The document provides tips for designing emails to improve subscriber experience and email marketing ROI. It discusses considering the subscriber experience at each stage, from the from name and subject line to landing pages. Proper design, testing, and ensuring emails display well on both desktop and mobile is important. The document also includes examples of how testing different email designs led to improved performance for different companies.

1. DESIGN FOR YOUR SUBSCRIBERSTips and Tricks to Increase Email Marketing ROI

2. LET’S TALK ABOUT… Subscriber Experience Performance-Driven Design Code Matters The Mobile Inbox Landing Pages Test, test, TEST! Resources

3. WHY DOES DESIGN MATTER? Design is the visualization of a business plan. More than a pretty picture, great design requires an actionable plan and measureable goals. Design should acknowledge the subscriber experience.Put yourself in your subscriber’s shoes and understand how they will interact with your communications. Design and technology are seamlessly integrated.Emails should be designed and coded to display properly in the various ways a subscriber will view it. A comprehensive testing strategy is essential to ensure success.

4. SUBSCRIBER EXPERIENCE Consider the entire subscriber experience – from first impression to final click. Each individual phase influences the decision to open and engage with your email. Your email design is experienced in stages – not as a static page. FROM NAME SUBJECT LINE PREVIEW PANE ABOVE THE FOLD COMPLETE EMAIL CLICK THROUGH

5. It all begins with theFrom Name – 73% of subscribers click “Report Spam” or “Report Junk” based on this field. *Email Sender and Provider Coalition FROM NAME IS YOUR FROM NAME EASILY RECOGNIZABLE?

6. SUBJECT LINE 69% of subscribers click “Report Spam” or “Report Junk” based on this line.* IS YOUR SUBJECT LINE RELEVANT AND INTERESTING? *Email Sender and Provider Coalition

7. SUBJECT LINE 69% of subscribers click “Report Spam” or “Report Junk” based on this line.* IS YOUR SUBJECT LINE RELEVANT AND INTERESTING?

8. Images are disabled by default more than 50% of the time.Isyourkey message visible, relevant and enticing in this space? PREVIEW PANE: IMAGES OFF WHAT IS YOUR EMAIL SAYING WITH IMAGES OFF?

9. PREVIEW PANE: IMAGES ON What’s your open rate? Only subscribers that turn images on trigger an open.Are you giving them a reason to keep reading? AVERAGE PREVIEW PANE DIMENSIONS: 300px by 300px

10. PREVIEW PANE & IMAGE BLOCKING Hotmail - Images Off Hotmail – Images On

11. PREVIEW PANE & IMAGE BLOCKING Hotmail - Images Off Hotmail – Images On

12. ABOVE THE FOLD Does your content above the fold provide motivation to respond? Are you persuading subscribers to scroll? DON’T CRAM EVERYTHING ABOVE THE FOLD… INTRODUCE CONTENT ABOVE THE FOLD

13. COMPLETE EMAIL Seconds – not minutes – to view an entire email Only 11%* of those who open will scroll below the fold! EVEN IN THIS VIEW THE ENTIRE EMAIL IS NOT ONSCREEN AT ONCE *The Nielsen Norman Group

14. Subscriber experience doesn’t end with the inbox CLICK THROUGH Don’t ignore the transition to your website, landing page, or other marketing collateral. Ensure the products in your email are available on your site - better yet, map the individual products from the email to a product page. “…A well-designed email means nothing if the landing pages don’t work well.” – Chad White

15. CONSIDER THE SUBSCRIBER EXPERIENCE Is this the message you want to convey?

16. Brand Synergy • Content Hierarchy•Visual Hierarchy Engagement Techniques • Rendering Results •Tested Quality PERFORMANCE DRIVEN DESIGN

17. Website Email Visual recognition of the brand across all media channels creates a seamless brand experience, creating trust to engage and transact. BRAND SYNERGY

18. Wireframe Preview Pane Above the Fold Create a content hierarchy, arranging each content element (text and/or image) and associated call to action with appropriate weight. CONTENT HIERARCHY

19. Headlines utilizing size and color hierarchy Secondary calls-to-action Primary call-to-action Maximize response by creating a visual hierarchy, using design techniques to guide the subscriber's eye through your email based on the content hierarchy. VISUAL HIERARCHY “Quick Bites” or summaries

20. Preheader Teaser Text Forward to a Colleague In This Issue Read More Link Subscriber Q&A Lifestyle Imagery Use of Background Color Link to External Video Recovery Module Use design techniques to engage the subscriber through a mix of emotive and rational imagery and content. Smart use of images, borders, buttons, links, charts, colored backgrounds, etc.should be applied and tested. ENGAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

21. Optimized Design Non-optimized Design Main call-to-action in prime placement HTML text in web safe fonts If an email is created primarily with images, it will not display effectively when images are blocked. Designed with image-blocking and preview pane viewing in mind. Ensure your design efforts are viewed as intended once they hit the inbox. Emails that are created with the subscriber experience in mind will have a greater chance of success. RENDERING RESULTS

22. *Fingerprint from Litmus, February 2010 Only comprehensive testing will validate successful rendering of design and ensure functional performance prior to sending to the subscriber inbox. TESTED QUALITY *ExactTarget via Fingerprint from Litmus, Feb. 2010

24. Include a 3-4 sentence teaser for articles with a “Read More” link instead of including the full article

25. Introduce your main call-to-action within the preview pane and other important content above the fold

26. Develop a visual hierarchy for headings, subheading, and body copy for easy scan-ability

28. Make that message the Hero in your design

29. Introduce your main call-to-action within the preview pane and other important content above the fold

31. Don’t include too much cross-sell information (follow the 70/30 rule)

32. Use a higher text to image ratio

33. Use font colors and sizes to create a visual hierarchy

36. There are no standards in place for displaying emails on smartphones

37. Most mobile devices display a “stripped down” version of the HTML portion of an email, NOT the plain-text version

38. Optimizing your emails with HTML text in web-safe fonts will benefit smartphone users as well

39. Consider including a link in your email to view a mobile friendly version of your email

41. LANDING PAGE TIPS Continuity – graphics, offers, headlines, imagery, data Set expectations, and follow through accordingly Keep forms simple Honest, clear, concise copy – use bullets! Avoid extra elements (navigation, sidebars, images…) Don’t be afraid to re-state value Use seals! Same rules of email apply to landing pages

42. IS THIS A POSITIVE SUBSCRIBER EXPERIENCE? Email with “Download Now” call to action Above the fold view

44. Did the landing page meet the expectations that the email set up?

46. EXTREME MAKEOVER:EMAIL DESIGN EDITION

47. PIER 1 IMPORTS

48. DESIGN “A”

49. DESIGN “B”

50. DESIGN “C”

51. DESIGN “C” DESIGN “A” DESIGN “B” WHICH DESIGN PERFORMED THE BEST?

52. PIER 1 RESULTS MEASURES: CTR of Delivered Emails Unsubscribe Rate Sales Generated by Subscribers WINNER: Generated 86% More Clicks Than Other Competitors Generated 25% More Sales Than Nearest Competitor

53. WINNER: DESIGN “A” BUT…

54. AAA OHIO

55. DESIGN “A”

56. DESIGN “B”

57. DESIGN “C”

58. DESIGN “B” DESIGN “A” DESIGN “C” WHICH DESIGN PERFORMED THE BEST?

59. AAA OHIO RESULTS MEASURES: CTR of Delivered Emails Projected Renewal Revenue WINNER: Outperformed Control CTR by 26% Outperformed Projected Revenue of 2nd Place by 4%

60. WINNER: DESIGN “C”

61. MARKETING EXPERIMENTS

62. DESIGN “A”

63. DESIGN “B”

64. DESIGN “C”

65. DESIGN “C” DESIGN “A” DESIGN “B” WHICH DESIGN PERFORMED THE BEST?

66. MARKETINGEXPERIMENTS RESULTS MEASURES: CTR of Delivered Emails Unsubscribe Rate WINNER: Outperformed 2nd Place by < 2% Outperformed Control CTR by 26% Outperformed Control Unsubscribe Rate by 15.9%

67. WINNER: DESIGN “B”

68. Subject Lines Sender Lines Personalization List Segmentation Greeting Text—Content Greeting Text—Style Body Text—Content Body Text—Style Closing Text—Content Closing Text—Style 11. Images 12. Offer / Promotions 13. Response Buttons 14. Day / Time Sent 15. Color 16. Coupons 17. Pricing 18. Free Trial 19 HTML vs. Text-Only 20. Unsubscribe 21. Taglines 22. Creative 23. Press mentions 24. Store Locations 25. Phone Numbers 26. Animations 27. Charts 28. Strikeouts 29. Signatures 30. Testimonials 31. Celebrities 32. Polls / Surveys 33. Call to Action 34. Sound 35. Numbering 36. Themes 37. Discounts 38. Refer a Friend 39. Click to Talk 40. Email Sign-up 100s of Potential “Success Factors” TEST, TEST, TEST! Insights gained from testing may be applied to ALL Marketing Channels (TV, Radio, Print, Tradeshows, Web, Email & Search)

69. EXACTTARGET RESOURCES

70. EXACTTARGET DESIGN RESOURCES Design Tipsfor Outlook 2007 Email MarketingDesign & Rendering: The New Essentials Email Design Checklist Email Designfor Lotus Notes CareerBuilder.com Case Study

71. EXACTTARGET DESIGN RESOURCES Design Team Blog New posts weekly! blog.exacttarget.com MarketingExperiments Maximize Agency ROIthrough testing Design Team Tweets @ETDesign twitter.com/etdesign

73. Report #1: “Digital Morning”