DamianJ

Email Marketing 102

Hi, I'm Damian Jennings and I 've worked in email marketing for 9 years. You may remember me from such shows as AVN, Xbiz or Amsterdam. I run The domain name adultmarketing.co.uk is for sale where I help porn companies like yours make more money with free porn marketing tips. Written by me, specifically for people in porn.

I thought I'd try and share my passion for email with GFY and hopefully help you all make some more money along the way. Email is probably the best ROI in the industry. It costs next to nothing to send emails and it can generate you a metric shit ton* of cash

In Email marketing 101 we discussed why you should bother doing email at all. You can read over that here if you missed it.

So now you have your permission based list, your mail server is ROCKING and you are set to actually send some goddamn emails. Here's what to think about now.


Getting people to open your email

Email is awesome as it is all about testing variables to improve your bottom line. If you tweak something you can see the impact it has instantly. Brilliant. Now, in terms of getting people to actually open the email you spent hours lovingly hand-crafting is your first problem. Luckily there are only two variables involved: The Display Name and the Subject Line.

The Display Name is the name that shows up that the email is from. This is so very important to get right. Picking this is dependant on the type of email you are sending. For double opt-in newsletters you could use something like "Playboy UK". They have signed up, they are expecting it. For a CRM email for a dating site you could use "Playboy Dating Alerts". For cancellation emails I would recommend testing either "Accounts Team" or "Playboy Accounts". Obviously, don't REALLY put "Playboy", put your own company's name!

This is all VERY dependant on your brand, your niche, your list. You cannot just give generic answers to this, you must test and measure. Is "Katie Jones" better than "Playboy UK". Depends often on the subject line.

Now, I could write the entire post about subject lines. If you want more info on them, let me know. However, in short, keep it simple and to the point. Do not to put in the words "help" "% off" and "reminder"**. Obviously words like FREE need to be avoided to stop setting off spam traps. Personalisation really works. So putting in "Damian, I want to talk to you" works better than "I want to talk to you". But what you need to do it TEST. I know I say that all the time, but clearly if you are sending email for Playboy UK or Triple Anal Cream Pie Gay Midgets (calm down Juicy, that is just made up, it's not a real site) you are gonna need to use different sorts of Display Names and Subject Lines.

One cold, hard fact is most important thing is 50 characters or less. The reason for this is it will get truncated in most email clients if it is longer than that so your carefully, lovingly created subject line will not be seen properly.

My favourite method to get someone to open an email is to try and stand out in the inbox. Try to think about which emails you get that YOU chose to open and why. Then attempt to recreate that. Oh and split test the display name AND the subject line. This isn't an exact science.

Some more good tips here Excessive Traffic

Getting people to read your email

Getting your email actually read boils down to design and formatting. What works for one list or brand may not work for another however, the following are immutable:

- Design like it is 1995. Tables are GOOD. I know, shocking, isn't it? But it's true. You thought designing for different browsers was a pain? You are gonna LOVE email then! Almost every email client is different, and hardly any follow the rules. What works in Outlook won't work in Hotmail and what looks great in Yahoo will look shit in Mail. You need to use VERY basic design, no table background images, nothing too clever. Have a call to action above the fold. Remember many people use a preview pane to scan email, to you need a strong heading and a really good call to action that is visible within a preview pane

Many email clients do not download images by default, so your mail can look like shit. However, using clever CSS you can make the email inviting, even before they have clicked.

Optimizing CSS Presentation in HTML Emails | Campaign Monitor


9 email design rules
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- Write short copy. Think postcard or outdoor poster, not letter. The average read time for an email is about 4 seconds. So you need to get your point across quickly and succinctly.

- Don't use spam trap words. Obviously the spam industry is all over porn spam. So obvious porny words will get your email delivered to the spam filter. Euphemisms are your new friends. "See his pole pound her dripping hole" rather than "See his cock pound her cunt".

Many email clients do not download images by default, so your mail can look like shit. However, using clever CSS you can make the email inviting, even before they have clicked. Have a read of this article about it for more information.

Optimizing CSS Presentation in HTML Emails | Campaign Monitor

And here is a page with 9 very handy email design rules
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Getting people to click on shit in your email

This is painfully easy. Ask them to click.

I did an experiment with the Playboy UK email newsletter a few years ago. I wanted to increase the CTR on the thumbs. So I put the text CLICK FOR MORE on the thumb in a diagonal corner flash. The CTR more than DOUBLED over night. Yes, our customers really are quite stupid it seems! So ask them to click, and lo and behold, they do! I may try inserting a MIDI file of a bell ringing and seeing if I can get them to salivate next week.

Calls to action should be where people expect them. Having a button in the bottom right hand corner for example.

Give them a REASON to click. I know it sounds obvious, but so often I have seen emails with no FAB reason why they should click. FAB is Feature, Advantage, Benefit. For example:

FEATURE - Check out the newly designed Playboy UK site
ADVANTAGE - It has free pictures and videos
BENEFIT - It will cost you nothing to have a wank

"Check out the new Playboy UK site now, it has amazing free pictures and videos of the hottest girls on the planet. It won't cost you a penny to get your rocks off! Click to see the girls now."

Get more ideas on this here http://www.clickz.com/3640571

Getting people to read your landing page…

And that is for the next instalment of this series.

*Official The domain name adultmarketing.co.uk is for sale measure

** according to Mail Chimp survey of 2 million emails. http://www.mailchimp.com/articles/be...subject_lines/

Jack Sparrow

I love that part of the "click for more".

Its really true. Even banners with a "play" button on it get clicked way more then other banners. Good post i must say damian.

Regards,
Mrfrisky.

Horny Joe

Maybe I missed it, but..... what program do you recommend for collecting double-opt e-mail adresse?

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Mutt

good info

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DamianJ

That is gone into in email 101. http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=959620

PHPlist is fine and is free.

Any other questions, let me know.



Damian

DamianJ

Thanks, it really did DOUBLE the clicks. I was amazed.

Raf1

interesting read.

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j.chedda

Thanks Damian! Good read.

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Varius

Very good point regarding "design like it's 1995". Too many people use too much CSS leading to their emails looking horrible (esp. with regards to positioning/tableless CSS).

If I can add an additional tip, those using a template engine should take the extra time to design a different template per major ISP. The tiny bit of extra work WILL pay dividends if it means your mail looks as good as possible for each client.

ie. Design a slightly different (test the rendering of course) template for AOL Mail versus Yahoo Mail versus Hotmail versus Blackberry (mobile) addresses, etc... then a generic template for anyone using their own domain name email.

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fatfoo

Congratulations, DamianJ.
It's not just the number of years, it's what you did during that time.

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DamianJ

Glad you liked it. Is nice.

DamianJ

Thanks man!

I never tested ISP specific templates, what a great idea. Nice one! Thanks for adding that to this thread.

myjah

Excellent 2nd edition to this topic - thank you Damian

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DamianJ

Thanks Jill, I always enjoy writing them.

Any other questions anyone?

jwerd

You mentioned phplist. Are you pretty familiar with integrating it in in a way that the user never actually interacts with the forms phplist uses, but rather thru an api post of some sort? I've searched thru the site and there are many different methods for achieving this, i was wondering if you've found a tried and true method to handling this that is more up to date than the stuff posted 3+ years ago?

TIA

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DamianJ

Brilliant question. Yes is the answer. I have had a client use this and it worked just dandy.

http://projects.jesseheap.com/all-pr...subscribe-http

HTH.

Damian

PS PHPList is ugly and clunky and you need a good techy to make it work. But it is free, which is a price many folk seem to like. There are other 3/400 buck options out there that are nicer, but I aim these articles at the beginner. Hence the 101, 102.

Relentless

Thanks for the info.

Something I've had good success with are 'clickables' that have a scroll bar on them... people almost always attempt to scroll down to see the rest of whatever it is... worth trying if you haven't yet. Subtle things like that which they know they 'should' click sometimes work even better than blatant calls for clicks in my experience.

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ArsewithClass

You may think i'm going to be against you for the crap you usually dish to myself, but i'm not. It's straight forward, Emailing is spam, its crap & it's not effective. I, as most people, delete any email that looks like spam or mentions porn & adult.

In your face letter dropping, it can work, I keep the occasional takeaway leaflet, but nothing like a search engine, the phone book or yell.com.

Most people that are looking for porn, don't want to turn their pc on, check their email & find a load of porn emails on it.

If the email is designed for the webmaster, then they just want to see the updates & galleries available, as most of the programs do already.

nekrom

You are a such a div.

Damian is talking about opt-in mailing which is can-spam 2003 compliant. The customer inputs his email into an opt-in box and is then sent a scripted response this his/her email address. The customer opens their email client, finds the email, clicks the verification link in the email and is then opted-in.

Damian is not talking about scrapping lists and blasting them out with bots like a bulker.

-N

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gabe100

Thanks DamianJ.

bjlover

1. GFY educational series is suppose to be flame free, you have proved again and again that you cant stick to the rules of this forum, you should have been banned months ago.

2. What you just posted, is like usual, stupidity beyond belief. Just when no one thinks you can actually be more stupid. You always prove them wrong. Well done

DamianJ

I do find this really hard to believe Gary, but I am afraid you are wrong! I know! Crazy as it sounds, you are wrong.

Spam is defined as unsolicited commercial email. I am not suggesting anyone spams.

I am offering advice on double opt in, permission based mailing. If you read my first post on the subject, that you also trolled, you might understand that.

It is the single most cost effective way to get new members, keep existing members and winback cancelled members.

However, as you don't seem to understand the very basics of the adult industry I am not surprise you are struggling with the concept of people actually WANTING to get emails each week from my clients.

Yes, but you also do stuff like have a home page that is full of grammatical and spelling mistakes and you don't do members' area upsells. So you really don't 'get' porn.

LOL. Are you suggesting dropping leaflets door to door for porn sites? Hilarious.

Yes they do. I measure the open rates. They love it.



Gary, trolling an educational series thread is grounds for banning.

This is the second time you have trolled my educational series posts. I am now requesting you are banned. You useless time-wasting idiot.

DamianJ

I know what you mean, but other people might not, can you post a picture to show everyone as your point is a really good contribution to this thread.

ArsewithClass

Excuse me, the only reason you think I am here with a slightly negative comment, is because Damian always trolls my threads. I have read this thread & said what I believe. Many other people tick a box & then delete the emails when they come through the box.

You read all the garbage thats in your inbox?

I do understand that opt-in emailing is spam compliant, but half of the websites have the box ticked already or, people think its a news letter about special events or what the model & site have been doing. Instead, they receive loads of emails every day with updates & other paysite links with aff codes, a great way to send out compliant Spam.

I personally believe that sales is a numbers game & search engines & TGPs are still the best way to go.

ArsewithClass

Excuse me, I was not trolling. I am giving my thoughts on "emailing".

Please do not change my straight comments into some warfare. Paranoia from your own behaviour could be in effect.

I have recently read a few of your articles & seriously consider your advice has been reasonably incorrect. You even had a topic on not using capitals, yet large companies such as Brazzers, Playboy & many more use capitals on their tours & galleries.

Educating people is a very important value & the position must be given to the right person. I just do not believe that an education thread cannot have negative & positive points, considering its education.

DamianJ

No Gary, even YOU are not so stupid as to think that sending people that ask for it free pics and video clips is a bad idea. Or mailing your ex members and inviting them to rejoin.

Not even you are that stupid.

So you are just trolling an Educational Thread. AGAIN.

Which is a ban-able offence.

Well that isn't double opt in then, is it. So you DON'T understand what you are talking about. Let me help you. Double opt in is where you enter your email address in a sign up box and then you are sent an email that you have to CLICK ON in order to receive the email newsletter.

Gary, just back out of this thread and you may avoid being banned. Carry on and you are making matters much worse for yourself.

DamianJ

I'm leaving this up to the mods now and not responding to you Gary. You've already screwed up one Educational Series thread GFY ASKED ME to write. Don't screw up this one too.

DVTimes

its turned itno a gary hyjacked thread

gary if you do not like damian why hyjack he thread? or is it to spam your 4 sales a month site.

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ArsewithClass

I'm sorry that you think my participation in a thread is a hijack, I shall not post anymore in this thread.

I would like to say that I didnt say it was a bad idea, we already email members that have just cancelled. However, I would not want to bother older members. Some of these people have lives that sometimes change.

Some, could have been members due to a non commitment relationship & now is very settled. Only to have an email, sent via name to them from a porn company.

I do not wish to be the reason for damaging a relationship.

Please accept that I am obviously a caring person that feels that good business can be processed without pushing it into peoples faces.

Anyway, I shall leave you to your education & wish every luck with sending emails.

Barry-xlovecam

Thanks for your efforts — an informative thread.

plsureking

bump to ban that trolling dickhead. seemed like a grudge reply to me. not that my opinion matters but it seems to be the common view.


and now, to the topic. ya man members and ex-members almost always appreciate regular emails. they want to see what is new and they definitely want to know if there's a membership sale going on.

that is, if u run a quality site. if u tricked someone to join (blind xsells, bullshit tours, gf sites that arent amateurs) then ex-members probably dont want to hear from you lol

my struggle has been to figure out ways to grow the list beyond having newsletter signups on the sites/tgps/blogs and importing new members before each mailing.

any other good clean spam-free ways to grow a list?

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Varius

I'd also like to ad, regarding mailing cancelled members, a lot of people are against the idea of promoting their competitors in any way, shape or form. "We don't want to send them business or help them grow".

That is an outdated concept and it costs you money. Your competition is your best chance at squeezing more money out of those members who have chosen to move on from your product.

Take dating, for example. If a member has cancelled and your efforts to get them back (discounts, mentioning they have new messages waiting, new matches since their last visit, etc...) have failed, why wouldn't you send them an email such as:

"Hi member,

We're sorry you decided to cancel your membership on sitename. We wish you the best on your search for that special someone (or one-night stand, or big-titted red head, or personalize it based off their profile with you) and believe the following sites may be more to your liking:

- site 1, blurb, sample result matching their interests

- site 2, blurb, sample result matching their interests

- site 3, blurb, sample result matching their interests

etc..."

There is a LOT of money to be made doing this.

I often hear companies won't do this unless their competitor does the same for them; while in a perfect world, that would be great - you are doing this for additional revenue, which even if they won't return the favor, you should not just deny yourself that money.

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plsureking

ya same thing on member area banner trades. most site owners are against it, as if a member would never know there were other porn sites if u didn't mention them. might as well make 50% or a pps for recommending other sites to your members. ideally u could be getting multiple rebills every month from the same member on different site.

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Why

There is no money in email! ;)))

Maybe we could stay up to date and write one about sms/txt collection and usage, much more lucrative then email.

Oh wait I mean, read my first line and go on.

bjlover

Read the rules idiot.


Another good thread ruined by this spamming idiot.


When is GFY going to ban this spamming idiot. He fucks up every thread he posts in and now is ruining the educational threads, against gfy rules.

He brings nothing to this forum expect spam

DVTimes

well said

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gideongallery

your click thru rates will also jump if you embedd a picture that looks like an embedded video

like so



with the play button in the center of the page, if the link goes to the video set to autoplay, you also won't piss off the people clicking.

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Eric

Trolling and attacks in GFY Educational Series threads is a clear violation of the rules. Enjoy the rest of the month off.

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Emma

Thanks Damian

ottopottomouse

I'm fairly salesman-proof but still nosy enough that a play button can make me click out of curiosity.

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plsureking

man i almost didnt read this post (sorry gideon lol). glad i did tho. good click-thru technique and explanation of how to make it non-spammy.

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piskas

Nice one!

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Robbie

Great post Damian!

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Basic_man

Great reads. Apply to mainstream emai marketing too

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raven1083

worth to read...thanks!

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mikem123

[QUOTE=DamianJ;17336660]Email Marketing 102



FEATURE - Check out the newly designed Playboy UK site
ADVANTAGE - It has free pictures and videos
BENEFIT - It will cost you nothing to have a wank




I like that.

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DamianJ

Totally does. I learnt all this doing mainstream email for many years before applying it to porn. The main difference is learning the different words to avoid when writing copy for adult emails.

Glad you liked it.

Thanks to Robbie and all for the other positive comments. Anytime anyone has any questions, just ask.

D

softclick

great tips...and I think if we provide a short link in email it can be more chance to hit? if you repeat your email reader can ignore to visit same site again.

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jabula

Thanks Damian, great read

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Django

Great read, thanks for share