No man is an iland

December 23, 2005

Walking in an email wonderland
For fans of terrible British humor, I give you my own version of "Winter Wonderland". Don't say I didn't warn you.

I'm taking a break from blogging until the New Year, turning my attention to food and family instead. Seasons Greetings from me and may I wish you all a safe and successful 2006.

(Tactics / strategy) Email Marketing "Must Dos"
One of my pet dislikes are vendor articles that don't even try to do anything other than push their own solution to whatever issue they're trying to write about.

So as we near the end of the year, time to doff my hat and offer a public acknowledgement of EmailLabs articles, which are always extremely low-sell and high on public value. They win my unofficial award for most generous giving of expertise from a vendor for 2005.

In this one, Loren McDonald outlines 10 things you can change, improve and/or implement next year to move your email marketing endeavors forward.

(RSS) Will RSS replace email?
Silverpop's Elaine O'Gorman offers a balanced answer to this oft-asked question. She shares the growing belief that it's not an either/or scenario with email and RSS, and that the two can go hand-in-hand as part of an integrated approach to modern marketing.

December 22, 2005

DoubleClick Consumer Email Survey
Always good to learn how people use and view email and this report has some insights.

Among the key findings, the news that the spam problem is on the wane (at least in terms of how consumers perceive the volume of unsolicited email).

Note this quote, though: "almost half of respondents also consider permission-based email that comes too frequently or that is no longer relevant as spam."

Let me bore you again by pointing out that spam is defined by the recipient, not the sender and not the government. You can be as Can-Spam compliant as you like, people will still think you're a spammer if you abuse their time.

Consider this quote, too: "Another third of consumers reported clicking on emails for information and returning later to make purchases."

A reminder that email's impact isn't limited to immediate response rates. It's important to see it as a contributor to the success of the business as a whole. Driving repeat traffic, building a brand, driving traffic to offline stores, etc. etc.

(Layout / format) Email Design Guidelines for 2006
I missed this when it first came out but it's too good to ignore. The folks at Campaign Monitor are on top of email design issues and this overview has some valuable advice on improving the design of your html email efforts.

Includes some enlightening screenshots. Oh, and read the comments left behind by other visitors for some additional insights.

December 21, 2005

(Basics) You Don't Know Me
A timely reminder from Melinda Krueger that however clever and insightful you or your software might be, we can't really know who exactly is reading our emails. This has implications for the way you address your readership, particularly when it comes to topical, cultural and seasonal references.

(Basics) Building an email list
Vendor Silverpop outline 10 ways to build your house list of email addresses (five in this article, five in a previous article linked to from the top of the landing page).

Since it's so easy to stick up a sign-up form on your website and then forget about it, this list is a useful reminder of all the other things you could and should be doing to get more opt-ins.

Which reminds me...

(Metrics) Caution: Falling Open Rates!
A brief article with some basic information on the issue of open rates and their measurement. If you're wondering why open rates decline, yet responses (clicks etc.) remain steady, then this article has the answer.

(Can-spam) FTC report
That link takes you directly to a 116 page .pdf report from the FTC entitled "Effectiveness and enforcement of the Can-Spam act: a report to congress."

In essence they're not claiming any miracle successes for the legislation. But they do see it as a useful tool for enforcement agencies and ISPs.

They also suggest that the act encouraged legitimate marketers to sharpen up their own act, which has led to better consumer attitudes to commercial emails.

The report also claims progress in the war on spam is down to a combination of factors, with anti-spam technology playing the most important role.

Seems a very objective view of things and reflects the growing belief that there is no silver bullet for the spam problem, but a combination of legislation, technology, education and cross-border cooperation should continue to ease the problem.

December 20, 2005

(Basics) Spam? It's All Relative
Wendy Roth outlines the basic practices that ensure the people on your email list want your email, know what they're going to get and recognize it when they get it.

All of which should mean more emails get opened and less get reported as spam.

(Tactics) Second Sends: Folly or Future?
Jeanne Jennings asks whether it's a good idea to send out your email again to those who didn't open it first time round.

She explores some of the issues involved, touching on such things as metrics, list fatigue, content and costs.

December 19, 2005

(Tactics) Where Do We Draw The Line?
There's a debate going on through the columns of MediaPost about when it's OK (and if it's OK) to send a single unsolicited email to a potential business contact.

This debate goes to the heart of the idea of permission and email marketing and reminds me of similar discussions in the 1990s.

It also relates to what I said earlier in my 1000th post celebration about marketers having a second chance to get it right with email marketing.

It's very easy to find specific examples of where it's OK to send a "stranger" a commercial email. The problem is that many would-be emailers are continually pushing at the edge.

If it was OK for person A, then surely it's OK for person B, too? And person C. And so it escalates. Before you know it, we're back to overloaded inboxes and hordes of email users crying "spam! spam!" while waving pitchforks and burning torches.

Very often UCE is sent by well-meaning marketers because it's cheap, easy and quick, not necessarily because it makes the most sense.

And very often the justification for doing so is based on the idea that "we have this super service that people are crying out for if only they knew about it, so they'll be so grateful for my email."

That's often (not always, but often) just a convenient assumption used to self-justify behavior that scratches the curve of what's ethical or acceptable. And in my experience, it's an assumption that rarely holds true.

If you know so much about me and my needs you probably already have a relationship with me and don't need to cold call via email.

There is no easy answer to the question of unsolicited single emails, but we would all do well to err on the side of caution lest we bring about the untimely demise of that golden Anser Anser.

December 16, 2005

(Deliverability) Email authentication myths
Karen J. Bannan cites various statistics suggesting few companies are implementing email authentication technologies to support their email marketing endeavors.

With the help of Skylist's Joshua Baer, she then identifies four excuses why people might be holding off, and explains why these excuses are nonsense.

She doesn't mention laziness, though, which is my excuse.

(Case study) Despair Inc.
Apart from offering some good laughs, this look at how Despair Inc. maintains brand consistency and customer interest in its emails also includes some tactics you might borrow.

Visit their site to enjoy the demotivational posters. Reminds me of one of my favorite mottoes: the second mouse gets the cheese.

(List mgmt) How fast does your email get there?
Al DiGuido is incredulous at the slow delivery rates of various email service providers. His argument being that timing is critical and if it takes several hours to get the emails out the door, the unavoidable result is lower responses and lower sales.

And he has some suggestions as to what you can do about it if you have the problem.

December 15, 2005

(Case study) ConferenceCall.com
Karen Gedney introduces us to the series of emails sent out by ConferenceCall.com when someone signs up for their service. The aim is to educate and upsell, and the article links to examples of mails used.

(State of industry) Email Objects in the Review Mirror
It's that time of year again when we all predict what will happen next year, review the last 12 months and then wonder why we still haven't got round to tiling the kitchen (ahem).

Here Bill Nussey of Silverpop reviews the email marketing year, with a focus on changing attitudes.

He also predicts a bright future for RSS and podcasting, reflecting the growing realization that marketers need to offer a choice of coordinated communication methods to keep up with the customer.

(Tactics) Post-holiday follow-ups
A survey of one vendor's clients reveals various statistics and bits of information about planned post-Xmas email marketing tactics.

I don't think the sample is large enough or representative enough to draw out broad conclusions. But it is interesting to note that nobody had plans to "deliver special campaigns to consumers based on their shopping activity."

In other words, while we all talk about the wonders of activity-driven campaigns, lifecycle email marketing and other buzzwords, the practical reality for most marketers is quite different.

(Law) Feds flop at stopping spam
Gene Koprowski draws on the opinion of various intellectual property lawyers and others to conclude that Can-Spam legislation basically hasn't done much to stem the flow of spam.

The suggestion raised is that this is not just due to the nature of the legislation and the spammer mentality (for whom laws are things to be ignored), but also the lack of adequate enforcement efforts.

December 14, 2005

Reflections at 1000
According to my blogging software, the last post was the 1000th published here at Email Marketing Reports.

The first post went up June 25th 2003 and was titled, "The Email Deliverability Crisis."

Has anything changed in the intervening 2.5 years? Yes, and for the positive. For example, deliverability is still an issue, but one that seems increasingly under control. And while spam isn't set to go away soon, its presence in the inbox diminishes daily as anti-spam tools get better.

In a sense that gives email marketers a second chance.

In recent times, too many organizations were lulled into email marketing complacency and laziness. Broadcast email was cheap. And there was the curse of Can-Spam legislation.

I say curse because it took away the emphasis on permission from a marketing and human perspective and refocused it on permission from a legal perspective.

The outcome? Recipients jaded by torrents of "spam", both from spammers and from "legitimate" marketers sending irrelevant and unwanted "solicited" mail.

If marketers are to take advantage of a new and improved environment for email, then they need to refocus on that idea of permission from a human and marketing perspective.

You do not solicit permission before adding an address to your list to satisfy legislative requirements. You do it because it makes it a better list. Because it's the right thing to do for both recipient and sender.

At the core of successful email marketing is the idea of respect for those getting your emails; long-term success depends on giving recipients relevant and valuable content. And permission is part of this respect.

Success in the war on spam offers legitimate email marketing a golden opportunity. Let's get it right this time.

(List mgmt / tactics) This is how to do it...
The Email Sender and Provider Coalition just updated their best practices guide. The 5-page document covers such things as permission, subscription processes and ongoing communications with recipients.

Reading quickly through the document it seems pretty solid to me - a good framework to work within if you're marketing via email. In particular, they are pretty clear that anything other than opt-in is unacceptable.

December 13, 2005

(Deliverability / state of industry) Q&A with Des Cahill
An interview with the top man at Habeas. He gives a long explanation of the differences between email authentication, reputation and accreditation, and why these things are important for email marketers.

Then he turns his attention to more general issues, such as cross-channel integration, permission, RSS and the direction of the email marketing industry.

(RSS) On the horizon and rising (Part I)...
Denise Cox offers a nice overview of RSS for marketers, focusing on how it's similar to and different from email, particularly with regard to email newsletters.

(Copywriting) EMail Goes From Beast to Beauty
An interesting "before and after" look at an internal company memo distributed via email.

It's not a marketing email, but many of the problems identified with regard to style and layout etc. are common to commercial campaigns, too. So the proposed solutions ought to resonate with copywriters as well.

(Tactics) Test Big, Test Often
Melinda Krueger suggests taking more risks with your campaign tests, arguing that small changes bring about small improvements that can be hard to validate. Big changes, however, can bring big improvements.

She also has some thoughts on where to get inspiration on things to test.

December 09, 2005

(Metrics) Introducing email marketing statistics
Darren Reardon walks you through the various metrics used by email marketers. He highlights some of the issues of measurement and interpretation, and then runs over some ways you can use statistics to test and refine your efforts and improve your results.

Warning: Some proper statistics appear in this article...words like "regression analysis." You may want a coffee before reading.

December 08, 2005

(E-newsletters / RSS) B-to-B Marketer Finds a New Way
Essentially an interview with Ed Schipul of the same-name company. He has some contrary things to say about how to use newsletters, and is a big fan of RSS as an alternative delivery mechanism.

Definitely a thought-provoking read which should at least make you reevaluate your own approach and strategies, even if you might not agree with him.

(Deliverability) Making the most of SpamAssassin
Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald describe how to use anti-spam software SpamAssassin to improve your email's deliverability. They include a "before and after" example of a "bad" email and how it was converted to a "good" one.

As usual with this dynamic duo, the advice is excellent, pragmatic and sure to do good things for your bottom line. It just worries me that spammers read this advice (intended for legitimate email marketers) and apply the insights too.

On the other hand, most of the spam I get doesn't indicate particularly sophisticated intellectual skills, so perhaps we needn't worry.

(State of industry) No Email Avalanche After All
If you're one who likes to gloat about failed prophecies from doom and gloom merchants, this article by Ken Magill is for you.

He waves a metaphorical fist at those who thought Can-Spam legislation would lead to a flood of unsolicited bulk email, and looks forward to a private-enterprise, technology-based end to the spam wars.

December 06, 2005

(Strategy) Why Do Marketers Still Send Newsletters?
Stephan Pretorius makes an appeal for an end to thoughtless B2C newsletter-type approaches to email marketing. Instead, he supports the move to dynamic, personalized content and communications triggered by customer actions and life cycle events.

More importantly, perhaps, he outlines the reasons why this move -- which nobody would dispute is a good thing -- hasn't really happened yet, and thus implies what needs to be done to make it happen.

(Strategy) Learning from the NHL
Jeanne Jennings uses the National Hockey League's one year hiatus and subsequent "relaunch" as a (rather neat) metaphor for email marketing programmes. She focuses on the need to have the courage and acumen to know when things need changing and to manage the process properly.

(Tactics) Optimizing responses
Stefan Tornquist is the stats man at MarketingSherpa. Here he points out some numbers that indicate email marketing continues to do well. Then he discusses some of the mistakes marketers are making and offers suggestions on how to improve success metrics through considerations of timing, frequency, deliverability and landing pages.

(Strategy) When E-mail Is Ill-Advised
Melinda Krueger suggests email isn't the best way for small and midsize professional services to reach prospects.

Her reasoning (you can't just send email to people on spec) is fine. But the advice might be misleading - there's no mention of developing an email list of prospects through standard permission-based acquisition practices.

After which email -- particularly email newsletters -- becomes an ideal way for small and midsize professional services to reach prospects. Just not as the very first contact interaction (which is Melinda's point).

Otherwise you're throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

December 04, 2005

(Deliverability) What You Need to Know About Authentication
An interview with Tara Natanson, Constant Contact's Director of ISP Relations. She explains in words of one syllable what authentication is all about and why it's a good thing.

December 02, 2005

(List mgmt) Removing unresponsive addresses from your email list
Mark Brownlow (erm...me) lists the reasons why you should consider removing email addresses that aren't responding to your messages.

I also kill one myth about this process, explaining why you should be wary of marketers who perform a cull and then mouth off about how their metrics have improved. Smoke and mirrors are at work. Again.

(List mgmt) Successfully Navigate E-Mail Append
Derek Harding casts a wise eye over the issue of email appending; employing firms to find email addresses that match offline contact details.

Without committing himself to specific advice on whether and how you should use email appending, Derek outlines the issues and potential pitfalls involved so you can make up your own mind.

He also has a list of criteria to use when shopping for an email append service.

(List mgmt) Behind-the-Scenes in the Booming Email Service Provider Industry
MarketingSherpa.com lifts the lid a little and explores some of the imbalances between what marketers want and what email service providers give them.

And if the article leaves you confused about who to trust, the authors have a convenient report to help you with that problem...

December 01, 2005

(Deliverability) How to Avoid Common E-mail Delivery Problems
Ross Kramer takes an in-depth look at four particular issues that might be causing your emails to get blocked or filtered.

Two of these -- using your service provider's default tracking links and image tags -- are new to me and definitely worth further investigation.

(Basics) Permission Email Marketing: "Permission" is Not Optional
An excellent article by Loren McDonald stating the clear business case for only sending bulk commercial email to those who have explicitly requested it. A must-read for anyone who thinks it's OK to send email to any old address they dug up from the Internet.

Also a good web address to have handy if your non-email marketing colleagues start asking questions about the size of your address list and such like.

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