Download Leverage Automation Technologies to Save Time and Effort

BEST PRACTICES |
Email Automation
Leverage Automation Technologies
to Save Time and Effort
Triggered Messaging Based on Customer Behavior
Triggered messaging allows marketers to immediately communicate to a customer based on
a given activity. Data that you are already collecting on your customers can be used as a
trigger activity. Triggered messages are set up through an API call. Some examples include:
•
Trigger a “thank you” message after a customer downloads a white paper from your website
•
end a re-engagement triggered message to users who have not logged into your website
S
in a given time frame
Waterfall Mailings for Automated Nurturing Campaigns
Waterfall mailings are a series of automated emails within PostUp. They typically involve
a decision tree, where specified actions determine what email a customer will receive next.
For example, marketers who want to target recipients based on their response to an email
message can create unique messaging and content to those who did respond vs. those who
did not respond. Marketers can also send unique messaging based on the specific link or
image that was clicked on within the message.
WebFetch for Automated Newsletters
Significantly reduce your daily email production level by automating the message assembly
and scheduling process via WebFetch. WebFetch allows for seamless integration with any
content management system capable of publishing content to a URL that is accessible to
PostUp. Common uses for WebFetch include: newsletters, news alerts, daily deals and other
recurring messages. WebFetch retrieves the content at the time of message assembly and
caches it locally.
Automated A/B Split Testing
A/B split mailings allow you to test different mailing characteristics in an effort to produce
higher response rates. This type of testing provides insight into which content yields the best
results, and is a proven marketing best practice. With PostUp you can test up to 8 different
subject lines, friendly from names and/or pieces of creative. You can reserve between 1 and
100% of the target audience for testing and automatically send the winning combination to
the remainder of the audience.
Link Categories
With Link Categories you can group like or similar links within your mailings into a single
category such as advertiser, product or area of interest. After the data has been collected,
you can then retarget to your engagers based on information they have clicked on. This
allows you to deliver highly personalized content to your email subscribers.
Contact a PostUp Representative to learn more.
Phone: 877-607-2489 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.postup.com
© 2014 PostUp, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary and Confidential.
BEST PRACTICES |
This Makes No Sense
How Marketers Can Drive More Traffic
From an Email to a Landing Page
Designing an email seems like a relatively simple process. Following the basic best practices of good HTML text
to image ratios, proper coding, and a strong call-to-action should do the trick, right? Well, sometimes it’s not that
simple. Designing an email is one thing, but integrating a strategic email plan to drive traffic from the email to a
landing page truly is an art and science. Below are some top strategic insights for you to consider as we explore
ways to optimize the performance of your email campaigns that will take you beyond the inbox.
Audience Segmentation
Knowing your Email Subscribers to Drive Engagement
• Customer’s position in the buying process
• Previous interactions with your brand
• Digital footprint
• Customer interests
• Audience Measurement - Consider the “Beltone Study”
“Personalized email
improves marketing
campaign effectiveness
by 32%.”
Circle Research
B2B Email Marketing Trends
• Preference Center for personalization
Email Automation
Automated Emails Increase Higher Online Traffic
• Event-triggered emails – Based upon action taken on site
• Waterfall emails - A customer “Decision Tree”
• Automated dynamic WebFetch based on preferences
• Automated A/B split testing
Optimize Creative Design
Design to Drive Engagement and Direct Response
• Design email to drive site traffic for viewers across multiple browsers
– Leverage device detection report such as Litmus
– Learn how the majority of your subscribers are viewing your emails
to drive how you design and code your email
“Event-triggered marketing
can potentially save 80%
of your online marketing
budget.”
(Source: Gartner Research)
“Personalized emails
improve click-through rates
by 14%, and conversion
rates by 10%.”
(Source: Aberdeen Group)
– Responsive Design
• Design with Strategic Best Practices
– Optimize design, branding, and CTA to drive clicks
Contact a PostUp Representative to learn more.
Phone: 877-607-2489 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.postup.com
© 2014 PostUp, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary and Confidential.
BEST PRACTICES |
Email Design Testing
Email Design Testing for the Extremely
Busy Email Marketer
Components of Testing Email Design
As you begin to create your email design testing plan, there are many components
of your email that you will want to consider. Most importantly, test only one
component at a time so that you can accurately measure your results.
•
Will you leverage scalable or responsive design? Or will you test both?
•
Are you going to test lifestyle images or product images, or both?
•
What
types of varying offers will you be testing?
Example: BOGO vs. Free Shipping
Automation
Time is always of the essence when testing. Everyone wants their results
immediately! Remember to reach out to your email partner to determine what
types of automation are at your disposable to reduce your level of effort.
Examples may include the following:
•
Automated A/B Split Testing
•
Content Management System
•
Time Zone Targeting
Partnerships
Leverage resources to help create a successful testing plan. In addition,
leverage tools to help measure your success beyond opens and clicks.
•
Rendering tools such as Pivotal Veracity or Litmus
•
onversion tracking tools such as Omniture,
C
Fox Metrics or Google Analytics
•
Interactive images such as Cinegif or Moveable Ink
Contact a PostUp Representative to learn more.
Phone: 877-607-2489 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.postup.com
© 2014 PostUp, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary and Confidential.
BEST PRACTICES |
Mobile Email Design
Best Practices for Mobile Email
Marketing
Responsive Design
Responsive Email Design uses CSS(3) Media Queries to render 2-3 different layouts
that will auto-adjust depending on the size of the screen the email is being read on.
In addition, elements such as images, colors and buttons can be hidden or changed
based off “class” instructions. While responsive design requires 2-3 different layouts,
and extensive coding, it only results in one html file. However, not all mobile
environments support media queries, so emails can break or show up as the
“desktop” version in certain circumstances.
Scalable Design
Scalable email design means your email is designed in such a way that allows the email
to be readable and clickable no matter where it’s viewed. Like responsive design, there’s
only one html file, but elements don’t change or adjust. The layout just scales up or down
to fit the screen size it’s being viewed on. It’s much less labor-intensive than responsive
design, and certain best practices should be followed to maintain optimal results.
Email Rendering
PulseConnect is integrated with Pivotal Veracity so that rendering verification can
be conducted without leaving our platform. Clients are able to verify that links and
images are working properly in addition to identifying missing alt-tags. With this
seamless integration, you can visually ensure your messages meet your brand
standard on a wide range of mobile, desktop and webmail screenshots.
Automated Retargeting
Focus optimization efforts by recognizing which devices and/or browsers your subscribers
use to read their email. New reporting features within PulseConnect includes open rates
and total number of opens by browser, as well as device type. This allows you to develop
meaningful audience segments and message to groups based on device; for example,
marketers can send an email prompting iPhone users to download your iPhone app.
Contact a PostUp Representative to learn more.
Phone: 877-607-2489 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.postup.com
© 2014 PostUp, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary and Confidential.
BEST PRACTICES |
Responsive vs. Scaleable
Mobile Design Best Practices:
Responsive vs. Scaleable Design
Responsive Email Design
Responsive email design uses CSS(3) media queries to
render 2-3 different layouts that will auto-adjust depending
on the size of the screen the email is being read on. In
addition, elements such as images, text, colors and buttons
can be hidden, changed or reordered based on “class”
instructions. While responsive design requires 2-3 different
layouts (desktop, tablet or phone), and extensive coding,
it only results in one HTML file. However, not all mobile
environments support media queries, so emails can break
or default to the “desktop” version in certain circumstances.
And with the proliferation of mobile devices it’s estimated
that 50% of emails are being read on phones and tablets.
To make your email layouts work more universally we
recommend the following best practices:
1 TO 2 COLUMNS: One column layouts should be no wider than 500 – 600px and works best for scalable layouts;
Two column layouts should be no wider than 600 – 640px and work best for responsive layouts.
SPACING: Buttons and links should have a clickable area of 44 x 44px minimally. Closely packed links are practically
unusable on a phone.
FONT SIZE: On iPhone, the minimum font size displayed is 13pt, anything smaller could break the layout. Headlines
should be a minimum of 22pt, and body copy is best around 14pt.
SHORT AND SWEET: Keep your message concise. Mobile readers are usually on the move.
MESSAGE HIERARCHY: Place your important elements at the upper portion of email. Responsive layouts tend to be
long, so the less someone has to scroll the better.
STREAMLINE DISPLAY: Hide extraneous details and images from your mobile layout. This will speed up download
time and shortens the overall length. Elements such as social sharing buttons are great in the desktop version, but
aren’t easy to use for the recipients on mobile devices.
CTA: Try not to incorporate your main CTA into the main image; if images are disabled your main CTA won’t be
visible. Using HTML text for CTA messages and buttons/links will guarantee your most important messages will be
visible to the reader under all circumstances regardless of device.
Contact a PostUp Representative to learn more.
Phone: 877-607-2489 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.postup.com
© 2014 PostUp, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary and Confidential.
BEST PRACTICES |
Responsive vs. Scaleable
Mobile Design Best Practices:
Responsive vs. Scaleable Design
Scaleable Email Design
The term “Scalable Design” is more of a design theory
where you intentionally design a layout to function for both
desktop and mobile environments without the aid of moving
or changing elements like you have in responsive design. A
scalable email is readable and clickable no matter what size
the screen is the message is being read on and results in
one HTML file. It cuts down on design and coding time, also
requiring far less trouble shooting unlike a responsive layout.
By default most emails become “Scalable” when being
viewed on a mobile device because the entire message
just shrinks to fit the screen width. By following certain best
practices you can optimize your email layout for work great
in any environment, such as:
SINGLE COLUMN DESIGN: One column layouts should be no wider than 600 – 640px, in this case smaller is better.
The average mobile screen size is 320px wide, designing with this in mind will ensure your messages read well on a
small screen without the user having to zoom in and out.
TOUCH FRIENDLY BUTTONS: Buttons and links should have a clickable area of 44 x 44px minimally. Closely packed
links are practically unusable on a phone. It’s OK to have slightly oversized buttons or text links, they will read much
better on mobile devices.
LARGER FONT SIZES: On iPhone, the minimum font size displayed is 13pt, anything smaller could break the layout.
Headlines should be a minimum of 22pt, and body copy is best around 14pt.
MESSAGE HIERARCHY: Place your important elements at the upper portion of email. Upon sizing down content will
be pushed down “below the fold”.
IMAGES CAN WORK: If you are catering to a mobile audience using images can have it’s advantages. Traditionally,
creating a mostly image based email message has been frowned upon due to some email clients not having images
on by default; but with the majority of mobile devices having images on by default you don’t have to fear your
message may not be visible to your mobile audience.
CALL TO ACTIONS (CTA): Make your CTAs clear, concise and make them stand out. Don’t hide or bury your main
point, ideally it should be the first thing the reader sees on their mobile device. People viewing on the mobile devices
want to digest information quickly and in bite sized chunks.
Contact a PostUp Representative to learn more.
Phone: 877-607-2489 | Email: [email protected] | Website: www.postup.com
© 2014 PostUp, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Proprietary and Confidential.