{
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    "title" : "Where Content and Marketing Meet: An email Case Study |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Where Content and Marketing Meet: An email Case Study",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2016/07/15/where-content-and-marketing-meet-an-email-case-study/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Where Content and Marketing Meet: An email Case Study","summary" : "Content marketing is everywhere and you’re hearing more about it every day—but how do you do it well? While content marketing can take many forms (articles, infographics, videos, and more), it shares a common purpose: providing useful content to attract new customers to your product or service. At USAGov, customized email messages to our subscribers","date" : "2016-07-15T10:00:28-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"victoria-wales" : "Victoria Bitzer-Wales","darren-b-lurie" : "Darren B. Lurie"},"topics" : {
        
            "communication" : "Communication",
            "content-strategy" : "Content strategy",
            "product-and-project-management" : "Product and project management"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2016-07-15-where-content-and-marketing-meet-an-e-mail-case-study.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2016/07/2016-07-15-where-content-and-marketing-meet-an-e-mail-case-study.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2016/07/2016-07-15-where-content-and-marketing-meet-an-e-mail-case-study.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2016/07/2016-07-15-where-content-and-marketing-meet-an-e-mail-case-study.md","slug" : "where-content-and-marketing-meet-an-email-case-study","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2016/07/15/where-content-and-marketing-meet-an-email-case-study/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eContent marketing is everywhere and you’re hearing more about it every day—but how do you do it well?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile content marketing can take many forms (articles, infographics, videos, and more), it shares a common purpose: providing useful content to attract new customers to your product or service. At USAGov, customized email messages to our subscribers represent one of our most powerful content marketing tools. \u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/07/600-x-450-Finance-concept-arrows-in-Email-target-on-wall-background-maxkabakov-iStock-Thinkstock-459067215.jpg\"\n    alt=\"maxkabakov/iStock/Thinkstock\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"whats-the-core-concept\"\u003eWhat’s the Core Concept?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvery USAGov email begins with an idea either from our content or marketing team. In essence, messages we provide highlight timely information on an important topic—money, health, voting, travel, and more.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBelow are some of our most popular messages. What do they have in common? Clear calls to action and descriptive text about what you can expect when you open that communication.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://connect.usa.gov/tips-to-avoid-fake-caller-id-scams\"\u003eTips to Avoid Fake Caller ID Scams\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://connect.usa.gov/five-tips-for-getting-great-deals-from-government-auctions-and-sales\"\u003eFive Tips for Getting Great Deals from Government Auctions and Sales\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://connect.usa.gov/learn-about-the-new-20-10-and-5-notes\"\u003eLearn About the New $20, $10, and $5 Notes\u003c/a\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"image\"\u003e\n  \u003cimg\n    src=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/digitalgov/_legacy-img/2016/07/600-x-678-Where-Content-and-Marketing-Meet-An-email-Case-Study.jpg\"\n    alt=\"Screen capture of the email.\"/\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\n\n\n\u003ch2 id=\"why-so-much-emphasis-on-email\"\u003eWhy So Much Emphasis on email?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur objective is to connect more people to the government information and services they need, while providing interesting and relevant information that keeps our audience growing. We identify trending topics and tie them back to government resources. Finding those angles is key.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eemail marketing, whether to promote our brand, or content, or both, serves as a highly effective outreach channel. For the last several months, email has been, on average, the single highest source of non-search engine referrals to USA.gov. That means it has brought more people to our website than any single social media channel or website.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eBut, what makes someone open and click on an email?\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhen we reflect on an email’s performance and review the data, it helps us put the pieces together. This forces us to check our assumptions on what we think is relevant versus what people are actually interested in. In the world of checking email more times than any other platform, we have to make sure that we’re grabbing the reader’s attention and engaging them from the start. That means a clear subject line as a starting point. We also time messages when we think they’ll most likely be opened, make sure that they’re mobile optimized, and keep them interesting. We put ourselves in the shoes of our readers to ensure that what we’re sending reflects what people are eager to receive.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"key-factors-for-success\"\u003eKey Factors for Success\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost importantly, a successful message requires collaboration and open communication between our content and marketing teams. This two-way street facilitates ideas and improvements along the way. Oftentimes, both have a good feel for a trending topic, but the content team serves as the subject matter expert. The marketing team edits and shapes the message ensuring that it captures the essence of the subject. This forms a symbiotic relationship between teams that drives successful email content marketing.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLearn more about best practices for email marketing messages from our \u003ca href=\"https://www.usa.gov/style-guide/writing-for-marketing#item-212417\"\u003eBilingual Style Guide\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eVictoria Wales and Darren B. Lurie are members of the USAGov Content and Marketing Teams.\u003c/em\u003e\n\u003cem\u003eThis post was originally published on the \u003ca href=\"https://blog.usa.gov/\"\u003eUSAgov blog\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
  ]
}