The Email Wars

Not only is it important to know how your email creative is going to render in each email client (inbox type) but it is also important to know what it is going to look like if images don’t show up. Will it have the same impact on click and conversion if is has unloaded images? iTunes recently had one that for some reason just did not load the images in my inbox even though I do not suppress images in my email client. I would think that testing had something to do with this, but also you never know which client will or will not have images enabled in the inbox. It drives me crazy at times to see email campaigns that are sent as one or two images with NO text. Why would you do something like this knowing that you have 2-3 seconds to get an action to take place with an email campaign?

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We use a system from ReturnPath to help with pre campaign testing of these behavoirs. It helps us to understand when changes need to be made to the creative for the best devilvery and impact with that short time window in the inbox. Please in 2007 stop using images as your email campaign. Use HTML, Text or a hybrid of all the above.

Here is a sample of a Inbox Testing Report we run.

You would assume that a company like Apple (or any other major brand) would not EVER have an issue with being caught in the Junk Box, right? Well no one is immune from this dilema. It is a constantly changing world in the inbox and things can change even after you hit the send button for an email campaign. I noticed this one was flagged as one of the links they used in the creative was on a block list which caused it to score higher in our filters and ended up in the Junk box. I actually look at my Junk box at each and every email as at times you can get false positives just like this one.

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We actually used ReturnPath to help us with our client email campaign testing to look for things like this as well as a myriad of other issues you might not think about that will help with campaign deliverability. A simple thing you can do if you don’t have access to a system like this is to set up your own seed email list in your email marketing platform for Yahoo, AOL, MSN, Hotmail, Gmail, as well as your own email account and any others you have access to, and send a pre campaign to this list. Then go to each inbox and take a look where they end up and what the email headers say in the email itself. (like the example in this post.) This can help you get ahead of what you need to change before you send out your next email campaign.

I was excited to see that the location of the 2006 Winter Email Insiders Summit actually sent out an email survey after the stay. I think that hotels that are not doing this are missing the boat. If you cannot automate this action to get relevant and recent feedback to see how you can do better, than why do you continue to stay around? When was the last time you actually filled out a comment card with a pen after a hotel stay? I cannot remember and when these drop into my mailbox I am excited to let them know the good and the bad. But even more important, this was the location of the top email marketers in the US who stayed with them. So I am sure that they got a great click through and completion rate of this survey… right?

No matter what type of business you have, you should survey frequently after a transaction or just to get the pulse of your lists on a quarterly basis.

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It is always interesting to me when I see an email that flags a “We Screwed Up” notice at the top of the email. Everyone at some point in time has sent out a campaign that had an error OR was premature. Taking the high road to letting people know (and quickly) that you made a mistake and wanted to clarify to them what the right information is is great. But make sure, just as in this one from CES, to call out your mistakes so that people do not assume that you are sending them the same email TWICE. Makes them read the email again and not quickly trash it.

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Have you ever taken a moment to understand what type of email you get each day, week or month? It is interesting to see the make up of just what messages you are getting. I get over 300 emails a day in my inbox that I delete. And over 100 that I file away into folders for later reference. Managing your inbox is a task in itself. I have a folder that I keep just for marketing messages from brands that I watch that either I like OR I keep my eyes on for clients that I am working with.

I found this study published late last year to be interesting. I would challenge you to just keep track for a week and see what types of emails you get. This might help you to understand what your average subscriber might be getting on a weekly basis. If you really want to get deep into the data, take a look at a service from Bill McCloskey at Email Analyst. He grabs email campaigns from EVERYWHERE and you can use his service to take the pulse on what your comp might be doing and how it lifts traffic.

New E-Mail, Old Challenges, eMarketer.com

‘Who gets this stuff and who reads it?’

As long as there has been advertising, marketers have been not only trying to identify their customers and potential customers, but also trying to understand what makes them tick and which campaign elements make them buy and which do not.

Some things never seem to change.

At least that is the conclusion of a new survey from Silverpop, an e-mail service provider (ESP), conducted by JupiterResearch.

In a poll of 422 e-mail marketers, 34% of them said that a lack of customer data is the largest hurdle they face.

Additionally, 32% said they struggled with analyzing campaign results.

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Season’s greetings: it’s spam for the holidays

It was interesting to watch my inbox from the 24th to the 31st. Normal email goes on a holiday around this time of year (except for the come back and shop for what you did not get emails that started arriving Christmas Eve - Is that too early?) But the majority of my email was junk. Like I have more time to peruse my junk over the holidays.

The holiday season brings festive parties, family gatherings — and a deluge of spam. Unsolicited messages, or spam, which account for nine out of 10 e-mails, fill up the inboxes of computer users more than ever at this time of year, experts say.

“Every year we see a seasonal increase around the holiday season. It’s just worse than it’s ever been before this year,” said Daniel Druker, executive vice president of marketing at Postini, a company that provides message security services.

Spammers spew out millions of e-mails. Some hawk pharmaceuticals and sexual aids, others offer hot stock tips.

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Why e-mail marketers should consider podcasting, BY KAREN J. BANNAN

More than 12% of Internet users have downloaded a podcast over the past year, according to a report last month from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. That’s a significant jump from the 7% of users who reported the same in the research agency’s February-April 2006 report.

The upshot for marketers: they may want to consider podcasting as a way to extend their marketing reach. Existing marketing—particularly e-mail, which can provide a direct link to the podcast content—is an ideal way to spread the word about the new effort. Lisa Wehr, CEO of online marketing company OneUpWeb, provides some insight and advice for those looking to start or improve their podcasting efforts.

Q: Why should marketers consider doing a corporate podcast?

A: Podcasts let you build a one-on-one relationship by connecting with listeners and putting out a message that has an emotional aspect to it. Listeners hear a voice and associate that voice with your company, which is a great way to get them coming back again and again.

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