HTML emails can suck. From the 1990s era code to uninspiring templates to fulfillment and statistics in an alien CRM HTML emails are something that many choose to ignore. Or, at best, develop and deliver outside of a CRM. In the summer of 2018 University Relations at West Virginia University implemented a new way of delivering HTML emails in support of Enrollment Management. We found we could be more creative and focused in our messaging than we ever expected. Early numbers show we may have influenced our class with our new strategy. In this session, you’ll follow along with a case study that will cover how we: • Re-thought our email communication plans from the ground-up • Helped designers and developers collaborate with Enrollment Management using Litmus • Built a tool on top of MJML to help speed up our development time, as well as segment copy and imagery, for our emails • Track the effectiveness of our email communications using a dashboard built in Data Studio And it’s all CRM agnostic.

1. TAKING YOUR HTML EMAIL
COMMUNICATIONS FROM
EW TO WOW
Dave Olsen / @dmolsen
West Virginia University

2. THE POWER OF EMAIL

3. 204,151
Clicks out to our application
Aug. 1 2018 - Aug. 20 2019
by channel source
SocialEmail
EMAIL DRIVES ACTION STAT #1

4. Academic deposits by month
October November December January February March
2018 2019
EMAIL DRIVES ACTION STAT #2

5. $3,000,000+
EMAIL HAS VALUE

10. THE FOUR INGREDIENTS
FOR SUCCESSFUL EMAILS🍹
1. The Plan
2. The Emails
3. Tracking
4. A Good Reputation

11. INGREDIENT #1
THE PLAN 🥓

12. IT WAS SPRING 2018…

13. THE FLOWCHART

15. Audiences, stages and funnels (oh my!)
Timing of messaging
Actions we’re trying to drive
Core messaging
KNOW YOUR GOAL WITH RESEARCH

16. HOW DOES RESEARCH HELP
ME MAKE A PRETTY EMAIL?
Time Understanding
⏱ 🧠

17. DOCUMENTING ASSUMPTIONS
SHOULD HELP KEEP EVERYONE
ON THE SAME PAGE.
* May not be valid in higher education.

19. THE FUNNEL

21. GET YOUR COPY.
go.wvu.edu/aud-stage

22. OUR CORE AUDIENCES ARE
THE BASE FOR OUR PLANS.

23. BE PROACTIVE AND
AGGRESSIVE WITH
AUDIENCE AND CONTENT
SEGMENTATION.

24. BECAUSE…
YOU CAN ONLY EMAIL
SOMEONE SO MANY TIMES.

25. Awareness and attract
Nurture
Convert
Convert
Nurture
Sales FunnelEnrollment Funnel vs.
The sales funnel provides another way of determining what to send and when.
MATCHING ENROLLMENT TO SALES

26. Awareness and attract
January
Junior
August
Senior
January
Senior
August
Enrolled
Leads
Comm Plan
Admits
Comm Plan
Awareness and Attract
Nurture
Convert
Convert
Nurture
MATCHING ENROLLMENT TO SALES

27. TYPES OF EMAILS FOR YOUR PLAN
By send type: one-time or drip
By format: promotional or transactional
Other types: onboarding, abandoned
cart and win back

29. INGREDIENT #2
THE EMAIL 🥩

30. A CAVEAT:
WE’VE HAD TO OWN THE ENTIRE
EMAIL CREATION PROCESS.
* Our CRM sucks for building email

37. OUR WORKFLOW
Write copy.
Design in browser based on copy.
Test in Litmus.
Iterate copy and get approvals.
Load HTML into the CRM.

38. OUR ROLES
Plan owner
Writer
Front-end developer
Various reviewers

39. THE PARTS OF AN EMAIL
Subject line
Preview text
Body of email
Call to action
Alignalltodriveyourgoal

41. WRITING TIPS
Use user stories and empathy mapping to
ensure content is on target. Single call-to-
action.
Write in the second person and use the
contact's name.
Be explicit with copy related to personalization.
Have consistent brand voice. Lean towards a
style that's more “social media” and less “print."

42. hemingwayapp.com

43. IT’S TIME TO BUILD
THE EMAIL…

45. caniemail.com

46. 90s HTML and Tech

47. PRO-TIP:
DON’T USE HTML TO
BUILD HTML EMAILS

48. EXAMPLE: ACCEPTANCE EMAIL

49. MJML
EXAMPLE: ACCEPTANCE EMAIL

50. MJML
EXAMPLE: ACCEPTANCE EMAIL

51. MJML
EXAMPLE: ACCEPTANCE EMAIL

52. MJML
EXAMPLE: ACCEPTANCE EMAIL

53. HTML
EXAMPLE: ACCEPTANCE EMAIL

54. FEATURES OF MJML
Easy and quick
Responsive by default
Component-based
Use an online editor, local editor or node library
Pre-built templates and clear docs

55. mjml.io

56. PATTERN LIBRARY LOCAL TOOL
* Not mutually exclusive. Can do both.
Pure MJML + MJML Tool MJML + Mustache + Node

57. BENEFITS OF EBB2
Separate content from layout.
Pattern-based. MJML + Mustache.
Auto-reload when designing in the browser.
Segment copy and imagery.
Auto-add tracking information.
Fit to your process.

58. JSON
EXAMPLE: ACCEPTANCE EMAIL

59. DESIGN TIPS
Responsive layout with max width of 600 pixels.
Grid layouts. Single column with rows.
Avoid image-only CTAs. Use big HTML buttons.
If using GIFs the first frame needs most
important information if it’s conveying critical
information.
Be creative. Use illustrations and white space.

60. bit.ly/1VN4fKS > F-shaped reading

61. litmus.com > Builder

62. litmus.com > Email Previews

63. PLATFORMS TO TARGET
Gmail
iOS/Apple Mail
Outlook
That's it.
emailclientmarketshare.com

64. reallygoodemails.com

65. SECRET SHOP
COMPETITORS AND
YOURSELF.

66. mailcharts.com

68. INGREDIENT #3
TRACKING 🍪

69. WHAT TO TRACK
Email opens
Clicks-through to our site
Goal conversions
* We do this all with Google Analytics

70. bit.ly/1H1e29S

71. EMAIL TRACKING TIPS
Develop consistent, flexible format for campaign
names. For example, FR-400-2008.
Use contact record ID for uid and cid query
string variables.
Add ni=1 as a query string variable to make
sure email open event isn’t recorded as a page
view.

72. bit.ly/2dkhHL1

73. Google Analytics: Goals

74. Google Analytics: Top Conv. Paths

75. datastudio.google.com

76. datastudio.google.com

77. datastudio.google.com

78. BE FLEXIBLE
WITH METRICS.
* Not all emails can be measured using the same metrics.

79. INGREDIENT #4
A GOOD REPUTATION 🍯

82. SOME SENDER REP ATTRIBUTES
from and reply-to addresses
DKIM, SPF and DMARC support
Sending domain
Sending IP address
Send volume
Email content

83. A GOOD SENDER
REPUTATION EQUALS
INCREASED ODDS FOR
DELIVERABILITY.

84. SENDER REPUTATION TIPS
User metrics and engagement determine your
reputation. Not your name or how big you are.
Send email to people who want it (e.g. opt-ins).
Your content should encourage engagement.
Have a sunsetting policy for people who don’t
engage with your emails.

85. SENDER REPUTATION TIPS
Send different emails in your plan from
different from addresses.
Advanced: Segment and separate emails
across different IP addresses. Transactional
vs promotional vs onboarding.
Advanced: Use a warm-up routine when
using a new ESP or when you’ve bought
names.

86. senderscore.org

87. mxtoolbox.com

88. REVIEWING
THE FOUR INGREDIENTS🍹
🍪 🍯🥓 🥩

89. 1. The Plan
2. The Emails
3. Tracking
4. A Good Reputation
REVIEWING
THE FOUR INGREDIENTS🍹

90. THANK YOU / QUESTIONS?
Dave Olsen / @dmolsen
slideshare.net/dmolsenwvu