Email Marketing News

Friday, June 19, 2009

Assessing the best time to send email (see linked article)

1. Look at your past results

2. Exploit benchmark data on open patterns

3. Segment by time of response

4. Make the question obsolete

5. Think beyond email...

The best day to send email? (see linked article)

We all agree that the answer is "it depends": you need to pick out your best guesses based on what you know of your audience, emails and organization and then test to find the winning day.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Find a Copywriter That Can Close The Deal (see linked article)

Tips to find the best copywriter for your business:

  • Look for a copywriter with a direct marketing track record.
  • Make sure your direct marketing copywriter has entered the 21st century.
  • Ask for results.
  • Find a copywriter with experience in your industry.

Are You Using The Right Metrics? (see linked article)

In these days of tight marketing budgets, you must rely on relevant and accurate reporting to stay on top of your email program's performance and defend your company resources. You need to know the four basic strategies to measure performance as well as the metrics that measure correctly.The scalpel is handy, after all, but you wouldn't use it to carve a turkey. If you choose the wrong metric, you could overlook major problems that imperil performance or email's significant contributions to your company's performance.

Streaming Video -- Coming To An Email Near You (see linked article)

With cutting-edge video technologies now available and the pent-up demand for video integration with email from both marketers and consumers, inbox providers are heeding the call by developing new programs for marketers to tinker with email video delivery.

Gmail YouTube Capabilities

GoodMail Systems CertifiedVideo

Text Link

Link with Image/Animated GIF...

5 Macro Trends That Are Altering Email (see linked article)

Trend forecasts are the columnist's last resort at the end of the publishing year. Five macro trends that promise far-reaching impact on your email program.

1. Globalization
2. Ubiquity and speed of content distribution
3. Economic downturn ...

'Delivered' Does Not Mean 'In The Inbox' (see linked article)

Most marketers who keep their lists clean and have good permission practices have a bounce rate of 1% to 5%. So that "delivered" metric is high, and often stays high consistently. Since it's the only number most ESPs provide, this lulls marketers into thinking they also have inbox deliverability under control.

Adopting an E-mail Program Improvement (see linked article)

The new e-mail-marketing program incorporated three initiatives: triggered and lifecycle messages; adding marketing content to transactional messages; and targeted messaging, where the client swapped out one of its five monthly broadcast campaigns for a campaign that was targeted for a portion of its list.

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

Better Metrics – Improving your Open, Click, and Forward Rates Could Have You Smiling Too; Part 1 of 3 (see linked article)

Immediately knowing the success of a marketing campaign once it’s out the door is a huge benefit of using a service provider for your email marketing. But when you get the metrics back, do you know what they mean or how to improve them?  

You can start by looking at benchmark metrics to see how you compare with others in your industry. Chances are good, though, that you’d rather learn how you can get more people to open your email to increase their exposure to your brand, more people to click on the links within the email to take advantage of your offerings, and more people to forward your email so they can spread the good word about you.

Surpassing your current email marketing results can be achieved in three steps. 

The Life of an E-Mail (see linked article)

What your e-mail is saying to recipients -- beyond what the text says.

  • If your e-mail shows up in the spam filter, it says, "Whoever sent this e-mail has security and trust issues. BEWARE."

  • If your e-mail's sender name shows as an e-mail address rather than a friendly name, it says, "This is a random e-mail. Open it later."

  • If your e-mail's message doesn't contain a subject line that surmises the benefits, it says, "Open only when you have time to decipher what's inside."