SIIA-amp-network-feature-photo

Video, Value and Transparency Can Make for Best Subject Lines

by Media

Facts Tell, Stories Sell
Our Resolution? Provide Top Compensation Insights.
Greece in America
We’re All Going to Hell (for a musical called Miss You Like Hell)
Extra Day Concert (for a Feb. 29 event)

These are all subject lines I received today. According to a recent article from Social Media Today, the subject line with 3 words has the highest engagement rate at 21.2%. Even though you don’t see too many of those—hard to get a message across that succinctly—it makes sense. When 68% of people are opening emails on mobile, short is sweet. So for “Greece in America”—a monthly newsletter from the Embassy of Greece—it pretty much says what that audience needs to see.

Here are more tips on subject lines and emails:

Emails with video still generate the highest email engagement rates. But only around 8% of the emails in a recent study from GetResponse contained links to videos. “For now, the best workaround is to use an image (maybe even a GIF) that looks like a video player and links to your page,” they suggest. “That way, you’ll boost your click-throughs and enhance your contacts’ experience as they’ll watch the content in their default browser or video player.”

Convey value in subject line. Except for “fw” or “fwd”—which GetResponse feels is not worth the long-term risk—the top words for inducing opens in a subject line were “pdf,” “newsletter” and “ebook.” “If you’re promoting a piece of content or a valuable resource, you’re probably better off if you mention it in the subject line.” But for click-to-open rates, “infographic” scored huge at 35.1%, followed by newsletter at 31.4%. “Sales,” “quick” and “free” also fared well—the latter drawing this comment: “This phrase, previously believed to cause deliverability issues, seems to work well for quite a few marketers… People still enjoy receiving free things.” Amen.

Stay medium. According GetResponse, based strictly on opens, subject lines should be somewhere between 90 and 140 characters. “Your subject lines need to be compelling enough to get people to open the email. But remember that your sender name and preheader text aim to do the same.”

Establish a better email review and approval process. Marketers who say their email programs are successful spend more time on every stage of email creation except for the email review and approval stage. “A lax review process can result in more email errors, but an onerous process has its costs, too,” says Litmus. Marketers spend an average 3.9 hours getting emails reviewed and approved before launch, and they work with an average 2.4 other departments to get emails reviewed.

Personalization is still strong. Personalized subject lines see a 37% increase in unique open rates.

How does it look on mobile? It’s true. According to Social Media Today, 68% of email marketing campaigns are now opened on a mobile device. That’s quite a high number and should have us thinking hard about our from-line, subject line and first sentence. Many people will quickly go through what they want to keep on their phone and then open later on desktop or tablet.

Send that abandoned cart email. I get these all the time, often from ticket companies. The most recent such email came from Ticketmaster and focused on a talk coming up here by Jane Goodall, the 85 year-old legendary anthropologist. Sure enough, each time it comes I consider spending the $50. Abandoned cart emails have nearly a 45% open rate—maybe we think there’s a special deal now. Sure enough, 50% of the leads make a recovered purchase back on site.

Be specific when possible. A company called getfeedback recommends that you “use time-triggered sends for a hyper-relevant subject line, like ‘Review the purchase you made yesterday.’ Specifics help jog recipients’ memories and increase the chances they’ll open your email.”

Be fairly straight. “The subject line needs to be transparent and not gimmicky. It helps you build a trusting relationship with your subscribers so that they open your emails again and again.

SIIA-amp-network-feature-photo

February SIPA Member News

by Media

Relias Appoints New CEO

Relias, a trusted educational provider to more than 10,000 clients worldwide, announced last month that Kay Krafft has been appointed as the new CEO. He will assume this role on April 1, 2020, in addition to his responsibility as CEO of the Bertelsmann Education Group.

As part of this transition, the Bertelsmann Education Group headquarters will be fully based in the United States. Krafft succeeds Jim Triandiflou, who is leaving Relias for personal reasons and at his own request on March 31, after eight years at the helm. He will remain associated with the company in an advisory capacity until at least the end of the year.

Krafft, who as a member of the Relias Board has been instrumental in shaping the company’s business development, intends to adhere to the strategy pursued by Relias, which has become the leading online education provider in the U.S. healthcare sector.

“Relias is a fantastic growth platform for Bertelsmann, generating many new opportunities and possibilities for us. This is largely thanks to Jim Triandiflou,” Krafft said. “Under his leadership, Relias experienced a remarkable period of growth, which continues to this day.

Industry Dive’s Outlook on 2020 for 19 Industries

Every January, Industry Dive’s journalists home in on the trends that will shape the future of the industries they cover. They dive into their research and reporting from years past, talk to trusted sources far and wide, and ultimately develop their takeaways on what will matter most in the coming year. This results in a series of stories that help their readers operate their companies and navigate the ever-changing market.

Check out the 2020 trends here for the 19 industries.

2020 SIPAwards Now Open for Entries

If you produce outstanding content for your audiences—news, features, blogs, instructional, investigative, newsletters, reports, etc.—use video, social media or podcasts, run great events, excel in marketing or have a great team of people on a particular project, then you deserve recognition for your work.

Here’s how. The 41st Annual SIPAwards celebrates niche publishing excellence throughout our industry with 22 stellar categories. Early-bird entries are due by Feb. 28. Winners will be recognized at the Annual SIPAwards Luncheon on June 2. This is your opportunity to earn the recognition you and/or your colleagues deserve.

MedLearn Media’s Monitor Mondays Marks 10th Anniversary of Inaugural Broadcast

Monitor Mondays, the weekly live podcast produced by RACmonitor.com, marked the 10th anniversary of its inaugural edition with an extended hour-long live podcast last month.

“RACmonitor was launched in 2008 because, at that time, the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program was gaining traction…,” RACmonitor.com Publisher and Monitor Mondays Program Host and Executive Producer Chuck Buck recalled. “The federal auditing that began at that point has only intensified ever since, and Monitor Mondays quickly became a landmark, go-to feature that helps us keep readers and listeners informed.”

Nearly 12,400 professionals from across the U.S. healthcare system subscribe and listen in to Monitor Mondays each week—more than two listeners for each of the estimated 5,500-6,000 hospitals currently operating nationwide. Of those listeners, as many as 1,000 tend to tune in live each Monday morning.

SIPA Member in the News

Guy Cecala, chief executive of Inside Mortgage Finance, was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article on Jan. 24 titled Refinancing Boom Fuels Mortgages to Postcrisis Record. From the article:

Still, an expectation that interest rates will hold steady or even keep falling is a good sign for mortgage lending in 2020, analysts said. Some mortgage brokers said last year’s boom is extending into the new year. “It’s very likely that the first quarter or first half of 2020 will be bigger than the first half of 2019,” said Guy Cecala, chief executive of Inside Mortgage Finance. “People are encouraged by lower rates.”

SAE International Expands Global Footprint With Acquisition of SMi Group Ltd. SIPA Member Grimes, McGovern & Associates Represented the Seller.

SAE International has announced the acquisition of SMi Group Ltd, a United Kingdom-based company that specializes in the production of global events for the aerospace, defense and medical/pharmaceutical sectors. As part of the acquisition, SAE International will merge SMi Group with Tech Briefs Media Group (TBMG) to form the SAE Media Group. SIPA member Grimes, McGovern & Associates represented SMi Group.

SIIA-amp-network-feature-photo

Open Communication, Mentors and Video Can Lift First-Year Retention

by Media

In a recent survey of organizations by GrowthZone, only 11% of respondents said their first-year member renewal rate increased in the past year, whereas 26% said it went down; 61% said it remained about the same.

To hold onto new members after that first year, organizations need to demonstrate value as quickly as possible, says Amy Gitchell, senior marketing communications specialist at GrowthZone, in an article on Associations Now. “It’s extremely important that new members understand the value you bring to their lives. In the survey, organizations whose members recognized their value proposition reported higher renewal rates overall.”

The International Coach Federation puts on a live webinar for onboarding to introduce new members/subscribers to key benefits and services. The ICF has found that this type of early engagement boosts first-year retention. “Videoconferencing helps our large organization feel smaller and more personal,” says Don Whittle, director of member experience. “Our members value that personal touch, and it helps make our global community feel much more tangible.”

For new members who can’t view the webinar live, ICF posts a video recording of the conversation to their website. ICF also uses the webinars as an opportunity to explain their credential to new members. That has led to a 39% increase in first-year members applying for the credential.

Here are retention ideas, some from MemberClicks, and more examples:

Keep the communications flowing. I’ve seen many organizations that talk about the importance of that initial welcome kit and outreach, but then they skip to a six-month check-in, nine-month update and then renewals. That’s probably too big a gap. “[Organizations] kind of drop off the radar and leave it up to their new members to get involved (which often, doesn’t actually happen).” Preferred is to see an automated email marketing campaign targeting your new members exclusively with event and benefit reminders, committees or groups they can join, audience surveys and special discount codes just for them.

Send a series of welcome emails. HCPro’s Credentialing Resource Center ran a 10-email welcome series in support of a new website. The emails were triggered when someone purchased membership. The focus of the emails varied each week from “Need help navigating?” and “Visit our FAQ page” to “Access the CRC member forums” and “Take $100 off the upcoming CRC Symposium.”

Organize new-member-only events, live or virtual. Another group here allows new members to come free to Pre-Conference workshops if they’ve signed up for the conference. The idea is to make them feel comfortable and engaged.

Remind users of their password. When Pro Farmer asked their audience if they would recommend the company to others, the answer included an open text opportunity so Pro Farmer got more information—specifically what might be most valuable and what might be lacking. “Our survey resulted in multiple concerns from text responses about user log-ins and passwords to the websites,” said Joe May, marketing director. “So what we did was proactively remind our users the basics—how to reset their password; how to set their browser to remember their credentials so they don’t have to enter it every single time.” And that email could then include other reminders.

Pair them with a mentor. If you can craft an experienced member/new member mentoring program where meetings/calls are scheduled but don’t become overwhelming, then that can be very successful. “If you have an online social community (or some kind of members-only forum), consider setting up a channel where interested parties (both on the mentor and mentee side) can go. That way, you’re helping to facilitate the process, but you’re not solely responsible for it.)”

Organize short-term mentoring opportunities. We’ve definitely done this at SIPA before—pair “newbies” with veterans at the SIPA Annual Conference. “By reducing the time commitment needed to fulfill this role, you’ll likely see interest in participation rise.”

Ask for feedback. “It’s imperative that you ask your new members for feedback, ideally around the six-month mark of their membership.” I would say even before that—maybe four months. By then you should get a good idea if they are engaged and what needs to be done.

SIIA-amp-network-feature-photo

Turning Yesterday’s Content Into Today’s Gold

by Media

One of my favorite SIPA member features continues to be MedLearn Media’s Compliance Question of the Week. There are weekly questions in six categories: Cardiology, Laboratory, Pharmacy, Radiology, Respiratory and General. So this does take some upkeep. There’s also a search function—”Looking for an answer?”—a Compliance Question Archive, and a simple SIGN UP button.

This week’s question for Radiology is: “For reporting MRA procedures, is it required to have 3-D post-processing stated in the report?” Hit READ THE ANSWER, and you get a succinct solution, with this sales addendum: “This question was answered in our Breast & Bone Density Procedure Coding Guide. For more hot topics relating to radiology services, please visit our store or call us at 1.800.252.1578, ext. 2.”

This is need-to-know content AND it builds up a comprehensive Compliance Question Archive. Their archives go back much longer than the patience I have to keep hitting “Older Posts.”

Archives can provide a useful resource for you and your audience. Here are other ideas that make use of archives.

Dig for historic value. Your institutional memory doesn’t deserve to be forgotten. There’s a good chance you have old publications with significant value, just sitting on shelves—print or digital—somewhere in a makeshift morgue. (I know I do. Who remembers Hotline?) It might be worth doing a little digitization work every once in a while to ensure that this info isn’t getting lost. Republish old ads and photos occasionally. We love nostalgia. “On this date: 1/15/1892,” Axios wrote, “James Naismith published the original rules of ‘Basket Ball’ in Triangle Magazine, a monthly journal published by Springfield College, where Naismith was a graduate student and instructor.” And if you’ve been doing this a while, 5 Years Ago on This Day or May 9 in SIPA History can make for a fun look back. (Hmmm, I should do that more.)

Use for gamification. We all like the occasional quiz—look at the ratings-bonanza Jeopardy Greatest of All Time that just took place—and your archives can be a great source of information for the questions for those quizzes. Education Week and Kiplinger both do a great job with their quizzes, and again the information piles up the more you keep doing them.

Look for evergreen content ideas. Spring Cleaning (of Your Email). Summer Reading Lists. Things to Be Thankful for at Thanksgiving.  At the start of our conferences, I’ll update and publish Making the Most of Attending Live Events and always hear from a grateful publisher who is sending someone new. Last year, a member told me about a post they had first used in 2013 offering reminders or ideas to try. “While it’s still highly relevant, it’s not exactly earth-shaking advice,” she wrote me. Yet the article received 144 likes and 45 comments from people sharing some of the advice. Five of those comments came in well after the post, so it was still resonating.

Use content from your online discussion or forum group—or your webinar Q&As. This has become one of The Washington Post’s biggest repurposing strategies. They will have one of their travel or restaurant or relationships experts do an online chat and then you’ll see some of that dialogue in the print newspaper. It actually makes for good, easy-to-read copy.

Take a quarterly look at what has resonated most. You have the analytics. Be transparent—let your audience know what your most popular posts were. We’ve been doing this for the last couple years and have received good feedback. Everyone is in a time crunch these days and is likely to miss an article here or there. It also brings attention to the moments where the content really sparked interest and revenue-generating ideas. “People forget about 90% of what they read after 12 weeks,” said Luis Hernandez, editor in chief for InvestorPlace Media. “Check your analytics and repeat your most popular posts every quarter.”

Make access to your archives a valued commodity. In 2012 Harvard Business Publishing made the decision to open archive access to subscribers on hbr.org and haven’t looked back. “We heard people recognized [back] issues by covers, so we started posting images of covers [to help them find key content],” said Emily Neville-O’Neill, director of product at HBR. “We saw a 20% increase in subscription revenue right away.”

SIIA-amp-network-feature-photo

Education Week’s Winning Online Summits

by Media

Two weeks ago I wrote about Copyrightlaws.com’s Zoom On In, a 20-minute virtual lunchtime session they do to focus on a specific topic. Last week, I’m told that they got 250 listeners signed on! Lesley Ellen Harris also co-presented a SIPA webinar about Zoom On In on Jan. 16. (Watch it here.)

Another SIPA member, Education Week, puts on a more elaborate show, but still free and with that same engagement goal in mind—with some profits mixed in.

EdWeekSummit.png

“Education Week Online Summits are an ideal way for busy educators to access timely information about a range of critical issues in K-12 education easily by using their phones or desktops and integrating their learning directly into their usual workflow,” wrote Matthew Cibellis, director of programming, live & virtual events, for Education Week, in his 2019 SIPAward-winning entry last year.

“This cross-departmental partnership led by the editorial team’s deep, rich content in a multitude of K-12 areas provides learners meaningful continuing education from experts in the field and practitioners in schools,” Cibellis wrote.

The video-friendly Online Summits take place monthly—in fact , the next one, titled Getting Reading Right, occurs tomorrow from 1-3 pm. “In this online summit, Education Week reporters and their expert guests will discuss the science behind how kids learn to read, as well as explore original survey data on what elementary teachers and education professors know and believe about early reading.”

Here are some reasons for the Online Summits’ continued success.

Access to reporters. The Summit provides readers with a unique opportunity to interact directly with reporters, practitioners and experts. Attendees can participate actively as peers in reporter-expert-peer/peer conversations around niches within K-12 educational topic areas.

Comprehensive discussions. The topics are diverse and newsworthy because they come from editorial. For tomorrow, there are 11 speakers listed, with topics ranging from testing and assessments to literacy, social-emotional learning, and STEM education curriculum and instruction.

Discussion rooms. During the event, Education Week journalists and guests staff online “discussion” rooms on a host of topics within a broader niche. “Attendees” watch a livestreamed series of interviews with the reporters who “break it down” for them.

Takeaways. Who doesn’t love takeaways? The livestream provides key takeaways, learnings and insights that participants can download in pdf form.

A 30-minute video wrap-up. After the 90-minute topic discussions, there is a 30-minute wrap-up hosted by Education Week editorial folks. For the one tomorrow, associate editor Stephen Sawchuk will “close out the day with insights from the discussions they’ve had with you, the readers.”

Editorial people get positive exposure. The Online Summits provide a showcase for Editorial Week’s newsroom expertise and the deep, rich content knowledge they provide. By lifting the profiles of editorial people, it gives them more gravitas and followings for the rest of the work they do. People might want to attend in-person events just to meet them or subscribe to read their articles.

Low costs. Costs are limited to the platform itself, which is also used to produce their online job fairs, as well as the staff time necessary to produce the event, carry out discussions and respond to reader questions.

It’s unique. Education Week says that audience members would be hard-pressed to get this type of online learning experience in their field anywhere else—and especially for free.

They make money. The model has been “so profitable” for Education Week that their newsroom submitted to the sales and marketing team an FY2020 roster of new topics (and some updates on former topics) for them to budget against. Tomorrow’s Summit is sponsored by Istation and texthelp. Microsoft is also a sponsor. And “development of independent content for this virtual summit is supported in part by a grant from the Spencer Foundation.” There’s a line at the bottom: “Would you like to learn more about sponsorship opportunities?” That leads to an EdWeek Marketing Solutions page with a summary of all previous Online Summits.

Added resources. More information is available in the form of Resources for attendees.