Who doesn’t love “what works” articles, books and conference sessions? The yes or no. Do this. Don’t do that. It appeals to our need to draw a line somewhere.
That was the DMA 2011 session with Jay Schwedelson on email. I took a ton of notes.
Here are some highlights:
Pre-headers: Do they matter? Emails that utilize the first line of a preheader for an offer generate a 19% higher open rate. You can use preheaders for offers or for extensions of your subject line. Lands End says: plus free shipping. Best buy does it too – for example, giving a new offer for Xbox.
Jay advocates A/B testing. I don't think that’s enough.
Multiple touches doesn’t mean multiple messages. Multiple touch is about different extensions of the same offer. For example, a reminder that the offer ends today will build a sense of urgency.
Personalizing the name in the preheader increases the open rate by 12%.
Deactivation emails deliver an average 54% open rate! Try putting “we miss you” in subject line or preheader.
Forms have an 85% abandon rate. It seems some of us are overly obsessed with the click. We should focus on the landing page.
Trigger or behavioral emails are based on how customers behave after abandoning their carts. Unfortunately, 24% of cart abandoners are gone for good. Remarketing emails will not have an impact here. On average, shopping cart emails generate a 600% increase in click activity vs. regular emails. However, if you send your email within an hour of the “behavior,” unsubscribe goes up 1000%. Don’t creep them out!
Here’s a B2B trick: Having a photo of your report or white paper boosts click activity by 21%. And keep that image consistent on the landing page, too.
You have to love a session that keeps the promise of its title! I got the facts – with the data to back it up.