A little less Open Rate and a lot more Consumer Experience, please!

After a decade of specializing in email marketing optimization, email marketers are still asking "How can I increase my open rates?"

Introduction

Open Rate equals Number of Emails Opened (Unique) divided by Number of Emails Delivered, thus the answer is simple right? Just remove all inactive email addresses from your next deployment and I guarantee that your open rate will go up by over 25-50%! I'm assuming that's not where the marketer was going with their question. I wish for once that email marketers would ask me how they can provide an exceptional online experience to better engage their consumers through the email channel to meet their business objectives.

For years, Email Service Providers (ESP) told clients that the two key factors in a consumers decision to open an email were 1) the "from" address and 2) the subject line. These basic factors still hold true for a single email deployment but to look at your email communications longitudinally, the overall consumer experience has much more impact to the long-term engagement of a consumer with your email program.

Analysis

From a consumer experience perspective, I will use a magazine publication as an example. When I walk into a book or convenience store, there are hundreds of publications on the magazine wall. I have an affinity towards hybrid/electric automobiles and on the cover of Car and Driver there is feature on the Tesla electric powered Roadster which draws my attention. I open the magazine to the table of contents. The teaser in the table of contents further generates interest on the topic and directs me to the article. I flip the pages to the article to only find a half-page article on the Tesla Roadster in a 200-page magazine!? Let's just say the promise of the feature call-out on the magazines cover was not fulfilled, resulting in a poor experience. The next time I see a Car and Driver publication, even if it has a cover feature that I have an affinity towards, I may think twice about browsing the magazine based on my previous experience.

Consumer Experience: Email Marketing vs. Magazine Publication
Email Subject Line > Magazine Cover Call-out
Email Content > Magazine Table of Contents (Teaser Content)
Website Content > Magazine Article

So what does this mean for your email program? You can do all the subject line testing you want but if you do not follow through on relevant email content and web experience to fulfil your brands promise, you can expect a decline in engagement with your email communications further down the email relationship lifecycle.

Fulfill your brand's promise!
1) Does the "from address" reflect the brand communication the consumer signed up for?
2) Is the subject line relevant and does it align with the email and website content?
3) Does the email content fulfil the "promise" of the subject line?
4) Does the website content deliver on the value proposition that your subject line and email content "promised"?

Conclusion

Don't get me wrong, factors such as the subject line are critical to generating response activity (I will write a separate brief on subject line testing methodology in the future) but to generate long term relationships, email marketers must provide an exceptional consumer experience beyond the subject line. These closed-loop digital experiences will in turn result in... wait for it... increased Open Rates!

Colin Bhowmik, Digital Marketing Consultant, Open Rate
colinbhowmik@openrate.ca
http://www.openrate.ca/

The Apple Roadmap: What Steve Jobs doesn't want Microsoft to figure out

After attempting to "win" the Operating System war for decades, here's how Steve Jobs and Apple will finally get their OS on your desktop.

"... an iPod, a phone, an Internet communications device... an iPod, a phone, an Internet communications device... an iPod... are you getting it?".  These were Steve Jobs exact words from the 2007 WDC keynote, supposedly introducing three new devices which turned out to be one device, the iPhone.

Though it was a clever way to introduce the all-in-one device, what Steve Jobs will never tell you in a keynote is the premeditated collision course that the Mac OS X and iPhone OS are on in an attempt to persuade tens of millions of iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad users to migrate from their Windows-based PC to a Mac on the desktop.  If this was Jobs' strategy since the introduction of the iPod, you would have to agree that it's brilliant!

I for one was and still am a Windows PC user because it's all I've ever used for computing.  I used to laugh at my sisters Mac because the mouse only had one button... how the heck am I supposed to "right-click" with one button!  I vowed never to touch a Mac.  That said, as much as I disliked Apple, I was willing to give this great new portable music player called the iPod a try.  Given my satisfaction with the iPod, I had to give Apple's next great device a try when they reinvented the the phone.  It was the best mobile device on the market.  As I became accustomed to downloading music, video, apps, etc. onto my iPhone and iPod Touch, along came another game changer, the iPad.  The iPad uses the same iPhone OS operating system and at the 2010 WDC conference Steve Jobs announced that they would be removing the "Phone" from the name and now the operating system would be known as iOS which would power the iPhone, the iPod Touch, the iPad and most likely any other mobile device introduced by Apple in the future.  That got me to thinking, though Apple was swallowing up market share in the mobile computing category, they still trailed the the desktop and laptop market by a large share to Windows-based PCs.

That's when the light went on and I started to see the big picture... the collision between the Mac OS and iOS.  Apple recently said they sold their 100-millionth mobile device (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad) and we can safely assume that a very large percentage of these customers are Windows PC users since Microsoft still has over 90% of the desktop market.  Recently, Apple has been very quiet as to their Mac OS as all the focus has been on the iPhone OS or iOS.  My gut feeling tells me that we will see a major update to Mac OS X in the future that will be directly tied to iOS and the iTunes ecosystem.  The future Mac OS will have a lot of the same functionality and usability as the iPhone and iPad but with desktop-class power and storage.

I am actually one of those consumers who owns an iPod, iPhone and iPad but have never owned a Mac.  If the Mac OS resembles iOS in the future, tens of millions of iPod, iPhone, iPad and iWhatever users will already know how to use the iOS operating system and there's a good chance they will consider purchasing a Mac for the desktop over a Windows PC for the first time.

This is how Steve Jobs and Apple will finally get their Mac OS on your desktop.  What do you think?... would love to hear your thoughts!

Colin Bhowmik, Digital Marketing Consultant, Open Rate
colinbhowmik@openrate.ca
http://www.openrate.ca/

Social Media Sandbox: Don't be afraid to "play"

Entrepreneurs and small businesses are leveraging social media to generate awareness for their products and services but most don't realize how easy and affordable it is to reach potential customers.

One of the best ways to learn, understand and generate ideas around the impact of social media is to play with the tools that are out there.  Most of them are free but don't be afraid to "play in the sandbox" and spend a few dollars all in the name of "learning".  Today, I'll be sharing my experience with Facebook adverts.

There have been reports that Facebook has surpassed the 400 million subscriber mark.  What most small businesses don't know is that they have access to this global pool and it doesn't cost a cent to query segments of people that they feel would be interested in their product.  The great thing about the query tool is that it updates the population of your target audience in real-time as you update the criteria.  In addition, once you have determined your target, you can then reach out these potential customers with a daily maximum spend of $1.00.  Okay, spending $1.00 a day is not going to have any impact but you see where I'm going with this.

I thought I would run a Facebook advert over the course of one week so I can see daily trending.  I set a daily maximum of $10 over 7-days which included the following assets and targeting criteria (the image on the right is a screenshot of the simple campaign set-up in Facebook):

Creative/Copy:
Header - Open Rate Consulting
Image - Open Rate Consulting Logo
Short Copy - Toronto based independent consulting company specializing in permission based email marketing strategies, complemented by social media.

Targeting:
- Who live in one of the countries: United States or Canada
- Between the ages of 23 and 50 inclusive
- Who like email, marketing or small business
- Who are not already connected to Open Rate Consulting

Campaign Results:
- Over 800,000 impressions
- Over 150,000 unique impressions
- Over 125-clicks to the Open Rate Facebook page (geo and demo data of "clickers")
- Page-views of the Open Rate website
- Handful of Facebook "likes"
- 2-emails from small-medium businesses SMB's

In reviewing the results of my test campaign, it was great to be able to introduce my brand to over 150K eyeballs... but the 800K impressions, 150K unique impressions, 125+ clicks, website page-views, Facebook likes were not that important to me.  It's the 2-emails that I received from real people with real businesses of which one, I am in the processes of helping, is the real value of the test and social media in general.

I may get a small piece of business from a test campaign that I put together in less than 5-minutes but that wasn't the point of my test nor this post, the point and purpose was the "learning" from this exercise.  I wonder what type of results I will get when I actually run a "real" campaign leveraging "smart" targeting and increased budget.  I'll let you know how it goes...

Bottom line, social media (in this case Facebook adverts) is not only for Fortune 500 companies to leverage and build relationships with their potential and existing customers, it's a channel that should be used by entrepreneurs and small-medium businesses who are looking to connect with real customers.  Invest a few dollars to "play" with the social media tools out there, not just for the purpose of finding potential customers but in the spirit of learning!

Drop me a comment and let me know what you learn from playing in the Social Media Sandbox.

Colin Bhowmik, Digital Marketing Consultant, Open Rate
colinbhowmik@openrate.ca
http://www.openrate.ca

My article is published on the Email Institute website:
http://www.emailinstitute.com/social-media/social-media-sandbox-dont-be-afraid-play

Open Rate Consulting | openrate.ca

After weeks of digital blood, sweat and tears, my website for Open Rate Consulting is finally live!

Open Rate is a Toronto based independent consulting company specializing in permission based email marketing strategies, complemented by social media and mobile experiences.  We are based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada but happy to work with clients around the globe.

When you get a chance drop by my website at openrate.ca and say hello!  Also, follow me on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook and connect with me on LinkedIn.

Thanks for your support!

Colin Bhowmik, Digital Marketing Consultant, Open Rate
colinbhowmik@openrate.ca
http://www.openrate.ca

IAB Canada | Social Media Marketing Course

As a follow-up to my April 11th post re: Social Media Marketing 101, here are some of my takeaways and opinions from the course presented by Mitch Joel, Author, Six Pixels of Separation.

One of the fundamental take-aways from the session was the mind shift from traditional reach metrics such as impressions and page views to participation by a consumer.  I believe Mitch referred to it as "hands over eyeballs".  Reaching the right audience vs. the size of the audience is much more important with social media and web 2.0 where we should be more concerned with interested consumers participating in conversations about their favorite brands.

The term "the long tail" coined by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of Wired magazine, where numerous niche products have been ignored by corporations to focus on more popular but limited number products to maximize revenue and profits (basically the 80:20 rule).  With social media and web 2.0, we now have the technologies to effectively communicate with smaller consumer-groups who are interested in niche brands, products and services in "the long tail" (see image) and have typically been ignored.  To leveraging social media, companies can and will need to build out web 2.0 platforms where their consumers or communities exist.  Consumers are already having conversations about your brand on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, etc. thus platforms should be built to listen and take part in the conversations without controlling them.  With social media, a community manager can engage in conversations vs. traditional advertising which is considered by the consumer as self-centered, one-way communication.  That said, if companies can't be interesting or provide the support required to effectively listen and participate conversations, they shouldn't be involved in social media marketing.  Social media marketing is not just having a social presence but requires brand presence with effective listening and participation.

The growth of social media will result in new roles in organizations.  The Community Manager will become a common role in the coming months and years.  Typically a CM role may be an extension of Public Relations but this individual will also require a stronger understanding of brand values, goals and beliefs as well as an expert on the company's products and services vs. the traditional PR role, to effectively communicate, educate and build trust among existing and potential consumers.

As for publishing content, companies should own their content since we do not know which platforms will survive or dissolve in the long run.  Content such as blogs, video, presentations, etc. should be served on the company website and then shared amongst relevant communities.  Remember the goal is not reach but participation thus finding the right audience is key.  Again, this is a mind-shift in thinking and key stakeholders will need to be educated to ensure they understand the importance of participation vs. reach in social media.

Marketers should note that social media platforms are not themselves part of the marketing mix but platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogger, etc. are part of the social media mix... there's a difference.  Brands will need to find out where their consumers are on the web, which channels they are using and how to champion each channel.

As a student of social media, I recommend picking up a copy of Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel or attending one of his lectures/seminars as a great introduction into the world of social media.  That said, as I become more educated about this exciting channel, through courses, lectures, seminars, readings and communicating with experts in the industry, I will share my experiences with you on this blog and hope you will do the same.

Are there any fundamentals that you would like to share re: social media marketing?  Thoughts on integrating social media with other digital channels such as email?  Many think that social media will be the death of email, what do you think?

Colin Bhowmik, Digital Marketing Consultant, Open Rate
colinbhowmik@openrate.ca
http://www.openrate.ca/

My World Vision Experience

With the help of World Vision I was able to visit my sponsored child in Manipur, India.  Definitely an experience of a lifetime!

Most of the content on my blog will focus on digital marketing and technology but I wanted to use this post to bring some awareness to the World Vision organization.  I always told myself that I would sponsor a child when I completed my education and actually had some money so when I entered the working world, I sponsored a 3-year old girl in Manipur, India (Meigui looking great in a Hockey Canada toque!).  In speaking to a friend who also sponsors through World Vision, told me that her and her husband actually met their sponsored child which I thought was pretty amazing.  I started looking into the process with World Vision Canada and I was finally able to visit my sponsored child in 2005.

It goes without saying that it was one of the most memorable experiences in my life!  My sponsored child's name is Meigui Kamei and lives in a tribal village in Manipur, India.  I was in Manipur for 3-days and the one thing that stood out for me was what happened when I met Meigui at her home.  When you send letters, pictures, etc. through World Vision you really have no idea where it's going and trust that it will get into the right hands.  When Meigui came down the stairs (more like a ladder) in her home, she brought down a shoe-box which she opened in front of me which contained everything that I had sent her over the years... let's just say it was a pretty emotional moment!  A portion of funds goes to the child for food, medication and education and the rest is pooled for the community thus I also visited World Vision's "Hope Center" which helps widowed women (partners passed away from HIV) a place to learn trades and participate in community activities.

If you are thinking about sponsoring a child, I would highly recommend World Vision from first-hand experience.  Upon my return to Toronto, my mother and I sponsored 2-additional children in India and Africa, Deepak and Kundi.  Meigui is now 12-years old and is doing well from the most recent letters and pictures I have received!

If any of you would like to bring attention to any causes or organizations that you support, feel free to leave a comment on this post.

Colin Bhowmik

http://www.worldvision.ca/

http://www.worldvision.com/

Social Media Marketing 101

In my search to find social media experts, courses, seminars and workshops in Toronto, I found a course offered by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Canada: Social Media Marketing.

With all the talk of Social Media I set out to find out if there were any formal courses based on this very topic from social media 101 to advanced levels of this digital channel. Although social media has been around for years it was becoming apparent that the channel is still in its infancy as I couldn’t find any courses or instructors in the Toronto area who were teaching about the topic. There were an abundant number of courses for website, email, search marketing and so on but few, if any, for social media. I then "dug" a little deeper for experts in the field and came up with a few names:

Mitch Joel - http://www.twistimage.com/blog/
Chris Brogan - http://www.chrisbrogan.com/
Jeremiah Owyang - http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/

I finally came across a course in Toronto offered by IAB Canada titled Social Media Marketing. I also noticed that the course instructor was Mitch Joel thus I registered knowing that one of the experts in the industry would be the instructor. I attended that course on April 6th and felt rejuvenated by Mitch's passion for social media. I have been working in marketing services for almost a decade and to be honest web, email, search, etc. were becoming a bit familiar/stale. While taking the course, there seem to be a renewed buzz and energy among several hundred marketers who attended, the same level of excitement that I felt when I entered the email space a decade ago. I personally feel when we look back in 5-years, companies who best leverage social media into the culture of their organizations, will definitely have an advantage over competitors who do not.

I recommend picking up publications, attending courses, seminars and workshops presented by these individuals if you ever get an opportunity. If any of you have any experts to recommend, please do share in the comments section.

In a follow-up post, I will share some of the fundamental learning from the course that will hopefully get you excited about the prospects of social media and its impact on businesses.

Colin Bhowmik, Digital Marketing Consultant, Open Rate
colinbhowmik@openrate.ca
http://www.openrate.ca/

Article | Evolution of the Mobile Experience

Mobile devices such as the iPhone and iPad usher in new ways for consumers to experience the web.

With the introduction of the Apple iPad last month, in a keynote from Apple CEO Steve Jobs, consumers received a sneak peak at yet another category of mobile device that will push the limits on Internet experiences such as surfing the web on the go. Consumers are also increasingly using their mobile devices to view emails, making it important for marketers to optimize their email creative for these next-generation gadgets.

One of the challenges facing marketers today is that there are multiple product categories and devices which make up mobile. Is a mobile device a cell-phone, a smart-phone, a net-book, a tablet, a laptop? Mobile device form factors are becoming more and more fragmented which is making it challenging for marketers to develop creative for multiple devices. As consumers move away from legacy devices such as cell-phones with small screens and traditional keypad and trackball interaction and switch to next-generation mobile devices such as smart-phones with larger screens and multi-touch interaction, marketers will have the opportunity to provide consumers with a rich, interactive and engaging experience.

Optimize HTML creative for mobile
Most new mobile devices are capable of rendering a rich HTML experience. Marketers should optimize their email creative (which have typically been viewed on desktops and laptops with large screens) to also cater to mobile devices with smaller screens such as smart-phones, net-books and tablets. Creative teams should test multiple configurations of the email wireframe such as height and width of the email template, image sizes and placement, text placement, background colours and fonts to ensure the creative is engaging regardless of the device the user opens the email with. Consideration should also be given for testing creative in both portrait and landscape modes as accelerometers are becoming common place in mobile devices, offering both vertical and horizontal viewing experiences.

Multi-touch Interaction
Interaction with these new types of mobile devices has also evolved. The days of entering information on a consumer mobile device with a keypad, mouse and trackball will slowly become the exception rather than the rule. With advances in multi-touch technologies, creative teams will have to become familiar with tactile interactions that can take place with their emails, which Apple refers to as “gestures”. Consumers can now interact with creative by “swiping”, “pinch-and-expanding”, “double-tapping” content on a touch-screen. Creative teams will need to be aware of these capabilities to provide the best experience possible. The phrase “look and feel” takes on a much more literal meaning with these multi-touch devices!

As new product categories and devices emerge in various form factors, one common outcome is that marketers will have the ability to provide consumers with a rich, interactive and engaging experience. Definitely an opportunity that marketers cannot afford to ignore.

Colin Bhowmik, Digital Account Director, Epsilon
http://www.epsilon.com/

My article is published on the Email Institute website:
http://www.emailinstitute.com/mobile-email/evolution-mobile-experience