The new email marketing: accepting accountability
Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on May 16, 2008
Part 3 of an ongoing series:(We're looking at the strategies and tactics that distinguish a smart email marketer from a bulk email marketer. See the New Email Marketing index page to access the rest of the series.)
A natural extension of the relationship approach described in part 2 of this series is the need to accept accountability for your emails.
Accept and welcome accountability for your emails.
Again, you may find the word "doh!" rising inexorably to the front of your mouth. But wait...accountability in modern email marketing means much more than just taking responsibility for the results of your campaigns.
Both recipients and those who provide their email address service (ISPs, webmail services etc.) face a continual challenge when processing incoming mail.
This challenge is to distinguish between the good, wanted email and the bad, unwanted email, so they can deliver/read the former and delete/block the latter.
Many things distinguish spam from non-spam. But a big one is accountability. Spammers and other denizens of the email underworld do not, by definition, want to be held accountable for their actions.
If you run a good email program, delivering value and respecting permission, then you are prepared to stand up for that. You are willing to make yourself accountable to those two key audiences: ISPs and your subscribers.
Why?
Because accountability communicates trust. Trust helps you get past delivery barriers. And trust drives response.
So what practical form does this all take?
In a comment on a previous post, J.D. writes:
"These games -- in effect, trying to pretend that your mail isn't really from you -- just make you look like a spammer. Be proud of your brand!" (The games he refers to are switching IP addresses and similar deliverability tricks.)
Incoming mail processing technologies grow ever more sophisticated. Rather than become involved in a complicated arms race to "trick" the system, it's now better to clearly identify yourself to all and sundry. Let your long-term reputation as a sender of good email gain you access to inboxes.
One step is implementing authentication, which enables email receivers to reliably identify the source of the email.
A second step is to ensure there are no loose cannons in your email program. No emails going out without the same care, attention and accountability you give your main campaigns. Jordan Ayan has some details on this.
But accountability isn't just about identifying yourself to the technological systems that manage email Accountability also implies ensuring your emails are recognized by recipients.
Recognition contributes to trust and is itself a driver of response. Studies show time and time again that recognizing the from line, for example, of an email is a key factor in deciding whether to open that same email.
The from name gets most of the attention when it comes to driving recognition, and you'll find some interesting insights in recent articles at the Emma blog (on political emails) and from Chad White (retailer use of sender lines), as well as in previous posts here.
But ensuring recognition is about much more than using an appropriate from name. This earlier blog post covers the ground well, describing how numerous elements of your emails and wider email program can ensure you get recognized in that inbox.
Accountability works in an online world where trust and recognition are critical elements driving positive responses to your messages. But only, of course, if you're a good mailer. And we'll look at more definitions of what makes an email "good" in subsequent articles.
Related post:
Email marketing 2.0 is accountability
Tags: email marketing, email authentication, email recognition
[This post brought to you by Campaigner Email Marketing]
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