What is Heat Map Analysis?

Heat map analysis uses eye-tracking software to determine what areas of the page viewers tend to look at most. Heat map studies enable you to more accurately determine where the most important elements of your email creative should be placed in order to attract user engagement. If your call to action is hanging out in a low-visibility corner, for instance, a heat map can not only point out the problem, but also show you where to place that call to action for better results.

What Can You Learn From Heat Map Analysis?

You can use heat maps to test the design of each individual email, demonstrating whether your links are placed effectively, whether graphics or copy attract the most viewers, and whether your critical information is garnering the attention it should. You’ll also begin to notice trends such as the following that will help you with future design options:

• Invest in the right real estate

Most heat map studies indicate that the upper left quadrant of the page receives the most attention. Make the most of this essential real estate by placing critical messages and visual anchors here.

• Don’t design based on assumptions

We’ve all been guilty of designing emails based on a best practice list somewhere rather than taking the time to test. Heat map analysis challenges some common recommendations such as:

- Keep copy to a minimum. Relevant, engaging copy can actually generate more clicks than graphic elements. Graphic elements can also be used to direct attention to copy rather than competing with written content.

- Don’t include navigation tools. Adding a navigation bar at the bottom of your email can pick up clicks from subscribers who didn’t find anything else in the email interesting enough to click on.

• Word placement matters

The first word of any headline receives the most viewing time, so make sure it communicates. Don’t waste this valuable position on words that aren’t relevant to your overall message.

At eConnect Email – a full service email marketing agency, we offer a variety of design tools and testing options to help you create the most effective email design for every campaign. Monitor your click-through rates with our analytics feature as you experiment with heat map analysis and other testing options to take your design strategy to the next level.

Have you ever build a campaign based on heat mapping analysis?  Is so, please share your experience with us by commenting below.

Six months ago, if you had mentioned Dollar Shave Club to a room of people, you would have gotten all blank stares (even though the company has been around since June of last year). Today, there are over 4.5 million people who would nod their heads and smile. 4.5 million YouTube views. In just a few weeks. How did they do it?

A viral video incorporates strong planning, careful execution, and a little bit of luck. Fortunately for those of us who have never won the lottery, the strong planning and careful execution part carries a little more weight than the luck part. Can you design a video and guarantee that it will go viral? Maybe not, but by incorporating these lessons from Dollar Shave Club, you can at least ensure that it earns the right to be seen and shared.

Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

Humor is something Dollar Shave Club does really well. Seriously. There’s hardly a straight line in the entire video. But they’re not just cracking jokes either. Some of the humor is obvious and some is a little more under the radar, but all of it works together to communicate the vital information you need to know about the company. And it leaves you with that “You’ve gotta see this!” feeling.

Create a Unified Approach

Take a long look at your existing website and craft your video so that it supports your current marketing strategy. When you visit the Dollar Shave Club site, every element hangs together and sends the same vibes you received in the video. Your website visitors shouldn’t wonder whether you’re the same company as the one that produced the video they loved.

Put the Most Important Stuff First

In the first ten seconds, we know what Dollar Shave Club does, how much it costs, and what the quality of the product is. We get our questions answered: How can they afford it and are the razors any good? If we decide to stop viewing (which we won’t, because their fabulous style holds our attention) we still have everything we need to know to pique our interest and entice us over to the website.

Put a Face On Your Company

Even if you don’t have the marketing background and camera-ease that Dollar Shave Club’s founder, Mike Dubin does, it still helps viewers connect with your company when you put a face behind the name. Make the story human and people will relate to it.

Creating videos people love begins with understanding how to communicate a message they can relate to and want to share. After that, who knows? You just might win the lottery.

While we provide a large selection of general templates with every eConnect Email account, it’s impossible for them to truly capture the unique brand of your company. You can save thousands of dollars on professional design services by having our in-house design team give you the personalized look you need to really stand out.

Our design team can take your existing brand (logo, brand colors, collateral and/ or website) and build your company a custom email template, saving you time and money. Call us today to get started on your new template (866) 596-9997.

Here are a few of our latest email template designs:

Click here to learn more about this service and view more custom designs.

Far from being competitors in the marketplace, email marketing and social media should be viewed as allies in your broader marketing approach. To accomplish that goal, start by integrating some of these popular email apps:

Social Sharing

This is a broad category that includes sharing buttons for a variety of popular networks including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, email, and more. Create a copy of your email to share with your social media contacts with the click of a button.

Facebook Share/Like

Even if you don’t include a variety of social sharing buttons, you’ll want to at least make it possible for your subscribers to share your email content on their Facebook pages. Include a share/like button and recruit your loyal followers to help spread your message among their friends.

Google+ Updates

Share your latest status updates, encourage follows and Circles, and keep your subscribers informed about your Google+ activity all via email.

Forward-to-a-Friend

This one has been around for a while, but it’s still worth mentioning. Don’t overlook the forward-to-a-friend option for every email you send. It’s one of the easiest ways to perpetuate your message and reach a broader audience.

QR Code for V-Card Info

Create a QR code for your v-card information that can be included in every email. The QR code makes it easy to share your vital information with every subscriber.

Beyond these functional and popular apps, you can incorporate a host of fun or quirky ideas that will keep your email content fresh and interesting. Consider including a trivia tidbit from Wikipedia, a quote of the day, or a song of the day using one of the many email apps designed to perk up your content.

The apps you choose will depend on the character of your business and the desired tone of your emails. At eConnect Email – a full service email marketing agency, we offer integrated social sharing options for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google, and email to help you deliver your message in a variety of formats to the broadest possible audience. We’ll also help you monitor how often your messages are shared using our Reports feature, keeping you on top of your marketing game.

If you’re still viewing mobile optimization as the latest in email marketing design, you may be falling behind the times. Studies show that tablet users now account for a growing percentage of online shoppers, with tablet ownership almost doubling over the 2011 Christmas holidays. And not only are more people using tablets, but those same people are also spending more. A recent Digital Marketing Insights study conducted by Adobe Systems found that tablet users spend 50% more than their smartphone counterparts and 20% more than those using desktops or laptops. What does that mean for email marketers?

• Even if you’re not ready to take action, now is the time to consider how tablets might be changing the face of email marketing. Just as we are all getting used to creating a mobile version of our email campaigns, the tablet market has begun growing, introducing a whole new dimension to both email and website design. The changes may be subtle, but they are worth considering in light of the lucrative potential of this new market.

• Adapt your code for larger screens. You can create device-specific code that will help your mobile emails display properly on varying screen sizes, from a relatively small iPhone to its larger tablet cousin, the iPad.

• Keep it interesting below the fold. While it is still vital to make sure your most important information displays above the fold on any device, tablet users will appreciate interesting content that extends beyond the visibility cutoff for smartphones. Include good quality graphics and keep clickable elements spaced widely apart to accommodate finger clicks.

• Monitor client usage to determine when it’s time to make the switch. By watching the analytics reports on each email you send, you can determine what percentage of your subscribers currently checks their email on a tablet device. As those numbers grow, you will know when it’s time to start implementing tablet-friendly designs and creative for your overall email campaign. Until then, it’s a trend that bears watching.

As email marketing continues to evolve alongside technology, eConnect Email provides all the capabilities you need to keep your email campaigns up to date. Our analytics and deliverability tools will keep you apprised of trends among your subscribers, ensuring that you’re ready to launch new initiatives when needed without scrambling to catch up.

Obvious ideas such as asking for registration during a purchase and including a registration page on your website still rank among the most effective tactics for increasing your email list subscriber numbers. But beyond that, in order to reach the less reachable segments of your audience, try implementing one or more of these ideas:

Pair sign-up requests with fabulous online content.

A webinar, YouTube video, or embedded video demo on your site can all provide enough incentive for someone to sign up for your newsletter. Just be sure to follow-up with equally engaging and informative email content.

Experiment with off-line events.

If you own a brick-and-mortar store, put a fishbowl at the checkout counter where people can enter to win a drawing. Make sure it’s clear that they’ll be signing up for your email list by doing so, however.

Refer a friend.

Include a “forward to a friend” button in your emails and on your blog or website content pages. Make it easy for people who already love what you have to offer to share the love with their contact lists.

Implement social media sign-ups.

Place a sign-up option on your Facebook registration page and blog registration page, and consider adding social media sharing options within your email campaigns and blog content.

The bottom line is if you’re following the cardinal rules of list building (provide great content, be memorable, and get permission) you can let your creativity drive your list building efforts. Don’t be afraid to step outside the box and try something new. You can use testing and analytics to determine which efforts are the most effective, and then keep tweaking your approach for maximum results.

At eConnect Email – a full service email marketing agency, we’re all about helping you get your email content in front of as many eyes as possible. We’ll help you build your subscriber list, manage your contacts, and optimize content in order to ensure the success of each email campaign you design.

Do you have some creative ideas on how to build your subscriber list?  If so, we’d love to hear them, please share them below.

It boosts open rates.

Most people will be more likely to open a welcome email than a standard marketing email. And if you can demonstrate superb value with that initial contact, you may see a difference in your open rates for future emails as well.

It increases deliverability.

Asking subscribers to add your email address to their address book right from the get-go can ensure better deliverability rates down the road.

It gives you a chance to show appreciation.

Whether the subscriber is a new customer, a business contact, or just someone interested in your company, they deserve a sincere thank you for signing up. And while just saying the words can go a long way toward building a relationship, you can also sweeten the deal by offering a discount or other gesture of appreciation.

It’s automatic.

When you use automatic triggers or email auto-responders to generate your welcome emails, you don’t have to worry about adding any extra steps to your email campaign. Just set up your trigger/ auto-responder to send an email upon completion of a purchase or registration.

It reinforces the opt-in.

That first email can act as a reminder to the subscriber that they’ve opted in to receive communication from you. This is a smart move when it comes to decreasing the number of subscribers who hit the spam button or opt-out when they receive your messages.

It gives you a chance to up-sell and cross-sell.

If your welcome email is responding to a purchase, you can suggest other items of interest or highlight special deals the subscriber might be interested in. You can also remind customers of items they may have added to the shopping cart without completing the purchase.

These are just a few of the benefits a welcome email can bring to your online business. Can you think of any others, please share them with below? As you start work on the design of your welcome email, you’ll find all the tools you need in your eConnect Email account. Set up automatic triggers, monitor open rates, and use our custom design templates and tools to make sure your subscribers receive compelling messages from the very first day they register.

Next on the list (and underway) is the newsletter editor… that release date will be coming soon!

I, like most of us, am subscribed to numerous newsletters for a wide variety of reasons. Some for aggregated news purposes, business tips, daily deals or retail companies that offer value. I think we all know our favorites by the excitement we get seeing the new email freshly unopened in our inbox. This for marketers is a dream come true; these loyal subscribers are the pulse of the messages they create and move the needle for what’s to come.

A company recently caught my attention and now goes into a short list of brands that I not only enjoy watching, but admire their email campaigns and overall integrated marketing.

One night, killing some time before dinner I walked around downtown San Diego and went into the Goorin Bros. hat shop. The store pulled us in and almost back in time as we tried on hats reminiscent of the 1960s, old derby days that radiated class. It was so fun spending time in the store that on my way out I wrote my name in a book to be added to their newsletter list.

A few days later I received my first email from the Goorin Bros. and I was able to open it on my phone without a hitch. I thought the email looked very clean, sharp and with closer notice to this and emails to come, I was continually impressed with the beautiful, thoughtful design, clear messaging and access to information.

Here are a few of many things that the Goorin Bros. have clearly mastered:

1. Short, accurate subject lines. They tell you what to expect and deliver.

2. An aesthetically pleasing design. All emails are consistently focused, highlighting one product. Rich in image but light in content makes this easy on the eye and on-the-go. Familiarity is also nice for consumers receiving hundreds of messages a day.

3. Access to information. Simple layout with light and light hearted copy gives you direction and not too much data at once. This allows men and women to know quickly where to click to see selected styles. They also offer quick links to the “Goorin Bros. Story,” Blog and Customer Service. These tabs allow subscribers to easily choose to learn or view more, and for the Goorin Bros. these links are trackable and offer consumer insights.

4. Transparency and accessibility. The Goorin Bros. provides a real email address. Not a “Do Not Reply” email, giving off the stigma that they do not want to hear from you.

5. No falloff when directed to the main site. When you do click to see more gorgeous hats, the main web site is compatible with a laptop or mobile device and stays as clean and simple as the original message. This almost ensures a lower bounce rate and keeps customers digging on their own and not overwhelmed with selections.

6. Social. In the email viewers are invited to an event with an RSVP on Facebook. While this did eliminate some subscribers as the event was in select cities, it added value letting everyone know they are present in the social world. Another way to stay engaged and connected with an audience, and turns out they are doing well in that arena too.

So a great email campaign should definitely strive to possess as many of the above characteristics as possible, but more importantly your communication needs to be consistent and cohesive among all platforms; representing more than a product or service. It was immediately clear to me that the Goorin Bros. is a company tuned into their identity who is doing a lot right in the realm of email and branding, marketing a nostalgic essence and modern appeal. Hats off to ‘em.

If you’re looking to partner with an agency who understands branding and email marketing, we may just be the right fit. Feel free to give me a call to chat. After all, a conversation will cost you nothing: 858-255-0027.

Amy

Flesh Out Your Profile

The most important thing you can do to boost visibility on LinkedIn is to flesh your profile out as much as possible. Make sure profile completion is at 100% and be sure to include as many skills and experiences as possible in order to increase your likelihood of showing up in search results.

Create a Company Page

LinkedIn’s Company Page feature helps you network with other businesses, gets you listed with Google’s search engine, and creates a platform for you to promote company news and services. Your company page includes information such as a company description, specialties, logos, Twitter and RSS feeds, company news, career opportunities, and more. Fill out each section of your company profile as completely as possible to boost visibility and attract page views.

Build Credibility with Groups and Answers

These two features are essential for building brand awareness. Let’s take a closer look at how they can boost your credibility:

• Groups—By joining a LinkedIn group or starting your own group, you can connect with others in your field or with potential customers. Taking an active part in group discussions also demonstrates expertise in your field. If you’re starting your own group, be sure the headline communicates clearly what the group’s purpose is in order to attract the right types of contacts.
• Answers—The Answers section enables you to provide input on questions relative to your field, thereby demonstrating your knowledge of the subject matter and increasing the relevance of your comments throughout the site. Posting on other members’ questions also increases your visibility and can establish you as a credible, thinking leader within your field.

Promote Your Company Profile

Once you have established your brand within LinkedIn itself, you can begin promoting your company profile on other venues. Invite followers with a button placed on your website, blog, email communications, and other points of contact.

Ultimately, the best advice I can offer regarding LinkedIn is this: keep it current. By making sure your profile remains up to date and that you’re interacting regularly, you can ensure that you stay visible to the people you want to reach.