“Made and forgotten”: Why is it not so in the layout of email-letters
In our blog, we write about different approaches to the layout of email newsletters - from controversial but interesting experiments to theses, confirmed by entire studies. However, we have not yet raised the topic of the importance of optimizing letters, after their creation. This topic is well covered in a note by Chad White, one of the managers of the Litmus mail service - today we present to you her adapted translation.
It is usually considered that the trigger letters work on the “set and forget” principle. Sometimes you can even hear how people call it the main reason to use them - as if, as soon as you build up a trigger list, the letters will constantly and consistently generate income, and you can never change them.
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Unfortunately, this is a big misconception, and every day it is less and less true. In the Rules of email-marketing, I argue that the trigger letters work on the principle of "revise and update." Marketers should constantly keep control of the mailing process, regularly plan to update and refine letters. You should review your trigger list components at least quarterly to ensure that all images, links, rendering work and display correctly.
There are two good reasons for regularly updating trigger letters: (1) quality assurance and (2) optimization. Let's first look at the first reason.
Your letters contain links to the website, represent your brand, they are associated with your various product strategies and strategies for working with clients, they exist in an ecosystem of different email clients, browsers and devices. All of the above is constantly changing, which can lead to:
For example, this confirmation request to subscribe to a newsletter was sent in 2013, and it contained an outdated logo. According to the copyright notice at the bottom of the message, the text was last revised and formatted in 2007.
The easiest way to find out whether the content of a letter has been revised for a long time is to look at copyright (copyright notice) at the bottom of the page. And although some e-mail service providers allow you to program the copyright date for automatic updating, we recommend updating it manually, so at least once a year you will go over the text of the letter with your eyes. Surprisingly, even this often does not happen.
This is followed by an example of a welcome letter sent in 2013, but [at the time of sending] has not changed for four years. As a result, the navigation pad and some design elements (for example, orange navigation buttons) are outdated in the letter.
A reminder letter about an abandoned basket has lost its meaning, since the information about the abandoned product has not been loaded into the letter. It is unclear whether this was a temporary failure or whether the letter came to thousands of recipients.
The next example is a selection letter of goods in which the structure and logic are violated: it came to me one day after the conversion took place. Due to the growing number of trigger letters and the attention paid to interaction with the client, the logic and structure of such a letter-selection becomes very important. Such messages may not display correctly and easily lose their relevance.
The second reason why marketers should regularly review their trigger letters is the ability to optimize them. Even if the discovery rate of most trigger letters is still around 25%, right now the trigger list is a “platform” for experiments and innovative changes.
These changes are clearly demonstrated in the event that the client abandons the checkout. For example, according to a study I conducted with Salesforce.com, in December 2014, 50% of B2C marketers sent several reminder letters about an abandoned basket, and not just one. A year earlier, only 19% of marketers did this. The inclusion of recommendations of alternative, accompanying or seasonal products in the content of letters played a role in increasing the opening rate of letters.
In particular, the appearance of a huge number of series of letters, I mean greetings and other trigger letters, means that many more things now require verification, optimization and updates. For example:
All this is very important, because trigger letters are incredibly effective in marketing strategy. In fact, the “litmus test” of your email strategy is what role trigger letters play in it: in the case of a well-thought-out strategy, they should account for the majority of revenues from the email campaign, and they should be responsible for attracting and retaining customers.
Some very large companies are already working on this, but efficiency cannot be achieved without rigorous regular testing. If you have not reviewed your trigger letters for relevance for a long time, be sure to schedule this action - make sure that your trigger letters provide a positive experience with the brand and are optimized for maximum performance.
It is usually considered that the trigger letters work on the “set and forget” principle. Sometimes you can even hear how people call it the main reason to use them - as if, as soon as you build up a trigger list, the letters will constantly and consistently generate income, and you can never change them.
')
Unfortunately, this is a big misconception, and every day it is less and less true. In the Rules of email-marketing, I argue that the trigger letters work on the principle of "revise and update." Marketers should constantly keep control of the mailing process, regularly plan to update and refine letters. You should review your trigger list components at least quarterly to ensure that all images, links, rendering work and display correctly.
There are two good reasons for regularly updating trigger letters: (1) quality assurance and (2) optimization. Let's first look at the first reason.
Everything is changing
Your letters contain links to the website, represent your brand, they are associated with your various product strategies and strategies for working with clients, they exist in an ecosystem of different email clients, browsers and devices. All of the above is constantly changing, which can lead to:
- The emergence of broken, outdated links, broken forwarding;
- Obsolete [design] logo and brand;
- Obsolete information about offers, consumer benefits;
- The erroneous logic of trigger letters;
- Breakdown of rendering and functionality.
For example, this confirmation request to subscribe to a newsletter was sent in 2013, and it contained an outdated logo. According to the copyright notice at the bottom of the message, the text was last revised and formatted in 2007.
The easiest way to find out whether the content of a letter has been revised for a long time is to look at copyright (copyright notice) at the bottom of the page. And although some e-mail service providers allow you to program the copyright date for automatic updating, we recommend updating it manually, so at least once a year you will go over the text of the letter with your eyes. Surprisingly, even this often does not happen.
This is followed by an example of a welcome letter sent in 2013, but [at the time of sending] has not changed for four years. As a result, the navigation pad and some design elements (for example, orange navigation buttons) are outdated in the letter.
A reminder letter about an abandoned basket has lost its meaning, since the information about the abandoned product has not been loaded into the letter. It is unclear whether this was a temporary failure or whether the letter came to thousands of recipients.
The next example is a selection letter of goods in which the structure and logic are violated: it came to me one day after the conversion took place. Due to the growing number of trigger letters and the attention paid to interaction with the client, the logic and structure of such a letter-selection becomes very important. Such messages may not display correctly and easily lose their relevance.
New trends in trigger ezine
The second reason why marketers should regularly review their trigger letters is the ability to optimize them. Even if the discovery rate of most trigger letters is still around 25%, right now the trigger list is a “platform” for experiments and innovative changes.
These changes are clearly demonstrated in the event that the client abandons the checkout. For example, according to a study I conducted with Salesforce.com, in December 2014, 50% of B2C marketers sent several reminder letters about an abandoned basket, and not just one. A year earlier, only 19% of marketers did this. The inclusion of recommendations of alternative, accompanying or seasonal products in the content of letters played a role in increasing the opening rate of letters.
In particular, the appearance of a huge number of series of letters, I mean greetings and other trigger letters, means that many more things now require verification, optimization and updates. For example:
- The number of trigger letters in the series
- The conditions under which the following is sent from the series or not sent;
- The time interval for sending not only the first, but all subsequent ones in the series of letters;
- The text of the message in each letter from one series and the logical connection between the letters.
All this is very important, because trigger letters are incredibly effective in marketing strategy. In fact, the “litmus test” of your email strategy is what role trigger letters play in it: in the case of a well-thought-out strategy, they should account for the majority of revenues from the email campaign, and they should be responsible for attracting and retaining customers.
Some very large companies are already working on this, but efficiency cannot be achieved without rigorous regular testing. If you have not reviewed your trigger letters for relevance for a long time, be sure to schedule this action - make sure that your trigger letters provide a positive experience with the brand and are optimized for maximum performance.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/267055/
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