Email Marketing Art or Science?
- The case for email as an Art -
Rob Walk - Managing Partner (rob.walk@novarising.com)
Overview
- Creative elements within email marketing are of primary importance.
- Simply put without them you are not maximising the effectiveness of the campaign.
- It doesn't matter how well you target the communication to your audience. Your communication needs to stand-out as competition for the inbox has increased due to spam, image blocking and use of preview panes
- The creative elements are essential in stimulating curiosity to develop a level interest and ultimately a click-through or response
The Message Journey
- Emails represent a progressive journey from initial subject line, to the email body to the final click-through
- Emphasis needs to be on developing these elements of the journey
- The email has to be successful at every part from the open, through the message journey, to the click-through and ultimately the response or transaction
- Stimulating a users interest at each part of the journey and building their interest from passive curiosity into genuine interest
- The creative elements:
- Subject Lines - The first creative hurdle to attain strong open rates
- Email Concept & Design - The emphasis is currently on preview pane design
- Message Journey - Development from passive curiosity into active interest
- Enhanced Engagement - Using technology to bring the experience into the users in box
Sky Acquisition Email
An old campaign created in 2000 to demonstrate effectiveness of creative html email marketing over text Sent to MyOffers.co.uk competition entrants
Click throughs to the online purchasing system were 15.2%
"Let us entertain you!"
Developed at a time when Robbie Williams was riding the charts with Let Me Entertain you. It attained 82% open rates - excluding text opens!
Promotion
5 off installation - a low incentive off a 300+ per anum spend
Concept & Design
Reflecting Sky's existing offline & TV creative. Email content bite sized to gain interest
Message Journey
Structured to identify areas of interest - there was a 3:1 bias for movie against sport content -which was Sky's main push at the time
Sky subsequently sent a text email to similar audience with increased promotion of 15 off installation
It only achieved a 2.1% CTR to purchase
Agent Provocateur - Scale
"Kate Moss Gets Interactive"
Developed to drive up open rates
Video Footage
Utilising the trailer for the Mike Figgis video to entice click-through
CTR of 56% recorded in first few days
Design Elements
Utilising Mike Figgis's photography from the Kate Moss shoot - tying in with all offline marketing and comms activity
Message structure
Calls to action for viewing full video, new lingerie range & magazine, online store
Forward to a friend
Spawns another video email
Agent Provocateur - Exhibitionist
"Kate the Exhibitionist"
Developed to drive up open rates
Video Footage
Utilising the trailer for the Mike Figgis video to entice click-through
Design Elements
Utilising Mike Figgis's photography from the Kate Moss shoot - tying in with all offline marketing and comms activity
Message structure
Calls to action for viewing full video, new lingerie range & magazine, online store
Forward to a friend
Spawns another video email
Reading Pane Creative
Reading Pane displays video creative in both right hand side & bottom positions of the Outlook browser Video Plays out in Reading Pane -delivering the experience direct to the user
Content Summary Line - in case image blocking or format issues
If you can't see the new Kate Moss film below, click here to view it
Scale Campaign Site - Interactive Video
- The campaign shouldn't endat the email click-through
- Utilisation of engaging technologies on campaign site can aid conversion
- Coull.biz Interactive video enables contextualisation of items within the video
- http://www.agentprovocateur.com/miss_x/scale/movie2.php
Video Footage
Full Kate Moss film
Event Based Content
Content is relevant to what is hovered over in the video pane above.
Clicking on the item delivers the user to that item of lingerie within the shop
Online Shop
23% of viewers clicked through to the item in the online shop
Streaming Technology on Campaign Sites
- Linking video email into full screen TV quality content direct from a stream - A technology from Vividas plc - Great for promotion of video, films and viral advertising elements
- Carlton Big Ad - Released virally by email before TV airing, achieved over 2 million views over 130 countries
- Casino Royale pre-released utilising technology
Carlton Draught Viral Casino Royale
Creative Consideration
- The importance upon creative elements is only set to increase as competition for the inbox continues due to spam, image blocking and use of preview panes
- No matter how well you target the communication you will need to make your communication stand out
- More emphasis needs to be on developing the whole journey creative, stimulating a users interest at each part of the journey
- Compelling subject lines - Compelling creative - Structured Messaging
- The delivery to well-developed campaign microsites
- Structure the creative to not be listed as Spam
- Designs need to work across multiple platforms and degrade gracefully
- Utilise engaging technologies to bring experience to the user
Science is involved in email marketing
However it is the Art of that science which delivers true response
Please feel free to contact me about any of the technologies we utilise in our activity and I will put you in touch we our technology partners that provide them.
