An article today in 1to1 Media gives 3 great email marketing tips to drive more engagement. More importantly our new Tribal Direct 2.0 email engine allows you to personalize correspondence to your audience that drives these 3 points home.

Keep your messaging:
1. Personal
2. Timely
3. Appealing

Creating a great email isn’t all about selling hype…it’s about being relevant. The more you tap into these 3 characteristics the greater the chance you’ll be able to influence a positive outcome with your audience.

See the full article here

To find out more about your full email capabilities in your loyalty program and Tribal Direct 2.0 contact us at help@tritonmedia.com

Perhaps more importantly, creative subject lines are often neglected.  Think of the subject line as the author of a book would consider the book title.  A compelling title is designed to get the prospective reader into the jacket to get more information about the book, which in turn is designed to motivate the reader to purchase.
In the past few days, here are examples of both good and bad loyalty newsletter topics I have received, with some commentary to help you recognize how to improve your email open rates.  Don’t worry:  client identity is protected! :

First, some examples that can use some attention:
1)  You are invited to the (car dealer) spring event. Why would I want to be invited to a car dealer event?  Isn’t everyone?  This doesn’t make me feel special, nor is it the reason I have a relationship with your brand

2)  This Week’s Quest. Generic titles rarely get enough attention to take the reader deeper into engagement.  Often, we assume the member/reader understand more about our standard features offered than they actually do.  Taking a few minutes to tease the reader about the specific quest (a chance to win $1,000 at a client location) would generate a better response.

3)  Still Lots of Cash Left In The Bag. What bag?  What cash?  How much cash?  Who can win?  Who qualifies?  There’s nothing in this subject line that suggests it has anything to do with the reader.

4)  Register to Win a 19″ LCD TV. This is good in that it’s a specific offer and not general.  However, an invitation to “register to win” is not nearly as enticing as an invitation to members that “19″ LCD TV available NOW”.  Much of recruiting response is dropping a bread crumb that lures the respondent deeper into the relationship.

5)  Free Stuff and Other Benefits. Here’s an example of a subject written by someone who has too many items on their “to-do” list and not nearly enough time to do it…I hope.  Otherwise, it’s written by someone who doesn’t care or doesn’t understand how to write copy.

6)  Last Chance. See  commentary  in #5 above

7) This is Your Weekly e-dose of (station). Written from the viewpoint of the sender, not the recipient.
 (Club name) Newsletter for (date) Who cares?  The content in the newsletter is quite good, calling attention to an on-air cash promotion that includes a strong member benefit.

9) XOXO.   Similar:  (station) 032510. No way to know what this is about, or who it’s targeted to…or why I should open it.  In the second example, it took me awhile to figure out that the number is the date the newsletter was sent…which also is meaningless to the reader.

10)  Thank You From (Advertiser) This thank you came to me from a radio station 2,000 miles away…and I didn’t participate in the event.  They sent me a thank you that pretended to be personalized, but in fact had no relevance to me.  Also, I don’t have a relationship with the advertiser…I have it with YOU.

11)  We Have A $1,000 Winner. Similar:  Become a fan of (morning show) on Facebook. This breaks a cardinal rule of being the source of “where you get” rather than the source “that gives you”.  Make it all about the member experience.  Also, a subject line written this way makes it seem like $1,000 winners are rare.  A better headline would be “Meet The Most Recent (club) $1,000 Winner”.  The Facebook headline offers benefits for the station (adds more fans) but suggests nothing to benefit the member.

12)  Newsletter. Similar:  Update. Only marginally better:  A Newsletter Update.  Just as weak:  Extra Reward. Yes, all three of these subject lines arrived this week. Wow.  A newsletter.  An update.  The 150th that showed up in my email box this week.

Good Examples

1)  WIn a Trip to San Francisco. Short, to the point and it leads me into participating in the content in the newsletter.

2)  See George Jones at (city). Focused on a specific offer that will appeal to George Jones fans.  This will be even more effective if it’s targeted to members who have indicated they like George.

3)  Win $2,500. This is good, but could be better by including more of the offer in the subject line.  The text goes on to explain that the $2,500 is in the form of a “Tax Day Pay Day”, which is topical as April 15 approaches.

4)  You could be $10,000 Richer with the (station) Big Bag of Cash. Excellent.  Relevant to the reader, identifies the station and calls attention to a promotion that lures the reader deeper into the content.

5)  (Morning Show) Talk to Lady Antebellum Tomorrow Morning. This would have improved only by inviting the reader to participate in the content by submitting a question to ask the band, which they DID offer in the text of the newsletter…but would have been more personal and inviting to include that offer in the subject line, such as “Ask Lady Antebellum Anything You Want Tomorrow Morning With (talent)”

6)  Join (personality’s) Mission to Meet Oprah. This piques the reader’s interest, because of the popularity of Oprah, and invites the reader to be involved.

7)  Wanna Meet John Mayer? Short, simple, and elicits a positive response…”Yes, I want to meet John Mayer”
 Play (station) FantasyPalooza To Win Eagles Tickets. An authentic and genuine offer expressed simply, directly and with some personality.

9)  Bunnies, Eggs and Recipes (And you don’t have to use the bunnies in the recipes). This is cute, funny, relevant (Easter) and useful (recipes).

10)  Carrie Underwood’s Amazing Concert. Core artist for country radio, this subject line lured me into the newsletter content, which provided a short review and critique with photos.  We often forget to take credit for promotions that have ended, but the audience is still talking about it.

Well, help is never more than a few mouse clicks away.  We have a full library of on demand training materials that will walk you through every section of our system.  There is a searchable User Guide as well as a selection of training videos.  We also have free training sessions via webinar that you can sign up for if you want to brush up your skills or learn about those hidden gems in our program that can be really valuable.

Where do you find all of these treasures? 

You can get there from inside our admin by navigating to Help>>Training OR you can simply navigate to http://tritonloyaltysupport.com/ in your browser.

Knowlege is Power!

1. Surveys can easily be duplicated by doing the following:
2. Go to the survey module in the admin (Points Modules>>Surveys)
3. Create a new survey by clicking the Surveys button
4. On the Display tab click the Select button
5. A pop up window will open
6. Using the drop down menus, navigate until you find the survey you need to copy
7. Click the Copy This Survey button
8. All of your original survey information will populate into your new survey
9. Make any desired changes and continue setup as normal

Now you can re-use entire surveys and even portions of them without having to manually input all the survey information and you are one step closer to becoming a Stickyfish power user!

1)  Easy to read.  It’s well laid out, easy to follow and find content.  There’s not so much going on that each individual item competes for attention as if it were just one more neon sign in Times Square.

2)  It’s all about the member.  Since the newsletter is delivered to members of their MY CLUB Loyalty program, it follows that all of the elements be about club activity and benefits.  It is loaded with benefits for the member, from Alice In Wonderland tickets to a Bon Jovi experience to awarding me points for engaging in the letter.

3)  Interactive content.  The What’s That Noise and What’s That Photo contests offer interactive games played on-air (noise) and online (photo).  While I would have recommended What’s That Photo be executed inside the club (must join to play), there is a members benefit for playing….an additional code worth points.  What’s That Noise could have offered a bonus clue to members only, delivered inside the club as well (using Home Page Promo, Page Host, or several other ways).

4)  Links.  Each element is well written, to the member perspective, and links take the reader directly to their website to get more information.  Non-club content does not clutter the newsletter, but is offered in clickable tabs at the top of the newsletter.  This keeps it clean, but easy to access.

5)  Brand Value Content.  The special live performance by Colbie Caillat adds brand value and credibility to the newsletter.  This link is to the live acoustic section of the station’s site, but an option for stations that have no such feature is to host the video inside the club, through Home Page Promo or Page Host, or as a Survey, with the opportunity to offer feedback on the video.

6)  It’s Personal.  It’s a small, and easy extra – but important –  touch to welcome me by name and show me how many points are in my account.

7)  It doesn’t ask too much of the member.  The tone of the newsletter is just right:  It places valuable offers and content in front of the reader, encouraging but not demanding a response.  Nothing in this newsletter is hype, but there is much value.  Even the obvious advertising messages (Dr. Pepper, Disneyland for example) are presented with a sensitivity to the member.

How could this newsletter improve?  There’s only one thing I’d do differently:  Add one more tab called “Recent Winners” linking to the closed contest/sweepstakes page.  This would validate that members are benefitting and winning in the club.

Congratulations to the team at KBIG, and thank you for doing it right!

If you have, you may be wondering what the dimensions are of the custom contest page.

The custom contest page will hold an image that is 800×465 pixels.  The file size of this image should be no larger than 250k.

So, now that you know what kind of image to use for the background/layout of a custom contest – go set one up!  What are you waiting for?

How to do it?

Send an email to success@tritonloyalty.com with your new and current Winner Notification email copy and we will get the changes updated for you. 

When crafting your message remember that these are text-only messages so please no HTML.  Make sure to include all relevant information that members will need to claim their prize.

• Address/location to pick up prize
• Hours
• Phone number
• Required information (member ID, SSN, copy of winner notification email)

You will have happy prize winners when these emails contain all of the information they need to claim their prize.

You can delete a recurring set by taking the following steps:
For example purposes we have used the Listen & Win module, but the same rules apply to other recurring set modules.

Delete the inactive instances of the Recurring Set first:
1.Navigate to Points Modules>>Listen and Win
2.In the lower section labeled "Upcoming", find the Listening Appointment that needs to be deleted and click on its title
3.Click the "Edit Recurring Set" button
4.On the Display Tab, scroll down and click "Delete This Item and Future Ones" (This will delete the entire recurring set for that Listening Appointment).

Now delete the remaining active Listening Appointment:
1.In the top section labeled “Active”, find the Listening Appointment that needs to be deleted and click on its title
2.DO NOT click the "Edit Recurring Set" button
3.Click on the "Setup" tab and change the start date and end date of the item to a date in the past (this will remove this item from the site)
4.A message will appear at the top of the setup tab stating “That GetPoints instance is closed.”
5.Navigate again to the main Listen and Win module page by going to Points Modules>>Listen and Win
6.A dialog box will pop up with a message stating you have unsaved changes.
7.Click "OK".
8.The Active instance of the Recurring Set has been deleted. 

Congratulations!  You have now deleted a Recurring Set and you are well on your way to becoming a Stickyfish power user.

Don’t panic.  This points economy guide makes the process of managing your economy simple and straightforward.  And, if you closely follow our guidelines, you will enhance the long-term value in your program while maintaining a balance in your system and insuring fairness for all members.  Following this points economy guide is our strongest recommendation.

There are several principles at the heart of the points economy strategy:

1.  The most points should always be awarded for daily engagement, such as Listen & Win, Read & Win and Watch & Win.  The economy guide establishes these key appointment times at the highest level, 2,500 points.  This is intended to drive your strategic goal of increasing participation and engagement in your core product.  This is not to imply that rewarding members for participating in revenue-generating activities is not a priority, but rather a strategic goal of engaging more participation from your member database, which in turn leads to even more revenue opportunities.  

2. The more points made available, the more points will be required to generate a response.  So don’t run promotions that offer points awards higher than the guidelines below. Don’t be stingy with points, but be careful to not reduce their value by inflating the value of individual promotions.  When it’s too easy to collect points, perceived value declines, and it becomes increasingly more difficult to solicit participation.  Stay consistent.

3. The points system also takes into account the effort asked of a member to participate.  The easier to participate (click through, etc) the lower the points awarded.  Similarly, the more entertaining and fun the event, the lower points that are awarded.

4. Managing the points economy works in concert with the Points Aging feature.  Points Aging means any points that are unused in a given period of time expire.  This is a month-to-month ‘rolling’ expiration, so no active member ever wakes up to a zero balance in their account. Using this feature prevents members from hoarding millions of points, which would trigger points “inflation” and discourage new or casual-use members from participating. Our recommended best practice is to set points aging at six months.  Points spent are always deducted from a member’s account on a first-in, first-out basis.  Members can always check their account to see when their points expire.

5. All national contests, content and Prize Closet prizes are developed to follow the prescribed points economy.  If your individual program is valuing activity at different levels, it will be inconsistent with many, if not most, of the features in the program.

6. When setting up your reward offers, follow the guideline of point entry being 10 times the value of the prize offered.  For example, to enter a contest for a $100 item, entry should be 1,000 points.

7. Start slowly.  If you’re introducing the program for the first time, make it simple and easy for members to participate.  Step one is to build that database.  As it builds, use point offers to lure your member into a deeper relationship with your station, rewarding their participation.

8. Remember that points are a "thank you" for participation and engagement, not the sole REASON to engage.  Members should never be encouraged to respond solely BECAUSE of points, but response will be higher when that reward is offered.

Points Economy
Earning Points	Limit	Comment
Daily Appointment (Listen & Win, Read & Win, Watch & Win)	2500	Most important element.  Highest point value at all times.  Recommend 3-5 appointments/day
Multi-Question Survey (e.g. local research, local advertising-up to 10 questions)	1500	Valuable information, requires a little more effort than most events and activities.
Poll (Short surveys, entertainment content, 1-2 questions)	500	Should be designed as fun, interactive.
Trivia, Short Game	500	Easy, fast and fun.
Codes (Newsletter, Events, Bonus Code)	1,000	Requires more effort and has value in driving revenue
Get More Information	200	Very Easy to click and participate
Special Offers	100	Very Easy to click and participate
Featured Link	100	Very Easy to click and participate
Predictive Games	100/correct pick	Interactive and fun to participate
Music Tests	100/hook	Valuable information, but fun to participate
Refer-A-Friend	200/2500 wk	Drives membership, easy
Listening to Audio Stream	250/qtr hr	Increases revenue opportunities.  Listening 2.5 hours = one appointment event
Confirming Membership	2500	Equal to appointment tune in to get started
Watching Video/Listening to Audio & Responding	500-1,000	Depends on value, effort, content of video
Subscribe to Podcast	2500	One time event to subscribe.
Redeeming Points		New Limit
Contest Entry	10x prize value	10xPrize Value

Some programs have offered points at varying levels in the past.  Establishing this reliable, consistent system is a necessary short-term adjustment.

Special notice to programs currently operating a LOWER points economy:

The philosophy of increasing your points value is made possible by the presence of the Points Aging (expiration) feature.  Without this capability, overall points in the economy accumulate and soon become impossible to control.  Within reason, higher points awards can drive higher activity (e.g. a 2,500 points offer outperforms 250 points), even if the points are worth exactly the same in their respective environments.  Points Aging allows the luxury of offering higher point values for response without the negative impact of a highly inflationary economy.

As you transition to the new system, communicate positively to your members in emails, online messages and in other communications.  For example:

    “Now it’s even easier to earn points faster.”

    “When you participate, your points total will grow more quickly”

You should also disclose the addition of the Points Aging process, but again, do so as a positive:

    “You’ll find more offers and more prizes for your points.  And, so you can choose

    exactly what you want, your points earned are valid for six months!”

    “Points earned stay active for six full months…so there’s plenty of time to find

    just what you want.  And, you can check your points balance and points about

    To expire at any time by clicking on My Account”

Special notice to programs operating a HIGHER points economy:

In some instances, you may be offering more points in your system than we recommend.  If that’s the case, it should be easy to transition to a lower economy.  

Doing so will require discipline, attention and focusing your internal efforts on execution without exception.   Remain consistent in points offerings, and most of all avoid the temptation of compromising to higher levels.  

Some members will likely notice the adjustments and may contact you, but a positive word of assurance will usually satisfy even the most persistent member.  Reassure them that points opportunities will continue to be frequent, plentiful and best of all, more reward opportunities are being introduced!