{
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    "title" : "What do Mac & Cheese and Power of Attorneys Have in Common? |Digital.gov",
    "description": "What do Mac & Cheese and Power of Attorneys Have in Common?",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2016/02/26/what-do-mac-cheese-and-power-of-attorneys-have-in-common/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"What do Mac \u0026 Cheese and Power of Attorneys Have in Common?","summary" : "They ranked among our top three most popular emails in 2015. At USAGov, we know that email is often our #1 driver of traffic to our content, and nine out of 10 times it’s our go-to outreach tool for disseminating timely information. But doing email sends consistently and effectively isn’t always clear cut, especially when","date" : "2016-02-26T10:47:25-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"victoria-wales" : "Victoria Bitzer-Wales"},"topics" : {
        
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy",
            "multilingual" : "Multilingual"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2016-02-26-what-do-mac-cheese-and-power-of-attorneys-have-in-common.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2016/02/2016-02-26-what-do-mac-cheese-and-power-of-attorneys-have-in-common.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2016/02/2016-02-26-what-do-mac-cheese-and-power-of-attorneys-have-in-common.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2016/02/2016-02-26-what-do-mac-cheese-and-power-of-attorneys-have-in-common.md","slug" : "what-do-mac-cheese-and-power-of-attorneys-have-in-common","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2016/02/26/what-do-mac-cheese-and-power-of-attorneys-have-in-common/","content" :"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThey ranked among our top three most popular emails in 2015.\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt USAGov, we know that email is often our #1 driver of traffic to our content, and nine out of 10 times it’s our go-to outreach tool for disseminating timely information. But doing email sends consistently and effectively isn’t always clear cut, especially when you have a combined 1.3 million subscribers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe send email blasts to our subscriber lists about all sorts of content based on what they signed up to get. Topics range from immigration to travel, health, and jobs.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExample: \u003ca href=\"http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USAGOV/bulletins/f91b37?reqfrom=share\"\u003eKraft Recall of Macaroni and Cheese Boxed Dinners\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"we-primarily-use-email-to\"\u003eWe primarily use email to:\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSupport a marketing campaign\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDrive traffic to timely content on our websites\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePromote social media chats or events\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAmplify information or alerts on behalf of other government agencies \u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/02/600-x-425-Email-concept-with-mailbox-adempercem-iStock-Thinkstock-499594960.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Email concept with mailbox\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWith every email, a lot of consideration goes into the draft, quality and purpose of why we’re sending a particular communication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBefore we draft the email and hit send, we ensure that the message is:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTimely and useful\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMobile, tablet, and desktop friendly.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIn plain language, clear, and action-oriented.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eReaching the right audience—In the future, we would like to explore segmentation and targeting (geo-specific when appropriate, for example when we do disaster communications).\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe email team also monitors and stays up to date on consumer trends and promotes content on our sites that might be of interest to the public.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eExample: \u003ca href=\"http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USAGOV/bulletins/117aab4?reqfrom=share\"\u003ePower of Attorney and Your Responsibilities\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-email-has-done-for-us\"\u003eWhat email has done for us:\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContributed to major traffic spikes on our web pages.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSpiked calls to our call center. For example, an \u003ca href=\"http://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USAGOV/bulletins/f8dd68?reqfrom=share\"\u003eemail we sent about tax identity theft\u003c/a\u003e triggered a high number of calls.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eInformed the public about a campaign and increased public participation in social media chats.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"experimentation-and-measurement\"\u003eExperimentation and Measurement\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe evaluate every message we send by reviewing our data about a week after an email’s sent. Unique open rates and click rates—both numbers and percentages—help us evaluate what content performed well. We know, for example, that we have a lot of visitors to \u003ca href=\"https://www.usa.gov/\"\u003eUSAGov\u003c/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https://www.usa.gov/espanol/\"\u003eUSAGov en Español\u003c/a\u003e (\u003cem\u003eformerly known as GobiernoUSA.gov\u003c/em\u003e) seeking information on immigration. We align that information with our email sends, and the open rates and click-through rates prove the value of knowing what people are interested in.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt the end of every month, our internal performance measurement team provides us with a detailed report of how our messages performed. This is valuable information that informs and influences our email content strategy. We combine the data from email behavior with data from website visits and \u003ca href=\"https://www.usa.gov/phone\"\u003ecalls to our contact center\u003c/a\u003e, 1-844-USA-GOV1. All of these factors determine what we invest time writing about.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMany factors go into a successful email, from subject line, to preheader text, to bypassing spam filtering systems. After you checked all these off, you also need to consider images.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe’ve noted that eight out of 10 times emails with images outperform emails that don’t include images. An image should always support your content and should include \u003ca href=\"http://webaim.org/techniques/alttext/\"\u003ealternative text\u003c/a\u003e for screen readers.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"things-to-consider\"\u003eThings to Consider\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are numerous things to take into consideration as you explore email sends and campaigns. Here are some key questions to explore for your strategy:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAre your email marketing writers familiar with your content strategy? Do they understand your organization’s voice?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWill you have dedicated resources to employ a consistent communications output?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWill you be able to ensure quality control so messages are well-written, timely, culturally relevant, and targeted?\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eStay tuned for a series of posts on email content and strategy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThis post was \u003ca href=\"https://blog.usa.gov/what-do-mac-%26-cheese-and-power-of-attorneys-have-in-common\"\u003eoriginally published\u003c/a\u003e on the USAGov blog by Victoria Wales, a member of the USAGov Marketing and Outreach Team.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}