Will email deliverability deliver the next US President?
Latest posts | Feed | By Mark Brownlow on October 21, 2008
Given my inability to do a good Sarah Palin impression, I have to find another way to exploit the US election bandwagon.Both the Obama and McCain campaigns are delivering salutary lessons to marketers on the role of deliverability.
One study suggests that a lack of email authentication is costing McCain's campaign a few deliverability points. (Thanks to a reader for the tip.)
And Laura Atkins reports how Obama's campaign emails are facing some blacklist problems through permission issues.
What can we learn from these candidates for the world's most powerful political position?
A spammer is not defined by how they look, who they are, where they live, the size of their organization or the value of what they promote. A spammer is defined by their actions.
A lot of companies take a flexible approach to permission because they're "not spammers." They don't operate out of cellars in Florida, with offshore hosting accounts and emails promoting new body parts for underconfident males.
Doesn't matter.
You act like a spammer would act, you get treated like one.
Nobody gets a free deliverability ride. Not even the next President of the USA.
More on deliverability | Tags: email marketing, email deliverability, john mccain, barack obama
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3 Comments:
Excellent post.
Though it looks like Obama is the likely winner, this election is likely to be very close.
Getting out the vote (getting their supporters to show up in mass) is crucial. Email marketing is likely a factor here. When a few percentage points make the difference, presidential campaigns need to get email marketing right.
By 
Neil Anuskiewicz, Business Development Director, on
21 October, 2008
Yes, a point is that email can do more than just solicit donations. It can also motivate actions (like voting!). A point Seth Godin makes well today.
By 
, on
22 October, 2008
Yes, fund raising is key but it is crucial for voters to actually vote.
The United States typically has a very small percentage of people who vote in elections. That means, the side that gets out the vote, can win on that basis.
Given the excitement and energy around this election, I suspect that voter turnout will be much higher than normal. That said, get out the vote efforts are still going to be key.
For evidence of this, see how much money and effort each party puts into this...
By Neil Anuskiewicz, Business Development Director, on
23 October, 2008
