Email Marketing News

Monday, March 01, 2010

Being Indispensible by the Numbers (see linked article)

Want to make yourself indispensible, be the go-to person, and be invited to the important meetings? Want to stand out as one who is cool, calm, connected, and clued in? Analytics can be the key to your career success, provided you use them with caution, care, and finesse.

Should your email template age with the relationship? (see linked article)

Templates cast their own spell over us. The name implies something fixed. Once defined and coded, they are largely forgotten.

The attention we give each new outgoing email focuses on the content and offer that changes.

The layout and static elements within the template -- logos, administrative footers and links etc. -- are all commonly ignored. Because they stay the same (duh!).

But should they stay the same?

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

Integrating Social and E-mail Marketing: Where to Begin (see linked article)

E-mail marketers have brushed aside the notion of the e-mail channel's imminent death. Instead, we've fully embraced social as the go-to marketing channel (sorry, search), benefiting both e-mail and social channels.

Best Practices and Testing in E-mail Marketing (see linked article)

Test it. What matters is what works for your program, not what the conventional wisdom sees as a best practice.

E-mail Marketing's Future in a Twitter World (see linked article)

Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks will change e-mail marketing - in a good way. Here's how.

Six Ways to Maintain Sender Reputation as the Inbox Evolves (see linked article)

The changing metrics of sender reputation will have a profound impact on e-mail and social marketing. Here are some tips for maintaining it.

  1. Know your sender reputation. Be sure you know what your "delivered" reports are telling you -- is it your bounce rate or your inbox placement rate? They are very different. Keep tabs on your data with free stats from senderscore.org or dnsstuff.com.

  2. Track complaints by signing up with all available feedback loops from the ISPs. Look at the data you get back from bounces and filtering services like Cloudmark and hosted exchange services. Profile the subscribers who complain, and track the message types or cadence that drives the most complaints. Actively change your program to adjust to this feedback. It's the single biggest factor in reputation, and must be addressed at the root cause level...

Subscription forms: list growth and sign-up language (see linked article)

One newsletter publisher found that modifying the words used on their form's "submit" button changed sign-up rates by over 20%.

Which suggests we should pay more attention to those forms. Should, but largely don't.

We twiddle and tweak incessantly with content, offers, subject lines and button colors. Why not give due attention to the sign-up form, too?

Once you've covered the basic elements (like location, privacy links, indication of email frequency etc.), what are some issues you might look at more closely?

Here are three suggestions...

How to Improve Your Process for Acquiring E-mail Subscribers (see linked article)

Too often, when marketers start focusing on growth, they're not asking, "How can I polish up my acquisition practices so my list attracts more qualified, engaged subscribers?" They're really saying, "How can I grow my list 50 percent this year?" 

That second focus can lead to tactics like one retailer's recent e-mail, which greeted prospective customers with this message: "Check it out! We think you'll have a lot in common, so we added you to (our) e-mail list." This practice is so wrong! 

You don't build a good mailing list by assuming your recipients will be interested, and you can't cover your actions by including an opt-out link. As with recovery or reactivation programs, you need an explicit opt-in. "No response" does not equal consent. 

Prechecked boxes on opt-in forms with fuzzy language and rented lists with dicey permission are other ways marketers build lists fast but open themselves to spam complaints, unsubscribes, and inactivity in the bargain.

Continue reading here: How to Improve Your Process for Acquiring E-mail Subscribers - ClickZ.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

The 8 Guiding Principles to Hiring an Email Marketing Agency (see linked article)

All too often companies make their selection of an email marketing agency or consultant based on the wrong criteria, which causes heartache, inefficiency, and a significant amount of lost productivity and dollars. In this article Scott Hardigree, provides some useful tips on how to select the best person for the job:
Things You Shouldn’t Do

  1. Don’t limit your search geographically. 
  2. Don’t screen out professionals based on size. 
  3. Don’t make industry experience a must-have. 
  4. Don’t ask for (or entertain) speculative work. 
  5. Don’t avoid questions about your budget. 
So how should you select an email marketing partner?
  1. Do determine what you need. 
  2. Spend a few minutes on the phone together to get a sense of chemistry and interest. Ask them about their history, who their current clients are, what their core capabilities are.
  3. Ask them about their process, what it is, how it works, and how it might fit your company and culture.

How to Improve Your Process for Acquiring E-mail Subscribers (see linked article)

As 2010 unfolds, I'm seeing more marketers shift attention to list growth. This is a good step, because a strong, growing mailing list is the heart of your e-mail-marketing program. But, acquisition programs can come with a caution.

Too often, when marketers start focusing on growth, they're not asking, "How can I polish up my acquisition practices so my list attracts more qualified, engaged subscribers?" They're really saying, "How can I grow my list 50 percent this year?"