Transcript Constant Contact - Power of Relationships

Chamber Email Marketing
Best Practices
Alec Stern
VP, Strategic Market Development
Constant Contact Confidential
Topics Of Discussion
 Why Email Marketing?
 The Power of Relationships
 Creating a Winning Strategy
 Chamber Examples
 Constant Contact Overview
A Template For Success!
Why Email Marketing?
Why Email Marketing?
Everyone is doing it!
E-MAIL ME THAT
• 75% of businesses have email lists
• 13% of total marketing budget is
When asked e-mail usage in daily
spent on email
Business activities, 85% said they
use e-mail to communicate with
When asked what consumers would
customers, 80% said they
like email to replace:
communicate with partners and
• 54% replace telemarketing
business associates via e-mail,
• 45% replace in-person sales calls
and 67% e-mail potential buyers
• 40% direct mail
Source: Interland
Source: Association for
Interactive Marketing, DoubleClick Study
Why Use An Email Marketing Service?
Constant Contact…
 Email marketing services automate best practices
– Manage lists – adding new subscribers, handling bouncebacks, removing unsubscribes
– Provide easy-to-use templates.
– Send readable formats – HTML and/or Text
– Handle unsubscribe links required by law
– Ensure email delivery, tracks results and obeys the law
Why Outlook Fails
 Standard Email Programs (e.g. Outlook, Hotmail) not
designed for group email messaging
– Limited # of emails sent at one time
– List break up more susceptible to filters
– Message can be filtered, blocked or undelivered without
notice
– No tracking and reporting of email results
– If messages perceived as spam, entire corporate email server
can be blocked by ISPs
What They Don’t Know CAN Hurt Them
The Power of Relationships
via
Email Marketing
How small businesses can foster and grow
profitable relationships on a shoe-string!
The Challenge for Businesses…
Keeping current relationship strong while looking for new business
Investment ($ and time)
Sales & Profits
Most new and
growing businesses
focus on acquisition
Most profits are
generated by
repeat customers
Every business knows they need to keep relationships
going…but how to budget the time and money?
Repeat Customers are Valuable
 6-7 times more expensive to gain a customer
than to retain a customer1
 5% increase in retention yields profit increases
of 25 to 100%2
 Repeat customers spend 67 percent more2
 After 10 purchases, a customer has already
referred up to seven people2
All too often, client retention only becomes the strategy to
save the business after the customer has fled
Sources:
1 Harvard Business Review
2 Bain and Company, 2002
In Summary
 Every business should be collecting email addresses
from every visitor they drive to their website or find at
an event.
 Ongoing, relevant communications can keep your
prospects and customers coming back and provide
great conversion opportunities.
 Email communications are the best way for small
businesses to keep in touch with their customers –
easily and affordably!
Creating A Winning Strategy
Collect email addresses everywhere…
At networking events
and meetings
On service or
sales calls
At trade shows
Customer &
Prospect
Database
Guest book
Guest
Book
Website signup
Determine Appropriate Format
 Newsletters
– Frequency: monthly / quarterly
– Lots of educational content
(typically non-promotional)
 Promotions
– Frequency: bi-weekly / monthly
– Focus on promotion / limited content
– 2, 4, 6 product promotions, coupons
 Announcements
– Frequency: event driven
– Promotional or educational with targeted
message
– Invitations, special events
Frequency & Delivery
 Objective: maximum impact / minimum intrusion
 How often to send
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Create a schedule
Include frequency in online sign-up “Monthly Newsletter”
Coordinate for maximum impact
Newsletters (monthly / quarterly)
Announcements / Event Invitations (as needed)
 When to send
– When is your audience most likely to read it?
• Day of week (Tuesday & Wednesday)
• Time of day (10am to 3pm)
– Test, test, test
Legal Compliance
SPAM
Permission – what is it and why you need it?
Guest Book
Two types of permission:
 Explicit: Opt-in from your website, a signup form or guest book
– “Join our mailing list”
– I would like to receive info from time-to-time
 Implicit: Requests for information /
registration forms, existing customer
relationship
Note: Always make sure to ask for
permission when collecting information from
registration forms or tradeshows, etc.
Evaluating Your Results

What influences the open rate?
– From / Subject line
– Delivery day / time
– List overuse, age or quality

Why did people click through?
– Call-to-action or offer
– Copy

What were they interested in?
Chamber Examples Using
Constant Contact
What Other Chambers Are Saying…
"With templates that make it so
easy to use - it's impossible not to
"Wow!" our subscribers every time
we contact them."
Nancy Hulse, Information Systems Mgr.
Bartlesville Area Chamber of Commerce
"We couldn't be happier with your product
and are thankful to have such an
affordable tool for staying in constant
contact with our visitors.“
Marti Mayne, PR Manager
Mt. Washington Valley Chamber of Commerce
"Constant Contact is a life saver for any
non-profit organization of any size."
Morgan A. Garriss, Exec Assistant
South Fulton Chamber of Commerce
"It's really been amazing in the 6 months
we've been using Constant Contact. We'll get
calls at our office if we go much more than a
week without issuing an email!“
John J Crawford, President & CEO
Wyoming-Kenwood Area Chamber of Commerce
Over 100 Chambers Use Constant Contact Today!
Sugarbush Chamber of Commerce
Campaign Types:
Chamber Mixers – 7 times a year
Newsletters – Every 10 days
Special Events – As needed
Results:
* 58.6% average opens over last 3 campaigns
* 25.8% average click-throughs over last 3 campaigns
Comments:
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Do 95% of all marketing via Constant Contact
Save $4,000 annually on postage alone
Used to only be able to communicate every 6 weeks but now all the time
Started with no computer experience
Using Constant Contact since 7/03
"This is the one tool that has made a difference in how I
communicate with my members.“
Susan Roy, Executive Director
Sugarbush Chamber of Commerce
Sugarbush Chamber of Commerce
Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce
Campaign Types:
Newsletter / Member Updates
Invitations
Special Events
Not-for-Profit Community Bulletin Board
Results:
* 43% average opens over last 3 months
* 10% average click-throughs over last 3 months
Comments:
* Do 75% of all marketing via Constant Contact
* Manage readability – who is reading it, clicking-through, no more sending email
into a vacuum
* Send 2-3 different emails a week
* It cost us for a year of service what it cost for the postage of 1 print campaign
* Don’t need to be technically savvy
Using Constant Contact since 3/05
"I love this service! Constant Contact provides an easy, cost effective way
to communicate with my members. The emails look professional and
consistent and give a polished impression."
Marcy Bouley, Membership Director
Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce
Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce
Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce
Campaign Types:
e-alert – As needed
e-xchange – Bi-monthly
e-xtra – As needed
e-news – Monthly
y-exchange - Weekly
Comments:
* Do 50% of all marketing via Constant Contact
* Use hyperlinks within campaigns for ease of registering for services
Using Constant Contact since 3/03
"Our members especially appreciate the eye-pleasing graphics and
the fact that they can register directly for programs just by clicking on
the hyperlinks in the newsletter."
Jim Elliott, Communication Director
Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce
Wausau Region Chamber of Commerce
Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
Campaign Types:
E-Flash Newsletter – Multiple topics
Briefs – Single topic
Results:
* 41% average opens over last 3 months
* 8.5% average click-throughs over last 3 months
Comments:
* Do 90% of all marketing via Constant Contact
* Emails are now more professional, better click-throughs, readability vs. previous
emailing methods
* Send 1-2 emails a week
* Once I have the content and images I want to include it only takes 10 minutes
to create a campaign.
Using Constant Contact since 12/03
"We often use Constant Contact as an example to our other service
providers of how their systems should work."
Drake Pothier, Communications Director
Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
Greater Lafayette Chamber of Commerce
Constant Contact
Overview
Constant Contact is the Market Leader
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Over 35,000 customers
Fast growing, profitable company
Outstanding customer satisfaction
Industry awards and National exposure
210 million emails sent each month
High deliverability rate of 97%+
Over 1,500 partnerships (AOL, AMEX, Intuit
and more)
“Many small businesses will find Constant Contact an
excellent resource, especially those struggling to convert a
static Web presence into a more robust marketing tool.”
Adam Stone,
Small Business Computing.com
Constant Contact is Easy, Affordable and
Self-Service for Small Businesses
From the very first month I've had dramatic
and delightfully unexpected results.
 List management
Betsy Harper, CEO
Sales & Marketing Search
 Image hosting
Constant Contact is by far the
most cost-effective,
accountable, reliable, quick
and convenient method for
disseminating information to
our recipients..
 Real-time reporting
 Permission management
 Over 100 professional templates
 Free Support
Mike Nelson,
Rancho Cucamonga
Redevelopment Agency
We have found Constant Contact to be our best
method of consistent communication.
P.A. d'Arbeloff, Executive Director
Boston Public Library
Constant Contact Customer Benefits
 Free 60-day trial up to 100 email addresses
– Remains free if under 50 email addresses
 Customer pricing starts as low as $15 a month
– Pre-payment discounts available for all customers
– Special pre-payment discounts for non-profits
 Constant Contact move-in service for customers
– Communications Consultant calls customers to help them get started
 Constant Contact customer support and training
– Phone and email support for trial, free and paying customers
– Constant Contact daily live webinars for getting started
And Much, Much, More…
Constant Contact Options For Chambers
 Use Constant Contact To Communicate with Members
– Non-profit discounts for 6 or 12 month pre-payments
– 100+ pre-built templates
– Free support – Self-help, email and phone
 Promote Constant Contact To Your Members To Use
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Free Constant Contact account up to 5000 email addresses
Co-branded landing pages to for member sign-ups
Revenue share of all the business generated under you
Marketing, promotional materials to promote Constant Contact
Access to activity and revenue reporting to check your results
Visit: http://chamber.constantcontact.com
Thank You!
Alec Stern
VP, Strategic Market Development
Constant Contact
e: [email protected]
p: 781-472-8142
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