Based on feedback from our most astute digital marketing clients we have put together a simple B2C package that allows advertisers to quickly and cost effectively reach an engaged and responsive consumer base. The package targets GreatSites.com.au 100,000 most active Australian members based on recency of last click, last conversion or last survey update. These committed and engaged members take the time to review offers and can be relied upon to share interesting offers with their relevant friends and family. As the only targeting used for these campaigns is recency we are able to offer the sends at a discounted price of $5,000 (only $50 CPM!) which has been shown to deliver an excellent ROI for a wide range of advertisers.

Talk to an Account Manager today:
Contact 3Di (Sydney)

Active member demographics

Talk to an Account Manager today:
Contact 3Di (Sydney)

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Email marketing is, of all digital channels, one of the most mature. But unlike offline marketing – where change generally happens at a snail’s pace – development in email marketing can be rapid and frequent.

One recent change by Google can have a significant impact if the email lists you are using have a lot of users on Gmail. This includes not just addresses using the gmail.com domain, but also emails users that have Gmail as their SaaS (Software as a Service) platform on custom domains.

Image caching impacts email tracking

For users of the Gmail Web browser email client or Gmail App, images will now open by default (unless the user changes settings). This both sounds and is good for those of us using design to drive a greater impact among recipients – users will no longer have to click to choose to display images.

Gmail heralds the end of the dreaded ‘Images are not displayed’ dialogue

However there is a catch. As part of the change, Google is now caching the image on their servers.

As most marketers would be aware, images are used in direct email to track user engagement and other user information. The tracking is possible because the image must be requested from the marketers Web server. However, when a Gmail user opens an email, the images that open straight up will be loaded from Google’s cache rather than from the marketers Web server.

The net result: without a method to bypass the Google cache and request the tracking image from the email service providers system, the reliability of tracking is impacted.

It also has an impact when geolocation is used in an email to display a location-specific image to increase the relevance of an offer, for device detection, or for any other server-side image changing.

So what can you do?

The first thing to note is the importance of individual tracking. With individual tracking the first open of the email will be recorded, as the Google system downloads images to its cache. Given that images are visible by default on Gmail now, the result might actually be an increase in the open rate from Gmail clients! However, if the recipient opens the email again, the load will be from the Google cache and not tracked unless a method to bypass the Google Gmail image cache is used.

HTTP header tricks could keep tracking accurate – see your email service provider
Source: http://www.emailmarketingtipps.de

To have accurate tracking results, consider email service providers that have incorporated valid ways around the Google Gmail image cache for tracking purposes. This is a developing area and it is unclear how long these workarounds will work, so it’s also important to be aware of future changes.

Secondly, users that access Gmail through other clients – whether it’s Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail or something else – will not use the Google cache for images. Tracking for those users will not be impacted.

We all know that email marketing works: email’s market penetration is massive; it’s users are valuable; it’s a leading social channel; and open rates on mobile clients are double those of desktop-based users. To get the most out of your email marketing, it’s important to be aware of the changes. In combination with good email marketing first principles, this can both deliver marketing advantages and avoid pitfalls.

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When it comes to customer acquisition, you might be surprised to learn that email is one of the strongest performing channels available.

Yes that’s right. Email. You might spend your days in meetings discussing radical new techniques to gain social network kudos – apps, content, personality and more – but good old email is a channel that delivers results.

Email is critical for customer acquisition. 6.84% of customers were acquired by email in 2013 according to a study of 72 million shoppers on 86 different retail Web sites in 14 different industries by Custora. Email was the third most important source after organic search (15.81%) and CPC advertising (9.82%), and it far outperformed Facebook (0.17%), banner ads (0.46%) and affiliate marketing (0.96%).  And over the last 4 years the importance of email as a customer acquisition channel has increased nearly eightfold.

Email has massive market penetration. Everyone has an email address. Everyone. And most organisations – from the Federal Government to the local hairdresser – use email as a primary communication tool. In the US, 61.2% of the 2013 Chief Marketer Prospecting Survey respondents generated new customer leads via email and, of the remaining, 18% more plan to start.

Email is a leading social channel. No, we’re not having you on here. Influencers the world over use emails to share information. And, of course, it’s bi-directional communication: it’s one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many. And while your audience may have casual acquaintances on Facebook and LinkedIn, their email address book includes their most trusted colleagues and friends. And email certainly helped Obama during the last US Presidential election!

Email is mobile. We all know the world has gone mobile. It’s not a secret. But what’s the number one app any mobile device has. Yep, the email client. Email doesn’t tie us to the computer any more. It hasn’t for years. And the open rate on mobile for emails at 44% is almost double the open rate on webmail clients.

Email customers are valuable. According to the Custora study, the lifetime value of a customer acquired through email was 11% more than one acquired via Facebook or banner advertising, and 4% more valuable than a customer acquired through affiliate marketing.

Another study by SocialTwist found that among consumers who referred products or services to friends, the majority (55.4%) used email, nearly 14% more than Facebook (41.8%).

MIME-ing for gold: ten conversion tips

Of course, you still need to get your campaigns right. The right offer, copy, and creative, as well as targeting the right audience, will have a massive impact on the effectiveness of your campaign.

Here are ten tips on increasing conversion for your campaign:

1. Design and build your emails to optimise conversion. Look to modern slick design, action oriented copy, adding images of people where relevant, clear value propositions and make calls to action strong through design including button size and colour. And don’t miss the basics like subject line and quality copy.
2. Make it work on mobile. Determine your strategy for mobile support such as responsive, fluid, scalable or mobile-aware. And remember, mobile is not just Android, iPhone and iPad. It’s Windows Mobile, Blackberry and mail apps that run on the Android and IOS operating systems. Consider different screen sizes and touch support too. 4 to 5.5 inch screens are common on smartphones. Tablet screens are also no longer defined by iPad dimensions: they commonly range from 7 to 13 inch, with screen size being pushed up by the increasing availability of convertible notebook/tablet/touchscreen devices like Microsoft’s Surface and Ultrabooks.
   
3. Make sure your email marketing is cross-client compatible. Different email clients render emails differently: optimise to maximise reach, impact and response.
   
4. Use text for key messages and links because email clients – mobile and computer-based alike – may have image blocking on.
5. Target special features in popular email clients – like Google Quick Actions – to improve the audience experience and increase conversion.
6. Track your audiences email client use. It’s important to know what are the popular email clients in the community, and it’s just as important to know what email clients your lists are using.
7. Don’t let your email get caught in the spam trap! Spam test to make sure your email will get through to recipients.
8. Support your email message with good landing pages. When your audience clicks on your call to action, help them through to conversion with landing pages that are on message.
9. Use audience targeting, but remember that email is often shared (forwarded). Sometimes a broader distribution will increase your email reach when recipients forward it to friends or colleagues they know are interested in your offer.
10. Test your emails and measure campaign performance. Before you click send, test your emails across multiple email clients including mobile clients. Include tracking code in your email to get campaign performance information like opens, reads, device usage and more.

Whole of business email

Sending out regular offers via 3rd party email is important, but it’s only one facet of using email to gain, keep, incentivise and convert customers.

Email must be used in ongoing communication, to individuals and audience segments. Here are some ideas how email can and should be used:

1. Send regular personalised emails: welcome for new customers, offers, new releases, news and even birthday wishes (free offer with a birthday buy?)
2. Close the loop by asking customers to review your products and service after purchase
3. Inform customers if new accessories have been released for a product they have bought
4. Send a shopping cart prompt if a customer has added products to their cart but not completed the transaction.
5. Reactivate an inactive customer with a discount coupon
6. Reward customers for the first purchase via email with an offer
7. Provide care and maintenance information by email after a purchase. You could even send manuals by email so the customer has them in their inbox, as well as in the box!
8. Send a cross-sell promotion
9. Carry out regular customer surveys
10. Build community by using email to connect your users to forums, social channels and more.

Email marketing is science, not guesswork. It’s targeted. And it’s mobile. The technology and techniques are mature, the results are measurable, and it’s cost effective.

The right offer and creative, delivered to an appropriate audience, will get results. So don’t just sit there, send

Find out how 3Di can help you to get started;
in Australia
in New Zealand

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Welcome to 2013, Over the break we came across this article by Cara Olson of Marketing Land and wanted to share as it will clarify some points for many online marketers.

Open and click-through rates are common metrics used to evaluate the success of email campaigns. But we all know that for retailers, revenue is what really matters.

Like every other department in an organization, as the new year begins (or when your fiscal year ends) marketers are requesting and competing for budget. As you prepare, use the following email revenue metrics to help prove your case.

Campaign Revenue

How much money did you generate on your e-commerce site from a particular email send? Knowing this requires that your emails are appropriately tagged for your online analytics tool (Google Analytics, Omniture, Core Metrics, etc.).

Appropriate tagging is the first step toward accurate reporting of this information, and it can be even better if you can also attribute offline sales. Obviously, some campaigns will have higher revenue than others, depending on their objective and call-to-action. However, spikes in revenue that can be attributed to a particular email and then be viewed over time are an incredibly valuable proof point for your marketing program.

Return On Investment (ROI)

Return on investment (ROI) is the classic baseline marketing metric. It’s where the rubber meets the road for your efforts. That doesn’t mean that it’s always a straightforward metric, however. You need to consider all of the relevant factors in the cost of the campaign, typically including services and sends, and are typically reported as a percentage, as follows:

Formula: Campaign revenue generated – cost of campaign / cost of campaign = return * 100 = ROI

For example: $100,000 – $2,500 / $2,500 = 39 * 100 = 3,900% ROI

A 4,000% ROI sounds unreal, but for this approach to capturing ROI, it can even go higher for something like a set-it-and-forget-it triggered campaign. For instance, an abandoned cart email has a moderate initial cost in setup services, but from the point of deployment has only has minimal per-send cost ongoing.

And, abandoned carts have an excellent track record for generating revenue. Measuring ROI like that can generate some garish numbers. You’ll have some doubters when you tell the story of your 60,000% ROI, even though your math checks out.

Return On Marketing Investment (ROMI)

It is for these reasons that I prefer to report on the more appropriately termed “return on marketing investment” (ROMI). It is important to clarify “marketing” in the metric name because it typically does not factor in the cost of making the product or any offer/discount. ROMI can then be reported as a statement, such as “For every marketing dollar spent, we generated $X” defined as follows:

Formula: Revenue generated / cost of the campaign = revenue generated for every dollar spent

For example: $100,000 / $2,500 = $40 generated for every $1 spent

If you are pulling your weight, this metric can be incredibly useful in building a business case for new email integration projects.

The following graphic depicts all three metrics above:

Revenue Per Email (RPE)

Need to make the case that your organization should invest in list growth? Even if you don’t boost your conversion rate, list size can be a significant factor in generating of revenue – if more people see your messaging, more people will convert. RPE is calculated as follows:

Formula: Total revenue generated from a campaign / Total number of delivered emails

For example, for a promotional campaign $20,000 / 1,000,000 = $0.02

For example, for a triggered campaign $11,000 revenue / 4,000 emails sent = $2.75

As straightforward as you can get, this metric tells you how much money you made for every email address you sent to (less bounces), as depicted visually below:

For your budget debate purposes, you can begin to project how an increase in list size might result in an increase in revenue. In the first example, for every email delivered, your brand made 2 cents, regardless of opens or clicks.

In the above example, there are 1,000,000 subscribers on the list. You can then infer that if you had grown your list to 1,500,000 subscribers, the campaign would have generated an additional $10,000 (assuming all engagement metrics remain relatively the same). If the brand typically sends eight promotional campaigns a month, that is an additional $80,000. You can quickly see why list acquisition should always be a strong focus.

On the flip side, RPE is a good indicator of how much you can spend to gain a subscriber. For example, if it costs $1 to obtain a new email address and you know on average you generate $0.02 RPE, then it will take 50 emails to “pay for” the acquisition of that subscriber.

At eight promotional emails a month, you are generating a profit from that subscriber after six months – a generalization that does not consider triggered sends (which have a higher RPE, as shown above) that are a legitimate and important part of the lifecycle of emails sent to a subscriber.

Cost Per Subscriber

For each acquisition tactic, you should calculate cost per subscriber, which is a reflection of the cost of acquisition for each new email address.

While the aggregate cost per subscriber is certainly important, it is just as important to note that this metric can vary greatly by tactic/source, and so close examination of individual results is highly recommended – as is a value threshold for each tactic. For example, organic signups on your website may have a $0 cost; whereas, PPC acquisitions might run into double figures.

Acquisition-focused campaigns can be calculated from their total cost. Take a social media campaign in Facebook, for example. A Facebook page may have run for a month with a contest to enter to win a free item. As part of the contest entry form, users opted in to receive emails. Let’s assume the social media campaign had a fixed cost to design and develop it. Once the contest is over, simply calculate the following:

Formula: Cost of the campaign / the total number of new email subscribers obtained = cost per subscriber

For example: $5000 / 20,000 = $0.25 / subscriber

By knowing cost per subscriber, in addition to revenue per subscriber, you can identify where to best to allocate budgets for acquisition and special projects.

Revenue From Email (Overall)

Finally, I also recommend understanding how revenue from your email program overall compares with revenue from other channels such as PPC, Social, SMS, Display, Affiliate, etc.

As an overall digital marketing manager, knowing the sources of revenue from each channel should also play a part in budget allocation. At the same time, be aware that this can be something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, wherein budget allocations can determine the channel’s revenue. According to the Direct Marketing Association, email easily outperforms other channels in generating return:

Email: $39.40 for every dollar spent

Search: $22.38 for every dollar spent

Display: $19.71 for every dollar spent

Social: $12.90 for every dollar spent

Just as email program recommendations are based on data, I recommend making your case for budget allocation through use of the metrics above.

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