Which is more important - a great subject line or fantastic graphic design and witty content? Based on analysis of millions of B2B emails that have been sent through Pinpointe’s email marketing platform, we’ll cover top writing tips to help you improve email response rates. Topics Covered: • The top 10 best / worst performing email subject lines • Writing tips to improve email response rates • B2B email content • What works / doesn’t work – NetProspex + Pinpointe ‘Fill the Pipeline’ solution Presenters: Craig Stouffer, GM | Pinpointe and Mark Feldman, Marketing VP | NetProspex

1. WRITING TIPS TO IMPROVE
EMAIL RESPONSE RATES

2. Page 1
Mark Feldman
NetProspexVP Marketing
mfeldman@NetProspex.com
(781) 290-5714
@markjfeldman
blog.netprospex.com
Craig Stouffer
Pinpointe On-Demand
cstouffer@pinpointe.com
(408) 834-7577
@pinpointe
www.twitter.com/pinpointe
www.pinpointe.com/blog
Email Marke+ng
Wri+ng Tips to Improve Email Results

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What Affects Email Responses ?
 Sending Reputa+on (Email Marke+ng 201):
◦ Proper email sever configura2on
◦ Emails Server IP address reputa2on
◦ Complaints against your domain, IPs
◦ Bounces (list quality), spamtrap hits
◦ Correct sender header, etc
 Readability: Content (Today’s Webinar):
◦ Once it’s delivered – make sure it’s read!
◦ Avoid Spam‐like content
◦ Effec2ve image use
◦ Effec2ve wri2ng style and content structure

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Email Wri+ng Tips
Overview
 Focus on B2B. Guidelines also apply to B2C
 Where do these 2ps apply?
◦ Offer (e.g. download whitepaper)
◦ Event Invita2on
◦ ‘Stay in touch’ campaigns
◦ Business update ‐ newslePer
◦ Everywhere!
Sources: Pinpointe analysis of millions of emails / hundreds of
campaigns

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Email Wri+ng Tips: Break it Down
Focus on each part of the email:
 Subject + From
 Saluta2on
 Introduc2on: “Think Above the Fold”
 Body
 Signature
 Links – Effec2ve Use

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Takeaway: Op+mize for Mobile
 Shorter Content
 Call‐to‐Ac2on earlier
Mobile and Email

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The Subject: Importance
 “At 60 miles an hour, the only thing you hear in the new
Rolls Royce is the ?cking of the dashboard clock”
…David Ogilvy re‐wrote this 104 2mes!
 40% of reader’s decision to open is based
on the email subject + ‘send‐from’
 69% of recipients decide whether to report
email as spam based on the subject (source: ESPC)

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Email Subjects, Con+nued
A Few Guiding Rules:
The 50/50 Rule:
 Spend 50% of your 2me on the subject + Intro
 50% on everything else (including design)
The 80/20 Rule of Email Subjects
 8 of 10 people will skim the email subject line
 < 2 in 10 will read the rest / take ac2on

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9 Best Performing Email Subjects
1. MyCompany Sales & Marketing Monthly Newsletter
2. MyCompany Newsletter – Jan 2010: Teaser Subject/Topic
3. [Webinar]: N Tips to Improve Email Responses
4. MyCompany Webinar: Case Studies - Join Us Feb 15
5. WebinarTopic - Webinar Slides Available
6. This Week’s Phone Call / Meeting (personalized from sales rep)
7. 8 Customer Service Tips that Work
8. Reminder: Storage Survey -Your Input
9. Invitation - Breakfast on SpecificTopic
* Source: Pinpointe analysis of several million customer emails

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9 Worst Performing Email Subjects
1. Join Us for a FREE Webinar on April 2 2011!
2. Shop Early and Save!
3. Register to Win Your FREE iPod!!
4. Security Spending
5. Post‐Trade Show Webinar: Expert Insights Into the Key Trends and
Observa2ons from the Trade Show Floor Last Week
6. European Lakefront Elegance
7. First‐name ‐ (Company) Announces Partnership with (Company2)
8. Product Launch: New “Widget” Available
9. Full Press Release Title [… and email contains only the press release]

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Words in Top Performing Subject Lines (>5% clicks)
 Survey, weekly, newslePer, specific‐date, issue,
bulle2n, edi2on, 2ps, monthly, join, video, headlines,
latest, updates
Words Most Likely to be Reported as Spam
 Confirm, Raffle, requested, rewards, 10%, coupon,
discount, savings, offer
Think: “Rela+onship” vs. “Date”
Ongoing Communica+on vs. “1 +me deal”
Subject Line Phrases

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GOOD
 Short, concise, specific, relevant, benefits
 Offer value, resources
 Non‐hyped
 Oren indicates date or sequence
BAD
 1 Time vs. Sequen2al
 “Take vs. Give”
 Non‐descript / vague
Subject Lines – Take Away

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Tes+ng Subject Line Length
Objec+ve
 Does subject length impact response rates?
Email Subject Varia+ons tested: (Short, Long)
 Case Studies Webinar: Using Split Tes2ng to
Improve HTML Email Response Rates (Feb 4th)
 [Webinar] Split Test Case Studies (Feb 4)

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Subject Length vs. Click Rate

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Subject Length Take Away
Short outperformed long by 4x
Ideal subject line length : 45 ~ 55
Characters *
Stay Relevant, Specific
* Based on analysis of thousands of Pinpointe customer campaigns

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 Send from someone they will recognize
 Reinforce “1 to 1 rela2onship”
 Legi2mate / valid email address (!)
 Consider: person as send‐from + company in subject
GOOD:
 “Craig Stouffer” cstouffer@pinpointe.com
 “Steven Smith, Pinpointe” ssmith@pinpointe.com
Usually BAD:
 “info@company.com” <info@company.com>
 “Do Not Reply” <Prospect_list@company.com>
The Email From Field

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Comparing Impact of ‘From Field’

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Send from someone they will recognize
… Or someone they think they will
know (Common name)
Email From Field Take Away

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The Opening: “Above the Fold”
“FOLD or JUMP”: Subject + First 2 ~ 3 lines
 You have email subject + 3 lines to get attention…
 … Use it wisely!
Consider:
 Can your opening sentence stand on its own?
 Think:“The 3 + 30 approach:”
 Tell the 3 second version of your story first
 … Then tell the 30 second version

20. Page 19
Above the Fold ‐ Examples
WORKS:
DOESN’T WORK:
Company

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WHAT: (In this order)
 The offer (or the main point / objec2ve)
 Main benefit
 Response instruc2ons
HOW:
 Divide key message into sec2ons
 Short and concise
 Links to landing pages with suppor2ng details
The Body ‐ Structure

22. Page 21
Do mul+ple links improve results?
 Compared 20 newslePer campaigns (* Mark Brownlow)
 Analyzed ‘teaser’ / intro text with 1, 2 links
 2 Example newslePer intro paragraphs:
Using Links Effec+vely in Email
Results (Average across 20 campaigns):
 Average CTR for campaigns with 1 link: 6.8%
 Average CTR for campaigns with 2 links: 8.57%
 Improvement: Extra link = +25%
* Source: Mark Brownlow www.email-marketing-reports.com

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Take Away: Use More Links!
Click Rate vs. # Links

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Stay CAN‐SPAM compliant‐
 Always include a signature
 Don’t forget physical address
 Unsubscribe link
 Contact email address
TIP: OK to ‘adver2ze’ below signature:
 Links in footer – 2nd highest click rate overall
 Social links (e.g.: TwiPer, Facebook, Blog)
 Text + link to special offer
 Offer for free demo / trial / etc
The Signature

25. Page 24
For Today’s Amendees
 Pinpointe:
◦ Free ‐ 1 month Pinpointe Subscrip2on Service
◦ $49 ‐ $550 value
◦ www.pinpointe.com/get‐started
◦ Coupon code: PPTNPW100
 Netprospex:
◦ Free NetProspex trial account with 100 contacts
◦ Access to 19 million business contacts
◦ Verified email / phone
◦ Email hello@netprospex.com to get started

26. Page 25
Other / Upcoming Webinars
 Email Wri+ng Tips (This one)
 Case Studies: Split Tes+ng to Improve Results
 Email Marke+ng 201: How a SPAM Filter Works
 Geong Social with Email

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About Us.

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 19 million decision makers
 User‐generated contacts
 Verified + guaranteed
 Hard‐bounce replacement
 All job 2tles & industries
 Thousands of new contacts
per month
 Title, email address,
direct dial, social media, URL
 Buy or trade
What Sets NetProspex Apart?
www.NetProspex.com
hello@netprospex.com
888-826-4877

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Recycling: Fast, Easy, Free!

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What Sets Pinpointe Apart?
• Constant Contact on steroids! – Pinpointe customer
• The Most Feature Rich Email Marke2ng Solu2on
• Enterprise version: 5‐250+ users, high volume
• 6,000+ companies using Pinpointe pla}orm

31. Page 30
Tracking and Repor+ng

32. Page 31
Contact Informa+on
Goto www.pinpointe.com/get‐started
Use coupon code: PPTNPW100 (through 2/28/2011)
Join us for future webinars
For ques2ons, or to request a trial account, please contact:
Pinpointe Sales (Email Marke+ng)
sales@pinpointe.com
(408) 834‐7577, Op2on #2
www.twiPer.com/pinpointe
www.pinpointe.com/blog
Mark Feldman
NetProspexVP Marketing
mfeldman@NetProspex.com
(781) 290-5714
@markjfeldman
blog.netprospex.com