No man is an iland

January 30, 2004

Protecting Yourself Against CAN-SPAM
Mike Adams of Arial Software (an email marketing vendor) wrote this online guide, adding his voice, recommendations and interpretation to the comments already out there. He's fairly upbeat about the prospects for permission-based marketers, suggesting that by their very nature they're unlikely to attract the attention of the FTC, especially when there are bigger fish to fry.

January 29, 2004

Opt-in e-mail marketers already comply with CAN-Spam - but not all of it
InternetRetailer.com reports the results of an EmailLabs study which showed, for example, that just under half of the permission emails examined met the Can-Spam requirement to display a postal address. They also cite another study which reveals that less than 1% of non-permission based mail is Can-Spam compliant...

Can you say E for Enforcement.

January 28, 2004

Cost of erroneously blocked permission e-mail will balloon to $419 Million in 2008
Press release from Jupiter Search, suggesting that...well, you can guess what they say from the link title above. Although the proportion of legitimate email falling victim to filters is set to drop, an increase in email marketing expenditure means the total cost of these false positives willl actually rise.

January 27, 2004

Is Your Company CAN-SPAM Compliant?
Neil J. Squillante offers some extended advice on the steps you need to take to ensure compliancy.

January 26, 2004

AOL testing new antispam technology
By way of background...technology is still likely to be the best solution to the spam problem. Both AOL and Yahoo are testing new protocols which would make it impossible to forge email headers. Although a techy subject, these developments may turn out to be email marketing's true saviour.

EU anti-spam laws are OK
An article in the Register, where Joe McNamee, EU Policy Director from Political Intelligence, gives a lengthy and considered response to critics of British and EU spam laws.

January 23, 2004

The Biggest Challenges Facing E-mail Marketers Today
Jeanne Jennings answers some pressing questions asked by members of the Newsletter and Electronic Publisher Association, covering a possible do-not-email list, filters and the graphics versus text argument.

January 22, 2004

CAN-SPAM Good News & Bad, Bad, Bad, Bad News
Anne Holland offers some fresh insight into the new legislation based on extensive discussions with the FTC. If you send any kind of commercial email to US addresses (broadcast or otherwise), you should read this.

I have to admit to underestimating the potential impact of the new law. I imagine a lot of email marketers have, too.

January 21, 2004

More PR failures
Just in case you're thinking of pitching me via email, try and avoid these two mistakes I found today.

1. My name is Mark; calling me Brian isn't too tragic, but not exactly best practices.

2. Make sure your reply-to address works. And include alternative contact info in your signature just in case. My reply to a story pitch today bounced as "domain non-existant" and the sender had just signed with their name and no other info. I will try and track you down somehow, but I'm not overjoyed at having to do so.

January 20, 2004

Spam Filters Grab Good With Bad
More uplifting analysis and predictions on how the email spam fest makes life difficult for anyone communicating via email. I'm looking forward to the technology people sorting this one out for us.

January 19, 2004

Open Up a Can of Spam
Wired News collected comments from some of the major anti-spam vendors out there and found that the new Can-Spam Act has had no impact so far on the volume of spam. Again, there is the suggestion that a high profile prosecution and jail sentence will change the situation.

There's also the belief that the legislation might encourage more unsolicited, yet legal, mail from marketers. Which is the last thing email marketers need.

January 16, 2004

Triangle Tech Journal - Will spam kill e-mail marketing?
Despite the title, this article by Drew Adams is really a solid attempt to explain to businesses why they should still be interested in email marketing, how they can still get the best out of it, and what they can do to minimize the threat from spam.

It's a bit too pessimistic on "email for acquisition" for my preferences, but a good read, especially if you're new to the scene.

ISPs Unite Against Spam
Internet News reports on a new coalition of ISPs and telecoms, working together on spam solutions.

For all the excitement about legislation like Can-Spam, a real solution to the spam problem (with all its implications for legitimate email marketing) is likely to be a technical one. So watch this space.

January 15, 2004

AOL Sources Confirm Existence of New Enhanced White List
The latest newsletter from EmailSherpa with important news of a new AOL whitelist and other tidbits on how to improve your results when sending to AOL subscribers.

January 14, 2004

Langa Letter: E-Mail Hideously Unreliable
The great Fred Langa conducted a test with over 10,000 volunteers to see how much ordinary private email gets through. He got a 40% failure (i.e. non-response) rate.

Which sounds scary, but I think there are some flaws in the interpretation. Specifically, since the test used a return name and address recipients would not know, plus subject lines like "hello" and "follow up", I wouldn't be surpised if the mails got through the filters only to be deleted by the recipients without even looking at the contents. I get a lot of spam with "hi" or "hello" in the subject lines.

Then there's the laziness factor - people volunteer for tests then forget or can't be bothered to follow the instructions in the test message.

So I don't think spam filters etc. are quite the hazard the results suggest - which is not to say that the false positives problem isn't an issue.

January 13, 2004

SpamSpotting.org - SpamButcher Spam Index
This anti-spam software vendor has a daily spam index to track whether Can-Spam is making any difference. Neat marketing idea - it got some press coverage (and this link, too).

January 12, 2004

Why Spammers Laugh at CAN-SPAM
Business Week reviews the early results and future prognosis for the Can-Spam Act.

Email Management Emerging as Critical Corporate Need
Long article on the changing face of email management; how email's become the communication medium of record and the implications this has for storing and retrieving the incoming mails your company gets.

January 09, 2004

Complying with the CAN-SPAM Act - A 10-Point Checklist for Marketers
An article by Jeanne Jennings where she clarifies the new terminology introduced in the Act, provides a 10-point action checklist for tackling compliance, and outlines deadlines for forthcoming provisions of the Act. Thanks Jeanne!

January 08, 2004

The New Metrics Frontier
EmailSherpa looks at two techniques for more sophisticated and predictive analysis of email responses. More evidence that email marketing is moving up a level. Those glory days of 1999 point and shoot are well gone aren't they?

January 03, 2004

CAN-SPAM Guidance for Marketers and List Owners
MarketingSherpa have organized a teleseminar, Q and A, and practical recommendations report around this hot subject. The teleseminar is on January 15th...or you can buy the transcript and report only.

(note: I write for the company and the above link is an affiliate link)

Opt-in News: Users Request Email Messages Despite Spam
Report on another survey of consumer attitudes to spam and legitimate email marketing messages. The commentary to such things is always a matter of interpretation. Is the glass half full or half empty?

Sign-up for the Email Marketing Reports NEWSLETTER
Twice a month, free, packed with email marketing advice and all the posts from this blog.

Email:      First Name:     
    More info and sample

 via feed | via email | LinkedIn | Facebook

The main website for everything email marketing
Email marketing search engine
Introduction and email advertising basics
Service listings and sources of statistics
Advice on email design and delivery issues

Top 21 email marketing info sources
Outlook 2007 and HTML design
42 HTML email design resources