(Version A)

And this?

(Version B)

Well, when it comes to getting people to click on a link,  the first email increases the likelihood that they will click by over 100%. But why?

Every year, the Economic Developers Association of Canada (EDAC) conducts a survey about the marketing practices of its membership. This year’s survey was receiving a much lower response rate than 2009, and EDAC wanted to send out a final reminder to try to boost response rates. To ensure that the email garnered the maximum response, we conducted a simple A/B test with the emails you see above. The emails were identical in subject line and message content, but we swapped the image of a smiling, pointing human face with a pie chart in versions A and B.

We started by picking the pie chart image that fit with the idea of the survey. But then we got to thinking that there is a lot of research out there that shows a big jump in clicks and opens when you have human subjects looking at or pointing to the call to action in your message. We decided to test it out for ourselves and sent Version A and Version B to a subset of the overall email list (10% each) and ran the test for six hours. The results are shown below:

Open Rates

• Version A (smiling pointer) – 25%
• Version B (pie chart) – 13%

Click Rates

• Version A (smiling pointer) – 8%
• Version B (pie chart) – 4%

Based on the size of EDAC’s mailing list, we can extrapolate that they received an estimated 46 extra clicks (100%) and 93 extra opens (90%) by sending the winning Version A to the remaining 80% of their mailing list, rather than Version B.

Results:

Sure enough, the response rate to the survey doubled within a week of sending out the reminder email, bringing them back up to 2009 levels. Had we sent out original pie chart version without testing, we’d likely be extending the survey deadline and sending another email plea.

We’ve blogged before about the importance of doing A/B testing with your email campaigns. This recent A/B test for EDAC using our 3mail Email Campaign Tool (shameless plug) demonstrates the incredible difference in results that can be achieved by something as simple as changing a single image.

• Be Specific in Your Messaging: Why “Live, Work, Play” and other clichés will harm your marketing efforts.
• Does Your Economic Development Website Speak Effectively to Site Selectors?:  Highlights from a US-based study of site selectors regarding their frustrations and preferences when it comes to ec dev web properties.
• 8 Tips for Getting Started with Social Media and Email: As more economic developers embrace new social tools, it is important to realize that when it comes to these new marketing channels, the old rules simply don’t apply. Here are 8 tips that cover ideas, etiquette and advice for getting started.
• Has Branding Become a Dirty Word? Our most popular EDAC White Paper, where we explore myths and misconceptions about place branding.
• Branding a City: One of our very first blog posts, this one covers off why place branding is different, and more complex, than other types of branding.
• Place Branding Inspiration Gallery: Over the years, we’ve reviewed quite a few logos and re-branding efforts from cities and regions around the world. Here are 7 posts to get you thinking about your own visual identity and branding program.

Have you subscribed to our RSS feed yet? Grab the feed here.

- Heather Ciere, On3 Communication Design

Hands off my marketing budget! – How to fight for your economic development marketing program

Marketing can be tough to conceptualize, difficult to measure, and is usually the first on the chopping block when it’s time to reduce spending. This white paper will examine each of these challenges and provide concrete responses and strategies for addressing them.

Click here to download the free white paper.

Past white papers in this series for Economic Development Professionals can be found here.

SUMMERSIDE, April 19, 2010 – On Three Communication Design Inc. recently announced the expansion of its operations to Summerside, Prince Edward Island. The marketing company, headquartered in Hamilton, Ontario, is currently exploring office space options in the city, and hopes to open its doors in June 2010.

“The growth and opportunity in Atlantic Canada is what motivated our decision to come to Summerside,” explains Jim McGimpsey, partner at On Three. “We have enjoyed our work on the Island immensely, and it’s time to hang out our shingle and continue to grow our business here.”

Although its Summerside location is new, On Three is no stranger to the Island. “We have been working on marketing initiatives in Summerside for years,” says On Three’s Heather Ciere. “We’ve come to love it here, so opening a Summerside location feels a little bit overdue actually. Once the decision was made we knew it was the right one.”

Ciere and McGimpsey are the minds behind projects like the Summerside commercials that aired during the Canada Games, the “Brick” Health IT business investment campaign, and the Summerside branding initiative that won national acclaim from the Economic Developers Association of Canada. On Three hopes to build on this portfolio with a larger group of clients as a result of their Atlantic Canada expansion.

Click here to view our Media Release and announcement of a Youth Business Contest.

THE WINNERS

First up: Kirkland, WA.

Here’s an example of a community that really gets destination branding. Kirkland, WA is a town on the shores of Lake Washington that has embraced and nurtured a strong artistic community. This is evidenced by its many galleries, events and a thriving public arts program. It has also embraced its proximity to the water, designing the town around walking trails that facilitate shopping and dining by the lake. So when it came time to launch its new look, Kirkland identified and married these two elements of their community in a well-executed identity… Read the whole review.

Our next example of place branding done right: Copenhagen.

A very nice new visual identity out of Copenhagen that was posted over at Brand New. It’s logo design done right under the constraint of having to serve many masters: attract tourism, attract business, create civic pride, promote sporting events… a challenge certainly not unfamiliar to economic development professionals… Read the whole review.

One of my personal favorites: The U.S. Virgin Islands

The figure is a “Mocko Jumbie” – a traditional stiltwalker that represents the culture of the USVI. The three stars represent each Island. It is striking as a shape when it is in one colour and the individual applications for each island balance a unified look and feel with some individuality. It feels tropical, culture-rich and laid-back. Very well done. Read the whole review.

Belfast:

Belfast has unveiled a new logo and set of taglines to brand itself as a safe, welcoming and enterprising place to be. Although the heart has been done before (think I love New York), it also works as the letter “B”, and a variety of taglines and colours gives different groups flexibility when using the new brand, similar to the approach taken by the City of Summerside, PEI. You can read more about it over at Brand New.

And finally, Alberta:

Alberta has unveiled a strong new identity to the world. The branding initiative will cost $25 million over three years, and it is a bold undertaking indeed… Read the whole review.

THE LOSERS

Philadelphia failed to ring our bell:

Creating an identity for an entire city or region is a tough undertaking. You are trying to please many different stakeholders. You’re trying to communicate many different messages, but with limited real estate to do so. And you are creating something that is sure to be scrutinized very closely by many, because they have a stake in their city’s brand, and often some concern about how much public money is being spent on marketing activities. With all these challenges, it is very tempting to do something safe and easy, which is exactly the trap that Philadelphia fell into. In fact, this new logo serves up a lot of place branding “don’ts” in a single creative execution… Read the whole review.

Brisbane has a good concept, but poor execution:

I don’t love this tagline, but I do think it was smart to put “Australia” right in the tag, as it shows an awareness of the need to market globally and not everyone knows which Brisbane is being referred to here without it. Read the whole review.

Alberta gets caught in a major blunder:

Although it made our winners list, Alberta deserves a mention here as well for getting caught in an embarrassing situation involving one of its promotional videos. From our blog post:

After coming our swinging with a $25 million campaign slated to roll out over the next three years, Alberta finds itself dealing with some unfortunate negative publicity. Today’s Globe and Mail ran a story about Alberta being caught red-handed using stock photography in a promotional video. Read the full review here.

YOU BE THE JUDGE

Melbourne, Australia:

Melbourne gets mixed reviews, with a thumbs-up on the colourful approach and a thumbs-down on the PR surrounding the launch and the single-colour verison of the logo. Read the whole review.

Raleigh seems confused…

What do you think? Does the logo trip over its own attempt to be all things to all people? Read the review here.

Egypt gets it right… and wrong:

Beautiful logo, but tough to read. Points for the tagline though: In Egypt’s case, this generic tagline is actually quite meaningful. See the review here.

So there you have it: Our place branding hits and misses. We’d love to hear yours. Post your thoughts in the comments.

With 3mail, you’ll know exactly how your campaigns are performing. See who opened, clicked and forwarded your email. 3mail lets you:

1. Create and send your own beautiful email campaigns
2. Manage and grow your recipient lists
3. Review powerful reports and campaign statistics

Check it out here and start sending amazing email campaigns today. Thanks for your continued support. We hope you love this new service as much as we do!

- The on3 Team

And 2009 has been QUITE the year for economic developers.

We’ve done our best to chronicle some of the challenges, showcase best practices and to examine what a tough economic climate means for marketing and communication design. Based on traffic, these are our most popular blog posts from 2009. Enjoy!

1. How the Toronto Star lost my business for good… and what economic development marketers can learn from it.
2. $75,000 for THAT?
3. “Quality of life” becoming more important for relocation… but what does the term really mean?
4. The role of ambassador programs in economic development marketing
5. Tell the truth in city marketing
6. Oh General Motors, you didn’t. Wait. You did.
7. White Paper: Has branding become a dirty word?
8. Eleven myths of economic development.
9. Alberta rebrands itself
10. Alberta branding campaign gets caught in a major blunder.

This blog will keep trying making sense of marketing and communication for economic developers in 2010. We hope you’ve enjoyed reading it as much as we’ve enjoyed writing it.

1. January 2010: Hands off my marketing budget! – How to fight for your economic development marketing program
2. March 2010: Email marketing for economic developers
3. June 2010: Selling small: Marketing strategies for smaller communities
4. September 2010: So, did it work? – How to measure marketing effectiveness
5. November 2010: The future of social media for economic development

To give us feedback, or to suggest future topics, get in touch with us here. Happy reading!

• Place Branding in Practice
• Has Branding Become a Dirty Word?
• Economic Development Marketing in a Recession
• Buy-In Begins At Home
• Ambassadors: Your Secret Weapon
• The New Communication Tools for Economic Developers

We’re working on our next set of white papers and will be releasing one more in 2009 and another four are planned for 2009. You can view all our economic development publications at any time in our downloads section.