E-telligence

E-telligence 014 - E-telligence Masterclass – Pre-preparing your emails for success: Optimising your QA process and email designs for engagement - John Thies

Today’s it’s my pleasure to welcome John Thies as my guest on the show!

 

Today John and I are talking all about the pre-send process and making sure you have a solid QA process in place.

QA stands for Quality Assurance and is essentially making sure that everything is right and as it should be before you hit the send button – something that for many marketers is still a source of great stress and worry each and every time! But a great QA process will help to alleviate some of that and give you the confidence in your campaigns.

Now of course, that doesn’t mean that mistakes are never going to happen, we’re all human! But it will help to reduce the likelihood of them occurring.

But, when they do, don’t panic! Just make sure you have a solid plan in place to deal with those mistakes.

 

All emails should go through a Quality Assurance (QA) process before being broadcast; This process not only needs to test and produce error-free emails but do it as quickly as possible.

 

 

In this episode John and I discuss…

 

• What to do if you do make a mistake

 

• Why its so important to have a solid QA process and what makes a good one?

 

• Some of the important elements in a good QA process? You can also download our checklist here > https://e-focusmarketing.com/free-guides/pre-send-checklist/

 

• How do you manage the process on your own and  when there’s multiple people involved?

 

• Why you need to check every email nowadays and not just your main template

 

• Is spam testing still a thing we need to worry about?!

 

Find more show notes and resources here:

https://e-focusmarketing.com/podcast/episode14/

 

E-telligence 013 - E-telligence Masterclass – Omni-Channel – Building a Cohesive Strategy with Email Marketing at it's Core - Gavin Laugenie

This month it’s my pleasure to welcome Gavin Laugenie as my guest on the show!

 

Today we’re talking all about omnichannel marketing – what is it, do we need to be thinking about it and how does email marketing fit in!

 

So let’s break it down and clarify what we mean by omnichannel to begin with.

 

Multichannel is where we are using lots of different marketing channels (SMS, social media, PPC, email, print etc.) at the same time, but independently of each other. Whereas omni channel is where we are using lots of different channels, but together, in conjunction with each other. With information feeding back and forth between each and informing the decisions of the other. So, your communication with a prospect or customer is inclusive of all activities.

 

But being able to do this rests of having the right data, in the right place to be able to join your messaging together. Which can be a challenge, that’s for sure, but if you get it right, omni channel marketing means the experience your customers and prospects have with your business is much better.

 

In this episode Gavin and I discuss…

 

• Why having an omni channel strategy is important and how email marketing fits in to it in 2020?

 

• If everyone be working towards an Omnichannel approach

 

• Do companies risk the losing relevance if they don’t adopt an omnichannel strategy?

 

• Examples of how omni channel marketing strategies work in practice

 

• Some of the key considerations of implementing this into your business

 

Find more show notes and resources here:

https://e-focusmarketing.com/podcast/episode13/

 

E-telligence 012 - E-telligence Masterclass – Attribution Modelling – Understand where to spend your marketing budget - Skip Fidura

Today we’re talking all about attribution modelling. It’s such an important topic and something that so many businesses struggle with, and of course lots of different ways to approach it.

So, for anyone who’s not sure, attribution modelling is the way in which you calculate which marketing touchpoint and channel has contributed to a sale and to what extent that contribution played a part.

It’s absolutely vital to allow you to accurately decide which channels are worth you spending more budget on to acquire new customers and which are helping you retain repeat customers. But also, to let you know which channels aren’t working hard for your business.

 

During this episode, Skip and I explore:

 

• Why attribution modelling is so important to understand and have a model that works for you
• What’s ‘wrong’ with our current approach to attribution modelling
• Some of the most common attribution models currently used
• A better way to approach attribution modelling to allow you to understand which channel you should actually spend your marketing budget on

 

Read skips blog here:

https://www.skipfidura.live/blog

Get your Attribution Modelling quick reference guide here:

https://e-focusmarketing.com/podcast/episode12

 

I’ve got a load more fantastic content planned for you in 2020 so watch this space! And if there is a specific subject you’d like me to explore on the podcast or you simply want to reach out and say hi, or discuss how we can work together to sky rocket your email marketing email me at kate@e-focusmarketing.com

 

And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Spotify or whichever podcast provider you’re listening through, follow us on Youtube for more video-based content and find eFocus Marketing on all the socials.

 

Thanks for listening.

E-telligence 011 - E-telligence Masterclass – Rory Sutherland: The power of Behavioural Science in email marketing

“To find that psychological magic trick, you must embrace the idea that anything -- from consumer behavior to people’s perception of a product -- can be transformed, so long as you’re willing to think like an alchemist.”

 

 

We have a slightly longer E-telligence Masterclass episode for you today as we delve into the world of behavioural science and speak to the force that is Rory Sutherland from Ogilvy.

 

Rory is the Vice Chairman of Ogilvy, and co-founder of a behavioural science practice within the agency.

 
Rory was previously a copywriter and creative director at Ogilvy for over 20 years, having joined as a graduate trainee in 1988. He has been President of the IPA, Chair of the Judges for the Direct Jury at Cannes, and has spoken at TED Global. He writes regular columns for the Spectator, Market Leader and Impact, and also occasional pieces for Wired. He is the author of two books: 'The Wiki Man' and his most recent title: 'Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense'.

 

 

In this episode, Rory and Kate chat about the power of truly understanding your customers and how this can impact your marketing (and email marketing).

Some of the key takeaways from this episode include:

 

• In order for marketing to work its full magic you have to have great creative, media and behavioural science in equal measure – get everything in alignment for marketing to work its magic to the full.

 

"40% of the success [of a direct campaign] will be attributable to the targeting. Maybe 20% to the creative. (These are merely averages - a really clever creative insight can have a huge effect.) And there was always 30% which was 'something else', it wasn't the targeting and it wasn't the creative."

 

• How Uber uses behavioural science to its advantage
• Reducing the friction of completing an action, making it as easy as possible to do, is a key part of behavioural science… but sometimes you want to add friction to make an action seem worthwhile (counteract something being too good to be true)
• One of the reasons behavioural science is frustrating is that the opposite of a good idea can be a good idea – there are no completely hard and fast rules.
• As marketers always question what you’re doing – particularly the ‘obvious’ things as the opposite may actually be a better option! Be unafraid of questioning conventional logic to improve your results.
• Start at the end – if your Customer Experience is no good, there’s no point in doing great conversion work as people will only buy from you once. Get your experience right and then work on your conversions and THEN your advertising. Optimise the bottom of the funnel first otherwise you create desire without action.
• Figure out what your customers REAL problem is that they’re trying to solve and how is it impacting on their live – solve that.
• Pay attention to your copy and individual words (how you frame things and the way in which they’re put) – for example, there is a huge difference between saying we want your opinion and we want your advice; in terms of the engagement that will generate

 

 

Accompanying links:

 

 

• The 300 million dollar button blog post: https://medium.com/uie-brain-sparks/the-300-million-button-76b566ae5f73
• Rory’s books: 'The Wiki Man' (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rory-Sutherland-Wiki-Man-SUTHERLAND/dp/0956437338/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=the+wiki+man&qid=1578328612&sr=8-2) and 'Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense' (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alchemy-Surprising-Power-Ideas-Sense/dp/0753556502/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+wiki+man&qid=1578328612&sr=8-1)

E-telligence 010 - E-telligence Masterclass – Jay Oram - Action Rocket

Episode 10: Expert Masterclass - Let's Get Interactive!

 

Today it is my pleasure to welcome Jay Oram from Action Rocket to join me on our monthly E-telligence Masterclass session.

The amount that we are able to do in the inbox is growing. And if we want to keep getting the best results from our email marketing we need to understand how our audiences want to interact with email going forward and how we can make their journeys faster, easier and more enjoyable. There is a wealth of emerging technical capabilities for email marketing that many companies are just scraping the surface off.

In today’s episode, Jay and I talk about interactive email and how you can use it to surprise, delight and engage your audiences with your design and of course, make it even easier for them to convert.

Jay is part of the design and code solutions team at the ActionRocket. In his role at ActionRocket, Jay is usually experimenting with new code for emails or finding that elusive rendering fix.

 

Find more show notes and resources here:

https://e-focusmarketing.com/podcast/episode10/

E-telligence 009 - E-telligence Masterclass – Elliot Ross - Taxi For Email

Episode 9: Expert Masterclass - Making Your Emails Accessible

 

This month it’s my pleasure to welcome Elliot Ross from Taxi for Email to discuss making your emails accessible.

Getting the design of your email right is such an important part of the email marketing mix. If you don’t make your content easy to read and interact with, you’ll diminish the impact of your message.

And one of the most frequently overlooked areas, and yet a vitally important part of the design process, is to ensure that your emails are accessible – making sure that you create and send emails that every subscriber can read and understand, regardless of whether they have a visual impairment or disability.

 

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 1.3 billion people worldwide live with some form of visual impairment, with 217 million living with moderate to severe vision impairment. Approximately 36 million people worldwide are blind and 246 million have low vision.

 

To put that into context, the UK population in 2019 is about 67.6 million

 

WHO also estimates that more than 1 billion people worldwide – or 15% of the global population – live with some form of disability. And we also can’t forget colour blindness at varying degrees and other temporary ailments that might be an issue when interacting online.

 

Join Elliot and I as we discuss how you can make your emails accessible across 4 key areas; Hearing, Visual, Dexterity and Cognitive requirements.

 

Find more show notes and resources here:

https://e-focusmarketing.com/podcast/episode9/

E-telligence 008 - E-telligence Brand Spotlight – Aysha Zouain - Rentpath

Episode 8: Brand Spotlight - RentPath

 

Find more show notes and resources here:

https://e-focusmarketing.com/podcast/episode8/

E-telligence 007 - E-telligence Masterclass – Jacques Prothon - Odicci

Episode 7: Expert Masterclass – Interactive Opt Ins & Loyalty Drivers

 

Today it’s my pleasure to welcome Jacques Prothon from Odicci.

I wanted to invite Jacque on the show today to discuss a really important subject: list growth! And more specifically, growing your email list in fun, intuitive and interactive ways beyond just our standard sign up forms.

Growing your email list is such an important topic - especially post GDPR where many companies removed large chunks of their list and saw their revenues drop because of it. But not only that, just generally we have to be aware of the rate at which our list is churning (called your attrition rate or churn rate) – attrition eats up about 25-30% of the average email list every year. And that’s just those who actually unsubscribe or bounce from your lists. There’s also those who emotionally unsubscribe (but don’t actually hit that button) and go inactive, and those who don’t see your emails anymore – perhaps due to deliverability problems or because you’re sending to an email account, they don’t use any more. This could account for another 10-25% of your list.

So not only do you need to work on list cleansing and reactivation, your list growth efforts have to outpace your list’s attrition rate. If they don’t, no matter how much list building you do, your email list will stay the same size. It might even get a bit smaller.

 

In this episode Jacque and I discuss:

• How you grow your email list and do it in a way that really engages subscribers

• What an interactive email sign is and how it differs from a standard opt in process

• Who can benefit from interactive marketing

• How interactive sign ups work in the offline world and help to connect offline and online

• Some of the biggest mistakes we see companies making when it comes to email sign ups

• How interactive experiences helping companies re-engage and re-activate lapsed audiences

• The psychological effect of interactivity

 

Find more show notes and resources here:

https://e-focusmarketing.com/podcast/episode8/

E-telligence 006 - Brand Spotlight: How Help for Heroes use email to connect with subscribers at a human level

Today it is my pleasure to welcome Najmah Salam from Help for Heroes to our monthly E-telligence Brand Spotlight session.

Najmah is the Digital Marketing Executive at Help for Heroes (taking care of the email marketing and PPC campaigns) and brings a wealth of knowledge to the charity from her previous travel and retail experience.

During the interview, Najmah was kind enough to share some fantastic insights into the importance of email marketing for them and how it sits within the Help for Heroes marketing mix (with PPC, paid social, offline marketing etc.).

We also discussed:

• How Najmah’s career journey that led her to Help for Heroes and how her previous retail experience is helping her move their strategy forward
• Why you need to listen to what subscribers are telling you – directly and through their behaviour with your campaigns
• How Not-for-Profit organisations can benefit from looking at other sectors for inspiration with their email marketing campaigns
• Why marketers need to expand their life experience to become better at their jobs
• The importance of data: Using email to understand your audience – what they’re saying and their behaviour is telling you
• How Help for Heroes are developing their email marketing strategy and tailoring their strategy and content for different segments within their audience

 

Listen to the full interview to find out more!

 

Want to find out more?

• Emotional Intelligence – E-telligence Episode 4: Listen now >

 

Tools Help for Heroes use:

• DotDigital

 

 

If you want help to create a customer-centric, personalised, intelligent email marketing programme, get in touch with eFocus Marketing and discover how we can assist you.

Get in Touch >

E-telligence 005 - E-telligence Masterclass – Using Emotional Intelligence to Achieve Email Zen; the human side of email marketing in practice

Today it is my pleasure to welcome Kait Creamer from Scaled Agile to join me on our monthly E-telligence Masterclass session.

Kait is the Email Marketing Manager at Scaled Agile and a passionate advocate of empathetic "surprise and delight" email marketing.

Prior to joining the Scaled Agile team, Kait managed the digital marketing and automation strategy at Boulder SaaS innovator, MakeMusic. 2019 Stefan Pollard Email Marketer of the Year award winner, featured on Phrasee's "Who to Follow" series, and vice chair of the EEC's Events and Education committee, she's an expert and enthusiast in email, customer data, and marketing automation, always pushing for next best customer-centric campaign. Just like us, she believes in beautiful design, protecting the subscriber, clean copy, and relentless innovation in email.

During the interview, Kait and I discussed truly understanding who your customers and prospects are, when you should be talking to them and why, as well as linking that together to come up with a comms strategy that works for the individual subscribers. We also talked about…

• What does emotional intelligence actually mean? (be a good friend!)
• How brands are starting to address the human side of their communications
• How you can walk the helpful / creepy line with your content
• Using MVP to move your strategy forward
• Looking at your data and see what works for your successful customers and what is not working
• Applying emotional intelligence to your internal teams to get buy in for your email marketing strategy (convince your CMO with intelligent context – lead with why!)
• How Kait finally convinced her CMO to switch ESPs (after 2 years of trying!) – what changed in her approach to make that happen

 

Listen to the full interview to find out more!

 

Want to find out more?

• Taxi for Email
• Scaled Agile

 

 

If you want help to create a customer-centric, personalised, intelligent email marketing programme, get in touch with eFocus Marketing and discover how we can assist you.

Get in Touch >