7581 unread emails! That’s my mailbox and I am pretty certain, 95% of that mail consists of marketing emails. Most of which I have not read because the content was of no interest to me or the mail was not captivating .

In this post, we are going to look at email marketing and point out the best practices to use when composing a marketing email and critical factors that can change clicks to conversions on a landing page. Let’s get clicking!!

Due to the lack of information in the field of Email marketing execution tactics, Ellis-Chadwick, F, & Doherty, N,  wrote a journal article on email marketing  to close an important gap in the literature. By analysing the execution tactics used in permission-based e-mail marketing campaigns designed by leading e-retailers in the United Kingdom.The sample consisted of almost 1000 promotional e-mails sent over an 18-month period by twenty leading U.K. e-retailers.

Their findings are presented in the table below:

(Click to enlarge)

As you can see from their findings, there are a number or marketing emails you can create, e.g E-newsletters, event triggered and conversational emails. Each style will have different sets of principles. For example, Sales e-mails are short but new fashion e-mails tend to adopt a catalogue approach, the more products in the email the more the opportunity to buy.

We are going to analyse an event-triggered marketing mail and it’s landing page and discuss the pros and cons of the mail and how it can be improved.

Example of an event-triggered mail

This is an event-triggered email sent to me,by EA, a highly successful video game company, who recently launched the second title of their hit game “Titanfall”

Just to make it clear all the images below, are from the same email.

Pros:

• The email is very captivating, it uses a lot of strong imagery and vibrant colours to catch the reader’s attention.

• There is high-level of content, offered in the mail and it’s presented in a clear layout, making it easier for the reader to navigate.

• A good number of call to action’s(CTA), which are highly distinguishable,with each link taking you to a landing page with the specific content it advertised in the link.

• The price has not been mentioned in the email, encouraging the reader to click on the links to find out more, giving the company a chance to share more information on the landing page, and further influence the consumer.

• The headline was clear in the email. “EA“ sent the mail as “Titanfall“ so I instantly knew what the mail was about, it also had a catchy subject line “The Next Evolution of Combat Is Here” which is a bold statement and stirs interest in the reader

• Good use of social media, the bottom of the mail has various links to different social media platforms, giving the reader access to more content and a place to share his/her interest of the game.

• Easy opt-out option, at the bottom of the page, therefore if the reader is not interested in the content,they have made it easy for them to unsubscribe

Cons:

• There’s a lot going on in the mail, some customers prefer a more direct and straight to the point approach.

• Lack of personalization, having played the first game it would be nice if the email, had more personalization, e,g  a welcome back message.

• Not enough information on the email itself, it does offer useful links to find out more information,however, some customers prefer having all the information in one place, without opening links.

 

Landing Page

Now, the customer has opened the email and clicked on a call-to-action, the next step will be converting those clicks into a sale. To get the best results, the landing page has to be in-line with the link description presented in the email.

Below, we have the landing page of the link“available now” from the email above.

The landing page is well designed for this mail, with good vibrant colours, easy layout,  great navigation and offers a lot of media content in the form of videos. It also has a section on top of the page that says’ “order now” that will allow you buy the game, however, the font is far too small and could be easily be undermined by the reader.

When a customer clicks on the link “available now” they would expect the link to take them  to  a page where they can buy the game.However, the landing page has more of an emphasis on media content, rather than how the game can be bought.This creates a lack of transparency between the email and landing page.

When you eventually click on the link  “order now”  it will  navigate you to two pages before you can actually buy the game. This is quite infuriating for a customer, who is ready to buy the game,due to the number of links that need to be opened. It also gives the reader time to lose his/her interest and change their mind in purchasing the game. Remember every second makes a difference! In total, from opening the email to purchasing the game, the reader will need to click  5 links! 

Process of opening the mail to purchasing the game (5 links = 5 clicks!)

(Click to enlarge)Conclusion & Recommendations 

The email is presented in a high-quality format and is in line with the key points from Ellis-Chadwick & Doherty findings. It does well in captivating the reader through vibrant colours, good imagery, easy navigation,informative content, with an inviting subject and headline, and a well-designed layout.  These factors encourage the reader to click on links in the email to know more about the game, giving the company an opportunity to offer further information and further influence their buying decision on the landing page.

However, on the downside, there has been too much focus on providing informative content about the game, and less emphasis on making it easy for the reader to buy the game. which is one of the main aims of an even-triggered mail, with the reader having to click 5 links, just to get to the payment page.

Overall I think this is a very good email, but it lacks personalization and easy access for the customer to buy the game. Therefore to improve the mail, I would personalise the mail by directly addressing the mail to the reader to make them feel unique and put an option to buy the game on the first landing page, this reduces the number of clicks, making it easier for the customer to buy the game.

For more on email marketing, visit : http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/email-marketing-examples-list

Ellis-Chadwick, F., & Doherty, N. F. (2012). Web advertising: The role of e-mail marketing. Journal of Business Research, 65(6), 843-848.