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Taking Your HTML Email Communications from "Ew" to "Wow"
The document outlines strategies for enhancing HTML email communications, particularly for higher education institutions. It details four key ingredients for success: planning, email creation, tracking, and maintaining a good sender reputation. Emphasis is placed on understanding audience segmentation, crafting engaging content, and employing effective tracking methods to optimize email performance.
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Taking Your HTML Email Communications from "Ew" to "Wow"
- 1. TAKING YOUR HTMLEMAIL COMMUNICATIONS FROM EW TO WOW Dave Olsen / @dmolsen West Virginia University
- 2. THE POWER OFEMAIL
- 3. 204,151 Clicks out toour application Aug. 1 2018 - Aug. 20 2019 by channel source SocialEmail EMAIL DRIVES ACTION STAT #1
- 4. Academic deposits bymonth October November December January February March 2018 2019 EMAIL DRIVES ACTION STAT #2
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- 10. THE FOUR INGREDIENTS FORSUCCESSFUL EMAILS🍹 1. The Plan 2. The Emails 3. Tracking 4. A Good Reputation
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- 12. IT WAS SPRING2018…
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- 15. Audiences, stages andfunnels (oh my!) Timing of messaging Actions we’re trying to drive Core messaging KNOW YOUR GOAL WITH RESEARCH
- 16. HOW DOES RESEARCHHELP ME MAKE A PRETTY EMAIL? Time Understanding ⏱ 🧠
- 17. DOCUMENTING ASSUMPTIONS SHOULD HELPKEEP EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE. * May not be valid in higher education.
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- 22. OUR CORE AUDIENCESARE THE BASE FOR OUR PLANS.
- 23. BE PROACTIVE AND AGGRESSIVEWITH AUDIENCE AND CONTENT SEGMENTATION.
- 24. BECAUSE… YOU CAN ONLYEMAIL SOMEONE SO MANY TIMES.
- 25. Awareness and attract Nurture Convert Convert Nurture SalesFunnelEnrollment 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 CommPlan Admits Comm Plan Awareness and Attract Nurture Convert Convert Nurture MATCHING ENROLLMENT TO SALES
- 27. TYPES OF EMAILSFOR YOUR PLAN By send type: one-time or drip By format: promotional or transactional Other types: onboarding, abandoned cart and win back
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- 30. A CAVEAT: WE’VE HADTO OWN THE ENTIRE EMAIL CREATION PROCESS. * Our CRM sucks for building email
- 37. OUR WORKFLOW Write copy. Designin browser based on copy. Test in Litmus. Iterate copy and get approvals. Load HTML into the CRM.
- 38. OUR ROLES Plan owner Writer Front-enddeveloper Various reviewers
- 39. THE PARTS OFAN EMAIL Subject line Preview text Body of email Call to action Alignalltodriveyourgoal
- 41. WRITING TIPS Use userstories 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."
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- 43. IT’S TIME TOBUILD THE EMAIL…
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- 46. 90s HTML andTech
- 47. PRO-TIP: DON’T USE HTMLTO BUILD HTML EMAILS
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- 54. FEATURES OF MJML Easyand quick Responsive by default Component-based Use an online editor, local editor or node library Pre-built templates and clear docs
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- 56. PATTERN LIBRARY LOCALTOOL * Not mutually exclusive. Can do both. Pure MJML + MJML Tool MJML + Mustache + Node
- 57. BENEFITS OF EBB2 Separatecontent 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.
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- 59. DESIGN TIPS Responsive layoutwith 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-shapedreading
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- 62. litmus.com > EmailPreviews
- 63. PLATFORMS TO TARGET Gmail iOS/AppleMail Outlook That's it. emailclientmarketshare.com
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- 69. WHAT TO TRACK Emailopens Clicks-through to our site Goal conversions * We do this all with Google Analytics
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- 71. EMAIL TRACKING TIPS Developconsistent, 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.
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- 74. Google Analytics: TopConv. Paths
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- 78. BE FLEXIBLE WITH METRICS. *Not all emails can be measured using the same metrics.
- 79. INGREDIENT #4 A GOODREPUTATION 🍯
- 82. SOME SENDER REPATTRIBUTES from and reply-to addresses DKIM, SPF and DMARC support Sending domain Sending IP address Send volume Email content
- 83. A GOOD SENDER REPUTATIONEQUALS INCREASED ODDS FOR DELIVERABILITY.
- 84. SENDER REPUTATION TIPS Usermetrics 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 Senddifferent 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.
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- 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