The Rules of Opt-in Attraction Jeanne S. Jennings Consultant, Email - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Bonus Workshop Excerpt: The Rules of Opt-in Attraction

Jeanne S. Jennings Consultant, Email Marketing Strategy JeanneJennings.com, Inc. January 22, 2010

Who’s Here

• B2B? B2C?
• Size of your house email list:

– Less than 100,000 – 100,000 to 499,999 – 500,000 to 999,999 – More than 1 Million

Five Reasons to Invest in Growing Your Own Email List

• 1. You’ll know for certain who’s on it
• 2. You’ll know how they got there
• 3. You’ll get better response than from rental lists
• 4. It’s more cost-effective than email list rentals
• 5. It’s a sustainable asset for your organization

B-to-B B-to-C

List Growth

Opt-in Options

Single Opt-in (32%)

• Advantages

– Generates more opt-ins (100%) – Easier to manage – Less expensive

• Disadvantages

– Potential for foul play

Double Opt-in (8%)

• Advantages

– Proves opt-in definitively – Generates hard bounce on bad addresses immediately – Prevents foul play

• Disadvantages

– Generates fewer opt-ins (60-80%) – More complex to manage – More expensive

45% of Marketers eters use a m mix

Double Opt-in preferred for co-registration, sweeps, 3rd party leads

OPT-IN SOURCES

Sources of Opt-in Names

(28 in the handbook)

Trade events Customer service call-ins Newsletter

• ffer

Tele- prospecting Sales alerts/ product announcements Offline - catalogs, forms, etc. Co-reg Free Trials/ Downloads Check boxes

• n reg forms

Appending Sweeps/ Contests 10 15 20 25 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

Volume of names generated >>> Quality of names generated >>>

Handbook Page: 27

Co-registration

• 32% see performance

equal to house names

• On average, 10% to 20%

will co-register

• Keys to Success:

– Similar target audience – Appealing offer – Benefit-oriented copy – Track performance

Forward to a Friend (F2F)

• Also called Referral, Viral or Word-of-Mouth

Marketing

• Keys to Success:

– Ask! – Make it easy to forward the email – Confirm email integrity is maintained – Provide an incentive (comply with CAN-SPAM) – Works best with loyal customers

F2F Case Study:

Intercontinental Hotels

• Best customers (150)
• Great offer (3X points)
• Encouraged to share
• 100% response from

recipients

– Stayed and forwarded

• Overall response rate:

1,766% (17X)

MOTIVATORS

6 Proven Opt-in Motivators

• 1. Relevant Content
• 2. Sample Newsletter
• 3. Customized Profile
• 4. “Conditional” Discount
• 5. Sweepstakes or Giveaway Entry
• 6. Club Membership

Club Membership

• Very effective for both B-to-B and B-to-C, but

underused

– Restaurant “Birthday Clubs”

• Keys to Success:

– Benefits that are desired by your audience – Exclusive offers only available to members – Positioning it as joining a club, not signing up for email

Club Membership Case Study: Cirque de Soleil

• Benefit

– 20 “upgrade” tickets available for each performance

• Higher than average

click-through to sign- up from calls to action

• Double opt-in – 80%

respond

ONLINE REGISTRATION

Benefits to Get the Opt-in

Online Calls to Action

• Content

– Benefit-oriented language – Incentive – Form field – Engaging creative – Privacy statement

Online Calls to Action

• Prominent

placement

– Top left and right are prime real estate

• Above the fold
• On every page

Website Calls-to-Action

Case Study: IntraWest Resorts

• Expanded call to

action to all pages

• Added a form field

– Additional fields on second page

• Tenfold increase in

sign-ups

Online Registration

Case Study: EmailLabs

• Best Opt-in Campaign

– MarketingSherpa Silver B-to-B, past winner

• Strong value proposition
• Sample newsletter
• Testimonial, award
• 7 fields
• 54% conversion rate

– Industry average <10%

Online Registration Example: SparkPeople

• Benefit-oriented

descriptions of email newsletters

• Two boxes are pre-

checked

• The rest are not
• Frequency is mentioned

Final Thoughts

• List growth is critical to a successful email

program

• It’s not just about getting a high quantity of

names on your list, it’s also about getting quality names on your list

• The details matter – execution is often the

difference between success and failure

Learn More

• Attend Marketing Sherpa’s

Email Essentials 2010 Workshop Series

• Practical, proven and personalized email

training coming to a city near you

• Order the Best

Practices in Email Marketing Handbook Online

Credits/Thank You

Big Thanks to:

• Stefan Tornquist, MarketingSherpa

Jeanne S. Jennings, Consultant, Email Marketing Strategy Call or email me at: 1-202-333-3245 or JJ@JeanneJennings.com