The Email Wars

AOL has updated its webmail application to include a set of plugins that allow users to quickly access current news topics as well as third party services, most notably Yahoo Mail. Historically portals have been reluctant to give users access to their messages on other services, but they have been recently been opening up (which makes sense, given that they want to be a one-stop hub for all of your internet needs). Last month AOL gave users access to both their Yahoo and Gmail accounts from its homepage, and is now integrating the features into its main webmail client (Gmail hasn’t been integrated there yet, but it’s on the way).

The move is another step in AOL’s attempt to prove that it is no longer a walled garden. Unfortunately Yahoo’s API handicaps how useful the feature is, as its integration is pretty clunky - instead of pulling in your messages and displaying them in AOL’s webmail interface, each message is actually a link to the Yahoo webmail client that opens in a new browser window.

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Could this be due to the Obamaization of email marketing and “listening” and “talking” using email and new media? Does the iPhone give these folks more than they need? Really when was the past time your Senator dropped you an email back? 

News from The Hill

And you were worried the U.S. Congress was just throwing your money around! Rest assured, weary taxpayers. Your elected representatives in Washington, fresh off a $700 billion bailout package for Wall Street firms, is set to invest what little money of yours is left into something that will truly strengthen the union: iPhones for everyone!

Well, not everyone, just everyone in Congress. The congressional cell phone of choice since 2001 is the Blackberry, and switching to a new device will mean a costly reconfiguring of the House and Senate e-mail system — never mind the cost of the phones themselves. And we’re not just talking elected officials here — more than 8,000 Blackberries are in use once you count Congressional aides and others who work on the Hill. 

But it’s not like they don’t have a good reason for considering the switch: “The reason we’re trying them out is because we heard a lot of people wanted the option to have them,” said Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the Chief Administrative Office. - Read the whole story…

Transactional Email and Confirmation Messages

Found at : http://www.useit.com/alertbox/confirmation-email.html

Jakob Nielsen has long been one to watch when it comes to web usability and studies that help us make sense of the world we work in everyday. Sometimes his fresh set of eyes point out some things that we take for granted and open us up to a new way of looking at our habits as email marketers.

This is a summary of the two studies that took part 5 years apart. Interesting to see that in 5 years some things have remained constant. Not that they are good things, but they are opportunities for you and you email marketing efforts.

This is a must read for all email marketers.

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“Dear Email Industry, 

We, the DMA, have decided to launch an email opt out site on your behalf. And yes there is also a mail opt out site. Did we forget to tell you? We asked all the ESPs and brands about this right? Well maybe you did not get the post card or voicemail… those things happen sometimes. “

Funny thing that I was at the DMA conference in Las Vegas last week with a handfull of the top email marketers and ESPs out there and non of us knew about this. Can anyone tell me how they are going to represent or misrepresent my clients? And how they are going to get the data back in a way that is both real time and in the format we need? 

They are building the Do Not Mail and Do Not Email list all on their own. Is the eec aware of this? 

Read the story after the jump>

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A poll recently released by the Consumer Reports National Research Center shows that 82% of consumers are concerned about their credit card numbers being stolen online, while 72% are concerned that their online behaviors were being tracked and profiled by companies.

Although 68% of consumers have provided personal information in order to access a website, 53% are uncomfortable with internet companies using their email content or browsing history to send relevant ads, and 54% are uncomfortable with third parties collecting information about their online behavior.

The poll revealed that 93% of Americans think internet companies should always ask for permission before using personal information, and 72% want the right to opt out when companies track their online behavior.

Joel Kelsey, policy analyst with Consumers Union, said “Americans are clearly concerned… the vast majority of consumers want more control over their personal information online… “

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I have the priviledge of speaking on 4 topics on digital marketing at DMA 2008 in Las Vegas this week. So far it has been a good start to the week. All the players in the email space are here with booths and signage everywhere. I was happy to see as an industry and economic indicator that the floor was busy and the sessions were well attended. Some people that have been here in recent years past have told me that they don’t feel as if there are as many people here, and I can tell you that from the size of the venue here it would be hard to actually fill it up unless it is the Consumer Electronics show. 

What I did notice that I wanted to share is this: If these people are all direct marketers, why can’t they make their booths pop and get out infront of their target audience at this event. What I mean by this is that so many of the booths could have much more compelling graphics and calls to action. Half of them all feel like they are selling the same thing. I took a walk through trying to decipher what each company did and many of them left me unable to tell. The bigger issue is that was direct marketers one would assume that they would be getting out in front of these people and hustling the asiles. Very few of the folks, even in the email marketers booths were jumping out and bringing people into their spaces for conversations. 

In a year that is giving some people uncertainty I would think that these marketers would be getting aggressive and engaging the audience right there on the spot. Not so much. You need to take this thought to your email campaigns these coming months. IF we have a downturn in consumer spending going into the holiday retail season, you need to be that measure, articulate, engaging brand that uses email to bring people back and have a conversation.

Back to the trenches now. 

Mail Goggles. Not sure if it is a real thing or a marketing measure. Have you ever wanted to stop an email from being sent when you replied after a few cocktails? Well according to the Google Mail Blog you can now have that power. 

I can think of many email marketers that have sent a campaign ONLY to have someone moments later let them know about a typo, bad link, or expired offer. It’s like a pause button on your tivo for your email campaigns. Funny idea, but it has some real world (not the one on MTV) uses. 

We have a delayed campaign feature in emailROI that allows you to set up a campaign for later and if need be cancel it to make some changes. Not a recall function, but that would be genius.

Read the post here.

Are you ready for the holiday season? Remember when we used to think that it started in November? Well not anymore. Some brands are already talking in email about the holiday season, jumping Halloween and Thanksgiving. So what are you doing to be ready for the surge? 

Here is a study about shoppers attacking earlier.

Chad White reports : 

17% of the retailers I track have made at least one reference to the holiday season already.

Here is his chart from the last holiday season to show you how early it started last year. 

So what, in light of the market downturn and consumer spending fears, do you have planned. This is not a business as usual year in consumer sales. I am not trying to be a “sky is falling” type of person, but those brands and email marketers that do not have a plan together are in for a bad treat. 

What needs to be done? Here is my list:

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At eROI we have been fortunate to work with some of the best PR firms in the nation. We have worked to help them understand not only why to use email as a Public Relations Agency outreach tool, but also taught them how to use it to get actionable steps out of it. Now I am going to share some of these ideas with you. 

1. Develop a communications channel that you own. By using an opt in email list for publications, writers, industry analysts, bloggers and others you can establish a direct channel to get your messages out infront of them when you have news to share. 

2. Design an email template that not only matches the brand, but has actionable elements that they can use. We often construct easily editable templates that not only give a good brand experience, but also have attributes that can deliver high resolution 300 dpi or higher images and other assets. 

3. Use the data in your favor. This is the most important part of the use of email marketing with PR. Now that you have delivered the assets you can tell who has read them, what they have done with them, when they downloaded the assets, who might use them, and identify those that have not taken actions so that your PR team can follow up with personal emails or yes… a phone call. 

When PR firms use email it can grow their distribution, tracking, and follow up call efforts. Which in turn creates better actionable plans to make sure that your message and programs are getting in front of those that you want to make sure are going to use them. 

Now this does not mean that the press release it dead, as we think it only ties in better with a full email marketing strategy. If you can leverage the data or read, clicks, and downloads you are closer to having and intelligent conversation with your target audience of influencers and media contacts.

Learn how eROI works with Agency partners for email marketing >>

Fear and Loathing. That is how I typically think about Vegas from years of Consumer Electronics Show trips that were way too long and seemed to start/end each morning with me in a cab with the sun coming up. Danger Will Robinson, Danger. But here we go again. I have been asked to teach 4 work shops at the DMA Annual conference October 12th to 16th and I am going to try to lay low. 

BUT if you are going to be there I would love to know about it. Maybe we could get a cocktail hour together? A ride in a gondola? Or a we could all head out of town to the weapons range and fire any gun you can imagine. (Yes I will be doing that one day that week for photos for this blog.) 

If you want to find me at DMA, best way to do so is to request to follow me on Twitter. My page is at www.twitter.com/dtboyd. Now I don’t allow everyone to follow me, AND some people might not like everything that is posted each day. (I think I have over 3200 Tweets this far) But I can promise you it will be a fun ride. 

OR you can follow eROI at www.twitter.com/eROI, might be a safer more family friendly choice. Or maybe LinkedIn is a safer vehicle for you? Either way buckle up, sit back and get ready for a good time.

Hope to see you there. If we can get a line up of some of the top email marketers with M60’s and AK-47s (Imagine Stephanie Miller and Loren McDonald holding automatic firearms… I need that photo) we will have a blast. Or at least a cocktail.

For those of you that have a phone, don’t want to haul your laptop around, your company won’t spring for a blackberry or iPhone, or you just want 2 different devices (I fall in this last group carrying both an iPhone and Blackberry for different reasons) here is the new device for you. 

It’s called Peek, and its creators say it’s the world’s first device designed for and dedicated to mobile email. Whereas email-capable smartphones can be bulky as well as complicated, the Peek’s lightweight, slim design makes it easy to take along. Featuring a large colour display and full keypad, the device uses scroll navigation and can be used to access up to three email accounts. Peek offers nationwide coverage throughout the United States and is compatible with most major email providers. Perhaps best of all, using Peek involves no contracts, credit checks or activation fees. To get started, all users need do is enter their e-mail address and password. The device, available online and in Target stores, is priced at USD 99.95, with unlimited emails for USD 19.95 per month. Colours available include black cherry and aqua blue in addition to the more standard charcoal grey.

Might be a challenge for iPhone as well as Android IF you don’t want a mobile browsing experience. Does not really help email from a marketing perspective as you really can’t do anything but read. Looks like the whole team is from Virgin Mobile. Would be great if it only had a web browser not only for marketers but the consumer.

So naming it Peek is right on target. As you can do nothing else but peek and respond.

Learn more about Peek.

I know that most of you are one of these “Tethered Workers”. Don’t be ashamed, as I am not better than any of you. We can form a 12 step group for internet addicted people. I bet in 10 minutes we could have a support group of hundreds of millions. 

Do you think that if 50% do work email, what is the percentage of people that are checking personal email? Now once you digest this, think about how your campaigns can be targeted to these type of workers based on time of day, day of week, and by the type of behavioral interactions they have on the weekends. 

Below is a snippet from the study found here in full.

Tethered to Email

Some 22 percent of employed email users say they are expected to read and respond to work-related emails, even when they are not at work. Blackberry and PDA owners are more than twice as likely to report that their employer expects that they will stay tuned in to email outside of the office. Fully 48 percent say they are required to read and respond to email when they are away from work.

50 percent of employed email users say they check their work-related email on the weekends.

22 percent of employed email users say they check their work email accounts “often” during weekend hours, compared with 16 percent who reported the same in 2002.

46 percent of employed email users say they check email when they have to take a sick day; 25 percent say they do so “often.”

34 percent of employed email users say they will at least occasionally check their email while on vacation; 11 percent say they do so “often.”

“Email is still the primary artery of workplace communications in many professions, and it has clearly started to spill over into personal life,” said Sydney Jones, coauthor and research assistant for the Pew Internet Project. “Over time, workers have become more likely to check their email outside of normal working hours, and many are expected to do so by their employer.”

Read the full study here.

In London? Want to meet up with some email marketing leaders? DMA UK Nov 4th.

I have the pleasure of being a speaker this event I am am very excited to be speaking with such a great caliber of email marketers. I hope that if you are in London you find time to join us at the event. I am only there for 3 days total but would love to meet anyone that has time for a beer.

What I am really excited about is I will get to hear many of these great speakers from Europe that I hope to learn a lot from. There are some differences in strategies that might give me some new ideas for email marketing campaign execution.

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OK, let’s lead off that this is NOT intended to be a bashing of Silverpop. They have a great email platform and I like a lot of their team that I have met. That being said, what the hell was this “Can Spam Compliance Test” they put out? Of course I answered and clicked through to see if I had a pulse. Whew. I did. I scored 4 out of 5. Well technically it was a 5 but they had the answer to number one as “maybe”. 

Make sure to click the image below to open it up and see the questions.

I understand the main point of this is education (hear the applause) but I hope that it is not being used to score people as prospects. Well they do have Vtrenz that is ran through when I took the “test”. What kills me is that these questions are so basic that they are not really helpful, but just a lead generation exercise. I mean if someone cannot answer these questions, do you really want them as a customer? To me it is a red flag of should we be working with you?

I would love to see a better tool or test put out there. That being said I am going to work with the eROI team to build one and release it in the next few weeks. I already started this week drafting 25 questions. Need to work on them, weed them down, build some intelligence into them and then I will share it with you. 

Maybe my stab at it will be better… maybe not.

Ok, had to share this. You might laugh, you might say it is dumb, etc. Regardless I got a hoot out of it and I am a dog person not a cat person. The below post is really illustrative of two things. One we create bad terms and more bad terms every day. Two we need to focus on understanding what we hear before playing the game of telephone.

But what spawned this was someone today asking me if I had heard about “cat phishing”. I was not sure what to think. Many ideas ran through my brain of what it could be, but in the end after searching and searching it turns out that is was “copy cat phishing” they heard. Yes now that makes more sense. 

It is something that all brands have to consider as it is everywhere and could negatively impact your own brand and the consumer trust in your brand. But then again so could the avian bird flu, a wayward mack truck, or the news. So until you find the magic brand protection bullet (I think it is co-ownership with the consumer/partner) let’s just enjoy some cat phishin’.

Now the image is funny, but the problem is not. It is kind of like opting in for a camapaign with a name like Mr. Poopypants. I bet there are quite a few other ways we could make a dent here, like a public service campaign of education about email marketing from the DMA, EEC, DM News, and all the other ESPs and marketers. That would most likely help all of us if we took this to the public proactively instead of just sitting back and dealing with it.