THINK.

A Multi-part Email Strategy series to help you get the most out of your email program. Each Tuesday, I will focus on one aspect of email communications. Please submit a comment if there is an area you would like for me to focus on or a problem you are encountering with your own email program.

Over the past few weeks I have been blogging about different aspects of email communications, and how they can positively impact your organization. Recently I have discussed topics ranging from email frequency, sender name, personalization, and testing practices. Each of these topics were spun-off a blog entry discussing ‘industry best practices’ and ‘industry averages.’ (of which I discussed determining your own ‘industry averages’)

It is important to keep track of your email program very closely. It tends to be the forgotten-step-child in an organization’s Communications or Development group, or the even more - it’s the forgotten-step- child-that-lives-under-the-stairs when it falls to the IT group for support and cultivation.

THINK.

Thinking is something we all do. Like it or not. But in the case of your email program, little thought is given to the power of the medium - even in this Web 2.0 world we are currently experiencing and is impacting the way we communicate and get communicated TO. It’s not just ‘drop some content into the email program and hit the send button and forget about it until next time.’ You must THINK about each email that goes out, and how it impacts your organization and the relationship it is building with your members.

This series will cover and help you THINK about how your program can have a positive effect in member or customer acquisition, retention or donor bonding and cultivation, fundraising and product sales, and just making the member feel like a valued part of the .

To some organizations that already do it right, this series will be a no-brainer and will help you refine your process, to those organizations that are just starting to feel the impact of a large list size that is not responding to plan - this series will help you get back on track, and to those organizations that are just getting ready to press the ’send’ button for the first time - THINK

THINK first, press later.

The first official part of this series (outside of those mentioned above and in this blog already) is Email Capture Preparation. Getting the name and making sure you understand how keep it.

Here’s a checklist to get you started and for other things to THINK about as we proceed in this series:

1. What are the goals of your email program? And who ‘owns’ the email program (on that note, the ORGANIZATION ‘owns’ the program and list, not a person or group.)

2. Make a list and review the treatment of every place your organizations asks for email

• Is it on every page (and by this I don’t mean buried or hidden in the header, but as a strong call to action in a prominent location on every page)
• Is it on your Direct Mail or other Marketing Collateral? Or anything else that a prospective new-member may come across?
• If your organization or company utilizes telemarketing, are your call center reps trained to ask for email?
• Is it a required to provide email address to access any high value content or other site features?

3. Sign-up for your own email using a secondary email address so that you can see what your visitors/members experience, and take notes on each step.

• Does the process make sense? Is it easy to complete? Do you think you are asking for too much information up front that could be captured in the cultivation process? (do you REALLY need to know their home address just to send them an email?)
• THINK about how much information may actually stop someone from engaging into this email communication with you.

4. Review your sign-up form or process and see if you are asking the correct questions - and make sure the look and feel isn’t too different from the rest of your site:

• First Name
• What name do they go by? (phrase it something like “how may we greet you?”)
• Last Name
• Email address (double entry to ensure a good address)
• Interest areas
• Frequency of communication
• Instructions on how to go back later to change or remove information. Believe it or not, the easier you make it for members to unsubscribe over time you will see fewer unsubsribes.
• What kind of autoresponse is sent? Make sure that someone sits down and THINKS about this copy - it will be the first communication you have with the new constituent - give them a call to action to get them immediately engaged. (please note though, that many email systems DO NOT track the open rates of auto responders. frustrating, but true. also a huge pet peeve of mine)

5. Look at your email system reporting features

• Is it robust enough to give you information on email performance down to the individual link level?
• Does it give you the information you will need to perform advanced testing in the future?
• Is it flexible enough to handle conditional content and segmentation?

BONUS QUESTION

1. What does your email communications and testing calendar look like?

Now that you have sat down and really thought through some basic questions, share them with your team and leadership to get additional input. Next week in Part Two of this series, we will focus on getting that first email (or first refined email) sent and talk about goals of your email program.

See you next Tuesday.

And, whatever you do, THINK before you send.

Filed under: Administration, Agency, Education and Training, Email Marketing, Non-Profits on Tuesday, September 25th, 2007 by Serengeti Communications |
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