Presentation by Justine Jordan at 2010 MIMA Summit

1. DESIGN FOR YOUR SUBSCRIBERSUse #MIMAET for questions, comments & conversation!

2. MEET: JUSTINE JORDAN @meladorri @ETDesign #MIMAET Responsible for managing ExactTarget’sDesign Solutions team Dedicated to producing performance-driven emails that deliver real business results Experience in design, brand strategy, user experience

3. LET’S TALK ABOUT… Subscriber Experience Performance-Driven Design Code Matters The Mobile Inbox Landing Pages Test, test, TEST! Q&A/Group Exercise Resources

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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?

7. 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

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

9. 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?

10. 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

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

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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

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

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

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

19. 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

20. 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

21. 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

22. 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

23. Only comprehensive testing will validate successful rendering of design and ensure functional performance prior to sending to the subscriber inbox. TESTED QUALITY

24. CODE MATTERS! HTML for email is different than HTML for the web Modern web design utilizes CSS (cascading style sheets) for layout. However, due to inconsistent CSS support, HTML tables must be used for email layout. CODE LIKE IT’S 1999! No standards exist for displaying HTML in email. Proper syntax still counts – use a validator to check for general errors. Beware of: Forms, surveys, search bars Javascript Video/flash Animated .gifs Background images

25. THE MOBILE INBOX Email accounts for 42% of mobile internet time 30% of users are reading and replying to email on their smartphones More than 90% of users access the same account on their mobile device + their desktop PC

26. THE MOBILE INBOX There are no standards in place for displaying emails on smartphones (sound familiar?)

27. THE MOBILE INBOX MOBILE AWARE Maximizing desktop experience and ensuring a functional mobile experience MOBILE OPTIMIZED Maximizing mobile email experience without sacrificing desktop experience ENABLED DEVICES iPhone, iPad, Android, Pre Probably render just fine LIMITED DEVICES I’m looking at you, Blackberry May need special consideration for a positive experience

28. THE MOBILE INBOX

29. THE MOBILE INBOX

30. THE MOBILE INBOX

31. THE MOBILE INBOX

32. THE MOBILE INBOX

33. THE MOBILE INBOX Discover YOUR audience Litmus Email Analytics is a great start

34. THE MOBILE INBOX Maximize subject lines and preheaders Don’t worry about specific devices Mobile optimized campaigns require special planning! Include short, direct, clear copy & calls-to-action Think skinny + single column (320px) Larger text (18-22px) and “easy to press” buttons (about 0.4 inches) Don’t downgrade the desktop experience. Design for the majority of your users.

35. LANDING PAGE TIPS Leverage web analytics to design for your audience Monitor Resolution, Browser, User behavior

36. 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

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

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

41. EXTREME MAKEOVER:EMAIL DESIGN EDITION

42. PIER 1 IMPORTS

43. DESIGN “A”

44. DESIGN “B”

45. DESIGN “C”

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

47. 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

48. WINNER: DESIGN “A” BUT…

49. AAA OHIO

50. DESIGN “A”

51. DESIGN “B”

52. DESIGN “C”

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

54. 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%

55. WINNER: DESIGN “C”

56. MARKETING EXPERIMENTS

57. DESIGN “A”

58. DESIGN “B”

59. DESIGN “C”

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

61. 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%

62. WINNER: DESIGN “B”

63. LANDING PAGE TESTS Control: Horizontal Vertical

64. 5 THINGS WHITEPAPER Total Leads Generated: 88 Total Leads Generated: 102 LIFT: 34% Total Leads Generated: 76

65. DESIGN ELEMENTS TEST Buttons vs Text > 230 characters < 130 characters vs Imagery vs

66. WINNING COMBINATIAON DESIGN ELEMENTS TEST Buttons vs Text > 230 characters < 130 characters vs Imagery vs

67. AS A RESULT

68. GROUP EXERCISE + Q&A Break up into groups of 4-5 people Take turns sharing your email designs Develop recommendations how each email can be optimized for subscriber experience and deliver on performance driven design tactics Q&A, wrap up, findings

69. EXACTTARGET RESOURCES

70. ExactTarget Design Resources Seven Design Principles That Will Drive Customer Engagement Eight Tips on Designing for Outlook 2007 and 2010 Five Easy Ways to Improve Conversions Across All Interactive Channels

71. ExactTarget Design Resources Email MarketingDesign & Rendering: The New Essentials Email Design Checklist Email Design for Lotus Notes CareerBuilder.com Case Study

72. ExactTarget Design Resources Design Team Blog New posts weekly! blog.exacttarget.com MarketingExperiments Maximize Agency ROIthrough testing Twitter @ETDesign twitter.com/etdesign

73. THANKS!