – marketing principle
• Follow up can be very effective – progress, success, more help
Why Email Marketing?

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2. Building Your List

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No Magic Bullet
There is no one single tactic that will fill your list
The key is
• Consistency
• Multiple approaches

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Ideas to Grow Your Email List
Quick Ideas
1. Make it easy
2. Tell-A-Friend
3. Event registration forms
4. Add to paper forms
Plus…

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Sign up form on your site
Adding an opt-in box to your website
• Email provider can give you the code to do this
Where should you put it? Everywhere.
• Sidebar is a great start
• Homepage
• About page, program pages, etc.
• Boom bar / hello bar
Add an opt-in box below your content
• If they read to the bottom, they like the content
• Get them to sign up right then

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Incentives for Sign Up
Need a strong reason WHY
• What are the benefits for THEM, not you
Bribes, Gifts, Downloads
• Give them that little extra for signing up
Ideas for incentives
• How-to, white paper, infographics, email series
• T-shirt, bumper sticker, yard sign
• Videos, success stories, updates
• Matching Gifts - $1 for every signup
• Get creative!

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Run a Contest
Sign up / spread the word.. Win prizes
• I did this with RaffleCopter.com
• Its fun and gives a reason to talk about it
Super simple version
• Raffle based on all current signups
• Reward new and current subscribers
• Encourages them to stay on your list

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Email Signature
How many emails do you send per day?
• Why not use those opportunities
Add links to your signature
• Very easy to do
• Can change as often as you like
• Email opt-in, upcoming event, etc.

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The “Evil” Popup
www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/

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3. Email Best Practices
Based on the top questions
I get asked about email

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#1 Rule – No Spamming
Only email to Confirmed Opt-ins
• Spamming can do more damage than good
• Lost account or bad reputation
Quality over Quantity
• I prefer double opt-in
• Goal is not a huge list
• Better to have a small responsive list
Not building an email list
• Building a relationship with people on your list
• Eg./ Personal story

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Test, Test, Test
Best Practices are a start
• A “Best Practice” is what works for YOU and your organization
Testing is the only way to find what works
• The Obama Campaign – tested everything
• Many surprises -- “Hey”
Ideas to test
• Subject lines, layouts, graphics, calls to action, bribes, etc.
• Each idea we discuss could have multiple versions or tests

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Write Awesome Content
More spam please!? No thanks.
Write from a personal point of view
• People want to connect with real people
• Coffee with a friend
• Eg/ My last newsletter, told a personal story
• More positive comments than ever
Use “You”, not “We”
• More conversational - Makes them a part of the story

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Monthly Newsletter - #FAIL
Monthly newsletters no longer work
• Too much content, lost in the inbox
• Need shorter, engaging content
• Tell stories over multiple emails
Easy to digest / “Scanable”
Get the click
• Don’t put the whole article, click to read more
• Video will have the highest click-through rates (3-5x higher)
Single Call to Action in every email

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Email Design
The Simple Way – use a template from email provider
• They will take care of all the tech stuff and make it look good
• Pick a simple, short, easy to read template
Beyond that.. Keep these in mind
• Width of 640px or less
• Important info “above the fold”
• Test how it looks with “images disabled”
• Don’t use large blocks of text – “scanable”
• Fonts – “web safe” and easy to read
• Test in multiple email clients
• Outlook, gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc.

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Best time to send?
It Depends…
• Really need to test this with your audience
• Weekday usually better than weekend
• 10am usually better than 9am
• Midweek usually better than Monday/Friday
• Try different days and times and track

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Subject Lines
Keep it short
• Around 30-35 characters, or it gets cut off
• Need shorter, engaging content
Avoid the spam filter
• Avoid ALL CAPS, symbols, “free”, too many !!!!!!!!
• Spam filters are based on formula
• Too many points and you are spam
Change it up
• Don’t use the same subject on every email

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Subject Lines
Relevant and enticing
• Literacy eNews – January 2011, OR 5 tips to create a life long reader
Catch their eye
• Be a little different, but not too much
• Try one !, or other symbol
• Ask a question or be a bit controversial
• Use verbs and actions
Test, Test, Test
• Only way to know for sure
• Obama campaign was always testing
• The famous “Hey” subject line

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Frequency
Don’t fear the unsubscribe
• Probably not going to be supporters anyways
• May not happen anyways –
• Case study – High vs. Low Frequency Emails
• High Frequency Emails had:
• 23% more money
• 31% less unsubscribes
More frequent “asks”
• Not always for money – build a relationship
• Other small favors and actions
• Petition, Tell-a-friend, watch video, Like on facebook, etc.

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Welcome Series
Series of emails automatically sent
• New subscribers, new donors, new volunteers… get creative!
• Automated with your email provider (constant contact, mailchip, etc.)
• Allows them to get to know you better over time
Excellent Engagement
• 4x more opens, 5x more clicks – Experian Marketing Services
Ideas
• Don’t ask for money again right away
• Don’t bore them
• DO tell them more about your work, staff, clients and especially…
• Success stories

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Mobile Friendly Email (next level)
Probably need to start working on this
• Some predict more email open on mobile than desktops by early 2014
• 82% of smartphone users check and send email
• 61% close or delete if not mobile optimized
Mobile email templates
• Most providers have these now
• Easy to use and set up
However, is your website mobile friendly?
• No sense in doing mobile email if your site is not ready for them

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4. Storytelling
Potentially the biggest impact you can
make on your email marketing

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danariely.com
Why Stories?
Campaigns (with stories) are compelling…
• Donation pages are not
Stories create an emotional connection
•Emotion >> Rationality
•Buy based on emotion / Rationalize it later with facts
What donors want to hear about:
• Organizational Impact (80%)
• Success Stories (74%)
• More details about the organization (71%)
• Info on financial accountability (43%)
Community Philanthropy 2.0 survey

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Stories = Connection
Create emails and campaigns with “stories” in mind
• Individual stories are more effective
• Inspire supporters with your passion
• Across emails.. The Cliffhanger
• Childhood Hunger vs. six-year old Marie
http://www.austinfoodbank.org/hunger-is-unacceptable/http://www.austinfoodbank.org/hunger-is-unacceptable/

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Storytelling Example
rememberme.ushmm.org/

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Action Steps

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Action Steps
Commit to trying some new email strategies
Select a few strategies or ideas and test
Take action, collect results, evaluate results
Take another action

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Sign Up for our email list
Get updates
about our upcoming
webinars and get our 5 part
e-course:
NonprofitRD.com/of101e

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@nonprofitrd
www.NonprofitRD.com/FB
www.NonprofitRD.com/IN
www.NonprofitRD.com/gplusRich Dietz
rich@nonprofitrd.com
Email Sign up
www.nonprofitrd.com/of101e
Discount for Online Fundraising Course -
www.NonprofitRD.com/email101

Email Marketing 101 – Beyond the Monthly Newsletter

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