The new email marketing

Across the summer of 2008, I'm publishing a series of blog posts outlining the tactics and strategies that define modern email marketing and the modern email marketer. Access them here...

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Part 1: The leaky bucket
What is the new email marketing all about? And what has it got to do with leaky buckets?

Part 2: Live the R word
Pay more than lip service to the idea of a relationship with your subscribers.

Part 3: Accepting accountability
Stand up and be recognized. Take responsibility for your actions. Be transparent. Be accountable.

Part 4: Quality first, quantity second
Quality, uhuh. But what does quality mean in an email marketing context, both in terms of what you send and who you send it to?

Part 5: Know when to fold
A detailed look at how you handle inactive addresses.

Part 6: Ask the right questions
Take Voltaire's advice and ask the right questions of yourself and your email efforts.

Part 7: Use the right words
The vocabulary you use has an important subconscious impact on the way you conduct your campaigns.

Part 8: Innovation and opportunity
The new email marketing asks...what existing opportunities am I missing? What new opportunities are out there? What conventions might be worth challenging?

Part 9: The search for synergy
Since email is just a way of reaching marketing objectives, it makes sense to see how it can help (and be helped by) other marketing channels in achieving these objectives.

Part 10: Old email practices
A reminder that the advanced stuff is meaningless without getting the basics right first. Includes a number of resources to catch up on the fundamentals.

Part 11: The new subscriber
Takes the simple (or is it?) idea that subscribers are people and describes the implications of empowered email consumers for how we approach email marketing.

Part 12: It's all in the...timing
Don't just ask what the best time/day to send email is. Instead, look for combinations of email content and targets that let you better time your emails to the needs and responsiveness of your subscribers.

Part 13: Dare we mention ethics?
Ethics isn't an expensive luxury in email marketing: it's the only way to secure a sustainable future for your efforts.

Part 14: Embracing Web 2.0
How does the new email marketer exploit or adapt to the changes brought about through Web 2.0 tools and technologies such as social networks and blogging?

Part 15: Step back from the canvas
Each email has three contexts: as an individual experience, as part of an overall email experience and as part of an overall brand experience.

Part 16: 22 ways to build trust
We know trust is important, but how do you create it?

Part 17: coming soon.

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