tech-talk HTML Marketing March 30, 2010

Transcription

1 tech-talk March 30, 2010

2 Introduction Andrew Harris - Application Services, Web Team aharris@unimelb.edu.au Welcome to our third 'Tech talk', today we're talking about HTML Marketing.

3 It's fashionable amongst web developers to sneer and look down on all HTML s as SPAM, but if you're like me, you probably subscribe to a few marketing s that you are quite happy to receive.

4 So obviously, there are things that set the good ones apart from the bad. Furthermore, when you consider just how cost-effective and flexible marketing is compared to print or direct mail, you realise that it's a part of the web toolkit that you simply can't ignore. Today's speakers will be talking about marketing from a variety of angles. Sophisticated systems, Grass roots tools, and a few points to consider in the construction and writing phase. Hopefully you'll end up with a well rounded view that will enable you to take your campaign planning forward.

5 Ben Ragg, Advancement Office First up, Ben Ragg from the Advancement Office.

6 Nick Mattiske, University Bookshop The next speaker we've got today is Nick Mattiske From the University Bookshop.

7 Some tips for great results. Finally today, I'm going to run through a few simple points that will help you decide your approach to marketing and hopefully give you a few pointers in the right direction.

8 marketing is not spam! marketing is not spam!...and you should ensure, at every possible opportunity, that your is not regarded as spam, either by automated filters or by the users who recieve it. So, how do you do that?

9 Your list is precious! Your precious list!obviously, carefully managing your mailing list is vital. You have to ensure that every person receiving your has given explicit consent to do so and that you haven't ambushed them by sneakily using addresses gathered from feedback forms or other means. Be as clear and up front as you possibly can and you will minimise the chances of problems.

10 Leave the exit open Let them go if they want to! It's much better to have a clear, easy and immediate unsubscribe process than it is for recipients to give up and mark your as spam. Make sure they don't get sucked back in. Nothing is as frustrating to a recipient as having their request to be removed ignored. If a user unsubscribes, you have to be absolutely sure you don't accidentally resubscribe them or use a different list which they are still on. Some tools have features which make this much less likely to happen.

11 Keep your message simple! Keep it simplewe often say this in relation to all communication, but marketing is one area where it's absolutely essential. Most people will decide whether or not to trash an within a few seconds. If you've wasted those seconds with irrelevant or obscure text, you've missed your chance.

12 Keep your message consistent! From: Subject: [great-news] April Newsletter Keep it consistentalways send from the same address, use a formula to construct an instantly recognisable subject line. This helps people recognise the as being yours and being legitimate.

13 Make your intentions clear Come to this event Visit this website Read this story Make your intentions cleardon't keep your users guessing - let them know why you've send them an and what you'd like them to do. Try to avoid too many messages in the one , you'll just confuse people. Give them just one or two things to do and you'll stand a better chance of getting a response. Even better if you understand your own intentions - know what you want your users to do before you send. If you've got nothing to say, don't pester them!

14 Code like it's 1994! Code like it's 1994!The days of browser wars and wildly incompatible layout are largely behind us - in the browser! In the client, it's a different matter.

15 Code like it's 1994! Don't rely on images - many clients will leave images off by default, and most users won't bother loading them. Make sure your layout works first without images. And always use a system that lets you generate and craft a text-only version of the to be sent as a multipart message.

16 Code like it's 1994! <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="600" border="0"> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> </table> Code with tables - yes, it goes against the grain for many of us, but until clients can do CSS, tables are the only way of constructing a reliable layout.

17 Keep it small Keep it small - most users only view their in a preview pane. If you thought the monitors in 1994 were small, wait 'til you measure the preview pane! 600 pixels wide is a good number and for many people, the first 'fold' may be as little as 250 pixels.

18 Inline CSS <div style="padding:10px;color:#467;font-size:14px;line-height: 1.4;"> <$description default='<p>enter content here</p>'$> </div> Use CSS, but use it inline.

19 Default CSS <style type="text/css"> p, td, div {font-family:verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif;} p {margin:0 0 4px;} a, a:focus {border:none;} a:hover {text-decoration:underline!important;}... You can add a style sheet, but only for things like hover effects and child styles that can't be coded inline.

20 More information : campaignmonitor.com More tips and tutorialsthese are just my favourite points, but there are plenty of other great ideas out there. We use a tool called Campaign Monitor developed by a top notch team in Sydney and their website has loads of excellent advice, much of which applies to any marketing tool, as well as excellent free templates that can give you a real head start on understanding HTML

21 Questions Web Cuppa this Thursday - watch web forum: OK, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the other speakers for their contributions. I'd also remind you to please suggest topics for future sessions or particularly if you have something you think you'd like to talk about. And finally, of course, you're invited to continue the conversation online with web-forum or on Thursday morning at web cuppa. Thank you all for coming.