The 20 Do’s & Don’ts for Association Email Marketing
Introduction The biggest question that many Associations have regarding Association email marketing is, “What are the best practices I should adopt?” There are fundamental best practices such as not purchasing lists, privacy, compliance, and those that minimize risk. However, the best practices we will focus on assume that the fundamentals are in place. We will be looking at those that YOU must implement using your creativity and leveraging the experience of a vendor or a group of experienced people who have seen and done it all - the ones that incrementally will move the needle on your email marketing program. This post is written from 21 years of email experience on the client, agency, and [...]
Compelling Emails: A Visual Guide for Associations and Non-Profits
Introduction An inbox is a crowded place these days. Besides the general noise and deals, subscribers are inundated with asks of all kinds from brands. Associations and Non-Profits have an even bigger task at gaining the subscriber's attention and conversion, so a solid strategy coupled with high-performing creative is essential. Compelling emails are important. Here are ten examples of Association and Non-Profit emails Email Designs that we love at iPost. Take Action Email Feeding America In America, 1 in 9 people struggle with hunger. The Feeding America network is the nations' largest domestic hunger-relief organization. When the Hunger Action Month arrived in our inbox, we immediately noticed their direct and very [...]
Avoid These 5 Bad Email Habits
It's fair to say that none of us in email marketing are in it to annoy our subscribers with our email newsletters. We have all read articles about why subscribers leave your email program. This article about five bad email practices to avoid. In addition to frequency and lack of personalization in emails, some things just flat-out drive people nuts. They may be things that you don't intentionally do, but they are things nonetheless. I hope you will take inventory of your program and see if these five things impact your engagement in any way. #1 POOR SIGN-UP EXPERIENCE Imagine you have been invited to a fabulous party where tons of exciting guests will attend, the [...]
Managing Data: Making sense of features that help
iPost wrote a Whitepaper “Email Marketing Maturity Model: From Bait Shop to Revolutionary” recently striving to help marketers think about the relative stages of maturity for an email marketer. One of the most important considerations when looking at your maturity is how you look at creating actionable segments and ultimately how you operate within those data sets. Below are a few not so often talked about segmentation types that can help your email marketing program: Active Segments include: Master and Control Segments: Creating a master record is critical for understanding the underlying growth and churn tactics, yet it's critical that when creating these master accounts, you create a series of control segments within your core audience [...]
The Best Email Subject Lines – Avoid These 5 Common Mistakes
The best email subject lines are the ones that get your emails opened. The subject line is not the first thing your recipient looks at. That’s the From name. But after that, the subject line will get your subscriber to open your email—or not. Research finds 47% of recipients open an email based on the subject line. That’s almost half of the names on your list who will decide to open your email or ignore it based solely on the subject line. And if your email doesn’t get opened, what’s the point of sending it? Without an open, your email message goes unread. If it’s not read, it’s not acted upon. Any email not opened is [...]
Benchmarking for Email Marketing
Welcome to a new digital marketing series at iPost called "Don't do this, do that.", where some of the best minds in email marketing will use dozens of years of both client, agency, and ESP experience to guide you the email marketer with pragmatic advice to help improve your marketing strategy. This week's article is about Benchmarking. What Is Benchmarking? First, let's start with some definitions. According to Wikipedia, "Benchmarking is the practice of comparing business processes and performance metrics to industry bests and best practices from other companies." Benchmark is defined as an object, such as a ruler or standard, used as a measure of size, accuracy, or quality. So if you're comparing yourself to [...]
Email delivery vs Email deliverability
In email marketing, email delivery and email deliverability are two entirely different things when it comes to running an email program. Unfortunately, they are often used interchangeably, and it causes some confusion amongst non-email people around your organization. So how do you distinguish email delivery and deliverability? Email Delivery Delivery simply means that the email you just sent was accepted by your recipient’s server and did not bounce. It doesn’t mean that the email was delivered to the inbox or a folder; it simply means that it wasn’t rejected. Email delivery rate is NOT a metric you want to use to gauge the success of your campaign or your program. Therefore, the email delivery rate is [...]
Chapter 2: Don’t treat members the same way as non members in email.
Welcome to Chapter 2 of the new series at iPost called "Don't do this, do that," where some of the best minds in email marketing will use dozens of years of both client, agency, and ESP experience to guide you the email marketer with pragmatic advice. This chapter is strictly for Associations where members and non-members are your audiences. MEMBERSHIP MEANS SOMETHING, ESPECIALLY IN EMAIL It is no secret that associations thrive on member growth, engagement, and involvement. Consequently, the decision to become a member is often a strong belief that the Association will provide professional and personal development that aligns with their values. However, membership is a two-way street and requires work from both sides. [...]
Emails From The Client Side – Levels of Engagement
As we continue to grow, we are constantly fielding questions around our solution and its ability to perform strategically no matter what vertical they are in. One common theme from our clients is "levels of engagement." A recent email from the client-side asked us this: My engagement levels have peaked in many of my programs, and I'm trying to determine if it would be a better use of time to build on these or if I should focus on creating new campaigns where I can start with a lower engagement rate but perhaps achieve a higher conversion rate as a result. What do you think? How do your subscribers compare across the various programs you manage? [...]
iPost Joins American Society of Association Executives (ASAE)
SAN MATEO, CALIF., April 06, 2021 iPost, an enterprise email marketing and automation provider, has joined the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). ASAE is a membership organization of more than 48,000 association executives and industry partners representing 7,400 organizations. Their members lead, manage, and work in or partner with organizations in more than a dozen association management disciplines, from executive management to finance to technology. “We joined the ASAE because an association’s email needs are similar to those of franchises, an industry iPost serves particularly well,” says Andrew Kordek, VP of Customer Engagement at iPost. “Most larger associations have multiple locations, like state or county chapters, so the iPost capabilities around accounts and subaccounts is a big deal.” [...]
7 Hidden Costs of Switching Email Service Providers (ESP)
If you’re switching email service providers, one of the questions that’s likely top of mind is, what will it cost to move from one ESP to another? Although there are steps you can take to make the ESP migration easier, you still might not understand the real costs. Based on anecdotal evidence from watching—and helping—clients switch email service providers, both before and during their engagements with iPost, I’ve pulled together some hidden costs to consider to help you understand those real costs associated with switching ESPs. Please note: This is not a breakdown of the costs of switching email service providers, nor a guide to figuring out if the cost is worth it. It is, however, [...]
Are Long Emails Bad? How Long Should an Email Be?
Are Long Emails Bad? You Have Been Mislead. In recent years people in the email industry have led you to believe that you should stop writing long emails because email subscribers don't read long emails anymore. Email marketing strategists and thought leaders have subsequently encouraged you to write shorter emails (50 to 125 words - 200 words) or image-heavy with little copy and bullet points because subscribers "scan." The industry has said that no one likes to scroll on emails unless you have valuable content, and only then should you have your most valuable content at the top to grab their attention. Captain Obvious called on the former and asked that I tell you "HOGWASH" on [...]
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