November 10, 2016 | Posted in Email Marketing, Mobile | By B2the7

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The 2016 Presidential Campaign was very interesting with how both candidates engaged with their fan base. From what I experienced, social and eMail were very large parts of their campaign.

Earlier this week, I read a good article called the “Election Day: The State of Email Marketing In the Presidential Campaign”. Data from Return Path and Persado showed us how the campaigns differed in eMail list sizes, spam complaints and deliverability, engagement rates and tone. How eMails were acquired and the engagements of those subscribers are interesting along with how tone was used most often.

There is some knowledge to be gained are far as what you should and should not do. Click here to read the full article.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/288517/election-day-the-state-of-email-marketing-in-the.html?edition=97910

This is a great opportunity to learn what was done on a national scale and apply to your programs and to take the time to review what you are currently doing today and how you can improve and get ready for 2017.

Email List Size – I’m a firm believer that your eMail list should be built with Quality not Quantity. It is very easy to get caught up in a large list size, but if those individuals are not engaging, then you are wasting your money and time. Look at your sign up touch points and what those messages are before your customers sign up – tell them exactly what they will be receiving and when. Use a preference center to allow your customer to choose when and what they want.

Open and Click Rates – How have they been trending? Up, flat or down? Look at what eMails performed the best and worst and dig in to see why. Use those learnings going forward to make improvements.

A/B Testing of Creative and Call to Action – If you are not A/B testing, start now. Test your creative and your call to action buttons. See what is working and what is not and then make adjustments. A/B testing may take extra time, but in the long run it is well worth the effort.

Subject Line Optimization – As with A/B testing, subject line optimization and testing is just as important. Look at your best performing emails and the subject line that was used. Look at emotion within your subject line. Look at call to action words and emojis when appropriate. Return and Persado are two great resources.

List Acquisition Programs – I would NEVER pay to rent or purchase of list to send to – you never know where these eMail addresses came from or how they were acquired. If you go the payed or rented route, you are setting yourself up for high bounce rates, high unsub rates and a potential hit to your sending reputation. There are other options around acquiring eMails that are very targeted and produce a good quality eMail subscriber – send me a message and I can provide more details.

Landing Page Optimization – Take the time to look at your landing page and how it works on a mobile device. If it is not mobile optimized, you need to make this your top priority.

Customer Journeys – Look at all the eMail communications your customers are receiving – Welcome, Promotional, Transactional, Triggered and Informational. What are the messages, what needs to be updated or changed?

Learn from the mistakes of others – your customers will thank you in the end with higher engagement, sales and transactions.

About Bernie

With more than 23 years of experience in marketing, Bernie is the Director of Digital Marketing at Papa John’s International, based in Louisville, KY. His current focus is building and scaling a progressive digital marketing foundation that balances the needs of both consumers and national/local stakeholders —  all while delivering measurable ROI to the business.

Additionally, Bernie oversees brand representation for Papa John’s digital properties and manages direct-to-consumer channels including email, SMS and push messaging. Recent initiatives have centered around bringing together larger promotional efforts with targeted campaigns to engage the consumer at the precise moment of interest.

Follow Bernie on Twitter @B2the7 or @B7_Design & the B2The7 blog @ http://b2the7.com/b2the7