# The Hybrid Advantage Blog > Actionable AI Strategies for Seasoned Professionals ## Posts - [B2B and B2C email marketing. Survey shows different uses, same challenges](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/b2b_and_b2c_ema/): A survey by UK digital marketing agency Adestra highlights that B2B and B2C marketers recognise that they can improve their existing email marketing efforts.  Both B2B and B2C participants wanted to learn more about deliverability and SPAM and recognised that their management of their email contact databases could be improved.  Interestingly, they use email marketing... - [How Old Are Your Mailing Lists?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_old_are_you/): Have you been emailing the same list for months and months, or even years, without performing data updates? If you email invalid email addresses frequently, you will be blacklisted. Email addresses go stale much quicker than telephone numbers or postal/physical addresses. If you have this type of customer information, make use of it. Relevant incentives... - [Beat the Spam Filters By Using E-Zine Checker](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/beat_the_spam_f/): Here’s a great free resource: www.ezinecheck.com. Paste the text of your email messages into the online form and the application offers up what to fix. The E-zine Checker helps your e-zine avoid the spam traps by checking for commonly used spam words, words in all capital letters and excessive use of words with symbols in... - [Email Marketing Service Providers: Buyer's Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_5/): MarketingProfs announced the availability of their first Vendor Selector today. It allows you to find and compare Email Marketing Service Providers in seconds (36 blue-chip vendors have been invited to participate in this interactive buyer’s guide!). The front page of the Vendor Selector is available to all MarketingProfs members. In addition, annual Premium and Premium... - [Direct Marketing by Email: EU Data Protection Obligations](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/direct_marketin/): Law firm McCann Fitzgerald features an article in their current "Legal Update" publication. In the article, Direct Marketing by Email: Data Protection Obligations, the firm says "those engaging in direct marketing by email should be aware of the increasing number of data protection obligations to which they are subject when doing so. Indeed, where the... - [Effective E-mail Marketing: Tactics to Improve Campaign Performance](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/effective_email-2/): Mark your calendar for yet another interesting web seminar on July 13, 2005. This time it’s hosted by Jupiter Webinars and it’s called "Effective E-mail Marketing: Tactics to Improve Campaign Performance". Marketers using testing and other sophisticated tactics such as segmentation, personalization and message frequency techniques are almost twice as likely to attain conversion rates... - [How to Get the Most Out of Third Party Email List Rental](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_get_the_/): If you’re using (or thinking of using) email list rental to find new customers, you should download Return Path’s latest white paper called "How to get the most out of third party email list rental". This whitepaper equips you with the basics of choosing the right email list rental vendor, including a vendor checklist with... - [Email Privacy Is Top Concern For 96% Of Internet Users](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_privacy_i/): How important is email privacy to your business? A new email privacy survey conducted by Relemail reveals it may be far more important than you expected. The survey presents some startling statistics about how email subscribers view privacy. In this survey, Relemail takes a closer look at these statistics and reveals what it means for... - [Issues To Consider When Planning An E-Newsletter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/issues_to_consi/): If you’re considering an electronic newsletter, you might want to have a look at the eNewsletter Checklist by eNewsWriters, Inc. It summarizes the points that you need to consider when implementing an e-newsletter. The FAQ section is also worth reading. Source: eNewsWriters, Inc. - [E-mail Marketing On Wikipedia](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_3/): Check out the definition of email marketing at Wikipedia. It offers a pretty comprehensive list of terms like "False positives", "Soft bounce", "Express consent", … Wikipedia is a Web-based, free-content encyclopedia that anyone can edit. - [Invite Your Readers To Become An Insider](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/invite_your_rea/): Here’s an interesting tip from Prescott "Pete" Lustig, Senior Marketing Strategist at Loop Consulting Group: An approach for attracting readers to your enewsletters –and getting people to read through them — is an invitation to become an insider. Insiders get the useful information first. They get the facts that others don’t yet have. They become,... - [The Importance of Preview Pane and Above the Fold Areas](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_importance_-2/): CheetahMail offers a number of excellent whitepapers on their website. One of these is called "Creative Best Practices". Here are a few tips they offer: Preview Pane Area Outlook’s preview pane window is a commonly overlooked element in email designs. The designer only has at the most, 300 pixels of height to present the email’s... - [Boosting Email Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/boosting_email_/): In an article called "Boosting Email Deliverability" Wendy Roth form Lyris Technologies explains how to ensure your email isn’t mistaken for spam. ISPs don’t only block emails based on the content in your subject line and body, but they may be blocking your mail before they even see the subject line. Why? Because they can’t... - [Email is Dead ... Long Live Email!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_is_dead_l/): It seems everyone is doing an email marketing web seminar these days. Here’s another one: On May 25th join Don Peppers, Founding Partner, Peppers & Rogers Group and Eric Kirby, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Email Solutions, DoubleClick for a global webinar, "Email is Dead … Long Live Email!". This one-hour event will... - [UK Email Marketing Buyer's Guide 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk_email_market-4/): E-consultancy created a 119-page Email Marketing Buyer’s Guide which, they claim, is perfect for B2B and B2C companies that send out (or that want to send out) regular emails. It includes 14 vendor profiles from suppliers that E-consultancy believes are among the best in the UK. The report features a SWOT analysis for the sector,... - [FTC Seeks Comment on CAN-SPAM Changes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ftc_seeks_comme/): The Federal Trade Commission is seeking comment on proposed changes to the rules enacted under the CAN-SPAM anti-spam legislation, including one that would require emailers to comply more quickly with opt-out requests. Rule changes proposed by the FTC could affect how the CAN-SPAM Act is enforced. Read what their proposals include here. The FTC will... - [Can Spam Legislative Update for 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/can_spam_legisl/): All marketing or commercial communication via email must comply with the CAN SPAM Act of 2004.  Last December, however, congress enacted changes to the CAN SPAM Act of 2004. Find out about the new provisions of the Act: download the 2005 CAN SPAM report, containing a summary of the original provisions of the Act as... - [Upcoming Email Marketing Web Seminars](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/upcoming_email_/): I would like to draw your attention to a couple of upcoming web seminars that are taking place in the next few weeks: Advanced Email and Database Marketing – May 17, 2005 Live Web Seminar featuring Dylan Boyd, Vice President of Strategy for eROI, Inc. Learn about ways to better target your online and offline... - [How Many Articles Does a Newsletter Need?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_many_articl/): In article on the ChiefMarketer website, Peter Krass answers the question "How Many Articles Does a Newsletter Need?". He states that the right number of articles for a newsletter is however many it takes to do the job. And the job is reaching your target audience, getting your message across, and persuading your readers to... - [Minimizing Spam Complaints](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/minimizing_spam/): This week Clickz is featuring an article called "How Spam Complaints Affect Delivery". In this article Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald explain that minimizing spam complaints always starts with practices used to collect e-mail addresses. Mailing lists with the lowest complaint rates are either confirmed opt-in or properly managed single opt-in. If you have a... - [Email Marketing Best Practices Articles](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-9/): EmailLabs offers a handy guide that contains a collection of articles and quick tips from issues of their Intevation Report newsletter as well as articles from the ClickZ E-Mail Delivery column co-authored by Loren McDonald and Kirill Popov: Conducting Your Email Marketing Year-End Review Don’t Be Fooled: 3 Common Email Marketing Misconceptions 28 Ways to... - [Tips for Email Tests](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips_for_email_/): ChiefMarketer offers a few suggestions to making your email tests more effective. Here’s a short summary: The first thing to do is decide what to test. Measure the click-through rates on each variation (eg. different subject lines). Design two identical landing pages to measure results. Make sure your results are statistically significant. The timing of... - [eMarketing Talk Show Provides Internet Marketing Expertise in Stereo 24/7](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/emarketing_talk/): eMarketing Talk Show has launched an Internet marketing radio talk show hosted by industry experts. They cover topics from search engine optimization to e-mail marketing and achieving high conversion rates. The guests explain in detail various concepts that have become necessary for anyone wanting to grow their online business. Each of the show’s three segments... - [Email Marketing Strategy: Some Guidelines On How To Get Started](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-17/): Here are some important considerations when designing your Email Marketing Strategy: 1. Know Your Customer. Different characteristics of your service or product can appeal to different customer segments. When designing an email strategy the first step is to find out what appeals to which audience so you can differentiate your message accordingly. 2. Single-View Email... - [Integrating Email Into Your CRM Suite: 5 Guidelines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/integrating_ema/): Not all email marketing solutions are built to integrate with CRM products, so there are requirements to consider before making your choice. In an article called "Enhance Your CRM Strategy With Targeted Email Marketing" Tricia Robinson, CMO for Socketware Inc., offers 5 guidelines to abide by when choosing to integrate email into your CRM suite:... - [Choosing The Right Email Service Provider For Your Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/choosing_the_ri/): In this week’s issue of MediaPost’s Email Insider, David Baker (vice president of e-mail marketing and analytical solutions at Agency.com) speaks about selecting email vendors and offers a few insights on how to protect your company: Negotiate termination clauses. If service levels and escalation procedures are not managed at an acceptable level, you should be... - [Why You Should Send Every Email Twice](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why_you_should_-2/): Consider an average email campaign that generated 40% open rate and 5% click rate. This means that 60% of the audience probably saw the subject line and did not open the email and another 35% opened the email but did not find any call to action compelling enough to click. All this information is available... - [Add A Marketing Message To Your Transactional Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/add_a_marketing/): If you interact with your audience through the online medium then chances are that you already use triggered messages in the form of transactional notifications such as a welcome message, a thank you email, or a purchase confirmation email. It is well understood by most online marketers that these welcome and purchase confirmation messages have... - [Direct Email Marketing Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/direct_email_ma/): I was trying out a new tool called URL Trends this morning – you should give it a try, it’s a really great tool which tracks how a domain does over time. Each month it tracks Alexa ranking, Yahoo! backlinks, MSN backlinks, & Google backlinks. Anyway, when you pull a trend report for a domain... - [Webinar: Overcoming the Customer Acquisition Challenge](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar_overcom/): On May 4, 2005, Return Path is hosting a webinar called "Overcoming the Customer Acquisition Challenge". Sign up for this seminar to learn both basic and advanced techniques for acquiring new customers, as well as how to recognize and apply best-practices to optimize response and build lasting, productive relationships with your email program. Topics covered... - [New Developments in Email Marketing [Report By eMarketer]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new_development/): eMarketer issued a new report that examines the new developments in e-mail marketing and compares the effectiveness of this still-evolving marketing tool with other direct marketing channels. Key questions the "E-Mail Marketing" report addresses: Can e-mail be used for customer acquisition, or is it merely a retention tool? Are spam and phishing killing e-mail marketing?... - [Hotmail & Gmail Only Allow Limited Use of CSS](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/hotmail_gmail_o/): eROI created a test email blast to see what the limitations of HotMail and GMail are in terms of CSS. Here is what they found: GMAIL Ignores all styles in &ltstyle></style> tags. It doesn’t matter if they are in the &lthead> or in the &ltbody> Does render inline styles, with the exception of: a. Background... - [The Spam Problem Will Get Solved](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_spam_proble/): Larry Chase just released his Top 10 Trends for the Next 10 Years in Internet Marketing. He states that email marketing will remain essential and the spam problem will get solved. Why? Because it has to. Business and consumers alike now rely heavily on the email platform. Even if email postage is the solution, email... - [Email List Buying: Hints and Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_list_buyi/): The Email list marketplace is adapting quickly with new list sources, changing legislation and terminology of its own. Richard Gibson, Commercial Director of RSA Direct (Direct Marketing) & Opt -4 (Data Protection Consultancy) looks at some pointers to ensure marketers make an informed choice: Ask to see the website and specifically the registration page where... - [B2B vs B2C Email Marketing: Main Differences](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/b2b_vs_b2c_emai/): You might be interested in this article written by Jeremy Dent called "What are the differences between e-mail marketing (EMM) in B2B and B2C?": I am often asked this question. Rather like the difference between consumer (FMCG) and business (B2B) marketing communications, there are five main factors that differentiates B2B and B2C email marketing (EMM):... - [Email Append? Get An Explicit Opt-In!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_append_ge/): In an article on Clickz about building an opt-in email list, Jeanne Jennings states that if you must append, get an explicit opt-in. A negative option opt-out may be enticing, but if you want results, this isn’t the shortcut it may seem. Email appending is the process of taking your existing customer list and "matching"... - [Give Customers What They Want with Preferences](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/give_customers_/): I received an email from Silverpop a few minutes ago in which they announced their new white paper "Give Customers What They Want with Preferences". According to Silverpop, research has shown that when customers have the power of choice (the ability to choose what they receive from you, when and how often) they will also... - [Quiz: What level email marketer are you?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/quiz_what_level/): Bill Nussey, author of the book The Quiet Revolution in Email Marketing has this fun little quiz on his website that tells you what level email marketer you are. Give it a try, there’s only 4 questions, so it won’t take you more than 2 minutes to complete it and see the results. Take the... - [What's Working in Email Marketing: Beyond the Basics [audio conference]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/whats_working_i/): Mark your calendar if you’re interested in attending an audio conference on "What’s Working in Email Marketing: Beyond the Basics". This audio conference takes place on Wednesday, May 4, 2005 at 11:30 am – 1:00 pm Eastern. You will hear practical, "how-to" advice and recommendations about what’s working in email marketing today that you can... - [When Is The Best Day To Email My Subscribers?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/when_is_the_bes/): In the April 7th edition of BtoB’s E-Mail Marketer Insight Morgan Stewart, director strategic services for ExactTarget, suggests that instead of relying on various studies, we should consider conducting your own research. And he explains how to do this: Create a single e-mail message that is not date-bound or time-sensitive. If the subject line is... - [Challenges Facing Email Marketing [workshop - London]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/challenges_faci/): I know it’s short notice, but I just found out about it myself: on Thursday 21 April 2005, the Direct Marketing Association UK is hosting a one day workshop titled "Challenges Facing Email Marketing". This one day seminar (that will take place in London) will cover the key challenges facing email marketers in 2005 as... - [Unsubscribing Is Perceived As More Of a Hassle Than Just Deleting Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/unsubscribing_i/): A recent Return Path consumer study found that nearly 70% of people reported that they delete unread "interesting" e-mail. Worse yet, many people can just click their ISP’s this-is-spam button. So don’t think that everyone on your list still wants your e-mail just because you have low unsubscribe rates. In today’s issue of BtoB’s E-Mail... - [Ten Core Tactics to Improve Email Marketing Campaign Effectiveness and Efficiency [Webcast]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ten_core_tactic/): I’d like to draw your attention to a webcast called "Vital Marketing: Improving Campaign Effectiveness & Efficiency" which I attended last Tuesday. In this webcast, David Daniels from JupiterResearch covered ten core tactics to improve email marketing campaign effectiveness and efficiency. If you have 60 minutes of spare time, I suggest you watch the archived... - [Finding Out More About Your E-Mail Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/finding_out_mor/): At the initial signup, you don’t want to scare people off, so you only request the information you really need. But after the relationship’s established, it’s smart to go back and request more information from your email subscribers: Get or confirm opt-in status Gather information for more granular database segmentation Collect additional data for personalization... - [Benchmarking Email Results: Not As Straightforward As It Seems](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/benchmarking_em/): In Monday’s issue of MediaPost’s Email Insider David Baker, vice president of email marketing & analytical solutions at Agency.com, talks about e-mail benchmarking. He states that "while charts and reports are unfortunately a necessary part of this business, they may not be the best guide to help gauge the success and growth of an e-mail... - [Top Tips to Slip Under the Spam Radar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top_tips_to_sli/): This month’s issue of What’s New In Marketing is featuring an article called "Spam and the Marketer" In this article they state that the term SPAM is all too often used to delete messages quickly when faced with an overflowing inbox – which, of course, makes the life of the B2B marketer all the more... - [Email Marketing Metrics - What's Working in B2B Email [KnowledgeStorm Webinar]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-18/): I recommend listening to the archived version of this KnowledgeStorm teleseminar on the topic of "Email Marketing Metrics – What’s Working in B2B Email" You will find out what KnowledgeStorm customers and other B2B marketers have revealed about their email marketing budgets, response rates, and lead generation tactics. It is based on an exclusive questionnaire... - [Does Your Opt-In Process Scare People Away?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/does_your_optin/): The March issue of SubscriberMail featured an article about opt-in techniques. In this article they ask the question "Does your opt-in process scare people away?" Think about it: how much information do you really need to know NOW to move forward? In their opinion, the less data you need to initiate a response, the better.... - [Using Click-through Data as a Segmentation Attribute for Targeting (part 2)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using_clickthro/): I’d like to add a few things to Thursday’s post about "using click-through data as a segmentation attribute for targeting". Not many people are aware of how email tracking is done. So being subtle is the keyword when you use click-through data as a segmentation attribute for targeting. Be careful not to give the recipient... - [Recommended Reading](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended_rea/): You might have noticed the list of recommended books in the right sidebar. A couple of days ago, I spent some time to create this list. I hope you find it useful! Advanced Email Marketingby Jim Sterne Email Marketing: Using Email to Reach Your Target Audience and Build Customer Relationshipsby Jim Sterne Permission Based E-mail... - [Remember the Preview Pane](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/remember_the_pr/): Many email users keep their preview pane feature turned on, allowing them to view at least the top two inches or so of your email before deciding whether or not to open the message. Use those top two inches to your advantage by emphasizing the call to action or key point of your email in... - [Using Click-through Data as a Segmentation Attribute for Targeting (part 1)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using_clickthro-2/): A JupiterResearch report released in January, based on a November 2004 survey of 680 companies, showed that just 35 percent of email marketers used click-through data when deciding which customers to send promotions to. Click-through data, however, can be a very effective segmentation attribute for targeting. Let me try to explain with an example: Company... - [Email Marketing 101 Webinar Series](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-10/): Constant Contact offers an on-demand webinar series on its website to educate visitors on the fundamentals of email marketing. The following topics are covered in short 3-5 minutes flash presentations: Orientation Why Email Marketing Why use an Email Marketing Service Obtaining Permission Building your List Email Campaign Types Newsletters Getting Email Opened Writing Copy Top... - [Email Marketing: The Devil is in the Details](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-19/): Executing an email campaign is very easy and relatively inexpensive. It’s often regarded as "an ideal channel to gather some more leads — quick and cheap". However, if you put very little thought into planning the details of the campaign, you will do more harm than good in the long term. Here are some tips... - [HTML Code Affects E-Mail Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html_code_affec/): In a recent article on Clickz, Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald explain why using outdated or incorrect code is a major reason why e-mail are blocked or delivered to bulk or junk mail folders. How do you minimize or eliminate HTML filtering problems at ISPs? A few suggestions: Make sure your e-mail designer/programmer is familiar... - [Webseminar: Why Authentication and Reputation matter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webseminar_why_/): On March 22nd, Return Path is hosting a web seminar called "Two Steps to Solving the Email Delivery Crisis: Authentication & Reputation". This seminar will include: How different authentication standards work and what you need to do to authenticate your outbound email Ways to combine authentication, reputation and accreditation to solve problems caused by spammers... - [Do questions make effective subject lines?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/do_questions_ma/): In today’s issue of BtoB’s E-Mail Marketer Insight, Marilou Barsam, VP-client consulting services for TechTarget, answers the question "Do questions make effective subject lines?". Here’s (part of) her answer: Using a question as a subject line can produce strong results if you follow some simple guidelines: Know your audience. If you understand what makes recipients... - [Six Email Marketing Reminders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/six_email_marke/): MarketingProfs published another great article on email marketing by Mark Brownlow. This article features six reminders to help you step back and reevaluate your email marketing efforts. In short: Don’t let legislation drive you to distraction Send relevant, valuable emails to people who asked or agreed to get them. Compliance with anti-spam legislation is of... - [Targeted Email Newsletters Show Continued Strength](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/targeted_email_/): E-newsletters that are informative, convenient, and timely are often preferred over other media. However, a new study found that only 11% of newsletters were read thoroughly, so layout and content scannability are paramount. Spam Increased spam has made people even more stressed and impatient when processing their inboxes. Users have less tolerance than ever for... - [Email Frequency and List Control](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_frequency/): In her Email Marketing column on Clickz, Jeanne Jennings provides some quick tips to determine the right e-mail frequency for your organization, and explains how to create a situation whereby you control the list and protect recipients from being bombarded. First of all she states that frequency depends on the goals for your email and... - [Interview With Nooked CEO Fergus Burns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/interview_with_/): Webpronews.com is featuring an interview with Nooked CEO Fergus Burns to which I’d like to draw your attention: Here’s an extract: Q: Do you foresee a time when the number of subscribers to a company’s feed will surpass the number of email mailing list subscribers? A: Yes, we do. We see RSS a complimentary channel... - [21 Ways To Avoid Email Spam Filters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/21_ways_to_avoi/): Use a consistent "From" field. Have permisson to contact the recipient. Never spam. Avoid spam trigger words. Follow best practice email marketing techniques. Monitor the blacklists. Don’t use carbon copy to lots of recipients. Personalise the "To" field. Don’t keep mailing to someone if they have unsubscribed. Don’t use a mailing service that tolerates spam.... - [Landing Pages are Critical to the Success of your Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/landing_pages_a/): What is a landing page? A landing page is the page where customers/prospects get to after having clicked on a link in the e-mail that you have sent them. Why are they important?Landing pages are an essential component of your email campaign: they help you convert visitors into leads/buyers. Poor landing pages, however, can often... - [Why Direct Mail Copy is Not Suited for Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why_direct_mail/): Yesterday I attended a seminar that covered topics ranging from enterprise search to search engine optimization and search engine marketing to web statistics and metrics. At a certain moment I found myself discussing some issues I’m facing day-to-day with another participant to the event. And you know what? It seems I’m not the only one... - [Get to the Point Early](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/get_to_the_poin/): If you ever read your email in Hotmail, you know how much of the screen is taken up by all the Hotmail information and advertising. There isn’t a great deal of space left over for your email. Keep that in mind. Be aware of how much of your message will appear on the first screen.... - [RSS feeds: Cheaper and More Effective to Use Than Email?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/rss_feeds_cheap/): According to the recently released book "Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS", spam blacklists and decreasing customer conversion rates are turning web marketers from email to RSS feeds. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary – depending on who you’re talking with. RSS feeds are free content feeds from Web... - [What kind of newsletter content works best?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_kind_of_ne/): Q & A in BtoB’s E-mail Marketer Insight: "What kind of newsletter content works best"? Scroll down in the Feb. 17, 2005 issue to get Debbie Weil’s answer in the "Ask the Expert" section. Q: What kind of content works best in my newsletter? A: Best practices continue to evolve for developing effective content in... - [Is Your Email Strategy an Integrated Part of Your Customer Strategy?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is_your_email_s/): Success means rethinking your email marketing approach by designing it in the context of a customer-based business strategy. According to Becky Carroll, Senior Consultant at Peppers & Rogers Group, there are four steps to high impact email marketing:     THINK customer experience     MAKE privacy protection a part of your brand promise  ... - [Clean Up Your List!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/clean_up_your_l/): Your e-mail list has a large number of older addresses. How can you minimize list atrophy and restore your list to its former glory? Sending reconfirmation messages can help separate the wheat from the chaff on your list. Read more here. Source: ClickZ - [Selecting the Best Time to Send Your Email Message](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/selecting_the_b/): When is the best time to send your email? Great question. In fact the time you decide to launch your campaign can have an impact on the overall results of your email campaign. This detail may not be as important as the audience you select, the subject line, or the list you are using, but... - [Average Email Read Time is 15-20 Seconds](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/average_email_r/): So, what are your readers looking at during that 15-20 seconds? And, how much are they seeing during that brief time span? Sometimes readers are excited about the content and click on a link immediately, but sometimes they close the email very quickly. Ultimately, this means that you have little time to grab your readers’... - [Writing Successful Subject Lines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/writing_success/): If you can’t get your prospect to open an email, that great copy or offer inside will never matter. Still, the subject line’s importance is often overlooked. SubscriberMail states that in their experience with clients, it’s common to find them agonizing over the offer, the creative and landing page. Yet, too often it is the... - [The First 48 Hours Are Critical](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_first_48_ho/): The next time you broadcast a permission-based email to your customers, members or newsletter subscribers, monitor your response for the next 48 hours. That’s when the vast majority – 80% – of those who would open your message will actually open it, according to the results of our recent study. What’s more, 95% of people... - [Why people don't read email newsletters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why_people_dont/): When you send an e-mail newsletter, you want people to read it, don’t you? Actually, maybe you don’t. Most website visitors don’t read the page word by word. Instead, they scan it, looking for highlights that catch their eye… The process is less like reading text, and more like viewing a painting or photo. The... - [Use E-Mail to Enhance Lead Generation and Sales](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/use_email_to_en/): Properly implemented, e-mail can be a cost-effective way to boost lead-generation and sales efforts. Jeanne Jennings developed these 10 questions to check if her clients use e-mail as an effective part of lead-generation and sales programs:     1. Do you use Web analytics to understand how people navigate your site?    2. Is there... - [Email Metrics 101](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_metrics_1/): We turn the spotlight on the post-send portion of your email marketing campaign. Reviewing the results – your metrics (or statistics) – should be a key part of your email marketing strategy. It’s what will help you improve on each mailing, producing better results every time. The article "Email Metrics 101", explains common metrics terminology,... - [50 Dos and Don'ts for Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/50_dos_and_dont/): Download (and read) the IPT’s 6-page pdf containing 50 tips for email marketing. Tips are included about following topics:     copy creative tracking & reporting general email marketing principles data lists broadcasting & technology Source: IPT (Interactive Prospect Targeting) - [E-Mail Bounce Management](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_bounce_ma/): In their November ClickZ column, Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald explained why processing bounces is important. Still, there’s plenty of confusion surrounding soft and hard e-mail bounces. Most commonly, a soft bounce is a temporary condition, such as ‘mailbox full.’ A hard bounce is permanent, ‘user unknown’ being one good example. These definitions make intuitive... - [Email newsletters: Making One Work for You](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_newslette-3/): Emailed newsletters can be a great way to build your business, but how do you create one that won’t be deleted as just so much spam? Wayne Hurlbert explains. Source: SEO Chat - [Welcome Messages get Highest Open Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/welcome_message/): Big news: chances are more recipients will open your list’s welcome message than any other email you ever send them in the future. We’ve long suspected that welcomes are more important than most marketers believe. Our theory is that response is driven by recency of opt-in. If someone just joined your list a few minutes... - [An E-Mail Marketer's Guide to Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/an_email_market/): SPF (define), Sender ID, and DomainKeys are relatively new technologies on the cutting edge of the fight against spam and false positives. The goal of all these technologies is to verify a message’s sender is who he says he is. Falsifying sender addresses is a common practice among spammers. The logic: if you make it... - [Top 10 Tips to Give Your Newsletter Impact](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top_10_tips_to_/): There are thousands of email newsletters or "ezines" produced every week, and most of them have great material and are written by passionate people who want to share valuable information. Unfortunately, very few of them have many subscribers. Perhaps the biggest problem they face is that many of them are too hard to read! In... - [Minimize the Effects of Image Blocking](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/minimize_the_ef/): Get whitelisted. This ensures selected email is allowed through the system with minimum filtering, image blocking included. If a user adds the sender’s address to her address book or "safe list," the email is untouched by most ISP and personal filters.     Add a "view Web version" link. Host a version of your message... - [Keep HTML Emails to 500-600 Pixels in Width](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/keep_html_email/): Ever notice that most of the HTML emails you receive appear to about the same width? Measured in pixels, most HTMLs fall into the range of 500-600. The early email clients were developed pre-HTML and thus were not designed to render wide Web page-like emails. More recently, the message windows of popular Web-based email services... - [11 Email Marketing Trends for 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/11_email_market/): by Loren McDonald — Email marketing arrived in 2004. Despite the huge attention and real issue of over bloated inboxes due to increased volume of spam, no marketer could ignore the value and importance of email in their overall marketing program. What’s in store for 2005? Following are 11 trends EmailLabs has identified for 2005... - [Checklist - 25 Questions Before You Send your Email Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/checklist_25_qu/): This checklist begins with an outline of the things you need to think about as you create your campaign. Next you will find the 25 questions you should answer before you press that send button on your campaign (8 of these questions address the Can Spam Law, in particular). Get ready to put your email... - [ALT Text Hack For HTML email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/alt_text_hack_f/): HTML tip: most email clients these days block images in HTML emails, right? Well, apparently Victoria’s Secret and Network Solutions have found some great ways to use the ALT tag to their advantage. Read more here (includes screenshots & HTML code). I’m definitely going to try this out in my next newsletter 🙂 - [Effective, Creative and Compliant Email Marketing [one day conference, London]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/effective_creat-2/): Here’s another event that might be interesting for UK readers: “Creative and Compliant Email Marketing“. It’s a one day conference, organized by the DMA and it takes place in London on March 22nd. The event sold out last year, so you might want to be quick to register. Click here for more information. - [AOL to Implement Email Certification Program](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/aol_to_implemen/): I just read the following article on Clickz: In a bid to protect its members from e-mail fraud and phishing, and to offer consistency to commercial e-mail senders, AOL today will begin implementing Goodmail’s cryptographic CertifiedEmail program and phasing out its IP-based Enhanced Whitelist. As part of its e-mail security practices, AOL blocks the display... - [Developing Creative For An Email Acquistion Campaign: Some Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/developing_crea/): In Return Path’s latest issue of their newsletter "Sign Me Up!", Matt Blumberg explains why you shouldn’t use the creative that you’ve been sending to your house list for an email acquisition campaign. Here’s what he says: Email creative that works well for your in-house list won’t be effective in an acquisition campaign. When you... - [2006 Holiday Email Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2006_holiday_em/): The following is an excerpt from an article in MediaPost’s latest issue of Email Insider: A recent Return Path survey analyzing consumer use of e-mail during the holiday shopping season showed that consumers respond to e-mail when they have an ongoing positive experience with the sender and have received value from their e-mail program in... - [Email Marketing Courses In March (UK)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-6/): If you’re located in the UK, you might want to check out this email marketing course, organized by E-Consultany. Topics: E-mail marketing planning Improving e-mail campaign results Improving e-newsletter results Improving creative and copy Cost: £395 for non-subscribers Dates:London 1st March (20 places only)Edinburgh 7th March (15 places only)Manchester 9th March (15 places only)Bristol 14th... - [Dynamic E-Mail Messaging: The Four Basic Customization Mechanisms](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dynamic_email_m/): In a series of articles on Clickz, Derek Harding will look in more detail at what is meant by "dynamic messaging"; what its costs; what the benefits, pitfalls, and advantages are; and where and how to utilize it effectively. In this article he focusses on the four basic customization mechanisms: Segmentation: Divide the list into... - [Key Metrics To Focus On](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/key_metrics_to_/): You can only achieve solid improvement on campaign elements that you actually take the time to measure. If you’re not evaluating past campaign performance, you’re missing out on the key insights email marketing reports can provide. Email marketers should regularly evaluate these core metrics: Delivery rate Open rate Clickthrough rate Unsubscribe rate Conversion rate In... - [Ten Tips for Growing Your E-mail File](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ten_tips_for_gr/): This article offers some tips for making the practice of growing your opt-in list simpler. In short, you should: Position the database as a critical asset. Capture data everywhere. Track and analyze data by source. Promote the benefits. Let the customers tell you what they want. Provide examples. Have a conspicuous privacy policy. Send thank-you... - [Planning To Switch Email Marketing Providers? Read This First.](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/planning_to_swi/): Some of you might need more advanced features, while others might want to improve their delivery rates. Whatever the reason for wanting to switch email marketing providers (ESP), now or in the future, keep this checklist in mind as you make the transition from your old technology to the new one: Verify IPs. Confirm authentication.... - [Evaluate And Optimize Your Email Marketing Programs: Your Annual Email Audit in a Box](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/evaluate_and_op/): A team of email heavyweights gives you everything you need to evaluate and optimize your email marketing programs: Usability and your Email Program Revisit Text versus HTML Using Footers and Headers CAN-SPAM Compliance Privacy Policy Perfection Slice, Dice & Add to your Portfolio? Do a Creative Audit Integrating Email Test, Test & Test Again Relevance:... - [Email Metrics: B2B Data & Tactics to Improve Your Email Results](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_metrics_b/): Here’s another interesting webinar about email metrics: Email Metrics: B2B Data & Tactics to Improve Your Email Results Wednesday, January 25, 2006 2:00-3:00 pm EST, 11:00 am – noon PST, 8:00-9:00 pm CET Find out what your colleagues* revealed about their: Email tests – what’s really working? Open, click and conversion rates Budget allocation –... - [Can B2B Newsletters Survive the Preview Pane?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/can_b2b_newslet/): MarketingProfs.com is featuring an interesting article by Daniel Jung about designing for the preview pane and image-blocking features in email clients. Here’s a high-level summary: Based on the results of a survey conducted by EmailLabs we know that (besides the sender name & subject line) the top left 2-4 inches (5-10 cm) are the most... - [Targeting Users That Clicked But Didn't Convert](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/targeting_users/): The marketing people at Greenbrier resort tested sending a follow-up email (with a stronger call to action and a discount) to all recipients of a previous campaign that did clicked through but didn’t convert. The results were pretty good, so you might want to give this a try as well… You can read the case... - [Simple Guidelines for Testing & Improving Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/simple_guidelin/): No idea how to figure out which elements of the email to test, how often to test, how to select the right sample for the test and finally, how to draw conclusions from the test? Bluestreak have put together a simple testing schedule to help email marketers maximize the open, click and buy rates. - [Opt-in Best Practices [web seminar]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/optin_best_prac/): eROI is hosting a web seminar on “Opt-in Best Practices” on February 2nd. They will discuss the difference between single opt in and confirmed opt in (also known as double opt in) including response rate difference, bounce management and spam complaint resolution. They will also briefly touch on the state of authentication including SPF, Sender... - [Educational webinars for B2C and B2B Marketeers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/educational_web/): ExactTarget will conduct a series of educational webinars for business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketers and agencies this year: Jan 17: How to Create E-Newsletters that Get Results (B2B webinar track) Jan 24: Effective Email Design – Basics & Best Practices (Agency webinar track) Feb 7: Effective Email Design (B2C webinar track) Feb 16: How EFFIE Award... - [The Truth About Flash in Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_truth_about/): Campaign Monitor ran a series of tests across a range of email environments to find out if they support flash in email. They found out that Flash support across the most popular email environments is practically non-existing. The full article includes schreenshots and test results for all the email environments. - [Authentication and Reputation [webseminar: January 27]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/authentication_-3/): In a focused online seminar the DMA will provide members and non-members with a clear best-practice procedure to email effectively and responsibly. Two Steps to Solving the Email Delivery Crisis – Authentication and Reputation Online Seminar | January 27, 2006 | 1:00 – 2:30 PM EST | 19:00 – 20:30 CET You will learn: How... - [Continually Request Feedback From Your Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/continually_req/): In this article Matt Blumberg suggests that email marketers should continually request feedback from their newsletter subscribers. Why? Because it’s the best way to learn whether your newsletters are relevant to your audience and you can find out what works and what doesn’t. A couple of tips: Keep it short and simple: no more than... - [Email Marketing Summit & Expo](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-11/): On April 20-21 MarketingSherpa is hosting an Email Marketing Summit & Expo.The Summit will feature: Case Studies from invited speakers, including HPshopping.com, ConAgra Foods, E-LOAN, IBM, ChristianityToday, Intercontinental Hotels, Sun Microsystems & more Benchmark data and campaign measurement advice from MarketingSherpa’s research team. Dozens of creative samples of email newsletters and sales alerts that work... - [2006 Top Email Trends Shows Growing Sophistication in Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2006_top_email_/): Exact Target released its annual email marketing trends for the upcoming year. A year ago, the trends involved relevancy and frequency of e-mails, ExactTarget said. Those are now the industry basics, and the future is to focus on deliverability, analytics and multichannel marketing. The top trends for 2006 are: Deliverability will drive email success. Open... - [Tips For Hiring Email Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips_for_hiring/): Even though it’s typically part of an overall marketing strategy, email marketing requires skills and thought processes that are a little different from the norm. So if you’re thinking of hiring an email marketer, you should read these tips provided by Michael Pridemore. Here are some excerpts from the article: First of all you need... - [A/B Split Testing: What Should You Test?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ab_split_testin/): One of the absolute best ways to continuously improve the performance of your email campaigns is to use split testing, also called A/B split testing. A/B testing is a simple, scientific way to isolate and test variables in a real-world environment. One of email marketing’s greatest advantages is that it is easier (and much less... - [Subject Lines: Dos And Don'ts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/subject_lines_d/): The subject line is often a make-or-break component of an email marketing campaign. However, it’s one of the things that most companies pay little attention to. In this article, online copywriting guru Nick Usborne talks about the dos and don’ts for writing effective email marketing subject lines. Source: iMedia Connection - [Email Marketing Service Providers, Q4 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-7/): Looking for an email marketing service provider? Then this new report from Forrester might come in handy: "The Forrester Wave™: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q4 2005". It contains an evaluation of nine top email marketing service providers across 75 criteria. The evaluation process included a comprehensive assessment of each vendors offering across more than 75... - [Happy Holidays!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/happy_holidays/): I wish you and your families all the best for 2006! - [DoubleClick's Sixth Annual Consumer Email Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/doubleclicks_si/): DoubleClick Email Solutions today released the results of its sixth annual Consumer Email Study. Here are some highlights from their press release: According to the data, fifty-seven percent of respondents view their work email at work during the day at least occasionally, while almost as many view work emails from home in the evening (55%)... - [Email Marketing Usability Rating Calculator](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-12/): Want to find out how accessible your email messages are? Take the usability test and find out. - [10 "Must Dos" for 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10_must_dos_for/): These are Loren McDonald’s Email Marketing "Must Dos" for 2006: Get relevant – dive into personalization and segmentation. Resolve or minimize deliverability and rendering issues. Redesign email messages for the inbox and users who view them in the preview pane and block images. Optimize the beginning of the email relationship. Get on the permission train.... - [Things to Consider when Choosing An Email Service Provider](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/things_to_consi/): Vertical Response is offering a white paper called "Eight things to consider when choosing an ESP". The list of criteria they offer is quite comprehensive, but in my opinion, it misses one important criteria: if you will use the ESP to send emails in multiple languages you should test the capabilities of the ESP in... - [iMedia Connection: Email Objects in the Review Mirror](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/imedia_connecti/): I agree with Silverpop’s CEO, Bill Nussey, when he says that he "hopes marketers learned during the past year and took to heart that while email is inexpensive compared to other messaging channels, it is by no means easy". Email marketing isn’t about tricking a recipient into opening an email and then try to sell... - [Anatomy of an Email Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/anatomy_of_an_e/): On December 13th, ON24 is hosting a web seminar called "Anatomy of an Email Report: How to Improve Your Email IQ" with guest speaker Melinda Krueger, President of Krueger Direct/Interactive, an email marketing consulting company. She’ll give you some practical tips about the following topics: Get the story behind the numbers Present information to executives... - [Should You Re-Send Your Email Newsletter to Non-Openers?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/should_you_rese/): On April 29th I published a post about re-sending your email to people that didn’t open it the first time. Well, mouse2house, an online retailer providing digital imaging products to the UK market, actually tried it out. Their promotion was broadcast to the entire database, and then following a three week delay, the promotion was... - [Predictions For 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mediapost_publi/): Here are some more email marketing predictions for 2006 and as Bill McClosky so nicely puts it in this week’s issue of Email Insider: "it’s that time of the year again". Indeed it is! 🙂 Everyone in the industry seems to feel the need to predict the future. In this case though, I think Bill... - [Email Metrics Top Trends for 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_metrics_t/): Silverpop is co-hosting a teleseminar with MarketingSherpa about Top Trends in Email Metrics on Tuesday, December 13, 2005 at 2pm EST (8pm CET / 7pm GMT). The content of this teleseminar is based on findings from MarketingSherpa’s new research report "Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2006". You’ll learn: How to grow your email list Average open,... - [Email Design Guidelines for 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_design_gu/): While I was surfing the internet this morning I stumbled across some very good articles about coding HTML emails: How To Code HTML Email Newsletters. CSS support in HTML emails of Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail and Gmail. Using style sheets in HTML email newsletters. Quick Tip: Testing your email design with images turned off. Optimizing CSS... - [Avoiding The Pitfalls Of Online Marketing In Europe](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/avoiding_the_pi/): CAN-SPAM versus opt-in or even double opt-in. In the US, you can send a regular e-mail newsletter to people who have visited your tradeshow booth, without their consent. You figure, "if I can do it in the US, I can do it in Europe, right?" Wrong! Europe has a completely different set of regulations regarding... - [Email Marketing Stats by Industry](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-13/): Because they found there is a real thirst for timely, industry specific email marketing statistics, Bronto has just released its first quarterly industry statistics report. Read the report here and sign up to receive the quarterly industry statistics report via email.. - [Tune Up Your Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tune_up_your_em/): Bronto is offering a document on their website to help you tune up your email marketing strategy. This document provides an outline of how to approach your email marketing strategy and asks questions to guide you through the process of putting together a plan. Sections included will review: Setting Goals Organizing Lists Content Planning Collecting... - [Spam Filters demystified](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spam_filters_de/): Adestra created a white paper called "Spam filters demystified"  — it’s supposed to give marketers a thorough briefing on how they work and what to do to get round them. You can read extracts of this white paper on their website. I requested my copy of the white paper already 🙂 If you’re interested, you... - [Who Should Write Your Newsletter?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/who_should_writ/): ChiefMarketer is featuring an article about who should write your newsletters. No, it’s not someone from the marketing department. And don’t let anyone from design or technology touch your newsletters either 🙂 Find out who they think is the best writer for your newsletter. - [DMA's Email Authentication Virtual Seminar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dmas_email_auth/): On December 5th the DMA is hosting a virtual seminar in which you’ll learn how and why to comply with DMA’s most recent member requirement: Email Authentication.Attend this Virtual Seminar to understand how Email Authentication actually works; evaluate the range of inexpensive and easy-to-implement solutions; and review the steps your company needs to take in... - [Moving To Another URL](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/_moving_to_anot/): I’ve decided to move my blog from Blogger to Typepad, mainly (but not only) because it offers the functionality to archive my posts in categories. This is the url: http://emailmarketing.typepad.com/bestpractices/. Bookmark it and visit it regularly for new updates. I’m moving my Blogger posts over one by one. I hope to have finished doing that... - [Six Tips to Make HTML Email Look Right](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/six_tips_to_mak/): Wendy Roth, training manager for Lyris Technologies, offers a couple of tips to make your email messages look right in the different email clients: Use inline styles or HTML tags Keep background colors light and text dark Validate your HTML Put scripts, forms or flash on your website, not in your email Put critical information... - [Personalize Your Emails For The Specific Needs Of Your Customers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/personalize_you/): iMedia Connection is featuring a series of articles on "Marketing and the 2005 Holiday Season". One of the articles is wrtten by Silverpop CEO Bill Nussey: The Secret to Holiday Email Marketing.  According to Nussey the secret to holiday email marketing is to give preferences, for which you shall receive conversions. "A solid, robust preference... - [Q3'05 eROI Email Statistics by List Size](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/q305_eroi_email/): eROI did an interesting study on the effect list size had on read and click statistics in Q3. They found that the middle of the week is the low point and Sunday and Friday are noticeabe high points in the week for both stats. Sending volume is thus inversely related to how reads and clicks... - [The Right Offer At The Right Time](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_right_offer/): iMedia Connection is featuring an interesting article by Accucast CEO Michael Pridemore called "Fine Tuning Your Email Strategy". In this article Michael Pridemore suggests optimizing email marketing strategies by focusing on three things: frequency, timing and audience. This is not new of course, but he does offer some very good tips and examples. It comes... - [Better Than Email Marketing? RSS Demystified [web seminar]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/better_than_ema/): On November 17th, MarketingProfs.com is hosting a web seminar called "Better Than Email Marketing? RSS Demystified". During this virtual seminar you will learn all you need to know to get started with RSS marketing, whether you’re only interested in a quick under-an-hour and no cost implementation or long-term strategic integration of RSS in to your... - [Intelligent Email Marketing [event]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/intelligent_ema/): On December 7th, Brand Republic is hosting a one day, senior-level conference titled "Intelligence Email Marketing" at The Waldorf in London. On the agenda are topics such as new technologies, deliverability, data management and tracking, etc. Find out more. - [Preview-Pane Survey Findings](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/previewpane_sur/): In a September survey of The Intevation Report readers, the question was asked whether their email client has preview-pane and/or image-blocking features. They also asked whether and how they use either or both of these functions. Here is what they found (click links to view graphs of results): More than 9 of 10 email users... - [Turning Visitors to Customers with Email Marketing [webinar]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/turning_visitor/): Attend the latest Webinar in Topica’s Educational Series to learn the best strategies to use email marketing to turn more visitors into customers. V2C: Turning Visitors to Customers with Email Marketing Thursday, November 10th at 10 a.m. PDT Learn how to use email marketing to grow your prospect base, build relationships with potential customers and... - [E-mail Service Provider Market Guide, 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_service_p/): JupiterResearch recently released an Email Marketing Buyers Guide, a detailed evaluation and ranking of 30 vendors. Jupiter evaluated each vendor in the categories of client references, product demo, financial stability, services expertise, application features such as usability and functionality, partnerships, and technology integration. It also compared the needs of b-to-b marketers with those of b-to-c... - [Integrating Promotional Content Into Transactional Email Messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/integrating_pro/): In this week’s issue of BtoB’s E-Mail Marketer Insight Heather Palmer Goff, Director of deliverability and ISP relations at Responsys, answers the following question: What are some key guidelines for integrating promotional content into transactional e-mail messages? Here’s what she answers: - [Silverpop's 2005 Broken Links Study Reveals Alarming Trends](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/silverpops_2005/): The Silverpop "2005 Broken Link Study" reveals alarming trends in the prevalence of broken imagery and links in email marketing campaigns from some of the best-known brands in the world. The report says that four out of 10 emails contain missing graphics and/or indecipherable messages. Gmail, Microsoft Outlook 2003 and AOL 9.0  failed to display... - [Four reasons your e-mails aren't being delivered](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/four_reasons_yo/): E-mail technology company Return Path this week unveiled its latest deliverability study. The good news is overall deliverability improved slightly (albeit only 1%) since the last study, six months ago. However, with more than one out of five e-mails still getting bumped to the spam folder-or even worse, not getting delivered at all-there’s still plenty... - [Email Marketing Planning & Strategy: Elements To Consider](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-14/): This weeks’ issue of MediaPosts’s Email Insider features an article called "It’s Better When You Plan" by Melinda Krueger. In this article she talks about the elements that you need to consider when developing your plans for the next year. These are her recommendations: 2005 Review–Evaluate your e-mails over the past year, individually and as... - [DMA 2005 Postal & E-mail Marketing Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma_2005_postal/): In this report you will find industry benchmarks, projections, and insights to help you determine the most profitable marketing mix: mailing patterns (i.e., mailing quantity, frequency, peak mailing time, etc.) house vs. outside lists response rates use of alternative media distribution options list rental and exchange practices database strategies and uses cross-selling and up-selling strategies... - [Using forms in HTML emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using_forms_in_/): Sometimes it can be very handy to include a HTML form in an email campaign. Whether it’s a quick customer survey or a subscribe form for another list, they can be a good way to interact with a recipient right there in their email client. While they can be useful, there are a number of... - [DM News' E-Mail Marketing Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dm_news_email_m/): DM News’ Essential Guide to E-Mail Marketing will be available in the Oct. 17 issue of DM News. The guide is a 56-page special edition offering valuable how-to tips, best practices, case studies and research. Its soup-to-nuts approach targets both beginners as well as experts. A Q&A with JupiterResearch’s David Daniels is a must-read for... - [Hotmail & Gmail Filter Out More Permission Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/hotmail_gmail_f/): Delivery rates for permission-based emails rose for the third straight quarter, MSN’s Hotmail and Google’s Gmail filtered out more legitimate emails, writes DM News, citing a new study from Lyris Technologies. Hotmail’s rate of "false positive filtering" increased from 5.6 percent in 2Q05 to 9.4 percent in the third quarter, and Gmail’s from 4.1 percent... - [A Checklist to Improve B2B Email Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a_checklist_to_/): According to JupiterResearch, the average B2B delivery rate is 89 percent, excluding bounces. MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Metrics Guide estimates that 14 percent of B2B emails are bounced. Elaine O’Gorman, vice president of strategy for Silverpop, offers the a checklist to improve B2B delivery rates. - [Email Marketing Metrics Report: H1 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-15/): MailerMailer recently released its Email Marketing Metrics Report for the first half (H1) of this year. The report, based on over 350 million messages sent by MailerMailer customers, compares email performance by industry for H1 2005 to the last half (H2) of 2004.  It reveals that, although overall unique open and click rates fell slightly,... - [How To Treat Links In Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_treat_li/): This week’s issue of MediaPost’s Email Insider features an article by Melinda Krueger in which she shares what she’s learned about links in emails thus far. These are her 4 tips for linking: Most Clicked – The most popular link in a single-offer e-mail is the graphic button-type link that follows a complete description of... - [Marketers Who Neglect A/B Split Testing Are Losing Millions of Dollars](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketers_who_n/): This press release was issued on August 23rd: Online marketers routinely leave large amounts of money on the table every time they launch Web and/or email marketing programs because they rely on intuition instead of empirical testing. That’s the essence of the clarion call found in the A/B Split Testing research brief just issued by... - [Avoid Producing Last-Minute Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/avoid_producing/): In this month’s issue of Subject Lines there’s an article called "Keys to Success: Killing the Producer". In this article, Tricia Robinson, states that change management and rushed campaigns are always the reason big mistakes are made. To improve the likelihood of error-free campaigns try the following, she suggests the following: Never schedule a campaign... - [Thought Leaders Commune on Email Marketing: Spam Is Not the Issue](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/thought_leaders/): Email marketing has come of age. And we all know what happens with age. Zest, effectiveness and energy diminish. Younger and more effective players emerge. And, before you know it, you’re pensioned off! Which begs the question: Is email marketing, as we know it, doomed? Stephan Spencer answers this question in a MarketingProfs article. The... - [JupiterResearch Finds Targeted Email Marketing Campaigns Can Generate Nine Times More Revenue Than Broadcast Mailings](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/jupiterresearch/): JupiterResearch released a new report entitled, "The ROI of Email Relevance: Improving Campaign Results Through Targeting," which quantifies the top and bottom line impact that targeted marketing tactics can have on email campaign performance. According to the report, using Web analytics to target email campaigns can produce nine times the revenues and eighteen times the... - [Mid-Year Update of Ten Top Email Marketing Trends](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/midyear_update_/): ExactTarget released its mid-year revised forecast of the top email marketing trends for 2005. The predictions first made at the start of this year are adjusted to reflect current market adoption, common practices and new theories on email marketing. 1. Relevance is King. The number one email trend for 2005 continues to be relevance, defined... - [4 Tips to Email Branding](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/4_tips_to_email/): This week’s issue of the VerticalResponse newsletter is featuring a very good article on email branding: "Every interaction with a customer or a prospective customer is an opportunity – an opportunity not only to make a sale, but also to create, refine or enhance the way you are perceived. Yes, email is a functional, cost-effective... - [Creating Email Relevance In The Era of Inbox Overload [webcast]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/creating_email_/): On August 9th, Bluestreak is hosting a free webcast called "Creating Email Relevance In The Era of Inbox Overload". Attend this Webcast to Learn: Are consumers really fed up with email marketing? How can marketers create emails that are relevant and valuable to their customers? What are the best ways to grow an email list?... - [How Annoyed Are People About Spam?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_annoyed_are/): Here are some "fun facts" taken from the Yahoo! Anti-Spam Resource Center: 77 percent of Yahoo! Mail poll respondents said they are more aggravated by weeding through spam than they are by cleaning a dirty toilet. Spam is already considered more annoying than junk postal mail and door-to-door salespeople, and it is quickly becoming as... - [Avoiding The Seven Sins Of Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/avoiding_the_se/): I just came across an interesting article called "Avoiding the seven sins of email". In this article the author summarizes what he believes are the seven deadly sins of email, and how to avoid them: Negligence Arrogance Lazy creative Not empowering customers Isolating email Excessive bouncing Failing to test Read the article here. - [The ROI of Email Relevance [web seminar]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_roi_of_emai/): I want to draw your attention to another interesting web seminar that is scheduled for August 17, 2005 called "The ROI of Email Relevance: Improving Campaign Results Through Targeting". Few marketers rank relevance as a top-three e-mail marketing goal, even though it drives 60 percent of consumers who make immediate e-mail purchases. According to a... - [Content Always Wins - Everything Else Comes In Second](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/content_always_/): This month’s issue of Loop Consulting’s EMI newsletter is featuring an article called "Content Always Wins – Everything Else Comes In Second". Which is more important – how the eNewsletter looks or what it says? Marcos Menendez has no doubt about the answer. According to him the most important things to consider when crafting content... - [TRUSTe launches e-mail privacy seal](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/truste_launches/): Here’s an interesting piece of information: TRUSTe announced Tuesday that it has launched an e-mail privacy seal program that will allow certified e-mail senders to display a TRUSTe approval seal that reads “We don’t spam.” The expectation is that the e-mail marketing industry will adopt the program as part of an overall effort to combat... - [Best Day To Send Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best_day_to_sen/): Bill Doerr posted a question in the MarketingProfs know-how exchange asking what the best day/days are to send emails. There is no easy answer to this question, but he did receive a lot of very good responses from other marketing professionals. It’s definitely worth a read! - [Make Sure Your Email Looks As You Intend It To](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/make_sure_your_/): What does your email look like when it arrives in your customers’ inboxes? Is it the masterpiece you created and checked in your email client? In this month’s issue of Return Path’s newsletter "Email Survival Guide", Matt Blumberg suggests checking the below four things before sending every email campaign to take precautions that your email... - [Email Authentication](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_authentic-5/): Here’s Matt Blumberg’s take on email authentication as it was published in MediaPost’s "Email Insider": "By now every marketer has learned that Internet service providers (ISPs) take e-mail authentication quite seriously — with Microsoft leading the charge with Sender ID. Microsoft is using a stick, not a carrot, to make e-mail senders get on the... - [Avoid Spammy Gimmicks](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/avoid_spammy_gi/): The July issue of Silverpop’s newsletter "The Digital Marketer" featured an article called "Eight Easy Ways to Boost Email Deliverability". One of the tips is this one: Avoid spammy gimmicks: your email shouldn’t resemble a bad Las Vegas lounge act. Spam filters seek patterns and irregularities often found in spam, so resist the temptation to... - [Don't Assume That Switching Vendors Equals Better Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dont_assume_tha/): If you are experiencing deliverability issues, don’t just assume that your email vendor is too blame. First of all make sure you’ve done everything you should on your end to get the mail through. Apart from the fact that you should only be mailing people that a) have signed up to receive your messages and... - [UK Email Survey Shows Drop-Off In Acquisition Click-Through Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk_email_survey/): Acquisition emails saw declining response rates while retention emails saw improving response rates in the third quarter of 2004, according to new data released by the DMA’s Email Marketing Council. The council has only just released its second Email Benchmarking Survey, covering the period from July to September 2004, due to delays in getting data... - [6 Tips to Improve Email Delivery Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6_tips_to_impro/): 1. Use opt-in form instructions: Provide clear, step-by-step directions that indicate how subscribers can guarantee delivery of your emails straight to their inboxes. After registrants complete an opt-in form on your website and click “submit”, direct them to a page which suggests they add your email address to their address books. Then, to make the... - [A/B split testing [teleconference]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ab_split_testin-2/): If you are interested in A/B split testing and how to do it right, you might want to call in and listen to a teleconference event hosted by MarketingExperiments.com on August 4th. They will be talking about how to optimize your A/B split testing and micro-testing to improve conversion, ROI, and profitability. You can find... - [Authentication, Accreditation & Reputation - For Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/authentication_-4/): The Direct Marketing Association and e-mail marketing company Bigfoot Interactive recently released a white paper that educates marketers about authentication, accreditation and reputation, among other key e-mail marketing topics. Realizing that the standards are always changing and sometimes confusing, the DMA collaborated with Bigfoot Interactive to produce the document. Legitimate marketers will find that authentication... - [Best practices For Confirming Opt-Ins](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best_practices_-2/): Customers or prospects who sign up to receive e-mail messages from you deserve something in return: a confirmation. It should come in the form of a triggered e-mail, a message that goes out automatically and immediately. By following a few simple rules, you can ensure that you not only keep that customer, but keep him... - [How To Build An Email Delivery Framework](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_build_an-3/): To help marketeers look at the challenges that new legislation, technology, consumer attitudes, and the industry’s move toward adopting best practices pose to email deliverability, Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald developed an e-mail delivery framework that can be used to reengineer your e-mail marketing program. They explain this framework in an article called "A New... - [Yahoo! Will Be Adding A Preview Pane To It's Free Web-Based Email Service](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/yahoo_will_be_a/): Yahoo will soon start beta-testing a new version of its free web-based email service. One of the new features this new version will include is a preview pane – much like in Outlook and Outlook Express. A lot of your recipients never get futher than screening the content of your email in the preview pane,... - [Travellers Check Work Emails While On Vacation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/travellers_chec/): According to a survey sponsored by Travelocity one in three people find it more stressful not to be plugged in during their holidays.  In fact, fully half of U.S. adult online travelers age 35-45 say they check their work email when on vacation. Source: eMarketer - [Getting Off Blacklists](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/getting_off_bla/): In this weeks issue of Ralph F. Wilson’s Web Marketing Today newsletter he wrote about how to get off blacklists. Well, it doesn’t seem to be easy. The hardest part is in fact finding out who the administrator of the blacklist is and how to contact them. Here are some tools that can help you:... - [How Does Image Blocking Affect HTML Email Design?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_does_image_/): AOL, Hotmail, Yahoo!, Gmail, Outlook 2003, and Thunderbird are blocking HTML images from loading because of increased focus on security and privacy. This impacts the way your message appears in your recipient’s mailboxes and therefore also impacts your open and click-through rates. On top of this, these systems don’t work exactly the same. Most leave... - [Email Marketing Rules in the European Union](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-16/): In an article called "New Email Marketing Rules in the European Union: One Year Later", Mattias Durnik explores  the state of email marketing in the EU a year after the last European Union member states implemented Article 13 of the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications — the so-called "Opt-In Directive." The first paragraph of... - [Low Budget Email Marketing [Case Study]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/low_budget_emai/): You don’t always need a big budget, a large list or a three-digit average order to make e-mail marketing work for your organization: in an article called "The Little E-Mail Marketing Budget That Could", Jeanne Jennings explains how a small company on a small budget yields big returns from their email marketing efforts. Definitely worth... - [Email Marketing: How To Improve ROI [teleseminar]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-8/): Here’s the first thing I’d like to draw your attention to: Tomorrow (June 28th from 1-2 pm EDT) Silverpop and eMarketer are hosting a teleseminar called "Email Marketing: How To Improve ROI". Presented by: David Hallerman, Senior Analyst, eMarketer and Bill Nussey, CEO, Silverpop. Based on findings from eMarketer’s new research report of the same... - [Hotmail Now Requires Sender ID](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/hotmail_now_req/): Microsoft deployed Sender ID e-mail authentication alerts via a new "safety bar" in the Hotmail user interface to further protect e-mail users from malicious spam and scams. Emails sent to MSN and Hotmail addresses without authentication by Sender ID will now show a message warning recipients that the email could not be authenticated. The warning... - [eMarketing Excellence summits](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/emarketing_exce/): The Business Marketing Association and e-mail software provider ExactTarget announced will be hosting an educational series called eMarketing Excellence summits, which will be held in 18 cities throughout the U.S. Aimed at educating consumer and b-to-b marketers on how to use permission-based e-mail, the summits will be offered in cities including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas,... - [Data Is The Main Factor Holding Back B2B And B2C Email Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/data_is_the_mai/): Adestra, the UK based email marketing agency, have been holding an email marketing clinic at today’s Online Marketing Show in London. Many marketers from both B2B and B2C companies have had their email marketing program reviewed by an Adestra expert which revealed a surprising common thread of issues: Data Management: Many marketers are only capturing... - [Inbox/Outbox 2005 event - London, 22-23 June, 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/inboxoutbox_200/): I thought you might be interested to know about an event called "Inbox/Outbox 2005" which takes place in London on June 22-23, 2005: It’s a new event about every aspect of inbound and outbound email. It will feature an education-rich format comprising Keynote Sessions from industry experts, focused seminar streams on key themes, central exhibition... - [On holidays until June 22nd](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/on_holidays_unt/): Just a quick note to say that I’ll be on holidays in Greece until June 22nd, so you won’t see any new posts until after that date. - [Webinar: How Email Marketing Can Impact Networking](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar_how_ema/): On June 16th at 2:00 pm ET, Exact Target is hosting a web seminar called "How Email Marketing Can Impact Networking". Here’s what it’s about: Looking for an effective and efficient way to stay connected with your clients, prospects, friends and fans? Join Diane Darling, author of The Networking Survival Guide and Networking for Career... - [Get Started with Email Newsletters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/get_started_wit/): Email newsletters are now the preferred online mode of communicating to customers and prospects alike. The key challenge for email marketers is keeping to the job at hand week after week– driving interest. Whether it’s sparking interest in a product that ultimately leads to a sale or piquing the reader’s curiosity so they click, go... - [How To Apply The 40/40/20 Rule To Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_apply_th/): iMedia Connections is featuring an interesting article by Tricia Robinson on how to apply the 40/40/20 rule to email marketing. The 40/40/20 rule says the bulk of response opportunity in any direct marketing campaign comes from the list (40 percent) and the offer (40 percent), with only 20 percent attributed to creative quality. Read more... - [HTML Emails: Design, Coding & Content Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html_emails_des/): Most of us tend to think that if we can design a web page, then an HTML email will be a piece of cake! Well…almost. But before you decide to plunge into HTML email design head first, there are a few guidelines to follow that can ensure the best results for you and your clients.... - [Case Study: National Association of Realtors](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/case_study_nati/): Read here how the team behind one of the largest circulation B-to-B newsletters in the world makes sure that their newsletters have consistent open, read & click through rates. Tip: people only respond to email on an ongoing basis when it’s all about themselves. When writing content for your newsletter always ask the "what’s in... - [An E-Zine Strategies Tip Sheet](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/an_ezine_strate/): By Matt Blumberg, Tami Monahan Forman & Stephanie A. Miller It all sounds so complex. But do you really have to hire a think tank when mulling a newsletter program? Here are several strategic pointers to keep in mind when launching an e-zine. People will gladly accept advertising in exchange for information and entertainment, so... - [Emails Offering Fewer Choices Perform Better](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/emails_offering/): According to study from Marketing Experiments, emails offering one service compared with emails offering a choice of several services bring higher conversions. The study compared an email with one service being promoted, with one that pushed four services. The email that focused on just one free service outperformed the multiple promoter by 464 percent. Read... - [Calculating the Cost of Increased E-Mail Frequency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/calculating_the-2/): By Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald The good news: e-mail has emerged as the marketing channel that generates the highest ROI (define) for most companies. The bad news: as a result, "send more e-mail" is a frequent mandate from the executive suite to the marketing staff when more short-term revenue’s needed. Ah, if life were... - [E-Mail Authentication: Best Practices for Marketers (webinar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_authentic-2/): June 8, 2006 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM EDT | Online This virtual seminar will not only teach you how e-mail authentication actually works and what specific steps your company needs to take in order to comply, it will also answer the following questions: What is the value proposition of e-mail authentication? How do authentication... - [Four Deadly Sins Of E-mail Design](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/four_deadly_sin/): by Melinda Krueger Is your e-mail design guilty of these 4 sins? 1. Envy. E-mail designers–as well as those who approve and review e-mail–all seem to envy those who do print ads. We act as though readers will look at an e-mail in its entirety, as if it were a page in a magazine. When... - [How To Run Successful Multinational Email Programs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_run_succ/): Read this interview with Sony Ericsson’s Agnes Gawel on how to run successful multinational email programs. Guess what? They use a Belgian agency :o) (Open access until May 29th) - [10 Reasons your Agency Should Not Program Your HTML Email Templates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10_reasons_your/): by Lesley Cortright, Account Executive, Premiere Marketing Automation Unless your three-year old nephew is Picasso, you would probably leave the creation of marketing collateral to a design expert. If that is your line of thinking, then you’d probably also agree that it doesn’t make sense to have your marketing, branding or interactive agency program your... - [Extreme Email Makeovers (webinar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/extreme_email_m/): I can definitely recommend watching this webinar hosted by Responsys. You’ll: learn how to increase email opens, clicks and conversions by 50% or more. see before/after case studies get tips and tricks from the pros discover best practices for transforming your email programs – from strategy to copy and creative. And you’ll get a bonus... - [Setting Up Email Authentication Records Correctly](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/setting_up_emai/): by Tom Bartel, chief privacy officer at Return Path How can you be sure you are setting up e-mail authentication records correctly? E-mail authentication stymies forgery of e-mail messages and allows senders to build a positive reputation with receivers based on mailing behavior. Before setting up authentication records, you must first decide what protocol makes... - [French MEP Suggests EU Tax on SMS and Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/french_mep_sugg/): Just read this in a local Belgian newspaper: Alain Lamassoure, a senior centre-right French MEP, has suggested that the EU levy a tax on SMS and email messages in a debate on the union’s future financing. Not to fight spam but to finance the EU budget… I wonder how this is going to evolve :o)... - [Treat Your Subscribers In A Way That Builds Their Trust In You](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/treat_your_subs/): Without trust it’s impossible to build a relationship. When someone gives you their email address, they are trusting you – but only a little. They are providing you with a small window, a brief opportunity, for you to prove that you are worthy of that trust and possibly even more. How to build trust? Respect:... - [How To Deal With Email Replies](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_deal_wit/): After sending out an email campaign you will receive lots of “reply-to” emails (such as unsubscribe or challenge-response requests, bounces and blocks). These are most generated automatically and go back to your sending address and not your bounce-handling address. Based on analysis of recent distributions of EmailLabs’ newsletter "Intevation Report", these “reply-to” emails account for... - [How Two FTC Actions Affect Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_two_ftc_act/): The FTC recently took action against two companies because of bad email practices. Here’s what you can learn from their mistakes: 1. Marketers should ensure that their subject lines accurately inform recipients of the content of the e-mail. 2. CAN-SPAM requires that marketers clearly and conspicuously identify a commercial e-mail as an ad if the... - [Subject Line Research: Response Goes Down As the Characters Go Up](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/subject_line_re/): By Ed Taussig, Director of Software Development & Eunhee Lee, Senior Database Developer, ReturnPath The issue of subject line length is something that gets debated endlessly around the marketing water cooler. Most people know that anything longer than 55 characters (and, just a reminder, the spaces do count!) will get cut off. And many have... - [Microsoft Turns Abandoned Hotmail Accounts Into Spam Traps](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/microsoft_turns/): For those of you who don’t know what a spam trap is, here are the basics: A spam trap (or a honey pot address) is an email address that is created for the sole purpose of catching senders of unsolicited email. Any email sent to these addresses is by definition spam. And if you’re caught... - [Email Marketing Best Practices (teleconference)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-7/): This teleconference will be a replay of a similar  teleconference from last year. It will cover strategies for creating relevant email marketing programs with specific drilldown into today’s hot issues: email deliverability, dynamic content, and email vendor management. Agenda How tired of email are consumers, really? How can you create relevant email marketing programs? What... - [Building Effective Landing Pages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/_building_effec/): Whether you’re sending a promotional email or an email newsletter, your message has specific sales or marketing goals. Most commonly the main goal of your message is to get readers to register for an event or make a purchase, or to build a relationship with readers, which hopefully leads to them making a purchase. Since... - [MediaPost's Email Insider Summit: How NOT To Do Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mediaposts_emai/): On May 21-24th, Bill McCloskey is hosting MediaPost’s Email Insider Summit. Here’s how they describe the event: The purpose of the Email Insider Summit is to bring the best minds in the industry together to share leading edge information and experience on email marketing in a think-tank environment, while exploring new technology, strategies and tactics... - [Plan Your Conversion Marketing Campaign (web seminar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/plan_your_conve/): Creating a plan for your email marketing and conversion campaign is easy, if you know what to look out for. Join Topica for a free webinar and learn how to set up a complete conversion campaign that will help you build a relationship with your prospects, understand their needs, and convert them into customers. Plan... - [Do the New Anti-Spam Regulations in China Apply to You?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/do_the_new_anti/): The new anti-spam regulations in China, the "Regulations on Internet Email Services," will affect senders whose emails contain commercial advertising content and who send their messages from servers located within China to email addresses of individuals in the territory. Epsilon Interactive suggests it is also prudent to follow the obligations of these regulations with respect... - [Add To Safe Senders To Achieve Repeat Sales](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/add_to_safe_sen/): A recent Adestra survey discovered that 75% of top email marketers will miss out on repeat sales as they are not asking their subscribers to add them to their safe sender lists. If a sender’s email address is added to a safe sender list or a contact address book, almost all email systems will not... - [Making Projections For Your Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/making_projecti/): There are lots of reasons why marketers are not creating projections. In this article Jeanne Jennings provides a couple of good reasons why you should do them. And she explains step-by-step how to go about it. - [Email Marketing Summit 2006 Wrap-Up Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-8/): If you weren’t able to attend Marketing Sherpa’s Email Marketing Summit in Chicago last week, you might want to read this wrap-up report. In this report, Anne Holland talks about list growth through opt-in form tweaks and co-registration, creative design and copywriting for email and lots more. - [Permission-Based Email Marketing Fundamentals](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/permissionbased/): Most people talk about different things with different people. With one friend the conversation might usually focus on relationships. With another, perhaps talk turns more naturally to movies, books, sports or politics. You would be unlikely to appeal to your relationship-discussing friend if you were to engage in a monologue about your opinion of our... - [What Do You Want Your Email Newsletter Readers to Do?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_do_you_wan/): Whether you are selling something in your email messages or not, you want your email readers to take some action. Even if you simply want to inform your recipients, you still want them to do something – read your message! Take a look at this article to discover how to get the response you want... - [Email Authentication For Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_authentic-3/): Email authentication has an impact on email delivery. And it’s well on the way to achieving the critical mass that allows all ISPs to start acting on non-authenticated email. So if you are, like the author of this article, in a state of either denial or ignorance (or both) when it comes to email authentication,... - [No Goodmail For Gmail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/no_goodmail_for/): Google said it will not be instituting a payment system to ensure email delivery to Gmail users. The power of email filtering, said the company, should rest in the hands of its users. Read the complete story here. - [Hotmail Formatting Issues](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/hotmail_formatt/): Quick tip from campaignmonitor.com: it seems Hotmail is having problems displaying email set in UTF-8, so make sure to test them before you send and change the encoding for your Hotmail recipients if necessary to ensure the email displays as intended. - [Is Implied Opt-In A Useful Permission Marketing Tool Or Is It Spam?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is_implied_opti/): Implied opt-in is a strategy is based on the assumption that since people have given you their email addresses, you have permission to send them at least one email. And if you say in it that you would like to follow up that email with further marketing communications of a specific kind unless they objected,... - [Return Path Launches Sender Score Reputation Monitor](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/return_path_lau/): Last week, Return Path launched Sender Score Reputation Monitor, an e-mail reputation management system that is based on calculating a “credit score” for email. According to Return Path it gives companies a simple, clear reputation score (a “credit score” for email) based on robust data from email receivers and analyzed by Return Path’s proprietary technology.... - [Glossary of Email Terms](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/glossary_of_ema/): Puzzled by the email terminology? Then you might want to read this 2-page Glossary of Email Terms. - [Best and Worst Subject Lines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best_and_worst_-2/): MailChimp analyzed over 40 million emails and compared the subject lines from the campaigns with the best open rates (60-80%), and the campaigns with the worst open rates (1-14%). Have a look at some real examples of the most effective subject lines and some examples of how NOT to write a subject line. Bottom line:... - [ISPs Don't Deliver 21 Percent of Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/isps_dont_deliv/): According to a research brief (pdf) from Return Path, some 20.5 percent of permission-based commercial email was either delivered to junk mail folders or not delivered at all in the second half of 2005. Source: MarketingVOX.com - [6 Steps to Higher Email Delivery Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6_steps_to_high/): George Bilbrey provide some important tips to get your email through blocks and filters. He covers the following topics: reputation, preventing complaints, complaint analysis, preventing bounces, authentication, spam traps & blacklists and pre-campaign testing. Read the article here. - [Getting Started With Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/getting_started/): In this series, Tom O’Leary provides an overview on email marketing. He offers tips to help make your email marketing campaigns more successful, reviews the tools necessary for effective email marketing and exposes email marketing mistakes to avoid. Read the article here. - [A Guide to CSS Support in Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a_guide_to_css_-2/): CampaignMonitor decided to put each of the popular email environments to the test and finalize once and for all what CSS is and isn’t supported out there. Read their recommendations based on what they found. - [Making Email Communication Relevant to the Receiver](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/making_email_co/): If you want to see your email communication get results, you have to invest some time and energy into ensuring that what you are communicating is valuable to those receiving it. Read here how to do this. - [Email Deliverability is a Challenge for 8 of 10 Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_deliverab-2/): Last week EmailLabs released the results of its Deliverability Survey. One of the key findings in the study was that 80% of marketers say deliverability is a challenge for them while only 10% rank improving deliverability as a top priority this year. Additionally, nearly 50% of marketers said that ISPs and corporate filtering is the... - [The state of email marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_state_of_em/): I just listened to an interesting podcast in which Dylan Boyd, eROI’s VP of Sales and Strategy talks about the state of email marketing. He answers some key FAQ’s including words of wisdom on delivery and click through rates, how to create effective subject lines, plain text vs. HTML and the fine art of personalization... - [Maximizing Email Acquisition](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/maximizing_emai/): In this JupiterResearch concept report, David Daniels answers two key questions: 1. How well do retail sites capitalize on their search engine placement to drive email address acquisition? 2. How can retail sites improve their email newsletter registration efforts? - [11 Tips to Make Life Easier for Your Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/11_tips_to_make/): Your subscribers have a lot of email competing for their attention in the inbox. In order to stand out among all the clutter, you must make it as easy as possible for them to find and interact with you. EmailLabs provided 11 tips on how to make life easier for your subscribers: Make it easy... - [Happy Easter!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/happy_easter/): You might have wondered, but yes, I’m still alive :o) After I got back from my business trip I had to deal with 3 things: jetlag, major inbox overload (in all 6 of my mailboxes) and lots of social engagements… But here I am again! With over 50 messages flagged as “to write a blog... - [Effective B2B Email Marketing (seminar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/effective_b2b_e/): On May 25th the DMA is organizing a one day seminar about “Effective B2B email marketing” in London. This event will cover: The key challenges facing email marketers in 2006 Compliance update & case study examples Content deliverability & the best lists Sucess stories & the future of B2B marketing Read the full seminar program... - [81% Of Email Marketers Not Aware Of CAN-SPAM](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/81_of_email_mar/): More than two years after the CAN-Spam Act took effect, email marketers still show a “shockingly low level” of understanding about the requirements and penalties of the law, according to a new report from WebSurveyor Corp. Of the 1,082 organizations responding to a WebSurveyor poll, 81% said they are unaware of the CAN-Spam Act and... - [Email Best Practices Known But Not Followed?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_best_prac/): I just read this on emarketer.com: A study just completed by Direct and Multichannel Merchant magazines found that 39% of B2B marketers have no formal permission practices in place for collecting e-mail addresses, compared with only 7% of consumer marketers who say they have no formal permission practices in place. Read the full article here. - [On Business Travel Next Week](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/on_business_tra/): Just wanted to let you know that as from Friday March 24th until Monday April 3rd I’ll be on business travel, so I’ll probably not be able to post a lot. - [Effective E-mail Registration Tactics for Retailers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/effective_email/): Only 17 percent of online shoppers said search drove their most recent purchases, indicating many consumers use search without immediately purchasing. In this JupiterResearch report these key questions are answered by David Daniels: How well do retail sites capitalize on their search engine placement to drive e-mail address acquisition? How can retail sites improve their... - [Learn From the Mistakes Of Others](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/learn_from_the_/): In this article, Melinda Krueger provides some useful tips and advice to Vermont.com on how to improve their newsletter. - [Email Marketing Benchmark Survey: An Analysis of What Works (and What Doesn't)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-4/): Keeping up-to-date about email best practices drives strong improvement over the status quo. As in all marketing, however, the devil is in the implementation details. Based on a MarketingProfs Benchmark Survey, this overview of email marketing serves up an industry baseline for measuring your own 2006 email program. Dig into the data directly to benchmark... - [Email Marketing & the Importance of Your IP Address](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_mareting_/): In this article Neil Anuskiewicz explains why the IP address that you use for sending email campaigns is so important. Here’s an excerpt: You play by the rules. Your list is confirmed opt-in. You have spent time writing a compelling message and an inspiring call to action. Your graphic designers have designed a stunning custom... - [Improving Your Email Relevance and Deliverability (webinar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/improving_your_-2/): Bluestreak is hosting a webinar on the latest email best practices and testing strategies to improve the relevance and deliverability of your email communication. Shar VanBoskirk of Forrester Consulting will be the featured presenter. You will learn how your marketing programs can evolve with the adoption of the new email certification services and with the... - [The Email Marketing Success Forecast](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_email_marke-2/): Jeanniey Mullen suggests to review your email efforts and ask yourself the following questions: Opt-in environment: How simple is it to access your opt-in environment? Is your subscription link buried on your Web site? How well does the opt-in process explain all the communication types available and establish relevance? Does your opt-in process decrease attrition... - [Boost Email Lists During Opt-Out](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/boost_email_lis/): Online retailers that let e-mail subscribers change their preferences when they opt out of emails can keep some of those customers on their lists, according to a new study. Providing a “preference center,” which offers other email lists and asks for customer feedback, gives consumers a chance to rethink opting out, explain to marketers why... - [Testing Redefined (Virtual Seminar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/testing_redefin/): The number one sin committed by direct marketers is the lack of testing. The best way to beat your competition in the mailbox and on the desktop is to test smarter and more aggressively. This virtual seminar demonstrates how to test any size mailing and what to test; it reveals testing traps and how to... - [The Importance Of Feedback Loops](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_importance_/): In this post ReturnPath’s George Bilbrey explains why feedback loops are so important. What’s a feedback loop? Well, it’s a system by which the ISP provides the sender a copy of a message that a subscriber has reported as spam – usually by hitting a “report spam” button. Why are they important? The #1 reason... - [The Email Deliverability Chain](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_email_deliv/): Another great article by Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald: this time they talk about the different hurdles your email messages have to take to reach the recipient’s inbox: The sender E-mail service provider (ESP) or e-mail software Mail transfer agent (MTA) Outbound ISP Edge networks Receiving ISP: ISP reputation system. Authentication codes Internal/external blacklists Internal/external... - [Email Marketing: 10 Quick Wins](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-9/): According to Barry Stamos, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel — simply adhere to the below Top 10 list to take your email marketing programs to the next level in 2006: Relevance Makeovers Subscriptions Automation Integration Segmentation Testing Experiences Reporting & Analysis Delivery Audits Engage in a healthy discussion with your in-house team, agency... - [RSS and Email Marketing webcast](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/rss_and_email_m/): Curious about RSS? Join Bronto for a webcast called “RSS and Email Marketing” on Thursday, March 30, at 2PM EST (8pm CET). The presentation will focus on the relationship between email marketing and RSS – a technology that provides an alternative means to communicate content to your online audience. The webcast will address questions such... - [Incorporating Web Analytics Into E-mail Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/incorporating_w/): How to begin incorporating Web analytics into your e-mail campaigns? Elaine O’Gorman suggests you take it one simple step at a time. Consider approaching your e-mail/Web analytics integration by reviewing “The Five Ws” (Who, What, When, Where and Why) to gain a more complete understanding of customer behavior. Using Web analytics data to answer these... - [B2B Companies and Small Email Lists Have Highest Open Rates and CTRs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/b2b_companies_a/): Press release: List size is one of the strongest predictors of email response rates, including both open and click-through responses, according to a new study by ExactTarget. There appears to be an inverse relationship between list size and email responsiveness. According to the study, open and click-through rates both decrease steadily as list size increases.... - [Goodmail Rejecting Three Quarters of Applicants](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/goodmail_reject/): Goodmail has rejected more than three quarters of the companies that have applied for its Certified Email program, according to the company’s chief executive, Richard Gingras. Gingras said most of the rejections are because the applicants’ spam-complaint rates are too high. He declined to specify what constitutes too high a complaint rate. “Our criteria are... - [Virtual Marketing Conference 2006 (webcast)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/virtual_marketi/): On April 20-21, ShoutStream is hosting a “Virtual Marketing Conference“. From what I understand, it’s a series of webcasts on the following topics: Interactive Marketing Trends of 2006 Email Marketing Creating Effective & Interactive Websites Web Conferencing & Online Events Leveraging Online Behaviors to Improve Marketing Creating Integrated Marketing Programs Using Web Analytics to Improve... - [Integrated Direct Marketing Best Practices (webcast)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/integrated_dire/): On March 15th, BtoB is hosting a webcast called “Integrated Direct Marketing Best Practices“. Here’s the description: “With e-mail response rates continuing to fall, B2B marketers are searching for new cost-effective channels and approaches for reaching their target market. E-mail is still critical to generating awareness, but it’s more effective when used as a component... - [UK Email Marketing Laws Are The Weakest In Europe](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk_email_market-3/): Press release: A unique probe into European email marketing laws has revealed that the UK is bottom of the league when it comes to policing opt-in/opt-out rules. European law firm Osborne Clarke’s 17 country survey, conducted with help from legal experts throughout the Osborne Clarke Alliance and beyond, answers ever louder demands by digital marketers... - [Seth Godin Speaks at Google](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/seth_godin_spea/): Seth Godin did a presentation to Google employees on February 28th. I know it’s a bit off topic, but I found it very inspirational so I’d like to share it with you. - [What Was Your Average Open Rate in 2005?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_was_your_a/): Those that know me, know that I’m incredibly curious 🙂 This time I’m curious to find out what your average open rate was in 2005. If you’re an email marketer in a corporate function or if you publish a newsletter, I invite you to take the poll in the column on your right. Your vote... - [Email Authentication Best Practices for Marketers Abroad (online seminar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_authentic-4/): On March 7th, the DMA is hosting an online seminar on the topic of "Email Authentication Best Practices for Marketers Abroad". Attendants will learn to implement effective and inexpensive procedures to improve their e-mail deliverability and response, both in their home country and abroad. The DMA has developed this focused online seminar to help international... - [Lyris Q4 2005 ISP Deliverability Report Card](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/lyris_q4_2005_i/): According to Lyris’ ISP Deliverability Report Card for Q4 2005, the combined average rate of gross email deliverability of permission-based email marketing messages for U.S. and European ISPs and ESPs rose by 2 percent from a rate of 87 percent in Q3 to 89 percent in Q4, while inbox deliverability rates also increased to a... - [11 Tips To Get Your Email Delivered For Free](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/11_tips_to_get_/): Return Path released a new white paper: “Personal Whitelisting Boosts Deliverability“. The white paper provides 11 tips and tricks on getting your email delivered for free at AOL and other ISPs. - [Relevancy, Segmentation & Testing On Limited Resources](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/relevancy_segme/): If you’d ask me what are my main priorities for 2006, I will answer you: relevancy, segmentation and testing. Neither of them are easy to accomplish, especially if you have limited resources. Focusing on relevancy means that you first need to segment your database and then target each segment with a message that is relevant... - [20 HTML Email Design Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/20_html_email_d/): Loren McDonald offers 20 HTML design tips in three key areas: format, functionality and usability. He covers issues that affect how your message appears, including coding, images, message width and file size. Format: Code emails by hand if you can. Avoid nested tables. Do not use canvas background images. Host images on your Web site... - [Email List Building Basics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_list_buil/): In this week’s issue of MediaPost’s EmailInsider, Melinda Krueger provides a list of basic steps to take when building your email lists: Make sign-up ubiquitous. Make sign-up easy. Include a request at check-out. Include a request in transactional e-mails. Invite customers in traditional media. Promote your e-mail in others’ e-mails. Promote your e-mail via search.... - [Survey Results On Consumer Perceptions Of Email And Spam](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/survey_results_/): Epsilon Interactive announced the results of its latest annual survey on consumer perceptions of email and spam, highlighting fundamental shifts in ISP market share, gains in the battle against Internet fraud, and early indications of the great promise held by authentication solutions to improve confidence in the channel. Key findings: Yahoo! appears to have definitively... - [Email Marketing Report Reveals Higher Click Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_2/): A new marketing report released this week reveals that while open and click rates declined slightly in the last half (H2) of 2005, several industries earned higher click rates than in the first half of the year. The report details email marketing performance by industry based on over 200 million messages sent by a sampling... - [Email Marketing Awards 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-5/): Become an award winning marketer: nominate yourself for MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Awards 2006 in any of these 12 categories: Best opt-in campaign Best Email Newsletter for marketing purposes Best Sales Alert or Dedicated Offer Broadcast Best Advertising Campaign in Third Party Email Newsletter(s) Best SIG (email signature) Best Welcome letter to new subscribers Best Automated... - [Use Search Engines To Test Subject Lines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/use_search_engi/): I was reading an article by Matt Blumberg this afternoon on the topic of testing. In this article, Matt suggests that you could also use pay-per-click listings (like Google Adwords) to test subject lines. Here’s how: Create 5-10 subject lines for the same offer and list them all simultaneously on a search engine, using the... - [HTML Email Design, Coding, and Delivery "Survival Guide"](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html_email_desi/): MailChimp just posted the 2nd edition of their “HTML Email Design Guide.” It’s a 50-page document that covers the following topics: How HTML email works Designing & Coding Common mistakes to avoid Designing around spam filters Testing & troubleshooting your email designs Email marketing basiscs & best practices Measuring Performance Useful resources Email applications &... - [Why you haven't heard from me...](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why_you_havent_/): I haven’t posted for about a week now and it will stay a bit quiet for a couple of days more I’m afraid. My grandmother had a stroke last Wednesday and she died on Saturday 🙁 It feels extremely unreal because it happened so suddenly and without any prior notice… I am happy for her... - [Another Email Design Best Practices Webcast](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/another_email_d/): On February 23rd at 2pm EST (8pm CET) Bronto will present a free webcast that will cover helpful design "Do’s" and "Don’ts", as well as evaluate examples of good and not-so-good email marketing design. When:  Thursday, February 23, 2PM EST What:  Best Practices for Email Marketing Design – free webcast. Duration:  30 minutes Sign up... - [Free HTML Email Templates & Email Design Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/free_html_email/): MailChimp is offering 3 email templates for download on their website. So is you want to design and code your own HTML email newsletters, but aren’t really sure where to begin, you can start by downloading them here. I’ve checked them out myself and the only thing I can say about them is: well done,... - [Choosing An Outside List Provider](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/choosing_an_out/): When it comes to renting an outside list, you do not know whether the list is a finely tuned acquisition machine or the vehicle in which your next nightmare is going to be delivered. For those of you that need help choosing an outside list provider, Michael Mayor provides a guide in his article "Email... - [DMA UK releases National Email Benchmarking Report Q1-Q3 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma_uk_releases-2/): The Direct Marketing Association UK just released their fourth industry wide National Email Benchmarking Report which focuses on results gained from Q1-Q3 2005. Some of the key findings from the research include: Average email volumes continue to rise. The majority of email clients cannot estimate their monetary loss from undelivered emails, while almost 20% of... - [Little Things Add Up for Spam Filters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/little_things_a/): If you’d like to find out about what it is that triggers spam filters, you should read this post on MailChimp’s blog. They advise to especially watch out for these things: The phrase "click here" is getting really bad. It was causing problems before, but it seems to be causing more nowadays. Especially be careful... - [HTML Emails & Lotus Notes: Some Guidelines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html_emails_lot/): Another interesting post on the MailChimp blog, this time they talk about the challenges of making your HTML emails display correctly in Lotus Notes. They encountered the following issues when designing new email templates: Colspans. Keep your tables simple, and do not use too many colspans. Outlook 2003 and all the browser-based email applications can... - [Elements of Successful Email Messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/elements_of_suc/): Next week Topica is hosting a webinar where they will discuss the "Elements of Successful Email Messages", it’s the second of five free webinars in their new educational series. They will cover the following topics: Subject lines that get them at “Hello” Do’s and Don’ts for message content and design How to provide offers that... - [Email-Related Patents: Why Should You Care?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/emailrelated_pa/): MarketingSherpa just released an article explaining what to do when the patent owners contact you about your email marketing program. Apparently a number of email marketeers have had to deal with this recently. They’ve interviewed a bunch of patent lawyers to get practical advice. Plus, the article includes hotlinks to eight sites and blogs that... - [Planning Your Campaign Frequency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/planning_your_c/): eROI is hosting a webinar on February 28th (11am PST – 8pm CET) on the topic of "Planning Your Campaign Frequency". Sign up here.  - [The Facts Behind AOL Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_facts_behin/): Pivotal Veracity is announced that it will be holding an exclusive webinar with AOL to address the many questions that enterprises have regarding how to effectively and successfully communicate with their AOL customers. "Our goal is to wade through the hype of the last two weeks, to educate the industry on the facts behind AOL... - [Navigating the World of Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/navigating_the_/): The DMA is hosting a couple of interesting virtual seminars that will walk you through the latest tools and techniques in the world of email marketing for both B-to-B and B-to-C marketers: Seminar 1: February 8, 2006 * 12:30 P.M. – 2:00 P.M. EST Latest techniques that drive responses Filters and e-mail clients: Gmail, Outlook,... - [RSS: Content Ideas](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/rss_content_ide/): If you’re thinking of adding RSS as a marketing communications tool, then you might want to read this: Newsweaver’s “The Business of Email” newsletter provides some ideas for using your content through RSS feeds – right alongside your email marketing: Breaking News Time sensitive items Company information and press releases Notifications More details here. - [AOL Reverses Whitelist Decision](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/aol_reverses_wh/): A couple of days ago I mentioned that AOL would begin implementing Goodmail’s cryptographic CertifiedEmail program and would phase out its IP-based Enhanced Whitelist. Well, the last couple of days, rumour had it that AOL will not do away with its Enhanced Whitelist after all. Apparently AOL reversed its decision on the whitelist after numerous... - [Spam Is Shrinking While Email Marketing Is Growing Modestly](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spam_is_shrinki/): Press release: JupiterResearch forecasts that email marketing spending will grow from $885 million in 2005 to $1.1 billion by 2010, and the volume of spam messages per consumer will decrease by 13% a year during this same period. According to the new report entitled: “US E-mail Marketing Forecast, 2005 to 2010,” the overall growth of... - [Email Marketing Benchmark Data for 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-10/): If you couldn’t make MarketingSherpa’s live conference call last Tuesday on Email Marketing Benchmark Data for 2006, I recommend downloading the recorded MP3 audio file and PowerPoint slides. - [How To Build An Email Program](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_build_an-2/): Melinda Krueger explains in this article how to build an email program. Her advice is to begin with the end in mind and think about what your ideal program should deliver? This is the approach you should take: Understand audience needs and preferences. Develop content to meet audience needs. Publish your content. Promote your program.... - [My Email Was Sent To The Junk Folder...](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my_email_was_se/): This blog is a collection of best practices and tips, so as the author of this blog you’d assume that I would at least manage to stay out of the spam filters, right? Wrong! Let me explain what happened: Last weekend I spent a couple of hours to create my own personal email template to... - [Stock Photography Resources for HTML Email Newsletters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stock_photograp/): For those of you that are looking for creative photos to use in your email newsletters, here’s a list of stock photography resources: iStockPhoto.com: Good, quality photos starting from $1 for low resolution versions. Handy “color scheme matcher” tool at the top of the page. Getty Images: A little higher in quality, the photos here... - [66% Of Belgian Companies Are Satisfied With The Results Of Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/66_of_the_belgi/): An online survey conducted by Belgian email provider Emailgarage shows a positive trend on the use, role and success of email in the marketing mix of Belgian companies. The survey reveals that, in the 2005-2006 timeframe, seven out of ten Belgian companies used email in their marketing mix. Mainly the email campaigns and newsletters sent... - [3 in 5 Dutch Companies Are Using Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3_out_of_5_dutc/): According to a recent survey by Belgian email provider Emailgarage, more than half (52%) of Dutch companies are satisfied with the results of email marketing. The survey focused upon the development and trends of email marketing in the Netherlands. 77% of the companies that took part have added email marketing to their marketing mix. The... - [What To Do If You Are Blacklisted](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_to_do_if_y/): In this article, Habeas’ J.F. Sullivan makes an effort to demystify the blocklist: When you find yourself listed on a blocklist, the first and most important step to take is to visit the blocklist’s Web site. Read the policies about listings and removals, which provide good hints about why a blocklisting took place and what... - [Why You Should Incorporate Your Emails With Other Forms Of Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why_you_should_/): According to Paula Chiocchi, email is most effective when integrated with other channels. Campaign integration with targeted television, radio, freestanding inserts, print ads and direct mail leverages real world branding with online branding and direct response. Whether used as an upfront soft lead in to receiving direct mail or as a follow up to direct... - [DMA: New Laws Could Crack Down on Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma_new_laws_co/): A new series of proposed laws could make life much harder on US email marketers, if they are passed. Several bills are simmering at the state level that could force email marketers to switch to an opt-in model, rather than the current opt-out one, according to Jim Conway, vice-president of government relations for the Direct... - [What Is SpamAssassin And How Does It Work?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_is_spamass/): SpamAssassin is an open-source project of the Apache Software Foundation. In a corporate setting, usually small to midsized businesses and ISP mail servers, it runs each email message through hundreds of tests that analyze headers, text, and HTML coding and checks domains and IP addresses against DNS (define) blocklists and filtering databases. When a message... - [How To Avoid You Wrongly Get Blocked As A Potential Phisher](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_avoid_yo/): Phishing is the effort to steal sensitive identity or financial data through fraudulent email seemingly sent from banks, investment houses, government agencies, e-commerce divisions of major retail brands, or online auction and payment-transfer services. The email redirects users to authentic-looking but bogus sites that collect the data and use it for identity theft and other... - [Did .Mac's Support For CSS Completely Disappear?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/did_macs_suppor/): Apple has introduced a new webmail client for their .Mac customers. .Mac’s previous webmail client had amazing support for CSS and standards-based markup. So CampaignMonitor’s Mark Wyner decided to test the new webmail client on it’s CSS support — and his first tests lead him to believe that .Mac’s support for CSS completely disappeared! Basically... - [MarketingSherpa releases the Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa-5/): MarketingSherpa published its fifth annual Email Marketing Benchmark Guide today. The 317-page Guide includes real-life email campaign results from 3,637 surveyed emailers. The complete guide features 233 new charts and tables, 21 images and eight new eyetracking heatmaps on the topics of: Email open rates, click rates (CTRs), and conversions for 3,637 marketers, including year-over-year... - [DMA UK Releases Email Benchmarking Report Q2 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma_uk_releases/): Email Service Providers (ESPs) are anticipating an increase in Christmas spending of up to 50%, according to the latest DMA National Email Benchmarking Survey. Over a third of ESPs expect an increase in year-on-year spending of 15 – 25%, almost 20% anticipate an increase of 26 – 50% and 5% of ESPs envisage a rise... - [View How ISPs And Filtering Companies See Your Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/view_how_isps_a/): Return Path has launched SenderScore.org, a database of corporate e-mail reputation data. Companies can access the free database to view how ISPs and filtering companies see their e-mail campaigns. The database assigns a score to the campaign and is fueled by data from ReturnPath’s Sender Score Reputation Monitor, a system that aggregates reputation data from... - [Hiring An Email Marketing Manager](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/hiring_an_email/): Generally, the role of an email marketing manager or coordinator is to create, execute and manage all aspects of outbound email campaigns and be the primary contact for others involved in the process. While the job function of an email marketer has evolved, there are still some core qualifications you can look for. Look for... - [MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa-6/): On March 4-6 MarketingSherpa organizes its Email Marketing Summit ’07 in Miami. Attendees will discover the latest research and practical, real-world tactics to improve results: How to grow your list faster — with names that respond How to tweak your creative design for better results (including A/B and multivariate test Case Studies.) How to automate... - [Email Myths: Not Everything You Hear Is True](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_myths_not/): In this article David Baker, Vice President of Email Solutions at Avenue A/Razorfish, tells us not to believe everything we hear or read about email marketing best practices. He advises us to use best practices, studies, and guidance from the experts as a starting point, but don’t consider their advice to be absolute. You need... - [ISPs Respond to High Volume and Reputation Plays a Role](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/isps_respond_to/): It’s depressing but true: there is more spam being sent than ever before. In fact, ReturnPath’s ISP and other receiver contacts report a tripling in the amount of spam coming across their networks in the past six months. This volume, combined with the increased volume of permission-based email typically seen in the fourth quarter means... - [FTC Slaps Yesmail With $50K Spam Fine](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ftc_slaps_yesma/): Yesmail’s settlement with the Federal Trade Commission last week sent tremors throughout the industry as other e-mailers scrambled to figure out how the company became ensnared in the FTC’s spam-fighting apparatus and how they could avoid a similar scenario. Yesmail agreed to pay $50,717 to settle charges that its recently acquired @Once unit violated the... - [7 Steps to CAN-SPAM Compliance - A Refresher](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/7_steps_to_cans/): In this article eROI’s Dylan Boyd summarizes the 7 steps to CAN-SPAM compliance: 1. Include an Unsubscribe Link That Works 2. Don’t Share Customer Addresses 3. Confirm the Subscription 4. Offer an Unsubscribe Link 5: Avoid “Negative Opt-In” 6. Identify Yourself Clearly In Every Message 7. Follow Through Read the article here. - [Webinar: The State of Email Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar_the_sta/): On November 29the GoodmailSystems hosts a webinar featuring JupiterKagan’s David Daniels. David will present new research on the state of deliverability. Time: 11am PST / 2pm EST / 8pm CET / 7pm GMT What you’ll learn: Average delivery rates reported by e-mailers (find out if you’re better-or worse-than the competition) Which delivery improvement techniques are... - [European Email Marketing More Complicated Than US](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/european_email_/): Email marketing in Britain involves understanding the cultural differences and characteristics throughout Europe, according to e-Dialog executives. John Rizzi, CEO of e-Dialog, and Simone Barrat, managing director at e-Dialog UK, told this publication in an interview in the London office that relationships with Internet service providers throughout Europe is much more complicated than in the... - [UK Email Marketing Survey Highlights Importance Of Reporting](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk_email_market-2/): The majority of client companies state that ‘reporting’ and ‘customer service’ are the two most important factors when selecting an email service provider (ESP), according to the first Client Email Marketing Survey from the DMA Email Marketing Council. The emphasis placed on ‘reporting’ indicates an increasing interest from marketers in wanting to understand how customers... - [The Best Christmas Emails Of 2005](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_best_christ/): Looking for inspiration for the design of this year’s Christmas email? Have a look at the winners of CampaignMonitor’s contest last year. If you’re looking for some Christmas related supporting images to add to your design, iStockphoto is a great place to start. They offer loads of Christmas related design elements that you can add... - [ENonprofit Benchmarks Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/enonprofit_benc/): The eNonprofit Benchmarks Study provides a snapshot of key metrics and benchmarks for nonprofit e-mail communications, online fundraising, and online advocacy, primarily taken from an in-depth review of statistics from 15 nonprofit organizations, six environmental organizations, six civil/legal rights organizations, and three international aid organizations. Key findings of the study include: Greater Online Advocacy Results:... - [Essential Guide to Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/essential_guide/): The DM News Essential Guide to Email Marketing is now available for download. Topics discussed in this guide include creative tips for copy and subject headlines, integration with other channels, crafting winning opt-in offers, gaining relevancy and winning trust, growing house lists, deliverability issues and the similarities and differences between online and offline direct marketing.... - [Spam Or Not: Relevancy And Trust Hold The Key](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spam_or_not_rel/): A recent independent survey of consumers has found that two-thirds of people read the marketing e-mails they receive. When savvy consumers today look at their mailbox, they can quickly determine what is spam and what is not. Over time, consumers have seemingly developed an internal filter to censor which marketing dialogue is important enough to... - [Using Email Marketing for the Holidays](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using_email_mar/): In this article Gail Goodman offers some tips for including email in your holiday marketing mix: Perhaps the most obvious use of holiday-themed email marketing is for retail. You may already have plans to send holiday promotions to your customer list via email. Here are some ideas you can incorporate into your communication mix: Remind... - [Three Proven Methods To Boost Holiday Revenue Through Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three_proven_me/): by Stephanie Miller Email doesn’t always need a coupon, but it does need to be relevant to get opened and get a response from subscribers. Return Path’s annual Holiday Consumer Survey shows that the fastest growing factor driving consumer response to email is prior value in the email itself. So your brand and subject line... - [Is it OK to Use The Same Subject Line?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is_it_ok_to_use/): There aren’t any reliable statistics that show whether a subject line that never varies will draw better or worse than one which changes to reflect the new content in each issue. You can test this on your own audience, however, using a standard A/B split test. Divide your database in two. Email the newsletter with... - [Why Text Email Is More Important Than Ever](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why_text_email_/): Now that HTML is under attack from image-blocking, platforms that don’t properly render it, and aggressive spam filtering that targets non-standard formatting or message size, text e-mail is more important than ever! But you can’t expect good results if you just slap a text email together and ship it out. Text takes careful design and... - [How To Create Standout Subject Lines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_create_s/): Even if you don’t send email messages that are clearly commercial, your emails could get lost in the crowd if your subject lines don’t distinguish you. According to Stefan Pollard, a good subject line has three essential qualities: branding, urgency and brevity: Branding: The brand, company name, publication or mailing name figures prominently. Never make... - [Designing Effective HTML E-mails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/designing_effec/): Join EmailLabs’ Stefan Pollard on November 27 or 28 for a webinar on the topic of "Designing effective HTML emails". Attend this webinar and learn how to design HTML messages that will render better in your readers’ email clients and inspire more action. Other topics include: HTML design and coding for optimal inbox delivery Reducing... - [Unsolicited Email In The US: Where Do You Draw The Line](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/unsolicited_ema/): There’s an interesting discussion going on on the MarketingProfs discussion boards after one user posted the following message: "It seems to be the opinion of many participants in this forum that unsolicited email is not something which "reputable companies" will do. Many have suggested that marketers create content-based web sites and build an opt-in list... - [Email Marketers Must Get Relevant](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketers_1/): The majority of email marketers are failing to use email as a relevant marketing tool, at the same time that consumers are spending less time and attention on email, according to Jupiter Research VP and research director David Daniels. The majority of marketers still use only basic personalization in email campaigns, despite the fact relevant... - [Key Email Marketing Stats, Facts And Metrics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/key_email_marke/): To help size up the email marketing channel, Metrics 2.0 provides a succinct compilation of key email marketing stats, facts, and metrics. The article covers the following topics: Email marketing market size Email marketing importance Email marketing delivery & effectiveness Email industry statistics Read the article here. - [E-mail Marketing Buyer's Guide, 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-2/): JupiterResearch released the 2006 edition of their Email Marketing Buyer’s Guide. This e-mail service provider (ESP) evaluation details the offerings of 28 vendors. JupiterResearch bases their overall value, suitability, and breadth on the distinct needs of three types of marketers (i.e., service-oriented, small-/midsize-business, large-enterprise). Key Questions: How have ESPs’ offerings matured during the past 12... - [Send to a Friend Benchmark Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/send_to_a_frien/): RetailEmail.Blogspot released a new study about the send to a friend (STAF) practices of major retailers. These are the key findings: Not only are just 44% of retailers using send to a friend (STAF) in their emails, many are using practices that diminish their effectiveness, such as requiring too much information and not paying enough... - [E-mail Marketing To Customers And Prospects In China](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-3/): There are three primary considerations when it comes to e-mail marketing to customers and prospects in China: deployment, design and device. Despite the approximately 110 million Internet users in China, the growth of e-commerce still lags behind the West—thanks in part to the sheer size of the country as well as the lack of an... - [31 Content Tips And Ideas For Your Email Newsletters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/31_content_tips/): Mark Brownlow wrote yet another great article! This one focusses on how to ensure enough decent content to keep readers interested, engaged and impacted by your emails. In this article you can find some tips to keep the content flowing and actual content ideas to save yourself some thinking time. Content management tips: 1. Keep... - [Email Insider Summit, December 3-6, Utah](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_insider_s-3/): Mark your calendars for the next Email Insider Summit: December 3-6, Utah. Apparently this is supposed to be a fantastic event for all levels of email marketers where over one hundred brand marketers and agency decision makers will network, discuss and debate, working collaboratively to improve the email channel, as well as their own marketing... - [How to Raise Response With 4 Persuasive Auto-Email Programs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_raise_re/): In this case study MarketingSherpa tells the story of how SmartBargains.com made four budget-conscious automated email programs thrive by mixing in a healthy dose of Web analytics. Very inspiring! The article includes how-to tips, creative samples and results data. (Open access until Nov. 13th) - [Email Marketers Must Look Beyond CTR And Open Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketers-2/): A key takeaway from E-consultancy’s most recent Email Marketing Roundtable was the growing need for marketers to look beyond traditional email success metrics when looking at their email strategy. In the world of multi-channel retail it is no longer enough just to examine clickthrough rates (CTR), open rates or even good old Return on Investment... - [Study explores e-mail creative that works](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study_explores_/): A study of b-to-b e-mail marketing messages by e-mail marketing company SilverPOP identified several creative elements that boosted open rates and click rates. The study was based on an analysis of 147 e-mail campaigns sent by 115 b-to-b marketers between April and August. SilverPOP evaluated creative elements ranging from content in the subject line to... - [False Positive Filtering Growing Among Major Email Service Providers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/false_positive_/): According to a study by Lyris, false-positive filtering (emails that are incorrectly identified as unsolicited or "spam" emails) remains high among leading email service providers (ESPs) including Hotmail and Gmail. Gmail did see a dramatic improvement in Q2 ’06, with a false-positive filtering rate of only 2.97 percent compared to last quarter’s 44 percent. However,... - [Anti-spam laws from around the world](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/antispam_laws_i_1/): As he promised us, Mark Brownlow added some more summaries of local anti-spam laws: Anti-spam laws in the UK Anti-spam laws and the EU Anti-spam laws in Australia Anti-spam laws in Canada Anti-spam laws in New-Zealand Thanks for the summaries, Mark! - [The Email Metrics That Really Matter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_email_metri/): Do you know how much revenue do you bring in through your email program? Are you earning back what the company spent on you? In this article Loren McDonald tells us that we need to run some diagnostics on our program and determine the key drivers of our program’s successes and failures. There are lots... - [Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/retail_welcome_/): Of the 66% of top retailers that sent out welcome emails, many are missing out on the opportunity to use those emails as a selling vehicle. Instead of inspiring subscribers with their product knowledge and impressing them with exclusive deals with the very first email they receive, a great number of the largest etailers simply... - [Email Marketing in Europe](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-4/): Bill Nussey just returned from Europe and shares his ideas on the state of email marketing in Europe on his blog. These are his observations: SMS is still an active discussion but, from a purely anecdotal observation, its momentum into the marketing world doesn’t seem quite as furious as it was last year. It’s clearly... - [How Domains Affect Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_domains_aff/): In this article Spencer Kollas breaks down email success explaining that domains are the first step. A domain analysis is the first step to ensuring your email messages are delivered as intended. A few domains dominate the market, but your audience’s usage could vary, so it’s important to run a report to see exactly which... - [Anti-spam laws in Australia](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/antispam_laws_i/): For those working in or emailing Australia, Mark Brownlow provides a quick summary of the local anti-spam laws, including links to relevant government authorities, documents, codes and reviews. - [Guide for Creating HTML Emails: Technical and Design Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/guide_for_creat/): To help marketers optimize results from their email marketing efforts, EmailLabs has created a complete guide to HTML email with best practices in the following areas: HTML design and coding for optimal inbox delivery The impact of Window’s Service Pack 2 on email Making your email preview-panes / disabled-image friendly Use of hyperlinks and optimal... - [The State of Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_state_of_de/): Only 30 percent of e-mail marketers review their e-mail delivery rates at least once per month as a key performance indicator, signaling many marketers do not sufficiently focus on the still-prevalent e-mail deliverability issue. The State of Deliverability, 2006 – Assessing Tactics to Improve E-mail Delivery is a new concept report released by Jupiter Research.... - [Blocking Rates Ease - Your Vigilance Cannot](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/blocking_rates_/): Return Path’s latest Email Blocking and Filtering Report shows that 19.2 percent of email still gets blocked or filtered by the leading ISPs and commercial filtering applications. While that is certainly better than the 20.5 percent during the second half of 2005 — and much better than the 22 percent peak in 2004 — don’t... - [Is E-mail The Same Around The World?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is_email_the_sa/): Jeanniey Mullen and Paul Beck recently participated in an e-mail marketing conference in Holland. They were surprised to learn that many of the challenges faced in other countries are the same as those they face in the United States. The impact e-mail has on marketing efforts, funding, appropriate usage, cadence etc. were about similar to... - [Default Image Suppression Demystified (webinar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/default_image_s/): The likelihood that your email messages will arrive in consumers’ inboxes without their images displayed is increasing every day. Major ISP trade groups recently ratified default image suppression as an industry best practice, and Microsoft plans to adopt default image suppression in its soon-to-be released next-generation email service, WindowsLive. Are you ready? Join Epsilon Interactive... - [ClickZ's Email Marketing Conference & Expo](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/clickzs_email_m/): ClickZ.com will host the first annual ClickZ Specifics: Email Marketing 2006 event in New York City on 24 and 25 October. The two-day forum includes expert-led sessions that will help marketers: Write and design great messages that increase response Build — and maintain — a successful list Test and calculate e-mail campaign ROI Nourish customer... - [MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa-7/): Here’s a post that is not related to email marketing. But since most people that are into email marketing usually also have an interest in search marketing I figured you might find this interesting: MarketingSherpa just released a new edition of its Search Marketing Benchmark Guide. This is a 239-page report (PDF + print copy)... - [6 Simple Steps to Response-Driving Subject Lines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6_simple_steps_/): Tami Monahan Forman is Director of Strategic Services at ReturnPath. In her work with Return Path clients, she gets to help write a lot of subject lines. She’s decided to share the method het department has developed for writing subject lines. Following these 6 steps will make the task of writing subject lines easier and... - [Busting Out of the Inbox: The New 1to1 Rules of Email Marketing (webinar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/busting_out_of_/): Has email been left behind by snazzy blogs and RSS feeds? Cut short by ISP filters and new regulation? Set aside by prospects and customers numb to new offers? On September 26th at 11am Eastern, join, Christopher Helm, Executive Editor, Peppers & Rogers Group, Andrew Hull, Marketing Operations Manager, RightNow Technologies, and Hope Neiman, SVP,... - [DMA E-mail Authentication Resource Directory](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma_email_authe/): DMA has created an E-Mail Authentication Resource Directory to help members employ e-mail identification and authentication systems, which is now a requirement for DMA members that use e-mail for communication and transaction purposes. The directory provides a list of DMA member companies that provide services that will assist in complying with this new DMA requirement.... - [Small Investment In Email Marketing Creates Big Return](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/small_investmen/): Despite all the time and resources that retailers are pouring into their paid and natural search programs and the efforts they’re making in understanding new alternatives such as social networking, e-mail marketing continues to thrive. E-mail remains a fundamental and highly productive marketing tool for almost all web retailers. In fact, 73% of chain retailers,... - [Eight Tips for Enhancing Email Opt-In](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/eight_tips_for_/): In this article on MarketingProfs.com, Linda Schumacher offers these 8 tips to enhance your onsite registration process: 1. Include an abbreviated registration form or prominent sign up graphic on every page of your Web site to increase newsletter visibility. 2. Communicate what you’re going to do with the user’s personal information. 3. Explain the benefits... - [How To Segment Your Email Audience](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_segment_/): Not all customers are alike. What appeals to one may not interest another. It’s important that you connect your customers’ different interests and needs to your message. It’s about relevance. Relevant emails are opened, irrelevant emails are unopened or deleted, resulting in a lost connection and a lost sale. Every small business can segment their... - [Seven Tips For Good Email Creative](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/seven_tips_for_/): by David Baker Hoping to hit the jackpot with an e-mail program that makes all your hard work behind the scenes worthwhile? Of course you are. Then you need good creative execution. However, the definition of “good” is often in the mind of the beholder. With so many options to test and so few good... - [How To Increase Conversion Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_increase/): Laurie Hood answers the question "How can I increase conversion rates for my e-mail newsletter content?" here. This is what she says: We know that buyers at the early stages of the buying process are most often business or IT professionals conducting research about the different offerings in the marketplace. For these buyers, marketers need... - [Goodmail Makes Its Case](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/goodmail_makes_/): You might remember the commotion surrounding Goodmail’s announcement that its CertifiedE-mail" program had been embraced by AOL and Yahoo. The case put forth by Goodmail at the time was that the increased trust generated by an e-mail that had been certified as legitimate, the guarantee of delivery, and the promise that HTML would render properly... - [Effective, Creative & Compliant Email Marketing (1-day conference)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/effective_creat/): On October 3rd, the DMA is organizing a 1-day conference on "Effective, Creative & Compliant Email Marketing" in London (UK). At this event you will: Take away key deliverability tactics, in-depth knowledge of how to maximize response through enhanced use of data, creativity and integration strategies Learn from experience, with presentations from Visit Britain, Bounty.com,... - [How To Increase Conversion Rates With Real And Implied Urgency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_increase-2/): In the world of offline direct mail it has long been understood that creating urgency increases conversion rates. Typically a special offer of some kind will expire on a particular date. Is the same true of the web? Do expiry dates or warnings about limited supplies actually work? And if so, is there a best... - [9 Things They Don't Tell You About Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/9_things_they_d/): Mark Brownlow wrote a great article listing 9 things the marketing media tends to overlook about email marketing. According to Mark it’s "Designed to make you smile. And reflect." Read it here. Great stuff, Mark! I’m sure most of us can relate to these 9 things… I know I can :o) - [5 Tips on a How to Write a Better Subject Line](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5_tips_on_a_how/): According to Janine Popick there are three things to think about when writing a subject line for your email marketing campaign: You need to write it so that it gets through filters You need to write it so that it’s compelling enough to get your email opened You need to keep to the expectations you... - [Tips For Your Unsubscribe Confirmation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips_for_your_g/): MailChimp provides some tips for your unsubscribe confirmation emails: Make it short and sweet. You don’t want this to look like yet another HTML email newsletter. If the recipient just unsubscribed from your list, they’ll be furious to receive even more "salesy" emails from you. Consider a plain-text email, or an HTML email that’s "lite"... - [Email Benchmark Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_benchmark/): Harte-Hanks, and its e-mail subsidiary Postfuture, compared the aggregate e-mail metrics of 4,300 business and consumer e-mail campaigns. The analysis included both marketing and transaction e-mails. Among all sectors for all purposes of e-mail combined, the average delivery rate was 91.2% – with an average open rate of 78.8%, click-through rate of 18.4% and opt-out... - [Email Open Rates Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_open_rate/): Mark Brownlow wrote an extensive article on open rates. This is how he describes it himself: A comprehensive guide to everything to do with email open rates, including how to improve them, interpreting rates, measurement issues, and finding averages. It’s written for both newcomers and those with long experience, taking you through from basic issues... - [To Go International, Start Thinking Local](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/to_go_internati/): By Ken Takahashi (VP, Corporate Development, Return Path) Emails cross borders everyday, yet most marketers remain blissfully unaware of this fact. While ignoring your international constituency may not be hurting you (yet! … or maybe it already is), paying more attention could definitely help your response rates and start to open new, exciting markets. One... - [Managing Email In-House vs Outsourced](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/managing_email_/): In this article Spencer Kollas discusses whether to manage your email in-house or have it outsourced. Cost is a major factor in any in-house versus outsourcing decision, but there are other factors to consider as well. Here are some of the merits of each approach:  Advantages of managing in-house You can develop your own expertise.... - [5 Minute Guide To Email Testing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5_minute_guide_/): In its January 2005 report, “Effective Email Marketing,” JupiterResearch found that marketers using testing were almost twice as likely to attain conversion rates of three percent or better. They also achieved a 68 percent improvement in return over non-testers. In this article Bill Nussey provides a few simple guidelines to get your testing program started:... - [Microsoft Includes Unsub Button in Windows Live Mail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/microsoft_inclu/): Microsoft last week became the first e-mail box provider to answer e-mail marketers’ calls to include an unsubscribe button in its interface so consumers will be less likely to mistakenly report permission-based commercial e-mail as spam. According to Microsoft, a consumer hitting the Windows Live unsubscribe button will not register as a spam complaint. Read... - [Email Marketing Conference, Utrecht, 7 September](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-5/): I just found out about this today (thanks, Richard!): On September 7th there’s an email marketing conference in The Netherlands: De Nationale E-mail Marketing Conferentie 7 september 2006, Media Plaza, Utrecht (The Netherlands) Speakers include Jeanniey Mullen (Ogilvy) and Richard Gibson (RSA Direct/The DMA). More info here (Dutch only). I will definitely try to attend... - [Spam And Junk Email Buttons Preferred Method To Unsubscribe](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spam_junk_email/): In a recent Return Path survey, nearly 79% of consumers admitted that they have hit the "spam" or "junk" email button to get rid of email they don’t want. And nearly 37% do it as a way to unsubscribe from things they had asked to receive. This is not surprising, perhaps, when considering that most... - [97% of Sending IP's Reputions are Bad Enough to Block](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/97_of_sending_i/): Ninety seven percent of sending IP addresses’ reputations are so bad that e-mail box providers are likely to block their messages, according to a study by e-mail deliverability concern Return Path. Moreover just 0.9% of sending IP addresses scored well enough that their e-mail is likely to be delivered, the company determined. Read the full... - [Email Marketing Buyer's Guide 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1-3/): E-consultancy.com released a new edition of their Email Marketing Buyer’s Guide. The guide contains: information about the latest email marketing trends 23 vendor profiles from suppliers that E-consultancy believes are UK market leaders a SWOT analysis for the sector market research growth forecasts tips to help you find the right email services provider Trends within... - [Fine-Tuning Your Customer Lifecycle Program](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/finetuning_your/): In this week’s issue of BtoB’s Email Marketer Insight, Karen J. Bannan provides these suggestions to maximize your e-mail customer lifecycle program: 1) Welcome prospects. By now, you are probably using triggered e-mails to welcome new prospects to your marketing or newsletter program, and if you’re not, you should be. “The whole concept is to... - [EU/US Marketers Differ On List-Growth Tactics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/euus_marketers_/): E-mail list-growth tactics that work well in the US don’t necessarily succeed in Europe, according to a recent study by e-mail service provider Silverpop. While the most favored tactic for growing e-mail lists cited by marketers in Canada and the US was offline advertising and direct marketing, the top tactic cited by European marketers was... - [Add Content to E-Commerce E-Mails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/add_content_to_/): Direct Marketing consultant Reggie Brady addressed key e-mail strategies at the MeritDirect Business Mailer’s Co-op and Interactive Marketing Conference. Ms. Brady highlighted a series of ways to retain customers through personalized e-mail campaigns with content targeted at segmented clients. Read the story here. Source: DM News’ Email Marketing Weekly - [Email Marketing: What To Measure](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-6/): By Wendy Roth, strategic account manager, Lyris Technologies If you have a website, chances are you have a form asking visitors to subscribe to your email list. Those subscribers are interested in your company and want to know more about what you have to offer. It’s easy to take this key group of customers for... - [Calculating the Cost of Increased E-Mail Frequency, Part 2](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/calculating_the/): by Kirill Popov and Stefan Pollard Is more better? E-mailing your subscriber base more frequently can help boost sales, revenue, customer loyalty, and word-of-mouth exposure. Or, it could cost money and customers, as we outlined in part one, as well as damage e-mail deliverability. The outcome depends on how well you manage increased frequency and... - [Ten HTML Tips: Ignore at Your Own Risk](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ten_html_tips_i/): In this ClickZ article, Kirill Popov and Loren McDonald provide these 10 common HTML tips: Code e-mail by hand. HTML design for e-mail is trickier than Web HTML. HTML design programs such as FrontPage aren’t ideal for designing HTML e-mail. They typically add extra code that wreaks havoc with certain e-mail clients. Also, don’t use... - [A CSS Solution to Image Blocking](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a_css_solution_/): Here’s a great technique to display a nicely formatted text-based headline when images are disabled – replaced with the image based version if images are switched on. Read more here (includes sample code). - [You've Got 51 Seconds](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/youve_got_51_se/): By Stephanie Miller Readers spend an average of 51 seconds with email newsletters, typically skimming the contents. Only 19% of newsletters are read fully. (Nielsen Norman, 2006) That’s good news and bad news for B2B email marketers, who are most likely to produce content newsletters rather than tips or pure promotions. Good news is that... - [Forrester Boot Camp: The Road Map For Email Marketing Success: An Introduction](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/forrester_boot_/): Forrester Research is organizing an email marketing boot camp on July 20th in Chicago. This Boot Camp will help marketers make their email efforts successful, focusing on when and how to use email, design best practices, create list-building strategies, and measure results. Specific exercises will teach marketers how to evaluate their email campaigns against internal... - [Email and Direct Marketing Glossary](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_and_direc/): VerticalResponse offers an extensive email and direct marketing glossary. Check it out here. - [Tap The Potential of Transactional Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tap_potential_o/): Transactional e-mails (purchase confirmations, shipping notifications, monthly statements, service notices, etc.) offer the perfect chance to provide service and sell products at the same time. Recipients are customers by definition and have often just made a purchase — the best predictor of readiness to purchase again in most industries. They anticipate, open and read transactional... - [Tips on Tackling Email Issues](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips_on_tacklin/): By Dianna Dilworth E-mail is a growing space for sales and marketing but consumers and Internet service providers are getting more discriminating. In a presentation June 21 at the DM Days New York show, Worldata corporate vice president Jay Schwedelson advised attendees on how to navigate the tough, sophisticated e-mail world. One recent Return Path... - [Spam Again On The Rise](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spam_again_on_t/): Spam is again on the rise, led by a flood of junk images that spammers have crafted over the past few months to trick e-mail filters. Called "image-based" spam, these junk images typically do not contain any text, making it harder for filters that look for known URLs or suspicious words to block them. Instead... - [MarketingSherpa's Blog Awards 2006: the winners](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa_1-2/): A big thanks to everyone who voted for my blog in MarketingSherpa’s Blog Awards! I didn’t win, but being nominated was really an honour in itself. It shows that what I’m trying to do with this blog, is being appreciated :o) These are the blogs and podcasts that were voted “Top 10 Best Blogs and... - [The Benefit of Managing Unsubscribes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_benefit_of_/): Marketers should not just view the unsubscribe as a CAN-SPAM mandate, but rather see it as an opportunity to improve marketing campaigns and let go of those recipients that just don’t want to be a client. No marketer wants to lose a potential client for any reason, but when a recipient is deleting emails without... - [Deliverability Rates for European ISPs and ESPs Outstrips U.S. Counterparts in Q1 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/deliverability_/): Press release: Lyris Technologies today announced that although the combined average rate of gross and inbox email deliverability of permission-based email marketing messages for U.S. and European ISPs and ESPs stayed constant from Q4 2005 to Q1 2006 (achieving a rate of 89 percent and 86 percent respectively), gross (i.e. overall) deliverability rates for European... - [Email Authentication: 10 Things You Need To Know](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_authentic_1/): SubscriberMail released a new white paper called "Email Authentication: 10 Things You Need To Know". It’s basically an overview to help you understand the concepts of authentication, why it’s important, and how it will shape future email marketing practices. You can download it here. - [5 Quick Tips on How to Grow Your Email List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5_quick_tips_on/): Janine Popick posted an article on her blog that contains these 5 tips to grow your email list: 1. Include a registration form on your site 2. Got an offline business? Ask for the email! 3. Do you sell online? After your customer has purchased from you, direct them to a page that hosts your... - [Testing Dynamic E-Mail Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/testing_dynamic/): Due to the complexity and number of message variants, testing for a dynamic campaign is more akin to testing software than reviewing and approving a traditional campaign. Although this can be challenging, by drawing on the foundations of solid objectives and business rules, dynamic campaigns of enormous complexity can be successfully tested without having to... - [MarketingSherpa's 3rd Annual Best Blog & Podcasts Awards: Vote Now](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa-8/): Thanks to all of you, it seems that this blog was nominated for the Best Email Marketing Blog Award :o) Until this Friday midnight you can cast your vote for your favourite marketing blogs & podcasts here. This blog is the first one in the category Email Marketing. Note: due to technical problems the deadline... - [Nielsen Norman Releases Email Newsletter Usability Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/nielsen_norman_/): Last week the Nielsen Norman Group released an updated version of their E-mail Newsletter Usability Study. It’s a must-have for anyone that is serious about "getting it right". So I purchased it and I’m reading the 544-page pdf as fast as I can. So far it’s been pretty interesting. Here’s a short summary that I... - [10 Tactics To Increase Your Email Marketing Effectiveness](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10_tactics_to_i/): How do you grow your in-house list and deliver messages that prompt sales? In this article, Ken Burke offers these 10 tactics to increase your email marketing effectiveness: 1. Give email sign-ups pride of place. 2. Integrate email sign-ups into the purchase process. 3. If you’re a multichannel merchant, use offline opportunities to drive online... - [Email Senders Need To Quit Whining](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_senders_n/): By Neil Schwartzman, Return Path I was at Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG) conference this week and, as always, it was very interesting. Most enlightening was a conversation that George Bilbrey and I had with the head anti-spammer at a large receiving site. His sighed at one point and said, "Senders need to quit whining.... - [Fundamentals Of Marketing Via Transactional Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/fundamentals_of/): In this article, Vistaprint’s Trynka Shineman explains how you can drive first-purchase conversions and increase repeat purchases through transactional emails. "Using transactional emails to cross sell and to offer benefits when the open rates are known to be high is a perfect way to get your message across, create loyalty and make the customer aware... - [What Is the Role of Email and Who Should Own it?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_is_the_rol/): In this article, Bob Hale answers the question "What is the role of email and who should own it?". This is what he says: Media should be grouped by primary objective. Because email is generally sent to elicit a response, it should be a part of the larger direct marketing program. When it’s closely tied... - [How to Grow Your Email List With Incentives](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_grow_you/): Paradise Pens uses brick-and-mortar incentives to gather email addresses. Find out how they avoid customers from opting out after receiving the first or second email. And read what they did when the names they were emailing suddenly started clicking the junk button. Read the case study here (open access until Feb. 19th). - [Image-Only HTML Emails Are Getting Blocked](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/imageonly_html_/): MailChimp’s Ben Chestnut tells the story of one of their customers whose bounce rate went through the roof on one email campaign. Why? The message was nothing but one big graphic and AOL just blocked the campaign for that reason… Read more here. - [Help Me, Help You: Take My Reader Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/help_me_help_yo/): I noticed that Return Path put up a reader survey on their blog recently and I thought: hey, what a great idea! So I decided to do the same – I even stole a couple of their questions because they were so good 🙂 Take the survey today and tell me what you think about... - [What Makes People Open and Read Email?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_makes_peop/): Return Path’s Third Annual Holiday Survey found once again that subscribers love email, they even want more email. But they don’t make time for email that isn’t relevant. What makes people open and read email? According to the survey the top factor is "prior value" – that a previous email had been interesting to them.... - [What's the Impact Of Image Rendering on Your Email Campaign?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/whats_the_impac/): Want to know the answer to these questions? 1. I already get a test message from my [designer/agency/esp/design-software] and review it before I mail. I don’t understand what all the hoopla is about — isn’t what I see what my customers will see? 2. Doesn’t my [Agency, Designer, ESP] already QA my email in the... - [Email Spending is on the Rise](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_spending_/): Seventy-one percent of marketers plan to increase spending on e-mail acquisition campaigns, and 63% plan to increase spending on e-mail retention efforts, according to results from what is being characterized as an "informal survey" of 1,500 marketing executives by Datran Media, a performance marketing company. In addition, the respondents ranked e-mail optimization techniques, including landing... - [US E-mail Marketing Consumer Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/us_email_market/): Jupiterresearch released a new report this week called "US E-mail Marketing Consumer Survey – E-mail Marketing Attitudes and Behavior". Here the executive summary and the key questions that it answers: Forty-three percent of e-mail users believe signing up for permission-based e-mail from retailers and banks leads to more unsolicited e-mail, while nearly one-third believe the... - [Survey Reveals Chronic Lack of ROI Measurement](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/survey_reveals_/): A survey of UK email marketers has found that almost half of companies are failing to track their return on investment from email. The Email Marketing Industry Census 2007, published by E-consultancy in association with Adestra, surveyed more than 500 in-house and agency respondents across different industry sectors. The overriding and most worrying finding is... - [Matt Blumberg Talks About Email Reputation - Podcast](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/matt_blumberg_t/): For his 112th podcast interview, Eric Mattson (an American marketer living in Stockholm) doubled-back to chat again with Matt Blumberg of Return Path. In the first interview last year, they chatted about feeds, email marketing mistakes and his entrepreneurial advice. This time, they delved into the realm of email reputation – what it is, why... - [Net-a-Porter Ups Conversion Rate After Cutting Email Activity](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/netaporter_ups_/): Online luxury fashion retailer Net-a-Porter.com has cut down the number of emails it sends to customers from up to 10 per week to two. The company had been emailing some customers up to 10 times a week with information including generic updates, highlights from specific designers and details of new products. They now send each... - [How ALT Text Renders in Popular Email Clients](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_alt_text_re/): Mark Wyner tested how ALT text displays in common email clients, only to find that so many of them don’t display any ALT text whatsoever. Read his findings here. - [Four Strategies to Have Great Relationships with ISPs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/four_strategies/): ISPs are trying to protect themselves from cold-hearted spammers that have threatened to break their networks and to render email useless for everyone. Good deliverability is the result of good relationships, both with your recipients and with the ISPs who deliver their mail. ISPs are telling you all the time what they think about your... - [Email by the Numbers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_by_the_nu/): In this article, Jeanne Jennings says that the success of your email campaigns is driven by strategies based on solid metrics. You should take a numbers-based approach to prove your current theories, to forecast, or to prioritize your testing focus. You’ll find results can be pretty compelling and very addictive. And they just may uncover... - [How Would You Rank Your Organization's Use of Email Marketing?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_would_you_r/): Last week, MarketingSherpa’s Anne Holland had the honor of meeting a top email vendor’s Client Advisory Board. Everyone in the room was a head of email marketing from a well known company, including B-to-B and famous consumer brands. At the start of their meeting the organizers asked each of them to introduce themselves and say... - [Actionable Insights into Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/actionable_insi/): The DMA just released the first edition of their "Actionable Insights into Email Marketing" report. Find out more here. - [Refer a Friend Benchmark Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/refer_a_friend_/): Email Experience Council’s Chad White recently reviewed several email newsletters each from 103 of the top online retailers that he tracks to see which included refer-a-friend (RAF) links in their emails. Only three did. The 3% of the sample that uses RAF stands in sharp contrast to the 44% that use send-to-a-friend (STAF) programs (according... - [Are You Having Problems Delivering Mail To AOL?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/are_you_having_/): In this article, Al Iverson talks about what causes AOL delivery problems and how to fix them.Basically, there are three primary things that cause delivery issues when sending mail to AOL: You’re not whitelisted, Your bounce handling is broken, or you’re not looking at bounces; or You’re generating too many complaints or too many bounces.... - [Study on Consumer Attitudes Toward Email and Postal Direct Mail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study_on_consum/): I found this one through Hendry Lee’s blog: Journal of Interactive Advertising has published an academic paper studying email and postal direct marketing. Here are the hypotheses drawn from this study: Consumers are likely to find spam more intrusive than direct mail. Ad intrusiveness caused by a) spam; b) postal direct mail negatively correlates with... - [Seven Ways to Be Mistaken for a Spammer](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/seven_ways_to_b/): 1. Ignoring "unsubscribe" requests. This may sound like a no-brainer, but if you don’t stay on top of your "unsubscribe" requests, you might get an unwanted surprise from a frustrated user who gets your newsletter once too often — getting dropped into the spam bucket of his or her email service. 2. List "repurposing." Recycling... - [Using Email Marketing For Customer Lifecycle Campaign Management](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using_emaiil_ma/): "Acquire. Convert. Grow. Retain. Reactivate. These should be the objectives of your email strategy at different stages of the customer lifecycle. You start out with a welcoming campaign with a new customer. You nurture them with loyalty campaigns and grow them with cross-sell and upsell campaigns. You improve the lifecycle and avoid quick drop-offs." I... - [Becoming A Member Of The EEC](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/becoming_a_memb/): There. I’ve done it. I’m now officially a member of the eec! The eec (email experience council) is a global professional organization that strives to enhance the image of email marketing and communications, while celebrating and actively advocating its critical importance in business, and its ROI value. Being a member means I now have access... - [MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Summit: Who Wants To Join Me?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa-3/): Yesterday night I registered for MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Summit in Miami on March 4-6th. If any of you will attend this event, let me know, I’d love to meet you! I still have to find a decent hotel room — preferably one that costs less than $150 and comes without bugs 😉 so if anyone... - [Looking For Ideas For Your Valentine Email Campaigns?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/looking_for_ide/): If you want to see what email campaigns other companies are sending out to drive traffic to their Valentine offerings, I highly recommend visiting the Email Newsletter archive. Thanks to Ben at MailChimp to pointing me to this resource! - [The Deliverability State of the Union Webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_deliverabil/): A free, one-hour webinar from Epsilon When: Tuesday, February 13, 2007 Time: 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM EST, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM PST Register here From default image suppression, to the launch of feedback loops and third party accreditation programs, last year was an especially pivotal one for the rapidly evolving email delivery landscape. ... - [How Much Is An Email Address Worth To Your Business?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_much_is_an_/): by David Baker On the surface of it, measuring the value of email marketing is simple: 1,000 emails go out, 995 were delivered, 300 unique people viewed the message in HTML, 100 clicked on one of more links, and 30 purchased something. Anyone can make sense of this logic. Thus, based on a causal relationship... - [The Effect of Typeface on the Perception of Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_effect_of_t/): The results from this study suggest there is a relationship between typeface selection and the reader’s perception of an email. - [Five Factors That Can Make Or Break The Effectiveness Of Your Email Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five_factors_th/): In this article, Jeanne Jennings looks at five factors (apart from subject line and sender) that can make or break your message’s effectiveness when images are blocked. 1. Visible headlines Headlines can make or break an e-mail. They can engage readers immediately or send them to the next message. Format headlines in rich text rather... - [Six Ways To Improve Your Email List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/six_ways_to_imp/): Email deliverability begins and ends with the quality of your list. ISPs are on the lookout for signs that your list is not so good– namely, too many bounces from outdated addresses and spam complaints from wary recipients. Both of these red flags are avoidable– if you follow permission-marketing best practices. The first tenet of... - [New Email Testing Service](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new_email_testi/): SiteVista recently launched a new email testing service that will help you to be sure your emails appear correctly. The tool is very similar to Browsercam in that it will let you see rendered versions of your message as it would appear in AOL, Gmail, Hotmail and Outlook. They will be adding other email clients... - [How Dice Reached a Consistent Delivery Rate of 95%](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_dice_reache/): When considering how important deliverability is to an email marketer’s overall success, the adage "Showing up is half the battle" comes to mind. Simply put, you cannot take your delivery rate for granted because each ISP has its own rules when it comes to bounces. In fact, according to data from MarketingSherpa’s latest Email Marketing... - [MarketingSherpa Seeks Nominations for Email Marketing Awards](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa-4/): MarketingSherpa is seeking nominations for its second annual Email Marketing Awards.  Ten entry categories include: best email newsletter, best email solo blast promotion, best triggered campaign, best opt-in (list growth) campaign, and best business-to-business email marketing.  The deadline for entries is February 16. Get $50 off the regular entry fee with code EA33. Winners will... - [4 Steps to Better Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/4_steps_to_bett/): In this article, Silverpop’s Bill Nussey offers some tactics and strategies to move your email marketing campaigns from marketer-centric messaging to customer-centric messaging. Get started with web analytics integration Enabling a two-way flow of actionable information between your email and website analytics applications will allow you to target and trigger email campaigns based on website... - [Join The Email Marketing Roundtable Discussion Group](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join_the_email_/): If you’re a marketer and are looking for a resource to network with other email marketers and learn about best practices, the Email Marketing Roundtable is definitely the place to be! It’s a a nonprofit group where online marketers and e-commerce specialists can meet and talk about what works and what doesn’t in the day-to-day... - [How Does Sender ID Framework Work?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_does_sender/): 1. Sender sends an e-mail to Receiver. 2. Receiver’s inbound e-mail server receives e-mail and calls its Sender ID Framework. 3. The Sender ID Framework looks up the SPF record of the domain that Sender is using for sending the mail. 4. The receiving Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) determines if the outbound Mail Server IP... - [ISPs Are Increasingly Aggressive About Bounce Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/isps_are_increa/): Spam is back with a vengeance and the effect on ISPs and other email access providers is substantial, requiring ever-growing resources just to avoid drowning in the flood. In response, ISPs are doing what they’ve always done: tightening delivery requirements. The good news for email marketers is the use of image spam and extreme variations... - [Email List Prices Continue To Slide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_list_pric/): Email list pricing for both b-to-b and consumer lists continue to decrease, according to list manager Worldata in its Worldata List Price Index. B-to-b permission-based email lists commanded an average price of $273/M this month, a 1.4% decrease compared with January 2006. Worldata said the decreased pricing in the b-to-b email category reflects growth in... - [CSS Support In Windows Live Mail and Yahoo Mail Beta](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/css_support_in_/): CampaignMonitor’s Mark Wyner tested CSS support in two new webmail clients: Yahoo Mail Beta and Windows Live Mail. The results are a nice blend of excellence and incompetence: Yahoo is leading the way with their support of CSS and web standards, while Microsoft has once again proven they are falling behind. Read all about CSS... - [Only Two Out Of Five Marketers Know Their Email Acquisition Cost](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/only_two_out_of/): by Austin Bliss and Stephanie Miller A new survey from the Email Experience Council’s List Growth & Engagement Roundtable shows that only two out of five marketers know their cost to acquire an email address. Every marketer today — especially those managing online programs — is under pressure to show ROI and contribution to the... - [Return Path Releases Third Annual Holiday Email Consumer Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/return_path_rel/): Return Path has just released their Third Annual Holiday Email Consumer Survey. For the third year in a row, consumers say that they love the kind of email that helps them shop, gives them new ideas and comes when it was promised (and not more often). The good news is that nearly all respondents selected... - [Spammers Are Now Mimicking Newsletters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spammers_are_no/): Today I received a phishing email disguised as an eBay promotion. If it hadn’t arrived in a mailbox that I never used to sign up for eBay (that was clue #1), I would definitely have fallen for their trap. Even though I have been reading about this type of spam/phishing emails in the last couple... - [How To Build And Send Multipart MIME Messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_build_an/): In this article Melinda Krueger explains how to build and send Multipart MIME messages. A multipart MIME message is like a package with multiple boxes within it. In your standard HTML + text message, both types of content are sent in the email. Your email client, assuming it understands MIME format, will decide which of... - [All About Email Open Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/all_about_email/): In this article Campaign Monitors’ Matthew Patterson explains what open rates are all about. Basically an open rate is a measure of how many people on an email list open (or view) a particular email campaign. The open rate is normally expressed as a percentage, and is usually calculated as follows: Total emails opened divided... - [Best Practices In Data Capture](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best_practices_/): As the first article in a series of in-depth best practice articles, Spencer Kollas discusses the first thing you have to do to be successful in email marketing: capture data. Starting with data capture is fitting, as it sets the stage for future deliverability. The way in which you capture your customers’ data is critical.... - [Join the Spamhaus Policy Block List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join_the_spamha/): By Neil Schwartzman Many senders wonder what action steps they can take to help in the fight against spam. Well, Spamhaus launched a new Policy Block List that is intended to be a compendium of legitimate IP addresses. Want to help the global fight on zombies and botnets? Join the list. The Spamhaus PBL is... - [Marketers Not Integrating Email: Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketers_not_i/): Email marketing still apparently has a long way to go in terms of integration and analysis. Sixty-five percent of marketers surveyed said they don’t integrate email with their other sales channels,according to a survey released last week by marketing software provider Alterian. Most respondents said that the biggest obstacle to integration is that online and... - [How Top Retailers Use Transactional Email: Revenue Boosting Tactics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_top_retaile/): To determine how top online retailers use transactional emails, Silverpop studied the messages sent to recipients immediately following an online purchase. Findings from the report, titled "How Top Retailers Use Transactional Emails," reveal how some companies capitalize on using this targeted marketing channel to cross-sell and up-sell relevant products to customers, while others fail to... - [Every Email You Send Is a Customer Service Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/every_email_you/): If you do business online, there are times when you send your customers, prospects and subscribers an email or two. The emails you send tend to fall within one of three categories. 1. Promotional emails with which you attempt to make a sale. 2. Acknowledgement emails which are sent out automatically in response to some... - [Monitor and Request Feedback to Boost Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/monitor_and_req/): In this article, Stefan Pollard explains how bad feedback management can affect email deliverability. He also says not to stop with just processing comments, complaints, and questions that arrive in response to a mailing, purchase, or some other interaction. You should also be out in front of your subscribers or customers, soliciting comments with regular... - [E-Dialog and Return Path get friendly with European ISPs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/edialog_and_ret/): As its British office grows, email marketing services firm e-Dialog has extended its partnership with Return Path Inc. to provide Internet service provider relations and deliverability services to clients in Europe, the Middle East and African countries. E-Dialog will work with Return Path to help marketers navigate the increasing complexity of e-mail delivery assurance in... - [Segmentation And Personalization - webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/segmentation_an-2/): With the growth of your email lists comes the need to create more manageable sub-lists of targeted recipients. By discovering some common themes amongst your contacts, you will be able to make your messaging more relevant and you will attain higher quality leads. Join eROI sales manager Alex Williams as he explores five techniques for... - [The 2007 Email Rendering Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_2007_email_/): The eec’s just released their 2007 Rendering Report. The report includes creative examples from Sears, Disney, Citibank and more, as well as trends, statistics and secrets to rendering success. Executive summary: Today’s current email landscape is tricky. Images and links in emails are often stripped out due to email reader restrictions, reputation scores, or coding... - [B2B Email Marketing Tactics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/b2b_email_marke/): In this article, Denise Zimmerman explains how B2B marketers can apply B2C email marketing techniques for success. According to Forrester’s Q2 2006 Business-to-Business Marketing Effectiveness Survey, email ranks third as a marketing tactic used by B2B marketers– right behind public relations and ahead of direct mail. There is clearly a strong move from B2B marketers... - [Comparing Spam Tactics To Email Marketing Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/comparing_spam_/): Spammers have grown more sophisticated, just like permission email marketers, and have incorporated many new tricks into their dark bag of tricks. Spam has also taken on new appearances and ambitions.  In this article, Simms Jenkins analyzes a week’s worth of spam to see what spammers are up to, and compare their tactics to best... - [7 Email Strategies for 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/7_email_strateg/): SubscriberMail has outlined seven initiatives they believe are essential for continued email marketing success in 2007. To read them, click here to download the white paper "7 Email Strategies for 2007". - [Your Email Program May Be Costing You More Than You Think](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your_email_prog/): by Justin Foster, WhatCounts’ VP of Professional Services We all know there are costs associated with doing business. Yet, have you considered the costs associated with doing business ineffectively? If you think email marketing is inexpensive, take a look at the following five costs and consider the potential impact on the bottom line when you... - [Your 10-point Email Check-Up Plan](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your_10point_em/): How do your email program perform according to these essential diagnostics? 1. Test your opt-in process to make sure it works and to see how it functions from the user’s reference point. 2. Have a human monitor all incoming mailboxes. 3. Review message content, design and performance across platforms and email clients. 4. Optimize both... - [Redesign Your Email Templates For Shorter And Narrower Preview Panes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/emaillabs_says_/): EmailLabs says it’s time for B2C marketers to throw out their old templates and replace them with longer, narrower versions. The betas of both Yahoo’s and Microsoft’s online e-mail clients enable the preview pane by default but these spaces are much smaller than what consumers were hitherto used to. Hence, e-mailers are advised to put... - [Lousy Support For HTML And CSS In Outlook 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/lousy_support_f/): Microsoft had published a pair of articles describing the support for HTML and CSS in Outlook 2007, and the news wasn’t good: "Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 uses the HTML parsing and rendering engine from Microsoft Office Word 2007 to display HTML message bodies. The same HTML and cascading style sheets (CSS) support available in Word... - [Marketing Wisdom for 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketing_wisdo/): MarketingSherpa’s fifth annual edition of their "Wisdom" report features stories and lessons learned from 110 marketers and agencies. You’ll find: Email campaign segmentation tests and results Blogging, podcasting and mobile marketing tips Search marketing tactics and offline advertising Web site design and social networking done right Download it here.   - [Email Predictions for 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_predictio/): According to Return Path’s Matt Blumberg these will be the top 5 trends to watch in 2007: More spam is on its way: The huge increase in the amount of spam being sent has had some serious implications for ISPs and other receivers as they grapple with the increased traffic on their networks. So far,... - [Which Email Tests Work Best?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/which_email_tes/): In November MarketingSherpa’s research team conducted the largest-ever survey of email marketers in the world. One of their critical questions was: Which creative email tests give the best ROI (return on investment)? Chart: Email Tests – B-to-C Marketers Evaluate ROI Source: MarketingSherpa, Email Marketing Benchmark Survey, November 2006 They chose the six most-common creative tests... - [Merge Web Analytics With Email Marketing Metrics (podcast)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/merge_web_analy/): Email marketing is about information. The more you know about your customers and prospects, the more you can improve response rates, lifetime loyalty and revenue from your email programs. Click-stream data and Web analytics can provide marketers with detailed, actionable information to dramatically improve ROI. If you want to generate 9 times more revenue and... - [1 in 3 UK Companies Are Breaking Email Privacy Laws](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/1_in_3_uk_compa/): A study carried out by data and marketing company CDMS has revealed that 31% of UK companies are not complying with the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, more than two years after it became UK law in December 2003. The European legislation which governs emails with private individuals, demands that companies only send... - [Unleash the Potential of Transactional Email Messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/unleash_the_pot/): A lot of companies are still missing out on important opportunities for additional sales and relationship building through transactional email messages. Some are even undermining well-executed email marketing strategies by allowing these highly anticipated and widely read messages to come out of separate corporate IT or e-commerce systems. So how can you avoid missing out... - [Three Easy Resolutions for Email Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three_easy_reso/): Here’s another great blog post by Return Path’s Stephanie Miller. This time she tells us which three resolutions email marketers can make and easily keep. These resolutions will help you reach more subscribers more effectively, drive higher response and earn new revenue: Sign up for your own program. It makes it easier to evaluate how... - [Christmas 2006: Email Related Seasonal Trends](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/christmas_2006_/): In a post titled "Season Finale: Christmas", Chad White offers a look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing during the Christmas season in the US. Chad’s blog is dedicated to tracking the email marketing campaigns of the largest US etailers. As the strategic retail partner of Email Experience Council, his blog... - [Tips & Tricks to Increase Your Email Marketing ROI in 2007 - Webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips_tricks_to_/): On January 17th Lyris and Direct Magazine are hosting a webinar called "Email Marketing Playbook: Tips and Tricks to Increase Your Email Marketing ROI in ’07". In this one-hour webinar, Dave Dabbah and Ken Magill will discuss the tactics and strategies you should be sure to start including in your 2007 email campaigns — and... - [Content From Your Readers' Perspective](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/content_from_yo/): A strong approach to forging any relationship is to put yourself in the other person’s shoes, and consider things from their perspective. Let’s break down your subscribers’ experience into their two main choices, and then provide the best practices on guiding them toward the best decisions: 1. Should I read this email, delete it, or... - [What's The Best Email Contact Strategy For Retail?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/whats_the_best_/): I just came across an interesting post on Kevin Hillstrom’s blog. This is his dilemma: You are the marketer at a multichannel retailer. You decide to survey your customers about your email practices, because pundits suggest that customers are now in control over your marketing activities. Your customers surprise you. Instead of the one email... - [Email Marketing Benchmarks - Key Trends for 2007 - Webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing_1/): Vertical Response is hosting a webinar based on the new edition of MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2007 on January 16th at 11am PST (8pm CET). The webinar will be presented by MarketingSherpa’s Anne Holland and Stefan Tornquist. You’ll learn: Surprising new open and clickthrough benchmark data How to redesign your email newsletter and sales... - [Email Marketing Benchmark Data for 2007: Download Presentation Handouts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing-2/): For those of you who didn’t make it to their live conference call last month on Email Marketing Benchmark Data for 2007, MarketingSherpa now offer a download of their recorded MP3 audio file (8MB) and the 16-page PowerPoint presentation PDF, including eight new data charts and an eyetracking heatmap. Highlights include: What email tests work... - [UK Email Marketers Now Have To Include A Valid Company Address In Email Footers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk_email_market/): Janine Popick reports on her blog that the UK has updated  the Companies Act 1985 to the Companies Act 2006 and has some additional requirements for email and websites. All companies that send email from the UK need to put their registered address in the footer (instead of just a valid company address) along with... - [Email Rendering All the Rage These Days](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_rendering/): by Jeanniey Mullen (Partner-Senior Director of E-mail Marketing at OgilvyOne worldwide, New York) Email rendering is all the rage these days and the latest battlefront in the deliverability wars. And it doesn’t look like this issue is going away in 2007. Thanks to the help of some of our experts at the EEC, we wanted... - [The Best And Worst Of Email Marketing in 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_best_and_wo/): Forrester applied its Email Marketing Review methodology to 63 email programs from the business products and services, consumer goods, financial services, media, retail, and travel industries. They published the results in their new report "The Best And Worst Of Email Marketing in 2006". Only one email program scored a passing grade. The main problem areas... - [Authentication Summit 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/authentication_-2/): On 18 and 19 April the Authentication Summit 2007 takes place in Boston. It’s a two-day intensive program focused on online authentication, identity and reputation.  Summit 2007 builds upon the success of the past two Summits, with several enhancements including expanding the event to 2 full days, and three tracks, highlighting best practices in email,... - [The Seven Best Ways to Boost Deliverability in 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_seven_best_/): If your delivery rates have fallen into the basement, it can be next to impossible to find out which e-mail crime you committed. Most likely, it was a host of offenses, including buying or renting dirty mailing lists and ignoring spam complaints. Don’t know where to start to identity your greatest deliverability inhibitors? Check out... - [The New Era of Email Marketing - Webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_new_era_of_/): StrongMail Systems is hosting a webinar called "The New Era of Email Marketing – Key Strategies for protecting your company’s brand and reputation" on January 18a at 2pm GMT The webinar will focus on email authentication and the factors that drive sender reputation, brand perception and deliverability. Attendees will be provided with step-by-step strategies for... - [20 Questions to Ask When Evaluating an Email Marketing Agency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/20_questions_to/): Paula Skaper is frequently asked what makes a good email marketing agency – and how to separate the good from the mediocre. While it’s true that anyone who has a basic understanding of HTML can code an email message, it takes a real specialist to create a message that works equally well in the 35+... - [Best Wishes for 2007!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best_wishes_for/): I wish you and your beloved ones a happy, healthy, peaceful and productive new year! May all your dreams and wishes come true! - [ESPs and Deliverability: What They Can Do, What They Can't Do](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/esps_and_delive/): Return Path‘s Ken Takahashi is often asked by email marketers which ESP is the best at deliverability. The good news: when it comes to infrastructure and the basic technological and authentication set ups that ISPs are looking for, all the major vendors in the United States do just fine. Additionally many top-tier vendors have ISP... - [Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Email Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top_ten_things_/): On January 11th the DMA is hosting a virtual seminar on the topic of email deliverability: Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Email Deliverability Thursday, January 11, 2007 | 1:00 P.M. – 2:00 P.M. EDT Speaker: Jordan Ayan, Chairman, Create-It! Inc. and CEO of SubscriberMail Description: This fast-moving one hour virtual seminar will... - [15 Most Popular Blog Posts in 2006](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/15_most_popular/): I had a look at my stats for 2006 and it seems that these are the posts that you enjoyed reading most this year: Tips For Your Goodbye Email Guide for Creating HTML Emails: Technical and Design Best Practices The Best Christmas Emails Of 2005 20 HTML Email Design Tips 10 Reasons your Agency Should... - [Study: Analytics Top Email Marketer Concerns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study_analytics/): A lack of customer data and difficulty with analyzing campaign results are the top hurdles facing email marketers, according to a recent Jupiter Research study commissioned by email service provider Silverpop. The study polled 422 email marketers, both on the ad agency and client sides. When asked what their greatest challenges in conducting email marketing... - [Lifecycle Marketing: A Simplified Approach](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/lifecycle_marke/): Despite the fact that JupiterResearch data indicates lifecycle email marketing campaigns generate as much as nine times greater results than other types, few email marketers are taking advantage of this customer-oriented strategy based on the idea of delivering the right message at the right time. Many marketers are confused about where to begin and are... - [Reports Find Good News for Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/reports_find_go/): Two separate studies on the effectiveness of email communications have found that recipients generally find email from businesses useful, but that a higher level of targeting is still needed. The first, conducted by Harris Interactive for digital marketing firm Acxiom Digital, has found that three in four online adults value email from companies they frequently... - [Using Email to Maximize Hotel Service and Up-Selling](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using_email_to_/): As online hotel bookings increase, many hotel marketers are overlooking the customer service and up-sell potential of pre-arrival guest email. This Jupiter report answers the following key questions: How desirable is pre-arrival hotel email to online hotel guests? What information are online hotel guests seeking in pre-arrival email? To what extent should hotels offer information... - [Average Open, Click, Bounce and Abuse Complaint Rates by Industry](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/average_open_cl/): Mailchimp scanned over 30 million emails delivered by their system and calculated average open rates, average click rates, average soft bounces, average hard bounces, and average abuse complaint rate by industry. How do your email campaign stats compare? Check it out here. - [Some Email Marketing Myths and Facts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some_email_mark/): Dylan Boyd posted some more notes from the Email Insider Summit: Myth: Subject line testing requires 1000’s of subscribers per test cell and several days to get stastically significant results. Fact: Active "clickers" are VERY sensitive to subject lines. Email aficionados tend to check email often and provide insights quickly. Using very small samples of... - [Case Studies on Segmentation Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/case_studies_on/): Dylan Boyd posted his notes from a session on segmentation practices at the Email Insider Summit that was held earlier this month. In this session Michele Souder (General Mills), Betsy Alperstein (General Growth Properties – Large Retail Malls) and Mark Braitsky (Peterson’s) discussed how they deal with the following challenges: Capturing the Data Accesing and... - [MarketingSherpa's Annual Email Marketing Stats (teleconference)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa_1/): On December 19th MarketingSherpa will host their annual email stats teleconference. By attending you’ll find out what 3,637 email marketers revealed about open, click, conversion rates, list growth and budgeting. Plus, you’ll receive a PowerPoint Presentation PDF featuring 8 new data charts & tables plus Eyetracking Heatmap that you can share with your colleagues. Click... - [Improve Email Deliverability: 15 Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/improve_email_d/): According to MarketingSherpa, one out of every six people who asked to be on your mailing list won’t receive your email newsletter or marketing message because a spam filter blocks it by mistake. Your emails fail to reach your subscribers for three basic reasons. Either the email is blocked by the subscriber’s ISP or enterprise... - [Hiring a Creative Agency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/hiring_a_creati/): This is not really an email marketing specific article, but I found it very useful so I’d like to share it with you: Selecting a creative agency – or, more to the point, the right agency – is a crucial decision for any company. Choosing wisely will lead to visible, positive results for your company.... - [Is Email Marketing Dead? Matt Blumberg doesn't think so](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is_email_market/): By Matt Blumberg Here we go again: another obituary for email marketing. This time it comes from, of all people, speakers at the Email Insider Summit. According to a MediaPost article, several executives feel that email marketing is on the decline, mainly because of the spam issue. Consumers and businesspeople are fed up with so... - [Email and Webmail Stats](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_and_webma/): Mark Brownlow posted some stats on general email usage and particularly the market share of the big webmail services. With links to all the data sources for those who want to explore further. The main point to come out is that Google’s Gmail gets a bigger share of press coverage than its actual user base... - [It's Time To Prepare Your 2007 Email Marketing Calendar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_create_a/): Back in July, Karen Gedney wrote this article in which she discussed the need for an email calendar. Most of us are already planning our 2007 campaigns, so I thought it was a good idea to post about this now. So here are a couple of things to consider: Consider the seasonal nature of your... - [Everything You Didn't Want To Have To Know About Spam](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/everything_you_/): Spamlinks.net is a pretty comprehensive anti-spam portal that contains everything you didn’t want to have to know about spam. It’s all there… - [8 Tips and 5 Strategies for Using Animation in Your Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/8_tips_and_5_st/): In this article, Chad White offers some great tips for those who want to include animation in their emails: 1.  Use animated gifs instead of Flash because of email client, support and rendering issues. 2.  Animation is a more attractive tool if most of your subscribers have broadband Internet access. 3.  Keep image file sizes... - [links for 2007-06-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_1/): E-mail Strategy: Effective Ways to Select an E-Mail Marketing Vendor : Gail Kalinoski : Catalog Success Dfinitive – Dfinitive, the best websites, definitively directory site, a search engine and a book-marking site, with a twist. Uses a mix of editors, experts from each category, and social editing to produce a list of the very best,... - [Going Global With Your Email Program](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/going_global_wi/): At the last Email Insider Summit I was invited to sit on a panel to discuss what it takes to go global with your email program. The short answer is: it takes a lot of planning, extra time and budget and preferably local resources. At my previous company, my team was responsible for sending out... - [Always Consider the Human Element](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/always_consider/): In this article, Stefan Pollard tells us to always review our messages to make sure they’re immediately recognizable by the recipient: Use a recognizable sender line. The sender line or from name can make or break you in the inbox. Readers look for familiar identities; if they don’t recognize you, they’ll delete and possibly report... - [The Eight R's for Email Marketing Success](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_eight_rs_fo/): In this article, Loren McDonald tells us to put the R’s of email marketing to work, and you’ll make your email marketing program more strategic, results-oriented and effective: These are his eight R’s for e-mail marketing success. Requested A successful e-mail program starts with a list of subscribers who ask to hear from you. Make... - [Are You Removing Good Addresses From Your List?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/are_you_removin/): I am slowly catching up on my reading and found this interesting article about soft and hard bounces hidden deep down in my to read list. In this article, Derek Harding tells us to put aside convenient yet misleading concepts like hard/soft bounces and look beyond to the untidy reality that is email delivery. Your... - [How to Get More Email Marketing Resources: Learn to Talk the Bosses' Language](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_get_more/): Speaking the language of business, the only language your boss understands, is the key to getting the email-marketing resources you need. So how do you do that? In this article, Loren McDonald gives us a three-step process for talking business with the boss. In short you need to: Clarify the one strategic thing email does... - [MAAWG Best Practices: Top Six Areas to Focus On](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/maawg_best_prac/): You and your team should definitely take the time to review the new MAAWG Sender Communication Best Practices document and discuss how you can implement the practices. But because he understands it can be hard to find the time to do this, George Bilbrey listed the below top six areas to focus on in this... - [Animation in Retail Emails Study: Executive Summary](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/animation_in_re/): Animation can be deployed for a wide variety of purposes in emails and if properly used can entertain, inform and inspire subscribers in ways that static images and text cannot. “Animation in emails began more than seven years ago. Initially, it drove attention and traffic because of the unique aspects and novelty. Animation offered something... - [Practical Email Marketing Tips for Hoteliers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/practical_email/): In this post on the Milestone blog, the author offers hoteliers with some practical tips for conducting effective email marketing campaigns that maximize their return on investment. - [links for 2007-06-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070/): Survey: Segmented e-mails are key drivers for online sales Subscriber Engagement: What Matters? Renting a list? 5 tips to do it right… eenoe.com – shared business knowledge E-mail Marketing: Three Keys to Getting Your E-mails Opened and Read : Catalog Success Understanding Attrition - [Double or Single Opt-in?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/double_or_singl/): by Kath Pay In the USA, Double opt-in has been regarded now as Best Practice for many a year. However, many of you may be surprised to know that double opt-in is not a CAN-SPAM requirement, nor is it a requirement of countries which have the tightest legislations. So why then double opt-in? What are... - [DomainKeys Identified Email Becomes Standard](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/domainkeys_iden/): The Internet Engineering Task Force has approved DomainKeys Identified Email (commonly known as DKIM) as a technical standard for email. This clears the way for emailers to implement DKIM and for ISPs to potentially use it to either block or allow email through its system. This means that DKIM will eventually become the replacement to... - [Email Deliverability: What's It All About?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_deliverab/): Mark Brownlow wrote a very comprehensive article that explains what deliverability is all about. So if you have no clue why your emails are not arriving in your recipient’s mailboxes, read the article and find out why. - [Windows Live Mail drops a little more CSS support](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/windows_live_ma/): The folks over at Campaign Monitor re-tested some of the major web-based email clients. They found out that Windows Live Mail no longer supports styling links with CSS. Download a PDF summary of their findings here. I recently found out that the only way I can get Windows Live Mail to underline my links is... - [5 Steps For Creating Simple Tests That Improve Email Marketing Results](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5_steps_for_cre/): What if you could make a slight change to one of your emails and get a 20 percent lift in opens or a 10 percent increase in sales? You would do it in an instant. But how do you know what element to change? That’s where testing comes in. Email marketing makes it easy to... - [Reputation, Not Content, is Key to Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/reputation_not_/): What you put into your email marketing messages may not be as important as you once thought — at least in terms of deliverability. According to Lyris Technologies’ EmailAdvisor ISP Delivery Report Card Q1 2007, reputation is the No. 1 factor that ISPs use when processing your emails. “We’re seeing that delivery is still clearly... - [Acquire an Eye for Email Design - Webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/acquiree_an_eye/): On June 21st, Eyetools Inc. CEO and founder, Greg Edwards will join eROI’s Dylan Boyd to speak to about best practices in email design. Learn the ‘What to dos’ and the ‘What not to dos’ from these seasoned industry professionals. They’ll be looking at some before and after case studies to explore the difference even... - [Finally! My Email Insider Notes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/finally_my_emai/): I finally managed to type out all my notes of the Email Insider Summit! 🙂 I know you’ve been waiting for this for quite a while so I’ve done my best to type them out as detailed as possible. You can download all 8 pages here (pdf). For those of you who don’t like to... - [5 Tips for Designing the Ultimate Landing Page](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5_tips_for_desi/): In this post on the Copyblogger blog, Roberta Rosenberg give 5 tips for designing a landing page. The web is a strongly visual medium, she says. Good design helps support the content, leading the visitor’s eye from here to there and directing them through your message layer by layer, step by step. This is especially... - [MAAWG's New Set of Best Communication Practices for Bulk Senders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/maawgs_new_set_/): The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group’s (MAAWG) new set of best communication practices for bulk senders is a great resource to help you ratchet up your email message delivery. It covers just about every issue that crops up between senders and ISPs and explains clearly what needs to be done to achieve higher deliverability. MAAWG, an... - [AOL disables images in AOL.com & AIM.com](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/aol_disables_im/): On May 22nd AOL officially introduced and rolled-out a new interface for customers who access their email using AOL.com & AIM.com. In addition to a number of other changes to the interface, AOL has decided to disable images in both of these web based email clients. As a reminder, images have always been OFF by... - [W3C HTML in Email Workshop: draft agenda](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/w3c_html_in_ema/): Here’s a draft agenda for W3C’s HTML in Email Workshop on May 24th in Paris. 09:00am  welcome09:30am  introduction by Workshop Chair10:00am  E-mail vs. Web – A Tactical + Technical Design Paradox (Jim Kelley, Sarah Davies, e-Dialog)10:45am  Web standards: a must for html email (Mark Wyner, Mark Wyner Design)11:30am  break11:40am  Email security and client development (Chris... - [Forrester's Email Marketing Review Methodology 3.0](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/forresters_emai/): Forrester updated their email marketing review methodology and published it in a new trend report titled "How to Humanize Email Marketing". The email marketing review methodology helps marketers to evaluate the attributes and content of their email campaigns, and the effectiveness of their email program. The revisions they made in this new version focus on... - [HTML Rendering in Outlook 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html_rendering_/): BlueHornet released a whitepaper that explaines how to code and design your HTML emails so that they render as intended in Outlook 2007 and other email clients such as Outlook 2003, AOL Webmail, Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail and Live Hotmail. The whitepaper identifies 10 key rendering issues that email marketers and designers should be aware of... - [How to Create a Strong Call to Action](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/hot_to_create_a/): In this article, Stefan Pollard explains how to create a strong call-to-action (CTA). Basically, in an email message, the call to action has three elements: the action you want the reader to take, the words you use to issue the call, and its physical appearance (text, image, location). Read the full article and discover a... - [Email Insider Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_insider_s/): Today is day 2 of the Email Insider Summit in Florida. So far it’s been absolutely fantastic! The sessions yesterday were extremely interesting, the speakers are well-chosen (well done Stephanie!), the networking is great and the location is fabulous 🙂 Compared to an email summit I attended last March, this one is a completely different... - [DMA Email Marketing Conference, June 14, London](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma_email_marke/): The UK DMA is organizing its next Email Marketing Conference on June 14th in London. The main topics that will be covered are: the future of email marketing legal and other regulatory requirements collecting and managing data deliverability tactics metrics for measurement and reporting View the agenda here (pdf). - [Improving Email Deliverability into Windows Live Hotmail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/improving_email/): Microsoft’s document recently titled “Improving E-mail Deliverability into MSN Hotmail and Windows Live Mail” has been updated to reflect some of the recent changes within Windows Live Hotmail. Download the document “Improving E-mail Deliverability into Windows Live Hotmail” here. - [Great Example of a "Re-Introduction" Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/great_example_o/): Ben Chestnut answers this question on his blog: "I have a list of 9,000 customer email addresses. I haven’t emailed them in a while, and now I’m ready to start sending them email newsletters. How can I do this without getting blacklisted, or angering my customers?" Read here what Ben advises you to do and... - [Tips for Lowering Your Opt-Out Rate](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips_for_loweri/): It’s not uncommon to receive opt-outs every time you send out a marketing message -the industry average hovers around 2.1%- but there are things you can do to bring your opt-out rate down. In this article Stefan Pollard and Janine Popick address some common marketer mistakes that result in subscribers opting-out. - [Email Marketing 2007: Research Results, Analysis and Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketing/): In a webinar called "Email Marketing 2007: Research Results, Analysis and Best Practices", Epsilon will share newly released findings from their study of consumer attitudes and behaviors toward email and spam. Topics that will be covered are: How consumers say email marketing impacts their purchasing and their relationships with ISPs Why most email users report... - [RFP Template for Email Vendor Selection](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/rfp_template_fo/): E-consultancy produced a couple of RFP templates, including an Email Marketing Request for Proposal template. - [My Next Two Speaking Gigs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my_next_two_spe/): It looks like I’ll be travelling again soon. I’ve accepted to sit on a panel together with IBM’s Syd Jones and Ogilvy’s Skip Fidura on the last day of the Email Insider Summit. We will be discussing how to go global with your email program. A couple of days later (on May 15th) I will... - [How to Reach The Inbox (Webinar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_reach_th/): Want to hear Craig Spiezle, director of online safety strategies and technologies for Microsoft Corp, speak about email deliverability? Then sign up for the "Reaching Your Prospect’s Inbox" webinar. - [Another Recap of the Authentication & Online Trust Association Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/another_recap_o/): If you’re interested in finding out how AOL’s, Comcast’s and Microsoft’s spam filtering works, then you should read this recap of the AOTA Summit over on the eec website. - [Authentication and Reputation Go Hand in Hand](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/authentication__1/): According to Stefan Pollard, last week’s Authentication and Online Trust Alliance Summit in Boston clearly showed authentication is an integral tool in the fight against spam and e-mail fraud — and is being widely adopted by senders and receivers alike. The summit also made clear that authentication alone is not enough. You must have a... - [Email Insider Summit, May 9-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_insider_s-2/): As Justin Foster writes on his blog: "It’s cool. It’s new. It’s hip. It’s in Florida. I’m convinced it may be the most neat-o skaleet-o thing to happen to the world of email marketing since the invention of the open tracking pixel.  OK, well, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but not by... - [Authentication Summit Notes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/authentication_/): MarketingSherpa posted their Top 13 Takeaways + Image-Rendering Tips from last week’s Authentication and Online Trust Alliance summit. - [Three Simple Ways to Get Subscribers More Engaged](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three_simple_wa/): In this blog post, Margaret Farmakis offers these three tips to get your subscribers more engaged: Give them a choice. One size doesn’t fit all, so provide meaningful options at sign up. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to create more emails. If you are sending weekly now, you might do better to make them... - [Microsoft Is Severely Throttling New IPs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/microsoft_is_se/): Microsoft last week verified it is significantly throttling the volume of e-mail it will allow to come into its Hotmail accounts from new IP addresses. “If we’ve never seen mail from you before, we’re going to limit the amount mail sent to us,” said Craig Spiezle, director of online safety at Microsoft Corp. “The message... - [Windows Live Hotmail Unsubscribe Function](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/windows_live_ho/): Microsoft last August answered e-mail marketers’ calls to include an unsubscribe button in its interface so consumers will be less likely to mistakenly report permission-based commercial e-mail as spam. The unsubscribe link appears in place of the report-and-delete button on some e-mails in Windows Live Hotmail, the free e-mail service replacing classic Hotmail. To get... - [Email Erroneously Viewed as Cheap, Fast, Easy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_erroneous/): Are you allocating the right amount of resources to the high-ROI email channel? Is there a core group of email gurus knowledgeable and skilled enough to implement commonly accepted best practices in your company? Then you’re probably one of the lucky few! In this article, Loren McDonald asks the question: "If marketers overwhelmingly consider email... - [Bounce Management Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/bounce_manageme/): In part four of his "how-to" series, Spencer Kollas takes a look at bounce management best practices. Bounce management is the process of taking the correct action on the error/failure codes that you receive from ISPs and other domains after sending out your email. Why should you care? First of all proper bounce management provides... - [Podcast with Jeanniey Mullen](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/podcast_with_je/): At the MarketingSherpa Email Summit back in March, Denise Cox interviewed Jeanniey Mullen, co-founder of the Email Experience Council. They talked about the formation of the eec and discussed the need for standardization of metrics in the industry. Listen to the podcast here. - [Example of a Great Welcome Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/example_of_a_gr/): Found this on the ReturnOnSubscriber blog: After signing up for an email list, you need to send the new subscriber some type of thank you message while you are fresh in their minds. This email from Wal-Mart does a great job of stating value, frequency, and messaging options in their welcome email. The "how to... - [Some Practical Advice to Improve Your Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some_practical_/): There are various aspects that are paramount to excellent deliverability rates. In this article, Kirill Popov takes a look at these aspects and gives some practical advice to improve your deliverability in-house: 1. Get authenticated 2. Improve ISP relationships 3. Outsourcing - [The Science Behind the Creativity of Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_science_beh/): A superb creative is not enough to guarantee success in a medium where the audience is under daily bombardment from competitor brands, where the risk of blacklisting is high and where you can never be quite sure how your creative will render in the email providers viewing pane. In this article Antonio Ferrara looks at... - [The Use of Video in Retail Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_use_of_vide/): According to this reportlet by Chad White, video is increasingly finding its way into the email campaigns of the largest online retailers. The reportlet takes an extensive look at how major online retailers including Banana Republic, Barnes & Noble, Bluefly, Gap, Neiman Marcus, Old Navy, Polo, REI and many others use video in their emails,... - [Sender ID Framework Reaches Tipping Point](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/sender_id_frame/): Microsoft just published results culminating from a two-year-long study on the effectiveness of Sender ID Framework e-mail authentication in helping counter deceptive e-mail. Key results from the study: Every day, 20 million forged messages are detected by Sender ID-enabled domains. Reputable marketers that have adopted Sender ID have realized improved deliverability, with up to 85... - [A Guide to CSS Support in Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a_guide_to_css_/): David Greiner just published the 2007 edition of his "Guide to CSS Support in Email" because quite a bit has changed since he posted the last version 12 months ago. The most significant of these changes was in the wrong direction, with Microsoft’s recent decision to use the Word rendering engine instead of Internet Explorer... - [Great Resource for Email Stats](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/great_resource_/): Fewer than 50 percent of marketers create emails that render appropriately. 53% of those surveyed said they would be more likely to open an email if it had a symbol identifying it as having been certified by a trusted third party. 20 percent of respondents admit to using the "report spam" button to unsubscribe. 70... - [Notes From the Authentication and Online Trust Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/notes_from_the_/): James O’Brien posted his notes from day 1 of the Authentication and Online Summit on his blog. This is what he says: The Big News is the coming launch of the unsubscribe button in the new Windows Live Hotmail User Interface. For Microsoft to recognize unsubscribe as a powerful way to give consumers more control... - [Email List Rental Toolkit: How to Read a Data Card + Sample Contracts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_list_rent/): Renting a permission list for the first (or even third) time can be a bit confusing. What’s normal for transmission fees? How speedy is the turnaround? Should you pay extra for brand endorsement? Should you rent more names than the minimum to run a test? Etc. Here’s a handy toolkit from MarketingSherpa to help you... - [Email Authentication Help Center](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_authentic/): The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) announced the launch of its Email Authentication Help Center, which is designed to help email marketers to comply with the DMA Board of Directors’ mandate requiring DMA members to authenticate all outbound email. It includes definitions, how-tos, test-tools, and a checklist to help marketers make sense of the information requirements. ... - [Email Marketers Need to Focus More on Dynamic Content and Personalization](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_marketers/): Email marketers need to focus more dynamic content and personalization as volumes increase reports the latest National Email Benchmarking Survey from the British Direct Marketing Association. According to the DMA Email Marketing Council the number of emails sent in Quarter three 2006 stands at over one billion – a year on year increase of 37... - [Reputation Systems Gaining Credibility in Fight Against Spam](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/reputation_syst/): I just found this article on reputation from the spam fighter’s point of view: Spam has undergone a radical evolution during the past few years, and reputation systems are now a key technology in dealing with the ever-increasing volume of unwanted messages. Reputation systems have been in use for the past three years, but are... - [Email Measurement Accuracy Coalition](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_measureme/): I just read on David Daniels’ blog that he will be leading a new cross industry coalition, called the Email Measurement Accuracy Coalition. The mission of the EMAC is to establish a consistent methodology and framework for the accurate calculation of email delivery, in order to inform the computation of critical email marketing metrics such... - [Email Marketing is Shifting Position in a Web 2.0 World](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_is_email_ma/): Dax Hamman posted an interesting article on the e-consultancy blog in which he talks about how email marketing fits in a Web 2.0 world. This is what he concludes: "Email was crucial in the Web 1.0 value chain. For example, the marketer would decide what product was "on offer" that week and push out email... - [Renting Email Lists - Costs, Deliverability & Targeting](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/renting_email_l/): There are plenty of email lists to choose from, and they cover just about every niche imaginable. From talking to several list brokers, the size of the industry is anywhere from 5,000 lists to 20,000. The B-to-B list rental business is healthy and centered on reputable publishers who still command value and trust. The B-to-C... - [Why Reputation Matters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why_reputation_/): In this blog post, MailChimp explains how spam gets filtered. It gives you some good insights in how the process works and why having a good reputation matters. - [Basics of Email Certification](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/basics_of_email/): The guys at MailChimp put together a short Email Certification Guide in which they explain the basics of email certification: How Does Certification Work? What is Email Deliverability? How Certification Helps Deliverability How Can I Get Certified? How Much They Cost How Do I Pick A Vendor? Which ISPs and Spam Filters Accept Which Certification... - [The Road to Relevance: The Evolution of E-mail Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_road_to_rel/): On April 19th and 30th, Alterian and JupiterResearch are hosting a web seminar called "The Road to Relevance: The Evolution of E-mail Marketing". David Daniels, Vice President and Research Director of JupiterResearch will present how email marketing is continually evolving as a marketing media, along with consumer attitudes and behaviors. Register for this web seminar... - [Eight Things to Check Before You Hit the Send-button](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/eight_things_to/): In this article, Wendy Roth outlines 8 crucial things you should check before you hit the send-button. Are you sending to the right list? If the email is an invitation to a select event for your top customers, double check that only they get it. Or, if you’re offering a special discount, check that recent... - [Segmentation and Personalization are Key Steps to Improve Email Performance](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/segmentation_an/): Segmentation/personalization, inventory assortments and data/analytics were cited as the top three concerns this year for online merchants seeking to improve conversions and return on investment, according to a survey from the E-Tailing Group. Overall, the survey found that driving the right traffic to the site, increasing sales and fostering retention all require more targeted tactics... - [Do Text Emails Have a Better Deliverability Rate than HTML Emails?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/do_text_emails_/): In the latest edition of Constant Contact’s newsletter "Email Marketing Hints & Tips", Gail Goodman answers the question "I’ve heard that text emails have a better delivery rate than HTML emails. Is this true?". The short answer is NO. Here’s what Gail has to say about it: There are two misconceptions about HTML emails: 1)... - [W3C HTML Mail Workshop in Paris Next Month](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/w3c_html_mail_w/): W3C is holding a Workshop to discuss HTML in email on May 24 in Paris, France. As Mathew says on his blog: "This is a significant event, because it shows that the people involved in formulating and setting web standards recognize that HTML in email is worthy of more time and effort than it has... - [Understanding Email Metrics and Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/understanding_e/): If you haven’t watched the archived version of the Email Metrics and Bounce Management webinar, I strongly urge you to do that now. And then try to understand your email metrics and deliverability: Ask a lot of questions about how your company or ESP is calculating e-mail metrics. If the method doesn’t work for you,... - [Is Adding Images to Your Email Still Worth the Effort?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is_adding_image/): Email design has once again become a very hot issue in the email marketing industry. In this week’s edition of BtoB Email Marketer Insight, Clint Smith answers the question "With more email programs blocking images these days, is it still a good idea to include them in my email newsletter?" As more Web-based email services,... - [Must-Watch Webinar: Email Metrics and Bounce Management](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mustwatch_webin/): I attended the "Email Metrics and Bounce Management" webinar that was hosted by StrongMail, the Email Experience Council and Pivotal Veracity. If you’d only attend one webinar this year, I’d highly recommend you watch/listen to the archived version of this one. Key things you will learn: Review of varying industry practices for calculating delivery, click... - [The Average American Knows How to Deal with Spam](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_average_ame/): According to a survey conducted by the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC), email recipients are brutal in-box editors when it comes to deleting potential spam. They’re also willing to take a greater role in stopping spam and fraudulent messages than some may have thought. The survey, conducted in December 2006 by marketing research firm... - [Email Newsletters Important Information Source for Small and Midsize Businesses](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_newslette-2/): E-mail newsletters are one of the most important sources for business information and advice for small and midsize businesses, according to survey results published by Bredin Business Information. Eighty-three percent of respondents said e-mail newsletters were either very important or important sources of information, rivaling print media, which garnered 84%. Corporate and media Web sites... - [How To Design Emails That Render Well in the Preview Pane](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_design_e/): No matter how pretty, powerful or on point your email campaign appears to be, it may not show up in the inbox as you designed it. Your creative often gets socked by a double whammy in the email-rendering process, specifically the preview pane, a small reading space that only displays a portion of your email,... - [A Little Bit Of Everything - part II](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a_little_bit_of_1/): As promised (just a little later than expected) here’s an overview of the most interesting email marketing related articles that were published in the last couple of weeks: Design & Layout: In this article, Justin Premick explains why you should continue to take care of the plain text versions of your emails. In this article,... - [Getting the Subject Line Right](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/getting_the_sub/): One of the most important elements of your email communications is the subject line. Next to the "from" address — which should be a recognizable company name — the subject line will determine whether your email gets opened. Writing a great subject line is no small challenge. You only have a few words to make... - [10 Steps to Develop an Effective Email Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10_steps_to_dev/): Jeanne Jennings says that there are 10 steps you need to take to develop an effective email strategy: 1. Identify qualitative goals. 2. Analyze the current situation. 3. Complete a competitive analysis. 4. Define the target audience. 5. Determine which types of email meet your needs. 6. Develop a content strategy and a frequency and... - [The Best Email Campaigns of the Past Year](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the_best_email_/): The best 39 email campaigns of the past year are now ready for your viewing — and inspiration — at MarketingSherpa’s 2007 Email Awards Gallery. These are the different categories: Best Email Opt-in Campaign Best Email Newsletter for Marketing Purposes Best Promotional Blast — Direct Sale or Lead Gen Offer Best Single Welcome Letter (to... - [Stop Looking to the Big Boys for Creative Ideas](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stop_looking_to/): In this blog post, Janine Popick urges all of us NOT to look at the email campaigns of the "big boys" of retailing as a source of creative ideas because they don’t necessarily have it down when it comes to email marketing best practices. I totally agree with her: I, too, receive lots of email... - [Personalization: 5 challenges](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/personalization/): The advent of integrated, personalized, optimized marketing is near. However, Michael Gorman sees five challenges that marketers must overcome before marketers can create emails of which the content is assembled dynamically to match the users’ needs and the marketer’s goals. 1. Data integration. This is top priority for many marketers right now. Companies must work... - [Better B2B Email Deliverability in 6 Steps](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/better_b2b_emai/): In this article, Bill Nussey explains that there are steps B2B marketers can take to ensure more of their messages get through to the people who have asked for them. As long as you are already sending permission-based, well-branded messages, promptly honoring unsubscribe requests and scrubbing bounces from your lists, these six tips can help... - [Reportlet: Branded Subject Lines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/put_your_brand_/): There’s significant evidence that consumers are more likely to open emails whose subject lines contain the brand name of the sender. For instance, nearly half (48.8%) of consumers are attracted to emails that have the brand name of the sender in the subject line, according to Return Path’s Third Annual Holiday Email Consumer Survey. That... - [Preview Pane Design Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/preview_pane_de/): Effective email marketing in a preview-pane world is all about making your point fast; in the first few inches of your email. Here are eight best practices: 1. Put the most important call to action in the upper left-hand corner, so it can be seen in either horizontal or vertical preview panes. For promotional emails,... - [Email Industry Lacks Consensus on Most Basic Metrics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_industry_/): Ten years after email began to emerge as a serious commercial marketing channel, the email marketing industry still has no consensus on the definitions of even the most basic metrics, according to a survey conducted by the deliverability roundtable of the Email Experience Council. Even the most fundamental metric of them all, the delivery rate,... - [Five Keys to Selecting an Email Service Provider](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five_five_keys_/): In this article, David Baker sums up these five critical questions you need to ask yourself before selecting a new email delivery partner: 1. What type of service do you need? 2. How much flexibility do you have with budget and contracting? 3. How much integration do you really need? 4. How do you transition... - [Notes from MarketingSherpa's Email Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/notes_from_mark/): Below you can find my notes from MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit along with some stuff I noted down when I was reading a bunch of white papers and studies on the plane home. I hope you find it useful! General Guidelines The average person receives 133 emails per day (US) Make every communication count! Don’t follow... - [A Little Bit Of Everything...](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a_little_bit_of/): As promised, here’s an overview of the most interesting email marketing related articles that were published in the last couple of weeks: List management: MarketingSherpa advises to use text-only if you’re emailing BellSouth names. Apparently the ISP modified its filtering system in January. The folks at MarketingSherpa did some testing and discovered that text-only messages... - [Speaking at a Swedish Email Marketing Conference this Week](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/speaking_at_a_s/): I’ve been invited to give a presentation at an email marketing conference in Stockholm this Thursday. If you can read and understand Swedish, you can find more details here. Otherwise, you’ll just have to wait until I get back so I can give you an update 🙂 Any Swedish people reading this blog by the... - [How To Brush Up On Your Email Marketing Efforts If Things Aren't Going As Planned](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_brush_up/): Identify where you can improve your email newsletter: Frequency: Are you bombarding your customers with too many emails? This is a common problem where you have seen response rates drop over a period of time. Content: Are your offers and articles appealing enough? How does your content compare to the competition? Relevancy: This is the... - [26.6% of Consumers Use Preview Panes and 59% Block Images](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/266_of_consumer/): MarketingSherpa asked people who use email clients such as Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, EarthLink, Outlook Express and Gmail how they view their email. Turns out 26.6% use preview panes (instead of look at your whole email) and 59% routinely block images. Read the details here. - [More Email Marketing Planned in 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/more_email_mark/): A new survey of 1,500 marketing professionals by Datran Media reports that, while sixty percent of consumers who make immediate purchases from email messages did so because messages contained products they were already considering, only one-third of promotional email marketers said relevance was one of their top-three goals. The study quotes Jupiter Research Vice President... - [Image Blocking in Email Clients: Current Conditions and Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/image_blocking_/): What happens to our emails when images are blocked? What are the best practices for ensuring accessibility and optimizing presentation therein? What are default settings for the different client and desktop email clients? Campaign Monitor’s Mark Wyner answers these questions in his article "Image Blocking in Email Clients: Current Conditions and Best Practices". - [Anti-Spam Blocklists: What Are They and Why Do They Cause So Many Problems](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/antispam_blockl/): In this article, Stefan Pollard explains how to address issues with blocklists, how to resolve them, and how to restore both your sender reputation and delivery rates. How do you know if you’re on a blocklist? The fastest way is to use a blocklist checker that queries multiple lists at once. Many e-mail service providers... - [Should Your Emails Follow a Specific Template?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/should_your_ema/): In this article Justin Curtis suggests that you should think of your email template as a user interface. Users, over time, will become familiar with the way your interface functions. By staying consistent, users will be able to quickly navigate to the things that are of interest to them. Continue reading here. - [How Recency of Past Purchase Affects Current Purchase Behaviour](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_recency_of_/): In this white paper called "Discount Laddering", WhatCounts’ Justin Foster explains how to build a business case to develop or enhance an email marketing segmentation strategy based on recency of purchase. Key takeaways: Measuring how purchase recency across the subscriber base affects conversion rate and total revenue produced can provide important clues marketers can use... - [Email Metrics: How to Measure Direct Marketing vs Conversion Marketing Efforts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_metrics_h/): The key distinction between direct online marketing and conversion marketing campaigns is the focus of each message. Direct marketing efforts center the focus on the product, while conversion marketing focuses primarily on the recipient. “Buy this item now”, versus “You will find what you are looking for here.” Once we make that distinction, the way... - [Some Interesting Facts About Outlook & Hotmail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some_interestin/): Ryan from eROI attended a deliverability workshop a couple of days ago and says he learned a lot more  than he expected. Guest speaker at the event was Brian Holdsworth, product planner for Microsoft Hotmail. Here are a couple of highlights on what he talked about: Over 50% of email browser use is MS Outlook... - [What Specific Elements Should You Test for Landing Pages and Email?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_specific_e/): In this article Anne Holland suggests to focus on the email test that will give the biggest bang for your buck. Here are her top two suggestions for testing landing pages and email: 1) Test headline copy. And once you have picked the perfect wording for your offer or newsletter lead article headline, don’t get... - [Best and Worst Consumer Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best_and_worst_/): Dylan Boyd assembled a collection of the best and worst email campaigns that he received in his inbox, and presented them on his blog for you to review. He judged these campaigns based on the following criteria: 1. Design – you only have 2-3 seconds to make an impact 2. Calls to Action – are... - [Looking For Email Newsletter Templates?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/looking_for_ema/): If you’re looking for a template for your newsletter you might want to have a look at this website. - [INBOX 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/inbox_2007/): INBOX 2007 will run May 31 – June 1 at the San Jose Marriott in San Jose, CA. INBOX has been acquired by Jupitermedia. The conference team will remain the same. A preview of the conference program is available here. The Conference tracks have been reorganized around these 4 themes: Messaging, Collaboration, Social Media Security,... - [Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/retail-email-su/): Chad White released a new study called "Retail Email Subscription Benchmark Study". This study presents a range of best practices and emerging best practices for your consideration, as well as a formerly popular practice that appears to be falling out of favor. Read the executive summary here. - [Email Best Practices Are Just a Means to an End](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-best-prac/): In this article, Al DiGuido makes the point that email isn’t about best practices, it’s about making money. And you know what? I think he’s right. Best practices are just a means to an end. And that end goal for businesses (whether you like it or not) is acquiring new customers, retaining existing customers, and... - [What Do Your Emails Look Like on a BlackBerry?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-do-your-em/): Dylan Boyd is offering some good resources to use to test how your emails render on BlackBerry’s. Check them out here. - [Email Still a Vital Component of an Effective Marketing Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-still-a-v/): Some people are  worrying that email might become irrelevant to young people who communicate via blog posts and text messages within barricaded friend or family networks. Loren McDonald is not too worried about that prospect: "Email’s brain trust has risen to identify and craft solutions to the challenges that could have brought email to its... - [links for 2007-07-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-15/): How can I test my email campaigns to see if they will get hung up in spam filters? What are the best books on email marketing? Email Marketing – Hosted vs Inhouse solution So Just How Big is the Email Market? How to display the link to the online version of your newsletter A member... - [How to Drive Webinar Registrations via Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-drive-we/): In this article, Amy Bills answers the following frequently asked questions about driving webinar registrations via email. What’s the average rate of registration I should expect? How should we promote our Webinar? Where can we find databases of potential attendees? How much time should we leave before the first invitation and the live event? How... - [Tracking Email Campaigns with Google Analytics?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tracking-email/): "Can you use Google Analytics to track email campaigns?" Today I stumbled upon this question on the Web Analytics Forum. Someone from a Fortune 500 company wanted to know if there is a way that Google Analytics can help in getting information on their email campaigns. Apparently it’s possible as some people point out: "If... - [6 Key Areas That Affect Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6-key-areas-tha/): by Darren Fell The 6 key areas that affect deliverability are Reputation, Content, Building trust, Timing, Data and Creative: 1. Reputation The first and most important area in deliverability is the reputation of your sending servers or those of your ESP. Many think that the reputation or ‘sending history’ is associated with the sending domain... - [Email Deliverability and Reputation Management Webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-deliverab/): This Thursday at 10AM Pacific Time, WhatCounts will host a webinar on the subject of Email Deliverability and Reputation Management for the new email marketing landscape. Justin Foster will moderate a panel consisting of Michelle Eichner, Co-Founder & VP Client Services at Pivotal Veracity, and John Karpovich, Founder at Port25 Solutions. He promises to deliver... - [links for 2007-07-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-15/): Email Marketing FAQs, June 2007 – Forrester Research Report   (tags: deliverability, relevancy) - [Holidays Are Popular for Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/holidays-are-po/): The biggest day of the year in 2006 for US retail e-mail marketers was the day after Christmas, according to Email Experience Council data cited in Marketing Charts. More than 53% of retailers tracked in the study sent email on December 26. The day is favored for capturing added sales from returns as well as... - [How Not to Build Your List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-not-to-buil/): Go to any internet marketing forum and ask the following question: If you had to start your internet company all over again but were allowed to incorporate just one item from your previous business what would it be? Some marketers may say a certain traffic generating technique or advertising method which has made them a... - [links for 2007-07-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-15/): Tables in HTML Emails: Nesting, Padding and Widths (tags: coding design) E-mail Marketing at a Crossroads: Finding Success Through Delivery and Engagement webinar – August 8th – learn how to improve deliverability and how more effective communications puts companies in a position to improve their open rate trends and response rates. (tags: webinar deliverability) Relationships:... - [links for 2007-07-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-15/): Email Deliverability and Reputation Management (webinar) July 26, 2007 – 10am PDT / 1pm EDT – topics: ISP relationships, reputation management, and infrastructure and how each can affect deliverability Email Marketing Statistics By Day and Time eROI reports that email read rates have been declining across the board as "images off" becomes the default setting... - [DKIM: What is It and Why is It Important?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dkim-what-is-it/): DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) uses digital signatures to authenticate messages. These signatures allow you, or your email service provider, to verify that a message claiming to be from your bank is really from your bank. Without authentication, if I receive an email saying that my account has been compromised and requesting me to verify my... - [links for 2007-07-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-16/): Email Marketing Challenges in a Multichannel Retailing Environment - [4 Things to Keep in Mind When Testing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/4-things-to-kee/): 1. Be sure to send all e-mail at the same time. You don’t want the day or time of the send to influence results (unless that’s what you’re testing). 2. Make clear notes about what you’re testing and which group is getting the "business as usual" version. This makes it easy to quickly determine a... - [Email Campaign Performance Metrics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-campaign/): A recent study by the Email Experience Council highlighted the lack of standardization around Email definitions and metrics and found that inconsistency in these areas makes it difficult for marketers to manage and improve upon their campaigns and/or e-newsletters. That’s why the IAB created a document that aims to guide marketers and vendors towards more... - [Ask Your Reader What They Consider Relevant](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ask-your-reader/): You know that your email communications need to be relevant to the interests of your readers. But how can you discover what information they consider relevant? Open and click-through rates give you some idea, but that’s only part of the story. There’s only one way to get the specific feedback you need from your readers:... - [links for 2007-07-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-16/): Whitelisting instructions for most popular email clients This blog post dates from January 2006 so it might miss some of the newer versions, but it is still valid.for most popular email clients (tags: whitelisting) Beware of Email Dirty Words Certain words and phrases in email will raise red flags for ISPs and could even blacklist... - [An Update on Blacklists](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/an-update-on-bl/): According to Al Iverson, Spamhaus has really taken the place as the leader at the forefront of the spam blacklist movement. Their lists are still widely used and anybody on the business end of a Spamhaus listing will find significant negative deliverability issues as a result. Al’s own testing shows that the Spamhaus lists are... - [links for 2007-07-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-16/): The ConstantContact IPO Filing A rare look into the financials of an email marketing company. (tags: ESP) Google to acquire Postini From the FAQ: Postini’s spam and virus protection combined with Google’s strong spam protection system will make users more productive by helping to eliminate unwanted and malicious messages. EEC Webinar: Using Email Marketing to... - [What's the Difference Between a Hard and Soft Bounce and How Do You Tell Them Apart?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/whats-the-diffe/): Simply put, a bounce is a notice from the receiving ISP or domain that the email you attempted to send has not been delivered. Knowing that much can help assess general campaign performance, but it doesn’t begin to tell you how to improve your results or give you the information needed to manage your list... - [Support for Animated GIFs in HTML Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/support-for-ani/): The folks at Campaign Monitor tested the support for animated gifs in all email clients and found that all but Outlook 2007 support them. "Outlook 2007 displays the first frame of the GIF as a static image. So if your first frame works as a static image, you are in good shape", says Mark Wyner.... - [DMA and Email Experience Council Join Forces](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma-and-email-e/): The Direct Marketing Association hasn’t always been considered a beacon of best email practices by everyone, but the influential organization is working to change that. Its decision to join forces with the Email Experience Council, expected to be announced today, is one indication. According to DMA COO Ramesh Lakshmi-Ratan, the DMA will assume legal ownership... - [links for 2007-07-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-16/): Web 2.0 in Video Format These videos are not new, but they do an excellent job in educating the viewer to specific topics that revolve around Web 2.0 Enjoy! (tags: RSS Wikis social networking) - [links for 2007-07-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2007-7/): Business benefits of email marketing E-consultancy lists 5 benefits of email marketing and offers a report that outlines the reasons why your company needs an email marketing strategy. Creativity welcome in inboxes Marketer’s Guide To Successful Email Delivery This white paper provides marketers with a core understanding of deliverability – includes an action checklist Improve... - [New Search Engine for Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new-search-engi/): Mark Brownlow just launched www.onlinemarketing.info – a search engine dedicated only to email marketing. The search engine includes approximately 170 hand-picked, reputable and trustworthy sites known for offering serious/accurate information and/or services. Check it out here. The concept is similar to the search functionality that has been available on this blog for quite some time,... - [Basic Email Marketing Metrics Explained](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/basic-email-mar/): Open rates. Click-through rates. Conversions. Each metric tells you something about your email marketing program. Open rates measure such things as trust, effective subject lines, timing and frequency while click-through rates illustrate how effective such things as content, layout, offer and link placement are at reaching your audience. Conversions, whether requesting information or purchasing a... - [Learning to Let Go: Be Very Careful with Confirmation Reminders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/learning-to-let/): by Justin Premick It’s a common temptation: email addresses are entered into your form (or imported), sent the confirmation message… and then… Nothing. They sit there, pending. They haven’t confirmed. And it’s looking like they might not at all. So the publisher starts thinking… "What Can I Do to Get Them to Confirm?" This is... - [How Fit Is Your Email Program? Take the Test!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-fit-is-your/): The following best practices quiz has been developed within the context of a customer email program and is the starting point for any marketer interested in improving the health of its email program. All best practices go beyond legal matters to ethical issues of treating customers with respect for their preferences, but it’s even more... - ["I don't recall signing up to receive this"](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/i-dont-recall-s/): by Denise Cox One of our clients, who of course practices permission email marketing, told me they received this message after a recent mailing of their newsletter:  "I don’t recall signing up to receive this." They did the forensics and were able to provide the details to the individual regarding when they opted-in, but wanted... - [Image Rendering: What is it and How to Deal with it](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/image-rendering/): Rendering has been a hot topic in email marketing for most of 2007, but many of us still aren’t sure exactly what it means or exactly how to deal with it. This is why Return Path ran a webinar last week on this very topic. I encourage you to listen to the recording of the... - [The Optimization Hierarchy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-optimizatio/): All creative optimization projects (whether for landing page, Web site, conversion, media, or search) begin with establishing priorities – starting with foundational elements and working up. This has also been referred to as the optimization hierarchy. Here are some of the most desirable elements you’ll want to achieve in your email optimization hierarchy, in ascending... - [Why the Newspaper Industry Should Switch to Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-the-newspap/): by Josh Nason A newspaper must have an online presence to even be considered relevant. There has never been a more exciting time to be involved with media than now. There are so many opportunities to do something with all of the various methods of passing along information to the masses. Considering our society is... - [Campaign Monitor Offers 30 Outlook 2007-proof Email Templates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/campaign-monito-2/): Getting your email to look great in all the major email clients can be a challenge at times, so the nice folks at Campaign Monitor decided to do the hard work for us with these 30 free email templates. They’ve tested them in all the major email clients, so you just need to add your... - [UK DMA Email Marketing Council Issues New Best Practices Guidelines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk-dma-email-ma-3/): The UK DMA Email Marketing Council has updated its Best Practice Guidelines to continue to raise standards within the industry. The Guidelines aim to stimulate the development of email as an effective marketing channel while reinforcing the key legislative issues that marketers should be aware of when using the medium. They also provide practical advice... - [What's the Difference Between Confirmed and Double Opt-in?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/confirmed-opt-i/): In this blog post, Al Iverson states that confirmed opt-in and double opt-in both mean the following and only the following: "A potential recipient submits an email address at a web page. This triggers a confirmation request email. No further emails are sent to the end recipient until and unless they take positive action to... - [links for 2007-06-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-16/): How to Use Valuable Content to Attract Opportunity If you provide something of value to prospects, they will give you their respect, loyalty, time AND ultimately their business. - [What is Better for Conversion: Buttons or Text Links?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-is-better/): Chad White looked at recent emails from the 100 top online retailers that he tracks via RetailEmail.Blogspot to see whether they used links or buttons more often for their calls-to-action. What he found is that 60% of top online retailers preferred links in general for their primary calls-to-action, while 40% favored buttons. For their secondary... - [links for 2007-06-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-17/): Tales from the Blackberry: The Fold Many people think that Blackberrys render as a text email, not an HTML email. They are wrong. All of the scrolling is the HTML code of links and images. Watch the movie. Windows Live Hotmail Images on for Sender Score Certified Mailers Images and links are now on by... - [How Can You Use Purchase Behavior Data in Your Emails?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-can-you-use/): The foundation for creating more relevant communications is data.   Understanding the overall behavior of your customers across retailers and channels is the basis of an effective communications strategy. Examples of purchase behavior data and how it can be used include: RFM. When was the last time you heard from your customer?  Are your consumers actively... - [Gain Control over Your Reputation with a Dedicated IP Address](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/gain-control-ov/): All email originates from an IP address, a unique identifier for the computer sending the message. Many email marketing software companies offer two means of message delivery – either via a pool of shared IPs or a dedicated IP address. In a shared IP scenario, your outgoing mail originates from the same group of IP... - [SPAM or Marketing - Do Canadians Know the Difference?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spam-or-marketi/): A new study released by Ipsos Reid, has found that even though an amazing 66% of Canadians prefer communicating via email over other methods, 44% of agree that they can hardly keep up with the amount of email that they receive. And spam is the primary culprit. Yet Canadian’s willingness to provide email addresses to... - [Image-Based Emails Could be Breaking the Law](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/image-based-ema/): Marketers who send e-mails using “click here” buttons instead of text for opt-out links risk breaking federal law, said email expert Jay Schwedelson during a presentation at the Direct Marketing Days New York Conference last week. The federal Can Spam Act requires marketing emails to include an opt-out mechanism and a return address. However, images... - [Always Include Width and Height Attributes In Your Image Tags](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/always-include/): David Greiner just posted an article on the Campaign Monitor blog that shows how emails display when you don’t set the height & width attributes for your image tags. You can read it here. - [links for 2007-06-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-17/): MarketingSherpa: Easy Newsletter Layout Tweak Lifts Clicks 190% – Just Add 1 Extra Button to Your Email See how one publisher transformed a related stories link into a gray utility button and immediately saw a 190% increase in clicks, and traffic is up 6% on the landing page. (tags: case study) - [11 Tips for Successful B2B Landing Pages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/11-tips-for-suc/): In this article on the Skatterbox blog, Luke provides these 11 tips for successful B2B landing pages: 1. Carry the message through from the advertisement: Do everything you can to make sure that you aren’t pushing your traffic to a "one size fits all" landing page. If the ad that brought them was about a... - [How Often Should You Email your Subscribers?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-often-shoul/): By Margaret Farmakis How often should marketers send email to their subscribers? According to Chad White at the Email Experience Council (eec), that depends to some extent on the industry norm. He compiled frequency data for 92 major retailers over 16 weeks and found that the average number of touches is 1.7 per week. What’s... - [links for 2007-06-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-17/): Customer Driven Email Templates and Color Themes something to think about… - [Reporting 101](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/reporting-101/): In this article, Spencer Kollas explains how using reporting to catch problems early can improve email campaign effectiveness and safeguard your sending reputation. Basically it all comes down to looking at the right things, identifying what is important, and knowing what to do with that information. First, you need to identify the email communications that... - [How to Position Email Within the Marketing Lifecycle?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-position/): In this article, Jeanniey Mullen asked Andy Goldman to explain how to position email within the marketing lifecycle: "Email is not recommended at every stage of the advertising and marketing relationship," says Goldman. "There are certain times to use it when results will be extremely strong. Other times, email won’t help your efforts. The key... - [Accelerating Marketing ROI: webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/accelerating-ma/): Exact Target and the EEC are hosting a webinar called "Accelerating Marketing ROI" on June 26th and July 11th. You’ll learn: How marketers use permission-based email to convert leads faster, drive initial and repeat purchases, and build brand loyalty Why email has become the most effective way to leverage data captured in CRM systems to... - [Use Throttling Techniques to Avoid Getting Blacklisted](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-you-should/): One of the simplest ways to avoid getting blacklisted is by using throttling techniques, which keep you from over-saturating your prospects’ e-mail servers. Throttling is exactly what it sounds like: managing the flow of e-mail going out of your servers and into another company’s. This is important because one of the ways a company can... - [4 Things to Keep in Mind When Expanding Your Email Efforts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/4-things-to-kee-2/): To grow your business or your email program, and to appeal to as many subscribers across the spectrum as possible, you need to branch out and diversify your email holdings. However, you need to think strategically when boosting frequency or adding new mailings or message categories. In this article, Lena Waters explains gives us some... - [Thanks for subscribing!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/thanks_mailinglist/): Thank you for subscribing to my mailinglist! There’s one more thing to do before you can start receiving blog updates by email: go to your mailbox now, look for the confirmation email and click on the confirmation link to confirm your subscription. - [links for 2007-06-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-17/): Webinar: Render Me This: Beating Image Suppression for High Response Email Return Path is hosting a webinar next week (June 28th) about image suppression Vonage spams customers, burns influentials, gets people really angry How NOT to do email marketing: read how Vonage harvested names from their refer-a-friend program to send spam promotions. - [links for 2007-06-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2007-8/): Email Marketing is about Engagement First, Revenue Second The primary goal of your email campaign should be engagement, which in turn drives value. It does not work the other way around. Updated CSS Support in Email Report Campaign Monitor updated their CSS Support in Email Report to make it much clearer which CSS selectors and... - [Best Practices for Handling Email List Unsubscribes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best-practices/): There are many reasons to make unsubscribing from your email list as easy as possible, including protecting your reputation with both subscribers and Internet service providers, who can blacklist your firm or report you as a violator of the CAN-SPAM act. But if you need one more reason, the law requires it. Failure to have... - [How and Why to Centralize Your Email Marketing Efforts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-and-why-to/): According to JupiterResearch, a mere 38% of companies have a single department handling email communication – while a whopping 24% have six or more. In this article, Loren McDonald explains how and why you should centralize your email marketing efforts: Why should you centralize your email marketing efforts? Establishing a core team of email-marketing gurus... - [8 Seconds to Capture Attention: Landing Page Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/8-seconds-to-ca/): 50 percent of visitors to landing pages will bail after a cursory 8-second glance. Successful landing pages must grab attention quickly and not require a great deal of effort on the part of prospects. In their latest study called "8 Seconds to Capture Attention: Silverpop’s Landing Page Report," (of which the results were presented at... - [VistaPrint's Email Tactics: Do They Work?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/vistaprints-ema/): Yesterday I read this post on the Email Marketing Voodoo blog. The author claims he/she has received 4 apology emails from VistaPrint this month and is wondering if it’s possible to apologize too much. I too received 4 apology emails from VistaPrint in the last two months and as from the second one I started... - [Automated Messages: How to Improve Response Rates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/automated-messa/): System-generated emails often fall to the bottom of a marketer’s to-do list, but they can have an enormous impact on user loyalty. In this article, Simms Jenkins looks at several simple ways to properly evaluate and optimize them in order to improve response rates, delivery and overall marketing messaging: First, these are the types of... - [Goodwill Messages Retain Customers, Build Loyalty Increase Sales](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/goodwill-messag/): Savvy marketers regularly send non-promotional messages as part of a deliberate strategy to retain customers, build loyalty, and, yes, increase sales over the long term. For the marketer focused completely on immediate promotions, such non-promotional mailings often are not even on their radar screens. Welcome messages, thank-yous, informational updates, reminders and more –what we call... - [Takeaways from the "Designing for the New Email Landscape" webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/takeaways-from-2/): On June 19th WhatCounts hosted a webinar on “Designing for the New Email Landscape,” which addressed designing and coding email in an environment of disparate email readers, increased image blocking and greater use of preview panes. You can view the archived webinar here or read Chad White’s key takeaways on his RetailEmail.Blogspot blog. - [links for 2007-06-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_12/): Blocked Images: When Bad Things Happen to Good Email Archived version of a webinar by CheetahMail, EEC and Goodmail Systems. Recommended! (tags: rendering) - [New Report: 6 Elements of a Content-Rich, Money-Making E-Newsletter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new_report_6_el/): Nick Usborne just published a great new report called "The 6 Elements of a Content-Rich, Money-Making E-Newsletter". In this 16-page report he gives you the information you need to build a content-rich e-newsletter. Buy the report here for $8.95. I promise you it will be well worth your money! My key take-aways: Continuity in design... - [links for 2007-06-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_11/): BeRelevant is the Best Damn Email Advertising Blog on Earth Robert likes my blog 🙂 The 10 Second Rule: How to Write for Diagonal Readers | Copyblogger by the time you finish this article, you’ll know how to write in a clearer manner so that the average reader can understand the gist of your content... - [Improving Your Newsletter: Some Tips to Get You Started](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/improving_your_/): Looking to revise the look and feel of your layout and improve the content of your newsletters? Melinda Krueger explains how to go about it: To improve your content, find out what is most important to your audience: Aggregate the data from all your campaigns thus far and sort by response rate (or conversion rate,... - [links for 2007-06-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_10/): An open letter to Shawn Casey Something Shawn Casey is doing is hurting his email deliverability and probably his response rates, and while I know why he’s doing it, there is a better way… (tags: deliverability) - [Three Ways To Increase Email Sales](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three_ways_to_i/): According to Kevin Hillstrom there are at least three key factors that can be managed, to grow email sales: Factor #1 = Incremental List Size, Managed By Contact Frequency Factor #2 = Incremental Demand Per Contact, Managed By Contact Frequency Factor #3 = Demand Per Email, Managed By Number Of Targeted Versions Incremental list size... - [List Retention Analysis](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/list_retention_/): Douglas Karr wrote an interesting post on why you should analyze list retention and how to measure retention and attrition on your subscriber list. Read it here. - [links for 2007-06-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_9/): For fun: The Age Project Totally not related to email marketing, but a lot of fun: upload a picture and let other people guess how old you are. After 24 guesses, people think that I’m only 26! I love it! - [Most Companies Will Have Difficultly Keeping Up With the Growing Complexity of Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/most_companies_/): Have you received a significant pay raise lately? A new JupiterResearch study suggests that for the majority of email marketers, the answer may be yes. The average amount companies spend on personnel for e-mail marketing hit $182,067 this year –up from $169,710 in 2005, the last time the company conducted the study– and as part... - [Four Tips for Designing Handheld-Friendly Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/four_tips_for_d/): Use of BlackBerrys and similar devices continues to rise. In this article Clint Smit offers a couple of tips to make sure your emails look good and are effective on mobile devices too. - [Subject Lines: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/subject_lines_6/): Nick Usborne’s 10-page Conversion Rate Checklist Report covers six fundamental points one should address when writing a subject line. He wrote it because after years of experience he learned that sophisticated marketers often rush their subject lines, and rarely consider all six points he covers in the report. - [Why Do You Need Permission?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why_do_you_need/): In response to Stephanie Miller’s article below, Matt Blumberg continues the conversation and questions whether permission is as relevant as it once was in terms of how ISPs, filters, and blacklists determine whether or not to block mail. This is what he says: "The argument against permission as a relevant filtering criteria is more nuanced:... - [Opt-In Doesn't Replace Relevancy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/optin_doesnt_re/): by Stephanie Miller I spoke at both INBOX and Internet Retailer recently, and at both events heard smart marketers ask, "Why do readers unsubscribe, ignore or complain about my emails? They opted-in!" The answer is that permission is not forever. Subscribers opt in and then promptly forget about their actions. Many marketers are not clear... - [links for 2007-06-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_8/): What Happens If You Don’t Pay for Goodmail? (tags: deliverability) - [links for 2007-06-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_7/): Webinar: Acquire an Eye for Email Design – June 21st Learn about best practices in email design and how eye tracking studies can impact your design. 53% of Email Subject Lines Broken + How to Fix Yours – MarketingSherpa Why you should copy-pasting from Word – open access until June 19th E-mail Spending and Governance,... - [You Can't Buy a Good Reputation, You Need to Earn It](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/you_cant_buy_a_/): According to Pivotal Veracity’s chief executive Deirdre Baird “The misconception around reputation is that for some reason people think they can buy it, or that paying someone will change it,” she said. “And that’s not the case.” Reputation boils down to three primary metrics, she added. “This doesn’t mean other metrics are not in play,... - [International Email Deliverability: What You Don't Know Could Hurt You!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/international_e/): by Chip House Internet service providers stateside have greatly developed and adapted their spam filtering tools and allowed more visibility to their inner-workings, with access to complaint feedback loops, friendly bounce messaging, whitelisting and sender support lines. The access to most ISPs around the globe, however, remains murky. A threat lurking under the surface is... - [What is a Transactional Email and How Can You Use Them?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what_is_a_trans/): Transactional emails come in many shapes and forms and could be a very nice form of business for you, in many cases some of your best performing email. Here are examples of transactional email: Thank you emails after someone purchases from you. Shipping notification of a product you sold. Your confirmation email when a visitor... - [links for 2007-06-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_6/): Webinar: Designing for the New Email Landscape – June 19, 2007 A panel of email creative experts will discuss the changing email landscape and how it affects design, branding and development tools used in the creation of marketing messages/ Zeldman says ‘HTML mail still sucks’ - [links for 2007-06-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_5/): Case study: Leveraging the power of data at Overstock.com Transactional Email: The New "First Name" Personalization | - [How to Get More Out of Transactional Emails?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_get_more_1/): Question: I want to juice up our transactional emails so we can get some marketing mileage out of them, because they have a better open rate than our regular newsletters. What can I do that will keep them legal under CAN-SPAM? Answer: Transactional emails represent an untapped resource because recipients look for them and open... - [3 Strategies to Find the Right Frequency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3_strategies_to/): Research shows that over-mailing a list leads to apathy, unsubscribes or even spam reports. Hitting the right frequency is a little bit art, a little bit science, and a whole lot of listening to and respecting the needs and wishes of your recipients. But, it’s also a balancing act. On one hand, you don’t want... - [Do You Have a Good Contact Plan?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/do_you_have_a_g/): Without a good foundation and a strong plan, your program will fall apart no matter how hard you try. One of the key components to a strong foundation is building a sound contact plan. When building your contact plan, think strategically before you begin. Ask yourself: Who are you customers and what do they value?... - [links for 2007-06-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_4/): When to switch e-mail service providers Authentication needs good reputation for inbox entry Clicky Web Analytics nice clean look – very detailed – blogger-friendly (inexpensive) (tags: web statistics, analytics) Quite a speech Great speech by Steve Jobs at Stanford - [Editorial Calendars for Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/editorial_calen/): When you are planning the long-term goals for your email marketing campaign, consider the frequency of your messaging and prepare an editorial calendar. Editorial calendars, when planned correctly, allow you to get an overall view of the year and will provide enough insight to make changes and adjustments to your planned sends. You also have... - [Targeting & Segmentation: Don't Know Where to Start?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/targeting_segme/): In this article Mark Brownlow makes segmentation and targeting sound very easy! And you know what? It really doesn’t have to be all that complicated. Remember: learn how to walk before you start running. - [links for 2007-06-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_3/): Compulsive obsession with details will save your neck when giving presentations not related to email marketing but a great read for anyone that gives public presentations. There’s some great tips on how to prepare yourself for the unexpected MarketingSherpa: Special Report: How Subscription Sites Use Email to Convert Trial Offers – 18-Page PDF Download 3... - [Harvesting Email Addresses? BAD IDEA!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/harvesting_emai/): Email address harvesting is the practice of obtaining email addresses without permission. The most sinister form of harvesting is done by computer programs that search public areas of the Internet to compile and capture lists of email addresses from Web pages, newsgroups, chat rooms and elsewhere online. However, you also are engaging in address harvesting... - [links for 2007-06-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links_for_20070_2/): Video The Break Up The Break-Up is about the relationship between an advertiser and a consumer. They’ve agreed to meet in a restaurant. The man’s feeling perfectly happy, until the woman makes a painful announcement: she wants a divorce. In the course of their conversation Crazy Egg – visualize your visitors SiteVista: Email Testing Service - [Small Businesses Prefer Email Newsletters over New Media](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email_newslette/): Email newsletters are one of the two most important sources for business management information and advice for small and medium businesses (SMBs), according to a study released by Bredin Business Information, Inc. (BBI). In the study, SMB executives were asked to judge the relevant importance of different media for business management information. 83% of respondents... - [How to Encourage Readers to Include You in their Address Book](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how_to_encourag/): Return Path has a handy step-by-step guide on how to encourage readers to include you in their address book. You can download it here. - [New Edition of MailChimp's Email Marketing Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new_edition_of_/): MailChimp recently released the third edition its excellent Email Marketing Guide. The latest edition provides updates on how to improve delivery rates of email newsletters. Download it here. - [CAN-SPAM Compliance is the Bare Minimum: Aim for Permission!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/good_email_hygi/): J.F. Sullivan wrote an interesting post on the eec blog today about the resurgence in CAN-SPAM interest in the news recently. He wants to remind everyone that CAN-SPAM compliance is the most negligible form of email marketing compliance that you can actually do. If you are building a program and infrastructure to effect CAN-SPAM compliance... - [My HTML Buttons Don't Render Correctly in Windows Live Hotmail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my_html_buttons/): For a while now I’ve been using HTML buttons in my emails rather than image buttons. However, I’ve noticed that I can’t get them to render correctly in Windows Live Hotmail. Does anyone know how to fix this issue? This is the HTML code I’m using: <TABLE cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=300 align=left border=0>   <TR>  ... - [Goodmail Expands to Cox, Comcast, RoadRunner & Verizon](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/goodmail_expand/): Goodmail Systems has convinced four more major ISPs to offer premium email delivery — meaning paid passage around voracious spam filters for bulk senders who want reliable delivery. Read the press release here. - [links for 2007-10-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-13/): Going retro with e-mail creative Andrew Osterday suggests we make a movement back to the beginnings of e-mail where text dominated and images were kept to an absolute minimum. - [Study: Decentralized Email Undermines Marketing Efforts, Brands](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study-decentral/): Email is at once a ubiquitous and embattled medium because its dependability and trustworthiness are under attack by spam, viruses, phishing, and often inexact ISP filtering; yet it could get worse if email marketing is not centralized within the enterprise, according to a StrongMail/JupiterResearch executive survey. Some 93% of executives surveyed say their company has... - [links for 2007-10-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2007-4/): The M20: Top Marketer Blogs: October 2007 update of the M20 – and I’m still at number 3 🙂 Alert: Rendering problem in Yahoo Mail Classic - [9 Tips to Build Your Email List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/9-tips-to-build/): In this article Gail Goodman gives us a couple of tips on how to build your list: 1. Add a "Join My E-mail List" sign-up box on your website. Your website is usually the first place people look when they want information about your business. Don’t miss the chance to start building a relationship with... - [Email ROI: There's More to it than Meets the Eye](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-roi-there/): by Stephanie Miller I believe it’s misleading to think about email’s contribution without factoring in the risks of batch and blast, complaints, irrelevancy and acquisition costs. That’s a downer, you say. Not at all. I find it inspiring because it means that email success and ROI is a direct result of our ability to build... - [Top Five Reasons To Communicate With Your Customers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top-five-reason/): In his latest Email Insider column, David Baker a look at the top five functional reasons to communicate with your customers and offers some really great tips on how to get creative on the messages: 5. To fulfill or confirm an order. Can you add some creativity to standard emails?  This can be as easy... - [Centralizing All Company Email is Key to Keeping the Channel Efficient and Effective](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/centralizing-al/): Email is being used increasingly to address multiple needs and opportunities, such as customer service communications, promotional marketing, public relations and order confirmations. In many companies, all of these types of communications are handled by different departments, which may or may not follow the same rules and branding guidelines. Email can play a significant role... - [Five Holiday Email Marketing Do's and Don'ts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five-holiday-em/): As Stefan Pollard points out in this ClickZ article, the holiday shopping season is less than 2 months away from its official U.S. launch on Black Friday on November 23rd. This time of year can make or break your e-mail marketing program. Tune it up now to avoid mistakes once the season is in full... - [Tips to Set Up a Successful Preference Center](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips-to-set-up/): In this article, Jeanne Jennings provides some tips for setting up a successful preference center: Organize your newsletter choices. If your company has more than five e-mail newsletters listed, arrange them into logical groups so readers can figure out which ones might interest them. Ask for additional information. When visitors return to update their preferences,... - [Design Your Emails so that They Are Easy to Navigate](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/design-your-ema/): In his latest Email Insider column, Loren MacDonald tells us that subscribers don’t always read your messages just to see your sales offer or newsletter copy. They might want to unsubscribe or change their preferences, comment on something you wrote or ask a question. You need to make it as easy as possible for them... - [DNSBL Resource Blacklist Statistics Center](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dnsbl-resource/): Al Iverson’s created a new DNSBL Resource Blacklist Statistics Center. It provides week-by-week graphs for twenty different blacklists. At a glance, one can easily see the accuracy rates and false positive rates for the past thirteen weeks for any blacklist in the system. This data will be refreshed weekly, automatically, and new blacklists can be... - [Where to Put Your Links to Maximize Click-Throughs?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/whereto-put-you/): Nick Usborne recently wrote an article called "Where and how to place your links in a 2-column HTML email". These are the tips he offers: Links in the side columns will not perform as well as those in the center column, even if they are accompanied by nice product photos. In the main column a... - [links for 2007-09-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-13/): I finally caught up on my reading after my holidays. After reading the 150+ articles on email marketing that have been written in the last couple of days, here are the ones I think are most interesting: Truthout.org being blocked by AOL and Hotmail? An ex-AOL Anti-Spam team member explains how bad mailing practices are... - [3 Rules for Applying Personas to Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3-rules-for-app/): Ian Lurie, author of the Conversation Marketing blog, explains how you can create personas for your email marketing campaigns by following these three rules: Design for convenience, for that persona. ‘Convenience’ means different things to different people. For me, it means messages I can easily scan and delete or act on. For someone else, it... - [State of Retailing Online 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/state-of-retail/): E-mail marketing to house files is delivering higher response rates and lower costs per order than other channels, according to a Shop.org study released last week. Yet, the average company’s spending on the channel wouldn’t be enough to cover many companies’ coffee expenses. E-mail is delivering sales at an average cost per order of less... - [Successful Remarketing Techniques: How to Implement Abandoned Cart or Abandoned Check Out Email Programs?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/successful-rema/): In this article, Angel Morales share a couple of questions to answer when implementing a successful remarketing campaign: Who gets an abandoned basket e-mail? There are larger decisions to make than simply sending an e-mail to anyone who abandons a basket. Frequent shoppers, first-time visitors, brand champions and charge offs — should they all get... - [links for 2007-09-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-13/): Live Chat With a King this is hilarious! Even Microsoft Can’t Design For Outlook - [links for 2007-09-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-13/): Call for Speakers: MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit & Expo Seeks Speakers They are especially looking for email marketers who can share their own experiences, campaign war stories and lessons learned. Q&A Follow-up on reputation building What is the effect of not ramping up an IP – say if you do not have the volume needed? Can... - [links for 2007-09-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-13/): Email’s Billboard Effect Steve Webster explains how the next stage of email metrics involve combining email response with other data streams like purchase behavior to create predictive models that clients can use to shape their promotional strategies. Behind CBSSports.com’s Massive E-mail Cleanup CBSSports.com is wrapping up a massive e-mail file cleanup in which it asked... - [links for 2007-09-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-13/): Advanced Email Strategies Conference, October 4, London The program offers a series of concentrated studies, discussions and case studies that aim to show marketers how to ensure that the increase in attention email marketing is receiving is able to pay back the investment it is increasingly attracting from or YouTube – Real Stories – Chain... - [How to Capitalize on the True Power of Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-capitali/): By Matt Blumberg A recent Behavioral Insider column had a truly tantalizing quote from iPost’s Steve Webster: "There is the presumption that when someone receives an email message they then click on the email go to the Web site and either make a purchase or not and then they are done interacting with your email.... - [Global List of Email Service Providers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/global-list-of/): Over at the Email Marketer’s Club we’ve compiled a list of email service providers (ESP) per country. Thanks to Matt Vernhout and the other Club members, we already have 153 companies listed. Check it out here (login required) and help us complete the list! - [links for 2007-09-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-13/): Using Online Acquisition Tools to Improve Email Marketing Results – Webinar October 3rd — email list rental and co-registration can be extremely effective at growing your list and driving more revenue for your business. The trick is using the right tactics to make these media successful. Simple Word Change in Email Hyperlink Raises Clicks 8.53%... - [How to Create a Trust-Inducing Unsubscribe Process](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-create-a/): It isn’t enough to include unsubscribe instructions in the message body copy. Marketers must make the unsubscribe process as trustworthy as possible so subscribers will feel they can use it with confidence and not have to resort to the "spam" button in desperation. In this article, Stefan Pollard explains how to create a trust-inducing unsubscribe... - [links for 2007-09-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-14/): Top 21 email marketing information sources Mark updated his Top 21 – it’s actually a Top 22 now 🙂 E-Mail Marketing Quiz: Full-Price Campaigns, Or Promotional Campaigns? E-Mail Marketing Challenge: Assigning Customers To Versions Whitelisting with AOL Email Service Providers Worldwide A listing of Email Service Providers by Geographical location – work in progress –... - [links for 2007-09-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-14/): ClickZ: Segmenting and Targeting to Improve the Bottom Line Jeanne Jennings explains with an example when it makes sense to create different content for different audiences How Does Sender ID Work? Free Webinar on Gearing Up for the Holiday Email Season 3 Ideas to Boost Holiday Email Response Understanding, using and profiting from your in-house... - [Using Lifetime Value to Evaluate Your Email Marketing Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using-lifetime/): During the last decade, lifetime value (LTV) has become the standard method for measuring the success of customer marketing programs. Return on investment is used for campaigns, and profitability is used, particularly in banks, to take a snap shot of the performance of existing customers. Lifetime value, unlike these other measurements, predicts the future performance... - [Integrating Email with Your Marketing Efforts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/integrating-ema/): Integration means making sure that all of your messages make sense in the context of one another. Specifically to email marketers, integration means contributing to overarching brand goals in alignment with individual email goals. Typically, helping the larger marketing organization meet its goals translates into supporting other marketing communications. However, sometimes email can take a... - [How to Build a Reputation for a New IP Address](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-build-a-3/): Following a question that was posted on the Email Marketer’s Club, Matt Vernhout wrote a blog post outlining the steps you should take when you start sending emails from a new IP address: "The best way to build reputation, or to repair a reputation, on an IP address is to send small amounts of email... - [Recipe for a Successful Email Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recipe-for-a-su/): In this article, Lisa Finfer outlines a four-step process to make sure your email campaign is as successful as it can be. To summarize: 1. Know your audience. What’s important to the recipient? What profile characteristics do they have? What are their purchase tendencies or demographics? Obtaining solid recipient data yields long-term benefits and is... - [links for 2007-09-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-14/): Email marketing forums and discussion lists Mark Brownlow offers us a list of forums and discussion lists available to email marketers for exchanging views, news, complaints and recipes… Email Whitelist Generator Instructions David Greiner calls for standards support in HTML email Getting an email to display consistently in all of the popular email clients is... - [How to Design for All Types of Readers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-design-f/): Stefan Pollard identifies 8 different email audiences in his latest article: Identifiers use the "from" address and the subject line to whittle down their overcrowded inboxes as fast as possible, deleting everything they don’t want to read. Skimmers moved past identification and actually opened your message, but they want to read as fast as possible,... - [State of Email Metrics Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/state-of-email/): EmailStatCenter.com is conducting its First Annual EmailStatCenter.com State of Email Metrics Survey. The idea behind the survey is to gather some great insight to our industry on how we use metrics and what other issues we are battling in the fight for the perfect inbox. Simms Jenkins invites all email marketing professionals to fill in... - [Opt-out Is Spam and Spam Is Bad!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/opt-out-is-spam/): Derek Harding wrote a great article on ClicZ today which he concludes by saying: "Absent a law requiring consent, we need a united front on consent. That means our trade groups must make it clear that opt-out is spam and spam is bad for e-mail, bad for our customers, and bad for us. They must... - [links for 2007-09-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-14/): Workshop: Roadmap for Email Marketing Success, Nov 14th, 2007, Barcelona, ES This Forrester workshop will help marketers make their email efforts successful, focusing on when and how to use email, design best practices, list-building, and metrics. Great Confirmation Page at Signup Gearing up for the holiday season: your 2007 holiday timeline Do we really need... - [links for 2007-09-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2007-5/): Return On Investment (ROI) In Direct Marketing each form of advertising has various strengths and weaknesses. Your job is to evaluate your advertising objectives… Traditional Metrics See New Life in Email Recent developments in e-mail marketing are creating new possibilities for an old set of direct marketing metrics: recency, frequency and monetary value. Recency of... - [Managing Content Poses Challenges for Email Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/managing-conten/): E-mail marketers need to do a much better job managing content, particularly with the proliferation of new devices and formats by which to access e-mail, according to a new report from JupiterResearch. The report, called "The Chaos of Content," examines some of the chief challenges facing e-mail marketers in today’s rapidly changing technological environment. One... - [What Are Good Metrics to Measure Your Email Campaign?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-are-good-m/): To determine how they measure up against industry averages and comparative metrics, marketers often ask themselves the following questions: What is a good open rate for an e-mail campaign? A good conversion rate? A good bounce rate? The frustrating answer: It depends. “Good” is relative. And “good” last year—or even last month—doesn’t guarantee a repeat.... - [List Turnover Main Challenge For Email Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/list-turnover-m/): List turnover has climbed to the top of email marketers’ list of problems, according to a new survey. Almost four out of 10 practitioners (39%) cited list turnover as their biggest difficulty in the poll, conducted by JupiterResearch. It asked 300 email marketers about their challenges and the assistance they seek from ESPs. In a... - [links for 2007-08-31](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-16-7/): Segmentation for everyone – webinar 19 September – Learn how to  reach out to the right audience, with the right message, at the right time. - [Personalizing Your Subject Line](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/personalizing-y/): I have worked on email marketing campaigns in the past that  included the subscriber’s first name in the subject line.  The open rates on these campaigns were always much higher than the same message sent with a generic subject line without personalization.  At the time, there was a lot of discussion about the reason behind... - [links for 2007-08-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-15-8/): Bad email marketing can ruin product launches One of the reasons for the failure of NatMags’ Jellyfish magazine has been blamed on email distribution problems. How Email Travels (Video) Last month, Google invited us to submit video clips that portray the path that an email takes after we click the Send button. Here is the... - [Guide to Gearing Up for the Holiday Email Season](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/guide-to-gearin/): The Email Experience Council today announced that the holiday email marketing season for retailers has begun.  Along with the announcement, the EEC released “Ring-Cha-Ching, Hear Them Ring: The Guide to Gearing Up for the Holiday Email Season,” a 15-page report that discusses retail email marketing trends and practices from the past holiday season. It offers... - [ISPs Are Starting to Perform SPF Checks, Are You Ready?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/isps-starting-t/): A study released today revealed that marketers should begin attending to Sender Policy Framework (SPF) authentication to improve e-mail deliverability. For the first time, according to a statement from Stefan Pollard, director of consulting services at EmailLabs, SPF checks are becoming part of content filter tests done by Internet service providers. These checks, which compare... - [How Does Content Filtering Work?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-does-conten/): In his ClickZ column, Stefan Pollard gives us some insights into how content filters work: "Many major content filters rate messages according to how many elements in them are commonly associated with spam, such as copy, format, coding, and headers. A content filtering system doesn’t automatically flag a message because it contains one or two... - [links for 2007-08-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14-9/): New Trends in Transactional Email – Archived webinar This webinar examines new trends in transactional email that are being driven by innovative Web 2.0 companies like Wetpaint, who rely heavily on event-triggered messages to confirm user-generated actions. - [Ramping Up With an Automated Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ramping-up-with/): I was resistant.  I kept saying no.  I refused.  We were not getting Xbox Live.  Until… The beloved Xbox 360 had to be sent in for a warranty repair.  The fine folks at Microsoft tried and tried and after about six weeks, admitted defeat and sent a brand new Xbox 360 to my house.  Because... - [Components of a Successful Welcome Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/components-of-a/): A welcome email should come immediately after sign-up. It should thank users for opting in, explain what they can expect from your email program and get them excited to receive the next one. In this article, Whitney Hutchinson says these are the components of a successful welcome email: Personalization – Starting off your relationship with... - [How to Build a Proper Email Testing Plan](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-build-a-4/): Without proper testing, there is no way to tell what your customers are actually seeing or how they are responding to your message. In this article, Spencer Kollas tells us to start with establishing a comprehensive plan that outlines what you want to test, what you will consider a success or a failure and how... - [Will Suspect Words Get You Filtered? It depends!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/will-suspect-wo/): Melinda Krueger asked some industry experts if suspect words will get you filtered. Here’s what they replied: Loren McDonald (JL Halsey) says content CAN get you filtered, but it is more likely going to be a combination of several words, phrases, not passing SPF tests, using bad code, etc., then combined with your reputation scores….... - [Gmail Guidelines for Bulk Senders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/gmail-guideline/): Yesterday Bronto’s DJ Waldow pointed a fellow member of the Email Marketer’s Club to a page that contains guidelines for email marketers to get their emails delivered in the Gmail inbox. Some key take-aways: Use a consistent IP address to send email. Use the same "from" header on every email you send. Keep valid reverse... - [Major Brands Are Spamming!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/major-brands-ar/): According to a Direct Magazine survey of DMers concerning the online practices scheduled to come out in September’s issue, 14% of traditional business-to-consumer DMers say they send marketing emails to people on an opt-out basis. "And it’s not just fly-by-night direct marketers that are spamming. I personally have received unsolicited e-mail from Circuit City, Kmart,... - [An Interesting Multi-Channel Approach](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/an-interesting/): It’s part of human nature that makes us helpers.  My kids are always asking if they can help cook dinner, wash the car, and put away groceries.  Why?  Because it makes them feel good to help. It’s no wonder when I saw the subject line in a message from Chadwick’s today I immediately opened the... - [links for 2007-08-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13-9/): FTC stops e-mail marketing of weight-loss products A U.S. district judge has ordered a company to stop sending unsolicited e-mail marketing weight-loss and anti-aging products that allegedly did not work… Increasing email deliverability and response – webinar 12 September 2pm ET – This webinar will discuss what relevance in e-mail marketing is and how to... - [First EEC Email Marketing Event: The Email Evolution Conference](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/first-eec-email/): The eec will be holding its first annual event – the Email Evolution Conference – February 11-13, 2008 in San Diego, California. This launch event is designed to be the major annual gathering of all levels of marketing professionals who are tackling their on-the-job marketing solutions. The event will have three major components: a three-track... - [links for 2007-08-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-11/): Am I Being Overly Paranoid About Spam Filters When Writing My Subject Lines? Read what the industry experts have to say on the subject of content filtering. EMSA 2007 — The Email Marketing Summit Australia 1-2 November. EMSA 2007 is Australia’s first dedicated email marketing summit. Free Lip Gloss Helps Gather 10 Million Email Addresses... - [Asking for Preferences = Personalized Messaging](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/asking-for-pref/): PetSmart sends a message each month promoting ways to save money with their PetPerks Program. I received their latest message last night. And after reading about the personalized email marketing messages from Columbia Sportswear  I realized that PetSmart wasn’t doing the best job of speaking to their subscribers. The message that landed in my inbox... - [links for 2007-08-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-13/): Tell Me The Email Was for ME Nice example of a well-targeted email The Seven Dirty Words You Can’t Say in Email Subject Lines (Plus 100 Others You Shouldn’t Use, Either) a list of 100 words that you should avoid using in your subject lines Plea to Citibank: Stop Emailing Me! Bottom line: don’t send... - [Ask and You Shall Receive](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ask-and-you-sha/): I was thinking about the transactional type email messages that are sent through LinkedIn when a connection is asking a question, requesting an introduction or requesting an endorsement. These requests are coming from your connections, and therefore you trust them.  You read the message and then act on it, by either answering the question, coordinating... - [Targeting Tips For the Retail World](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/targeting-tips/): Kevin Hillstrom is offering some targeting tips in his blog post "E-mail Campaign Management and Data". In this post he talks about how you can improve the performance of your retail email campaign by creating many targeted versions of an email to different customers during one campaign. To do this you can use attributes such... - [Best of Blue :: Compelling Enough to Click](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best-of-blue-co/): The latest email from Kmart has an interesting feature that encourages clicks from curious subscribers like me.  Although the main body of the message, which was focused on dorm needs (and camping), may lose some subscribers before they scroll to the bottom – I almost didn’t make it down that far.  With the elementary school... - [links for 2007-08-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-14/): Whitehat SEO tips for Bloggers from Matt Cutts An Expert Roundtable on E-mail Deliverability for Lead Generation – on demand webinar During the webinar, a number of eec members and sponsors, discussed key deliverability issues. (tags: deliverability) Transactional Email & Web 2.0  – Webinar August 22nd at 11am PT – This webinar will examine new... - [Tips for Introducing Your Subscribers to Your Sister Brands and Partners](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips-for-introd/): In his Email Insider column, Chad White tells us to keep our subscribers’ email addresses out of the hands of partners and even sister brands. Why? Because you don’t want to abuse your subscribers’ permission — once you lose it it’s nearly impossible to get back. Here are some ways to introduce your subscribers to... - [Don't Misuse Send to a Friend to Build Your Database](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dont-misuse-sen/): "Send to a Friend (STAF)" or "Forward to a Friend (FTAF)" are very good ways to get your message across to readers that are not on your list. However, you should not add these email addresses to your list! It’s just not good email practice and in some countries it’s even illegal to do so.... - [Tips for Sending Multi-Language Emails to Clients Around the World](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/sending-multi-l/): Localized e-mails are a key part of an effective customer communications strategy, driving immediate revenue and opening the doors to future branding and sales opportunities. However, you need to be prepared to address critical technical and creative issues as you create your communications strategy. Email clientsMany of the same browsers (Explorer, FireFox, Netscape, etc.) and... - [links for 2007-08-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-14/): How Bath and Body Works Built its Massive E-mail File The company began collecting e-mail addresses from customers just last January and has since built a whopping file of over 10 million addresses. Email Marketing Conference, September 6, The Netherlands Jeanne Jennings will be presenting at the 6th edition of "De Nationale E-mailmarketing Conferentie". Stupid... - [Overwhelming Subscribers with Too Much Copy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/overwhelming-su/): I love the Disney brand from a many different angles.  I live near Orlando, and several times a month, my family and I enjoy spending an afternoon at Walt Disney World.  I’m also a big fan of the Disney Channel, because it’s decent entertainment for my kids.  I could go on and on… Quite honestly,... - [Some Less Obvious Spammy Words to Avoid](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some-less-obvio/): The folks at Blue Sky Factory provide a list of some of the less obvious “spammy” words and phrases to avoid in your emails in their article "Dirty Words in Disguise". These is the list of words and phrases to avoid in both the subject line and the body copy: Information you requested Important information... - [Email Overtakes Print for Marketing Offerings](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-overtakes/): The volume of marketing offers sent by e-mail has overtaken print direct mail in the UK for the first time as com­panies exploit the low cost and other benefits of electronic campaigns.The milestone highlights the challenge to Royal Mail and others with sizeable businesses charging for producing and delivering print direct mail when advertisers are... - [Why You Should Take a Strategic Approach to Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is-your-email-p/): On the Persuasive e-Marketing blog, Kelly Rusk explains why you should take a strategic approach to email marketing, rather than a tactical one to achieve the best results with your program. You are taking the strategic approach if you have a content plan, an editorial calendar, a mailing schedule, a segmentation strategy. You research who... - [How to Fix a Failing Email Marketing Program?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-fix-a-fa/): In this article, Stefan Pollard offers a list of things to start with when you are called in to fix a failing email marketing program: Authentication. This is your first stop. Check your SPF, SenderID, and DomainKeys records to make sure they’re accurate and up to date. Can ISPs verify you are who you claim... - [Does Your Subject Match Your Message?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/does-your-subje/): Earlier this month, our friend Mark Brownlow at No Man is an Iland referenced Kelly Mooney’s blog post  about the Gap maybe being too clever with a subject line about Men’s Wear referring to Women’s Fashions.  While not exactly along the same lines, the message I received from Banana Republic, one of the Gap family... - [Samples of How to Use Email to Reach, Delight and Build Relationships with Your Customers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/samples-of-how/): Melinda Krueger shares some great examples of how some email marketers use email to reach, delight and build relationships with your customers: Michelle Novak, Saga Communications: "we look for ways to [provide lagniappe] in every email we send to our radio station listeners. When we gather our listeners’ emails to join our clubs, we always... - [The Big Book of Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-big-book-of/): Yesterday I came across "The Big Book of Email Marketing", a series of pdfs published by an organization called IPT. Topics that are covered are: The Basics of Campaign Planning Intelligent Data Management for Email Marketing Writing and Creating Emails that Get Results Understanding the Art of Email Broadcasting Measuring Email Marketing Effectiveness Download it... - [links for 2007-08-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-14/): Career Advice: Joyce, The Online Marketer Great post by Kevin Hillstrom. What advice would you give to Joyce? - [links for 2007-08-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-14/): The M20: Top Marketer Blogs (gamma)This blog made it to number 4 on the list! Check out the other blogs as well, they are all written by corporate marketers. - [Are Multiple People in Your Organization Sending Emails to Your List?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/are-multiple-pe/): When multiple persons in your organization are sending marketing emails to your list, make sure that there is at least one person in the organization that keeps an eye on how frequent you email your contacts. Or at least agree on a maximum number of emails that you want your contacts to receive from you... - [2 Ways Email Can Help to Increase Conversions](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2-ways-email-ca/): Trigger-based emails can be generated when a recipient takes an action such as opening an email, clicking on a link or submitting a form. Additionally an email can be triggered if a customer or subscriber’s profile changes or matches a particular demographic. Triggers can be used for a variety of scenarios such as to automate... - [Questioning Your Subject Line?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/questioning-you/): I will admit, sometimes it can be hard to come up with a compelling subject line.  And knowing that the subject line plays a large part in determining if your message will get opened or not,  you want to be sure you have a good one. One way to help get your message opened is... - [links for 2007-08-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-14/): Your E-Mail Is Blacklisted. Now What? An Expert Roundtable on E-mail Deliverability for Lead Generation – WebinarTuesday, August 14, 2007 – 2:00PM Eastern | 11:00AM Pacific Switching Email VendorsMatt Vernhout provides some ideas to help with the pains you may experience when switching email vendors Video: Social Bookmarking in Plain English Weekend e-mail drives weekend... - [How to Fix a Damaged Email Reputation?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-fix-a-da/): According to J.F. Sullivan, there is a simple three-step solution to addressing a negative e-mail reputation that will get you back in the fast lane in almost no time. Step 1: Run a reputation assessment check. Yes, this seems moot. After all, you have already become aware of the problem. However, you might not know... - [Loren's Hall-of-Shame Stupid Email Tricks](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/lorens-hall-of/): In his latest Email Insider column, Loren McDonald says he’s a firm believer that email is the marketing channel most able to adapt to shifting modes of communication, even as we trade the desktop computer for the handheld and the inbox for the personal page on the hot new social network. However, he says, the... - [links for 2007-08-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-14/): Dfinitive – Email Marketing Blogs & Resources The W list: aka women who bloglist of female bloggers – check it out 🙂 - [And in Contrast...](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/and-in-contrast/): Yesterday, I wrote about a message footer that could use some help and had a faint odor of spamminess.  Today, I have a better example of a footer from one of my favorite email marketing campaigns, Road Runner Sports. The 60 day guarantee banner, with it’s bold color signals a break in the reader’s mind.... - [links for 2007-08-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-15/): How a Simple Newsletter Design Tweak Turned Red Xs Into an Asset (MarketingSherpa)A major cable network got smart in how they use images to address the image rendering problem and increased their clickthroughs a whopping 41% - [Something's A Foot(er)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/i-have-had-my-y/): I have had my Yahoo! Email account for at least eight years.  The internet was still relatively new for regular folks and through a painfully slow dial-up connection, I spent a fair amount of time learning about new technology, signing up for sweepstakes and signing up for emails.  This email account is no longer my... - [links for 2007-08-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-15/): 5 super powers email marketers needIf you want your customers to think of you as a hero rather than a villain, heed this advice from Lyris’ strategic account manager. Are you addicted to email?…the average email user checks mail about five times a day, and 59% of those with portable devices are using them to... - [Bounce Handling Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/bounce-handling/): Last week I was doing some research on bounce handling best practices. My main questions were these: Is marking hard bounces as undeliverable after the 3rd consecutive hard bounce within one year the right way to treat hard bounces? Personally I think 3 is too many. Should we set different thresholds for hard bounces, soft... - [We're Friendly... Well, Sort of](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/were-friendly-w/): Wrigley’s website Candystand.com  Is full of fun games and I must admit to spending too much of my free time there playing Candy Drop.  The emails that compliment the site are to the point, easy to read and have a specific call to action. The email I received last week included a link to a... - [A Tale of Two Welcomes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-tale-of-two-w/): Hello there!  This is Maddy Hubbard.  You may know me from my previous blog, Email Marketing Voodoo.  This week Tamara asked if I would be interested in co-authoring  BeRelevant!  As you can imagine, I jumped at the opportunity. I have opted-in to some new email marketing campaigns and I because I have a new email... - [links for 2007-08-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-15/): Email Marketing Software Review 2007 Friday question: How do you handle your plain text? Mathew at Campaign Monitor wants to know how you handle your plain text version. - [links for 2007-08-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-15/): Email’s Future: User And Usage Shifts Each communication vehicle (email, IM, Web site, text messaging, social network) gets used differently depending on which groups are involved in the communication and how many people are involved at each end of the message. Six ways you might misunderstand your email reports Another great article by Mark Brownlow... - [Email Is Key to Integrated Marketing Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-is-the-ke/): Email can boost the ROI of other marketing efforts, and vice versa. In this article, Doug Marshall tells us how: "It is an unfortunate reality that, in many organizations, marketing is broken down in silos, and even though a company’s message may be consistent from one channel to another, the channels do little to help... - [HTML vs. Plain Text - a Test](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html-vs-plain-t/): by Maria Hendricks HTML vs. Plain Text has long been among the most hotly debated email-oriented topics. HTML format offers a visually pleasing design that 1) affects readers’ ability to process and benefit from the information and 2) provides marketers with the ability to track the effectiveness of emails. Two of the most recent MEC... - [links for 2007-08-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2007-6/): Holidays are over. I started working again this week and it’s super busy at the office, so no time for long blog posts. But here are the most interesting articles I read in the last couple of days: Top 20 PowerWomen of PR and Marketing Getting The Most Out Of Our Professional Groups As a... - [Does Your Landing Page "Reward" the Reader for Clicking?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/does-your-landi/): In this article, Loren McDonald says that "as a result of clicking through from the e-mail, that visitor has to be satisfied. In other words, the landing page must directly convey the information or “reward” for making the click". He says "it’s vital to have clear objectives in mind during the page design phase. Because... - [How to Ruin Deliverability in 10 Easy Steps](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-ruin-del/): Here’s Stefan Pollard top 10 list of sure-fire ways to ruin a sender’s deliverability: Fail authentication checks. You should have the proper authentication records in place (SPF, SenderID, or DomainKeys) to give the ISPs a fighting chance to identify senders and use reputation data to make delivery decisions. However, a broken or incorrect record can... - [links for 2007-07-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-15/): The M20: Top Marketer Blogs (beta) - [links for 2007-07-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-15/): Top Ten Things You Need to Know About Email Creative – DMA Webinar Thursday, August 9, 2007 – 1 pm ET Google Creates Collaborative Video About Email Distribution Email Marketing to BlackBerrys – Usage, Formatting & Rendering Tips 64% of key decision makers are viewing your carefully crafted email on their BlackBerrys and other mobile... - [How to Score With Transactional Messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-score-wi/): When leveraged properly, transactional messages can strengthen customer loyalty, provide a complete view of the customer lifecycle and increase sales, says email and database marketing provider e-Dialog in their report, How to Optimize Transactional Email Messages. Today, email messages serve several purposes, including facilitating, completing or confirming a commercial transaction the recipient previously agreed to... - [Silverpop's Email Resolutions for 2008](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/silverpops-emai/): Silverpop posted their email resolution for 2008 in their newsletter. Here’s what they say: “As we look toward 2008 and what it will bring in terms of email marketing, we pulled together four things that marketers can do to improve their campaigns and drive better results and higher returns in the New Year.  Focus on... - [Email Marketing Benchmark Guide Teleconference: Slides and Recording](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketi-3/): I just attended MarketingSherpa‘s teleconference where they talked about the findings of their 2008 Email Marketing Benchmarketing Guide. They shared some very interesting stuff, so if you missed it, you can find the slides here and my recording of the call here (mp3/7.5MB/starts at slide 2 due to some technical difficulties). - [links for 2007-12-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-15-7/): Email: Five Ways To Cut The Clutter (tags: strategy) ExactTarget Delivers S-1 – Headed for IPO Simms Jenkins lists some interesting takeaways from ExactTarget’s S-1 (tags: industry) How to nurture an online community Online communities require constant monitoring and some level of moderation in order to succeed. Here are some important points to keep in... - [How to Use Sweepstakes to Build an Engaged Email List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-use-swee/): Here’s some great advice from Stephanie Miller regarding the use of sweepstakes to build your list: Despite the number of sweepstakes this season – and the predictable traffic boost they create – it’s still hard to hear the cash register ring for email marketers trying to use this tactic to build an engaged file of... - [How LiveNation Fixed its Deliverability Problems](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-livenation/): According to a new case posted on the MarketingSherpa website, LiveNation, an online tickets marketer, improved their deliverability rate 20.4% and increased email-driven conversions 143% in just two months. Read the case here. Here are the main takeaways: they applied much stricter rules for bounces they eliminated spam-triggering words from their copy they re-built their... - [links for 2007-12-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14-8/): Email tracking and readnotify.com In the process of looking for a way to implement open rate tracking in an in-house created HTML email system, Alec had a look at readnotify.com. Read his evaluation of this service here. (tags: metrics analysis) The Inbox Advisor » Blog Archive » Quick tip on email marketing – how to... - [Email Marketing Benchmark Guide: an Interview with Stefan Tornquist](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketi-2/): As you might have noticed, I’m a big fan of MarketingSherpa’s research. Last week they contacted me to see if I would be interested in talking to Stefan Tornquist about the results of this year’s Email Marketing Benchmark Guide. Of course I said yes 🙂 I spoke with Stefan tonight and he had some really... - [links for 2007-12-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13-8/): Top 10 US Social-Network and Blog Site Rankings Issued for November 2007 Ranked second among social-networking sites, Facebook increased the number of visitors to nearly 22.0 million, up from October’s 19.5 million – and up 89% vs. Nov. 2006, whereas MySpace visitors increased just 7% year over year. (tags: social_networking) - [links for 2007-12-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-9/): 3 keys to success with local mobile Since mobile phones are in the process of becoming mini pocket PCs, there’s no doubt mobile is about to get hot. (tags: mobile) Mobile numbers form identity (tags: mobile) - [links for 2007-12-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-10/): Software Company ExactTarget Plans IPO (tags: industry) SenderScore Blacklist Follow-up Return Path’s George Bilbrey offers some additional information and a number of points for clarification regarding Matt’s posting yesterday “SenderScore Whitelist or Blacklist?” (tags: deliverability) Who Would You Hire To Be Your New E-Mail Marketing Director? read the comments as well – there’s some really... - [White-lists: an explanation by Charles Stiles](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/white-lists-an/): by Charles Stiles (on the Goodmail blog) You’ve worked hard to build your distribution lists, you’ve adhered to the best practices in the industry and you’ve done what was asked by mailbox providers but your mail still isn’t reaching the inbox.  This is not an uncommon problem; the typical solution is to be put on... - [Merry Christmas Spammers!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/merry-christmas/): Matt found this very funny video on YouTube that I’d like to share with you 🙂 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReUs8YTVTKg&rel=1] - [links for 2007-12-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-10/): Can Stronger Self-Regulation Save Us From The Government? (tags: industry) Email deliverability news and resources (tags: deliverability) SenderScore: Whitelist or Blacklist? Reports are starting to appear about the new service being offered , as part of the SenderScore service package, to ISPs courtesy of Return Path… the SenderScore Blocklist. (tags: deliverability) New Feedback Loop Standard... - [UK Email Delivery Rates Continue to Fall](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk-email-delive/): The UK Direct Market Association (DMA) has urged email marketers to focus more closely on deliverability after another drop in delivery rates in the second quarter of the year. The group’s latest stats show that delivery rates fell to 68% for acquisition emails and 80% for retention emails in the period, continuing the drops seen... - [links for 2007-12-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-10/): Higher E-Mail Ad Spending Hits Hurdles – eMarketer JupiterResearch estimated that about one-quarter of e-mail delivered to users’ main inboxes is now opt-in. (tags: study) New Year’s Email Resolutions 8 Principles for Successful Email Marketing Campaigns in 2008 (tags: strategy) Spam Makes up 95% of E-Mail, Says Survey (tags: study) - [Chad's takeaways from the Email Insider Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/chads-takeaways/): Chad White posted his takeaways from the Email Insider Summit on his excellent blog. Here are some of the highlights: While sender reputation was, of course, much talked about, the newer angle was the effect of content links on deliverability. For instance, Craig Spiezle, director of online trust at Microsoft, said if you create a... - [How Can Your Unsubscribe Process Boost the Performance of Your Email Marketing Program?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-can-your-un/): Lyris/EmailLabs just released a white paper called "Unsubscribing in 2007: Marketers Can Get More Out of Goodbye" based on their survey of unsubscribe policies and practices among email marketers. The good news is that almost all are complying with best practices about giving customers the opportunity to unsubscribe from their mailings, making it easy to... - [Stephanie Miller's Top 5 Observations and Predictions for the Email Marketing Industry](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stephanie-mille/): Over on the Email Insider Summit blog Stephanie Miller (one of the industry thought leaders that I admire very much) posted her top five observations and predictions for the industry: Relevancy is key to success in email marketing.  As email marketing expands to include mobile distribution, social networking and multi-channel approaches, creating amazing subscriber experiences... - [links for 2007-12-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-10/): ReputationWiki resource on topics pertinent to the ever-growing online ecosystem, including reputation, compliance, deliverability and policy. (tags: deliverability industry) Meet Forrester’s New Email Marketing Analyst: Julie Katz Katz said she’s seeing intense interest from marketers in the ability to segment their customer files for more effective marketing, and the ability to deliver marketing messages triggered... - [Email Marketing Benchmark Guide: Main Findings](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketi-1/): Yesterday I posted a link to the executive summary of MarketingSherpa’s new Email Marketing Benchmark guide. Here’s are some of the most interesting findings: Inbox overload is the #1 concern of marketers.  Lack of trust among recipients due to spam is their #2 concern.  Only 2% of email marketers rate deliverability as their biggest challenge. ... - [Content or Reputation: What's More Important?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/content-or-repu/): In his latest blog post, Spencer Kollas says it depends. “If you have a poor sender reputation it won’t matter what your content looks like, because it probably won’t get to your customer’s inbox. On the other hand, if you have a good reputation, but your content is getting caught by every anti-spam software available,... - [Email Marketing Benchmark Guide: Executive Summary](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-6/): Yesterday you could read on this blog that MarketingSherpa released the 2008 edition of their Email Marketing Benchmark Guide. Today they’ve made the executive summary available. Download it here. Don’t forget to sign up for the teleconference on December 19th in which Stefan Tornquist will present the main findings. Register here. - [links for 2007-12-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-10/): 1px white line in Outlook 2007? Head over to the Campaign Monitor Forum to find out how you can fix this (tags: coding design) Paving the Road to Relevancy Starts with Your Welcome Messages Download Return Path’s latest white paper, “A Welcome Message Study: Marketers Are Missing Opportunities to Pave the Road to Relevancy.” (tags:... - [New Study Shows Shoppers Respond to Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new-study-shows/): Say what you will about marketing solicitations clogging your e-mail inbox. A new study conducted by Endai Worldwide shows that marketing emails are surprisingly effective at doing what they are designed to do: Getting people to buy. The survey revealed that over the past 12 months, 50% of men and women have made a purchase... - [Email Insider Summit: David Daniels, Jupiter Media](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-insider-1/): Dylan posted his notes from David Daniels’ session at the Email Insider Summit. Here are some highlights: How are people spending time? Email 87%, Search 70%, Research 64%, Purchase 60%, IM 37%. These are the top activities by online consumers, not consumers in general. The average person gets 274 emails a week in personal email.... - [Email Insider Summit: Is Technology Good or Bad for the Industry?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-insider-s/): On the Email Insider Summit blog, Stephanie Miller talks about a lively debate that occured at a panel in the morning. “Moderator Matt Blumberg of Return Path asked if technology is helping or hurting email marketing – and in particular how the do not track registry would potentially restrict marketer’s ability to create relevancy.  The... - [2008 MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2008-marketings/): Today, MarketingSherpa released the 2008 edition of its Email Marketing Benchmark Guide. According to the press release: "the updated guide delivers exclusive results data from real-life marketers’ campaigns. Containing 260-charts and tables, this is the largest and most comprehensive study ever conducted with professional email marketers. Readers will learn how the impact of email marketing... - [links for 2007-12-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-10/): Justifying E-mail Budgets for 2008 Jeanniey Mullen talks about a simple mathematical equation she often uses to justify and win an increased budget for e-mail marketing. (tags: budget) Web 2.0 @ Work on ZDNet.com (tags: video) An E-Mail Frequency Question If you have customers who infrequently interact with e-mail campaigns, but opt-out at low rates... - [Study: Wednesday Afternoon Is the Most Active Time for Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study-wednesday/): eROI has just completed their Q3 2007 email study.  Some highlights: Day of Week: Monday and Wednesday lead the way for users to open email. The weekends, for the first time in over a year, are the low point. Clicks on the other hand see spikes on Wednesday, Thursday and, the highest day of the... - [links for 2007-12-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-10/): EEC’s Email Performance Award nomination deadline extended to Dec. 17 Submit your email marketing campaign that demonstrates the full power of the channel, one that provides further evidence of email marketing’s unsurpassed ROI and inspiration to others seeking to elevate the performance of their own programs.” (tags: industry) EmailKarma: AOTA | Email Authentication Survey The... - [links for 2007-12-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-11/): E-mail plays key role in Web site’s CRM success For Boston.com, the online site of The Boston Globe, building customer relationships through e-mail has become one of the best ways to keep readership up. (tags: cases) - [links for 2007-12-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-11/): New Groundbreaking Book on Email Marketing Reveals Key Strategies for Successful Campaigns (tags: books) - [links for 2007-12-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-11/): E-mail Spurs Purchase in 50% of Consumers: Study Half of all consumers surveyed have made a purchase as a result of an e-mail solicitation, according to a new study. (tags: study) What Do the ISPs Want from You? Check the Web – ClickZ (tags: deliverability) B-to-b e-mail lists remain priciest :: BtoB Magazine Permission based... - [Getting Ready For The Email Insider Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/getting-ready-f/): The agenda is finished, the final touches done. Next week at this time, BIll McCloskey will be sitting in beautiful Park City, Utah, basking in the camaraderie of the finest email marketing minds on the planet, at the 4th Email Insider Summit. They go to the Email Summit to eat, drink, and be merry with... - [Just Meeting CAN-SPAM regulations is No Longer Enough!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/just-meeting-ca/): A quick tour through the bulk-email or postmaster pages at major ISPs and email providers shows that they have moved beyond technical requirements to specify procedures such as getting explicit permission before sending email, sender authentication and list hygiene. This confirms that for U.S. senders, just meeting CAN-SPAM regulations for commercial email, such as a... - [How To Establish a Reputation on a New IP Address?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-establis/): Some of the top ISPs are putting new IP addresses with no sending history on a short leash until they can gather enough reputational data to determine how to deliver the email. In order to establish a reputation on a new IP address, you will have to do the following:     1. Determine your... - [links for 2007-12-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-11/): E-mail is up for retailers this holiday season This year, 68% of the largest online retailers sent at least one promotional e-mail on Cyber Monday, making it the biggest e-mail marketing day of the year to date, up from 44% last year. (tags: industry) Ensuring your HTML emails look great and get delivered David Greiner... - [CDBaby's Shipping Confirmation Email Rocks!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/cdbabys-shippin/): Found this one on the MarketingProfs blog: Jim Sterne ordered some music from CBBaby and received this confirmation email subsequently: “Your CDs have been gently taken from our CD Baby shelves with sterilized contamination-free gloves and placed onto a satin pillow. “A team of 50 employees inspected your CDs and polished them to make sure... - [Use an Editorial Calendar to Make Emails More Relevant](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/use-an-editoria/): Experience has taught magazine publishers and editors that consumers care about certain subjects at predictable times of the year. They codify this tendency in their editorial calendars, a 6- to 18-month running plan of what articles they will feature over time. Email marketers can learn from this practice by developing an editorial calendar of their... - [links for 2007-12-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2007/): Video: Blogs in Plain English | Common Craft Great video (tags: video) Adults E-Mail, Teens IM Three-quarters of adults said they sent more e-mails than instant messages. The ratio was nearly reversed for teens, many of whom liked the distance that IM put between them in some conversations. (tags: study) When a Hacker Strikes an... - [links for 2007-11-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-10/): When you move from one ESP to another… …what do you take with you? (tags: esp) RetailEmail.Blogspot: Free Webinar on Improving Your Email Marketing on Dec. 4 Discover the information needed to improve campaign results, increase brand awareness and generate greater acquisition and revenues from the email channel. (tags: events) - [HTML email standards: the big interview](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html-email-stan/): Mark Brownlow interviewed David Greiner, the brain behind the Email Standards Project. He asked David what the project’s goals are and if he thinks he can really influence the big corporate machines behind Outlook, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, Gmail and other email clients. Here are some quotes from the interview: "What really tipped me over the... - [links for 2007-11-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-11/): Targeted email marketing doesn’t need to be complex (tags: targeting) - [The Email Standards Project Launched!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-email-stand/): If we could have the major email clients all supporting at least a subset of web standards, we would be in a much better situation than we are now.  The Email Standards Project is an attempt to help move standards in HTML email forward, towards more consistent, reliable support. The idea is that some time... - [Survey Reveals Email as Sales & Marketing Cinderella Story](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/survey-reveals-2/): This report reveals the results of the survey of 1,829 sales and marketing executives, with questions relative to their company’s use of email for sales and marketing, as well as campaign results and budgets. Email is budget’s ugly step-child, yet Cinderalla for leads and sales results, with top ROIIn answers pertaining to marketing budgets, allocations... - [17 Email Deliverability Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/17-email-delive/): Justin gathered some tips for ensuring your email makes it successfully to the inbox: Join Feedback Loops: Feedback loops allow you to see who is marking your email as spam (so you can remove them). Some ISPs, like AOL, provide an easy way to join the feeback loop. For other ISPs, you may need to... - [links for 2007-11-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-11/): Become a fan of this blog on Facebook Stole this idea from Matt 🙂 If you like this blog and you have a facebook account, I invite you to become a fan. Useful websites Laura lists some useful websites about spam laws in different countries. (tags: legislation) MarketingSherpa: How Rearranging Newsletter Ads (a little) Increases... - [links for 2007-11-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-11/): The best way to expand your email list Forward-to-a-friend features are good for building your email list. Here are pointers for making sure that yours accomplishes all that it should. (tags: list_building) The Email Marketer’s Club welcomes its 500th member I founded the Email Marketer’s Club only 6 months ago and today it counts over... - [links for 2007-11-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-11/): Inbox overload – exploding the myth Dela Quist sheds light on the question of inbox overload and offers encouragement to email marketers who make an effort to ensure the emails they send are timely and relevant. (tags: study) - [Your Recipient's Inbox Is the Hottest Party in Town](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your-recipients/): In his latest column on ClickZ, Stefan Pollard says: “Your recipient’s inbox is the hottest party in town. You have a legitimate invitation to be there, and the spammers figure they can crash the party by looking like you. Make sure your hosts recognize you so you don’t get stuck on the wrong side of... - [links for 2007-11-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-11/): The Email Marketer’s Guide to Maximizing List Potential – Webinar Dec 6 2007 at 11am PST – Find out how to grow your list and improve response rates. (tags: events) DM News’ Essential Guide to Email Marketing (pdf) The guide is packed with advice from industry experts. (tags: guide) - [Dealing with the Competition in Enewsletter Ads](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dealing-with-th/): Placing ads in e-mail newsletters is one of those areas where thinking out of the box pays off. In the b-to-b space, your target is receiving messages from competitors on a daily basis. Knowing how and when those competitors are buying and placing their ads will impact your placement and response rates. Jeanniey Mullen suggests... - [7 Steps to Maximize Email's Role in Lead Generation Programs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/7-steps-to-maxi/): In this article on iMedia Connection, Brent Rosengren lists seven specific steps to ensure your online lead generation works to its fullest potential: 1. Clearly define the main goals of your lead generation program. If the goal is to build or grow an email marketing database, make sure that all the strategy is geared toward... - [Best Email Advertising of 2008 to Be Named by Web Marketing Association](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best-email-adve/): The Web Marketing Association judges will select the best email advertising of 2008 in 86 industries as part of their sixth annual Internet Advertising Competition (IAC) Awards. The IAC Awards are the first and only industry-based advertising award competition dedicated exclusively to online advertising. Companies or agencies wishing to nominate their work for consideration may... - [links for 2007-11-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2007-2/): UK: IAB adopts DMA best practice guidelines (tags: industry) - [How Do Popular Email Clients Handle Image Maps](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-do-popular/): Campaign Monitor tested how image maps perform in the popular email clients. This is what they found:   The results indicate that it’s not a good idea to use image maps. Specifically because of the following issues: The frequency in which images are disabled Image maps and their respective images don’t marry well and therefore... - [Email Experience Council Launches Email Performance Award](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-experienc/): The Email Experience Council (eec), the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) email marketing arm, today announced its call for entries for the eec’s first award competition recognizing email marketing excellence. Chosen directly by eec members, the Email Performance Award will be presented to an individual or organization that has created an email marketing campaign that demonstrates... - [links for 2007-11-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-11/): How to Add Video to Email on a Shoestring Budget & Double Conversions: 6 Steps + 6 Lessons Learned (tags: cases) Top 5 Tests to Raise Landing Page Conversions half-hour teleconference on best practices in landing page tests (tags: events) Feedback Loop Setup a run down and description on how to apply to the feedback... - [How Do Your Emails Render on a Mobile Phone?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-do-your-ema/): Return Path has launched the first ever email rendering solution for mobile devices. Their Sender Score Campaign Preview tool will now allow marketers to see exactly what their email campaigns will look like on Windows Mobile 5 and 6 and Blackberry devices. “As more and more consumers read their email on mobile devices, marketers need... - [10 Creative Holiday Email Card Ideas](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-creative-hol/): Here are ten ideas that will help you do more than just say, “Happy Holidays” with your e-card. Instead, you’ll send one that makes your subscribers smile. Show your face – Include a photo of you and your staff (or you and your family, if you’re a one person shop) in your e-card. This is... - [EmailStatCenter.com Releases First Annual State of Email Metrics Survey Results](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/emailstatcenter/): EmailStatCenter.com today released its findings from the First Annual State of Email Metrics survey. The survey measured interactive marketing professionals’ current views on the importance of email marketing metrics and the biggest challenges and focus areas for 2008. Some highlights from the survey: Frequent Measurement is Integral to Success Over 95% of the individuals surveyed... - [links for 2007-11-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-11/): Word to the Wise » Greylisting: that which Yahoo does not do (tags: deliverability) Takeaways from ‘12 Can’t Miss Email Strategies for Online Retailers’ webinar (tags: events) Video and e-mail work hand in hand to engage (tags: cases) - [Email Top Holiday Priority For Online Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-top-holid/): Email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and usability/customer experience are the top priorities for online marketers this holiday season according to a recent survey. The survey was conducted by online solutions provider Brulant at the Shop.org 2007 Annual Summit held in Las Vegas in September. Sixty-four percent of respondents ranked email marketing as their most... - [links for 2007-11-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-12/): Landing Page Testing – The Ultimate Guide To Test Statistics (tags: testing) How Email Competitive Intelligence Increases Marketing ROI From monitoring 3rd parties to selecting affiliates and evaluating the effectiveness of creative, this session overviews the best practices and new techniques used by email marketers today (tags: events) Jeanniey Mullen Promises EEC Tattoo… …if she... - [How Do Forms Perform in HTML Emails?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-do-forms-pe/): The folks over at Campaign Monitor decided to run some tests to find out how well forms are supported in all the major email environments. The short of it is that email clients consider email forms to be a security risk. While some email clients simply warn you of potential danger, others outright disable the... - [Email ROI Is Falling](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-roi-is-fa/): Though the return on investment garnered from e-mail marketing operations is still healthy, there has been a downward trend in recent years, and it is forecasted to continue through 2007 and 2008.  This is according to the U.S. Direct Marketing Association. In 2005, e-mail marketing ROI was $57.25 for every dollar spent, while in 2006... - [Email Service Providers: AOTA needs your help!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-service-p/): In and effort to help brands and interactive marketers protect their brands from phishing while aiding in the deliverability of their legitimate email and enhancing user trust, the Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (www.aotalliance.org) will be publishing a summary of email service providers and agencies whose solutions include key email authentication protocols.    Specifically they... - [links for 2007-11-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-12/): Cheat Sheet: How to Get Your Email Address Into More Address Books – Tips & Rules for Top 10 Receivers + BlackBerry Users E-mail Delivers 4 top e-mailers outlined what they see as having the biggest impact on the industry in the last year and going into 2008. (tags: industry) At Last, The Magilla Marketing... - [links for 2007-11-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-12/): Free Email Deliverability Guide For Our Blog Readers! AWeber is offering an email deliverability guide to its blog readers. (tags: deliverability) - [BtoB Email Marketing Budget Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/btob-email-mark/): MindComet is teaming up with Marketing Sherpa to provide BtoB marketers a comprehensive analysis of email marketing budgets in 2008. If you’re interested in participating check out www.btobbudgetsurvey.com. Source: MindComet. - [links for 2007-11-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-12/): Subject Line Testing Scenarios some ideas for subject line tests (tags: subject_lines) - [European Email Marketers Still Have a Lot to Learn](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/european-email/): When it comes to e-mail marketing, Americans are more sophisticated than almost all their European counterparts. This is significant, according to a new JupiterResearch report, "E-mail Marketing Adoption: Assessing Multinational E-mail Marketing Sophistication," because it may give U.S.-based marketers an edge as they move into international markets. If you’re thinking of making a move into... - [links for 2007-11-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2007-3/): I just spent a couple of hours tagging and re-tagging my 292 del.icio.us bookmarks. This means that you can now also search them by keyword. Check it out: http://del.icio.us/feeds/js/tags/tgielen?icon;size=13-29;color=6666ff-6666ff;title=my%20del.icio.us%20tags;name;showadd Here’s a bunch of new bookmarks that I added today: Former AOL postmaster Charles Stiles hired by Goodmail (tags: industry) A conversation with AOL’s Charles Stiles... - [EECs Email Evolution Conference](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/eecs-email-evol/): On February 11-13 the Email Experience Council is organizing the first edition of its annual email marketing event, the Email Evolution Conference, in San Diego, California. The conference is organized into three tracks: Fundamental, which is geared toward the Email Deployment Manager/Coordinator; Intermediate, which is intended for Interactive/Direct Marketing Managers and Directors; and Advanced, which... - [Two New Email Marketing Reports](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/two-new-email-m/): Both JupiterResearch and Forrester launched a report on email marketing recently: Forrester: Relationships Write The Next Chapter For EmailEmail success among marketers of apparel, home goods, or travel is obvious because it’s measured in sales. Financial services and consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturers find the value of email more challenging to defend because they are... - [Three Main Aspects of Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three-main-aspe/): According to Scott Palubinsky there are three main aspects of email marketing: list quality, creative rendering, and reporting: The  quality of your list is much more important than the quantity. Growing your list is important, but what is more important is growing your list by adding opt-in subscribers/customers who will positively respond to your campaign.... - [Stupid HTML Email Design Mistakes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stupid-html-ema/): Ben Chestnut wrote a great article aimed at web designers that are making "stupid" mistakes when they try to create HTML emails. "It’s one thing if it’s some small business owner who goofed on a CSS tag. That’s forgivable. But it’s astounding how many professional web designers (and programmers!) make silly mistakes in their HTML... - [Checklist for Behaviorally Targeted Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/checklist-for-b/): Due to the low cost of e-mail marketing and deployment relative to revenue generated, e-mail marketing programs should be assessed on the additive value they provide to your overall campaign. Expanding segmentation and personalization opportunities through the use of e-mail series allows marketers to provide readers with real value. This can translate into communications that... - [Using Contests and Competitions to Build Your List? Read this!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using-contests/): The folks at Campaign Monitor found that competition entry lists seems to get a disproportionate amount of spam complaints. A competition entry list is a list where you have entered your email address to win some kind of prize, and at the same time agreed to receive email in the future from the company running... - [Some B2B Email Stats](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some-b2b-email/): Stephanie Miller posted some subscriber view stats that were shared in a panel she was on at MarketingProf’s B2B Forum this month – some are surprising and most are helpful when thinking about ways to engage with subscribers: The increase in purchase value of email subscribers vs. non subscribers is 17%. That means, on average,... - [Layoffs at AOL Affect Whitelisting and FBL Processes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/layoffs-at-aol/): The recent layoffs at AOL did affect the AOL Postmaster desk according to Laura Atkins. As a result of the staff decrease, some changes have been made to the whitelisting and FBL (feedback loop) processes. In order for a FBL to be approved it must meet the new FBL guidelines. Read more here. - [Job Posting: Strategic Email Marketing Consultant](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/job-posting-str/): OgilvyOne is looking for a strategic email marketing consultant. This candidate will work with our global team to develop and execute world-class consulting and delivery of email marketing and digital dialogue programs for Ogilvy clients while assisting in growth of the email practice. - [links for 2007-10-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-12/): Why don’t more e-retailers do triggered emails? Email address acquisition: worst practice this is hilarious – and sad! Some companies really don’t get it… Email open rates drop 3% open rates have declined overall so far this year Rolling Strikes: Who says the word “free” doesn’t work with e-mail? Brunswick Bowling and Billiards has turned... - [links for 2007-10-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-12/): MarketingSherpa: Your Input Needed: Annual Email Marketing Questionnaire Different angles on email deliverability - [links for 2007-10-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-12/): What are the benefits and drawbacks of using video in e-mails? Latest Email Marketing Metrics Report - [Lack of Trust in Email Continues to Pose a Significant Problem to Businesses and Consumers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/silver-surfers/): As a holiday swell of online shopping and personal email traffic approaches, a new report released today reveals that consumers are suffering from an "Email Insecurity Factor" that could undermine the effectiveness of email communications and transactions. The study, published by Habeas, found that while the US population is more dependent on email communications than... - [links for 2007-10-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-12/): What makes an advanced email marketing system? Handy checklist of features Email economics: what to do in a recession Here’s how to convince the CMO that more dollars, not less, need to go toward email marketing during an economic downturn. Web Site Relaunches And Email Redesigns Should Go Hand In Hand What’s the best way... - [Silver Surfers Shun Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/silver-surfer-1/): New research has revealed that almost 80 per cent of the over 50 age group does not respond to email marketing, preferring to use email to communicate with friends and family rather than as a ‘commercial channel’.   New profiling of so-called silver surfers, carried out by Prospect Swetenhams in conjunction with Diamond Life, has... - [Newsletter Archive](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/newsletters/): &lt;!– .display_archive {font-family: arial,verdana; font-size: 12px;} .campaign { line-height: 125%;&nbsp; margin: 5px; } //–&gt; http://www.mailchimp.com/campaign_archive/index.js?aid=c1c5d07f629e4dbd64f2e4a6f&fid=4324&show=10 - [links for 2007-10-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-12/): Inline CSS for Mac users cool tool that creates inline CSS from your style sheet – for Mac Email Marketing: Fowl, Thrilling and The Rest Josh reviews a couple of email campaigns that landed in his mailbox recently ISPs take spam fighting to the streets MAAWG is recommending that ISPs shouldn’t just filter inbound mail,... - [links for 2007-10-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-12/): Bringing Back the Horizontal Email Dylan Boyd found a nice example of a great looking horizontal email. Check it out! - [links for 2007-10-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-12/): Fmail – The Facebook Gmail App A “View this Email Online” link is more important than ever. Where to find email addresses? The folks at Emailgarage list a number of ways to grow your email lists The Email Standards Project website Campaign Monitor just launched a website to support their efforts for better standards support... - [The Ingredients of a Good Email Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-ingredients/): In this article Loren McDonald tells us that a good email report shows where you’ve come from, what you’ve done along the way, and clearly highlights where you want to go. A good email report is like a map, showing you the specific turns, starts and stops necessary to drive you toward success. So what... - [How Blair Corp Handled Its Change of Email Address](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-blair-corp/): When Blair Corp. changed the e-mail address it was sending from this fall it sent three notices to customers about the impending change, asking them to add the new e-mail address to their address books “to keep receiving our e-mail specials.” And when the address did change Blair again highlighted the switch at the top... - [Ten Reasons for Moving Your Newsletter from Print to Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ten-reasons-for/): Denise Cox published 10 good reasons to move your printed newsletter to an online version on her blog. Here they are: 10. Email remains extremely popular.9. Your publishing costs will be slashed and lead times shortened.8. Email newsletters excel at customer retention.7. Email newsletters can be a powerful acquisition tool.6. You’ll be able to customise... - [links for 2007-10-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-13/): The first weeks at a new job are always very busy. I haven’t had much time to catch up on my reading, but I hope I’ll have more time soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of articles I found interesting: The ABCs of ESPs (archived webinar) I found the part presented by Forrester... - [Sender ID vs. SPF: What's the Difference?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/sender-id-vs-sp/): Stefan Pollard explains what’s the difference between Sender ID and SPF in this ClickZ article. Here’s the summary: The Sender ID and SPF protocals are almost identical in syntax. They differ in how the receiver domain looks up your authentication record, which is a line of code inserted in your DNS record that appears in... - [Ideas for Behaviorally Targeted Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ideas-for-behav/): While behaviorally targeted mailings may not have the same reach and sales as promotional marketing messages, they meet customers’ needs with personalized, relevant information. Often, these communications are triggered at various points in the purchase process and customer lifecycle. These messages may be part of a longer series aimed at building relationships beyond just one... - [links for 2007-10-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-13/): Takeaways from the "ClickZ Specifics: Email Marketing" event E-mail: Time for a Makeover More notes from the Clickz Email Marketing event this week Hotmail asks: Are your subscribers engaged? Craig Spiezle, Microsoft’s Director of Online Safety Technologies, shared his insight on how to ensure a top deliverability reputation at a recent Exact Target event. Mailing... - [links for 2007-10-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-13/): Say goodbye to eBay and PayPal fraudsters Thanks Matt for finding this one: Yahoo now blocks the delivery of unauthenticated eBay and PayPal emails through DomainKeys. Strategies for Centralizing Email – webinar David Daniels makes recommendations for maximizing the benefits of centralizing marketing, customer service and transactional email. Cut Through E-mail Clutter With These Format... - [UK DMA Email Marketing Council's New Look Newsletter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk-dma-email-ma-2/): Phew…that’s a mouthful! But it’s worth checking out (I may be a tad biased as I’m the Editor). The newsletter Infobox, is now open to non DMA members as well as members. Yay! In this first issue of the newly re-designed Infobox, the delightful Stephanie Miller from ReturnPath talks about Reputation, Simone Barratt of e-Dialog... - [Bloggers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/bloggers/): The following people are regular contributors to this blog: Tamara GielenKath PayLoren McDonald Tamara Gielen LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/tamaragielen Tamara Gielen lives in Belgium and has over 6 years of experience in both B2B and B2C email marketing working for companies such as Cognos, eBay and OgilvyOne Worldwide. In her current role as Director of Email and... - [links for 2008-03-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-7/): MarketingSherpa’s 2008 Email Awards Gallery: Results-Driven Creative You Can Swipe From Featuring the best campaigns of the past year. Includes 47 victors all based on real results, including B-to-B and B-to-C campaigns, newsletters, ‘Welcome’ letters and triggered campaigns. (tags: cases) When is the best day to send an email campaign? | Bronto Blog Bronto ran... - [links for 2008-03-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-8/): Video: Twitter in Plain English | Common Craft – Explanations In Plain English don’t know what Twitter is about? Watch this video and then follow me at http://twitter.com/tamaragielen (tags: video) - [Can a campaign be too targeted?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/can-a-campaign/): Hmmm.. interesting thought! We all know that a successful campaign needs the following ingredients: relevency, timeliness and permission. In order to achieve the first item 2 ingredients in our recipe for a successful campaign,  as marketers we use segmentation combined with data which we know about the recipient in order to provide a targeted and... - [links for 2008-03-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-8/): MarketingSherpa: How a Simple Email Can Increase Customer Reviews 1000% See how one marketer used a simple email to generate more than a 1000% increase in daily customer reviews at his company’s website. Includes email and landing page samples. (tags: cases) The Thinking Inbox: Writing and Designing an Email Newsletter When writing your newsletter, it... - [List Hygiene and Relevance Are Key](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/list-hygiene-an/): In this article Ken Magill reminds us that if enough recipients think our e-mail program is garbage, no e-mail service provider in the world will be able to prevent spam complaints, and the resulting delivery troubles. Likewise, if we refuse to clean dead addresses off our list because one of those addresses just might, maybe,... - [Every Email You Send Should Be Relevant, Valuable, Welcomed and Wanted](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/every-email-you/): As we move closer to a time when consumer spam complaints will weigh heaviest on a marketers’ deliverability and ROI, successful firms will increase their focus on making sure that every e-mail they send is relevant, valuable, welcomed and wanted by its recipients. To survive and thrive in the next phase of e-mail marketing, keep... - [links for 2008-03-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-8/): E-mail Marketing Buyer’s Guide, 2008 : E-mail Service Provider Evaluation – JupiterResearch JupiterResearch’s e-mail service provider evaluation details the offerings of 32 vendors. They base their overall value, suitability, and breadth on the distinct needs of three types of marketers, and places them in three categories. (tags: study esp) Combating List Fatigue This article lists... - [Reminder: Background Images Don't Render in Outlook 2007!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/reminder-backgr/): I received Casio’s newsletter today and I opened it because the subject line referred to the new Exilim EX-S10 which I bought on the airport last week. (It’s all about relevance, right?) This is what I saw in my Outlook 2007 inbox: I immediately noticed that something wasn’t rendering properly. This is what I was... - [links for 2008-03-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-8/): 2008 Digital Outlook Report In the report experts cover topics such as media spending, mobile web usage, social influence marketing, the state of search, and behavior targeting. (tags: study) How To Move Email Marketing Forward In 2008 – Forrester Research Forrester recently surveyed email marketers and found little change in their priorities today compared with... - [5 Ways to Keep the Conversation Going](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-ways-to-keep/): In this article Wendy Roth offers five ways to salvage the relationship when readers want to unsubscribe: 1. Let subscribers choose how often they want to get email from you.Offer a weekly alternative if the links stay active that long. Think of it as a cheap way to repurpose your daily content and keep the... - [Testing Techniques for Your Email Marketing Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/testing-techniq/): Creating successful and well-received email campaigns is every marketer’s dream. Ensuring your campaign gets the best possible response should involve some measure of testing. According to a 2005 JupiterResearch report, marketers who used testing were twice as likely to attain conversion rates of 3 percent or better. Despite studies showing that testing yields positive results... - [Your 10-Point Quality-Control Checklist](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your-10-point-q/): It’s every email sender’s nightmare to launch a bug-filled campaign where everyone will see your mistakes. But, if you exercise strict quality control all along the production line, you’ll reduce your potential exposure and send campaigns with confidence, even the last-minute ones. Stefan Pollard shares this 10-Point Checklist: I am sending to the correct list.... - [6 Tips for Creating Effective Welcome Messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6-tips-for-crea/): The welcome message should be used to build off the initial engagement you created with the recipients when they first signed up to receive future campaigns. Many senders just send a text welcome message or a simple opt-in confirmation. There is so much more you can do with a welcome message, and the opportunity should... - [Email Address Updates: Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-address-u/): In his latest Email Insider column, Loren McDonald recommends these best practices to get more subscribers to change their addresses instead of letting the relationship wither away: Call out the change of address explicitly. Label a text link high up in your message body as “Update Preferences/Email Address” or “Change Email Address.” If subscribers can... - [links for 2008-03-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-10/): The Complexities of Email Marketing in China (tags: China) - [links for 2008-02-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14-6/): MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2008 – a photoset on Flickr some pictures I took at the conference (tags: events) - [MarketingSherpa Names Winners of 2008 Email Marketing Awards](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa-2/): At MarketingSherpa’s 3rd Annual Email Summit award ceremony held today, Jeanne Hopkins and Exact Target’s Joel Book presented Email Awards in recognition of the year’s most outstanding email marketing campaigns. Logitech’s campaign submitted by Direct Impact, "Logitech DiNovo Edge and Logitech MX Revolution," was named Best of Show. The awards are rewarding campaigns that work... - [More Coverage from MarketingSherpa's Email Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/more-coverage-f/): As you may or may not know, MarketingSherpa invited me to attend this year’s summit as a blogger. But I wasn’t the only one that blogged about the event: Read Anna Billstrom‘s coverage of the event here: Power Outage at MarketingSherpa Celtics: Winning With Segmentation, Multi-Channel, Series Campaign Keynote from Stefan Tornquist Interview: Eric Stockton... - [Top 5 Takeaways - According to MarketingSherpa](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top-5-takeaways/): We had a major power outage and some internet problems today so as from 11am I couldn’t post anymore. The summit is over and I will be writing my top takeaways later today or tomorrow. In the meanwhile, here are the top 5 takeaways as MarketingSherpa saw them: 1. marketers have to be more than... - [Live Blogging at MarketingSherpa's Email Summit - Day 2 Part 1](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/live-blogging-a/) - [Blogging at the MarketingSherpa Email Summit: B2B Segmentation Strategies and Newsletters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/blogging-at-t-2/) - [Blogging at the MarketingSherpa Email Summit Day 1 Afternoon](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/blogging-at-the/) - [Blogging from the MarketingSherpa Email Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/blogging-from-t/): I arrived in Miami yesterday. The weather here is great and I am allowed to go shopping on behalf of  British Airways because they managed to loose my luggage and at this point they still don’t know where my clothes are 🙁 Other than that, life is great! 🙂 Like I did last week at... - [Mobile RSS Reader with Pre-Loaded Email Marketing Blogs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mobile-rss-read/): eROI wanted to give marketers a new mobile tool to help them stay connected to the sites and blogs that they should be reading on the go. Therefore they brought together a collection of some of the top sites in a handy mobile RSS reader app. You can even add your own content from a... - [links for 2008-02-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13-6/): iMedia Connection: 2 email strategies most marketers forget Welcome and transactional emails both provide great opportunities for engaging with potential customers but are greatly underutilized. (tags: transactional_emails contact_strategy) Email linking to PDF – what are B&T thinking? « Online Marketing – internet marketing – online strategy – websites “unfortunately one of my favourite daily email... - [Your ad on this blog?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/sponsoring/): http://s3.buysellads.com/ac/adwidget.js?key=38f9acf48ab76dce3a047331f6860bce&title=false - [Interview: How NorthStar Doubled the Number of Client Engagements in just One Year through email marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/interview-how-n/): Yesterday I had the pleasure and the privilege to interview Vicki Morris, who is VP of Marketing at NorthStar (the leading provider of wealth management software to financial services institutions). In the interview, I asked Vicki to tell us a bit more about NorthStar so that I could get a better feel of their business... - [links for 2008-02-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-7/): Mobile e-mail marketing ‘musts’ for 2008 – DMNews Savvy marketers have already implemented best practices to support a mobile e-mail marketing strategy. Have you? Consider these mobile e-mail marketing “musts” for 2008. (tags: mobile design) Word to the Wise » How to be a spammer your mail will not be blocked if it does not... - [Blogging at MarketingSherpa's Email Summit, Feb 24-26 in Miami](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/blogging-at-mar/): Last Friday I returned from the EEC’s Email Evolution Conference in San Diego where I spoke on a keynote panel about blogging. It was a great event, both in terms of sessions and in terms of networking. Next week I’ll be attending MarketingSherpa’s 3rd annual Email Summit in Miami. MarketingSherpa actually invited me to their... - [links for 2008-02-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-8/): Live from Email Evolution Conference: Bloggers Unite: Passion, Power, or People? The final day of the Email Evolution Conference opened yesterday with a keynote panel discussion focused on the power of blogging. (tags: events) Live from Email Evolution Conference: Luncheon Keynote Panel Focuses on Email, US Policy and Beyond Relevance and vigilance: These are two... - [links for 2008-02-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-8/): Postal vs. Email: Odd Couple or Match Made in Heaven? Email and postal are a match made in heaven. Both are direct media and both want to elicit a response from the intended audience. The only place they differ is in their delivery, but so what? You don’t have to choose one or the other.... - [links for 2008-02-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-8/): From the EEC Conference: Creating a VIP email program | Constant Contact In the session Uncovering the True Value of a Customer’s Email Address, Lawrence DiCapua (PepsiCola) covered the topic of creating a VIP program for your most active subscribers, especially those who are telling others about you by forwarding your email (tags: cases events)... - [Live Blogging from the Email Evolution Conference - Day 2](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/live-blogging-2/) - [links for 2008-02-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-8/): Adventures in Email Marketing » Interview: Stephen Wellman | Anna Billstrom interviews Stephen Wellman from Informationweek about their newsletter program. Some great recommendations here. (tags: cases) Will Yahoo block messages that aren’t signed? – Network World Yahoo Mail exec explains plans for non-authenticated e-mail (tags: isp yahoo dkim) MarketingSherpa: Special Report: iPhones & Email Marketing... - [Live Blogging from the Email Evolution Conference - Part 2](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/live-blogging-1/) - [EEC Conference: US Legislation and Beyond](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/eec-conference/): Here are my notes from the "US Legislation and Beyond" lunch session: FTC is especially concerned about malware and spyware and online behavioral advertising Eileen (FTC) talked about email and Can-Spam www.ftc.com -> new report on Spam ISP email filters are increasingly effective in keeping spam out of consumer inboxes the spam that is getting... - [Live Blogging from the Email Evolution Conference](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/live-blogging-f/) - [links for 2008-02-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-8/): denise cox’s blog » Some nuggets I picked up at email boot camp (eec event) Denise jotted down a few gems of email wisdom (tags: events) Testing: What Do You Really Learn? Testing starts with developing a hypothesis and a log. Why? You can’t optimize without a hypothesis of what you hope to achieve and... - [Update from the Email Evolution Conference](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/update-from-the/): The Email Evolution Conference here in San Diego officially started with a fabulous dinner cruise: I spent the whole evening talking and catching up with some of the greatest minds in the email industry. If you weren’t there, you definitely missed out! I’ll try to find someone that took some pictures and share them with... - [links for 2008-02-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-8/): Email Authentication Resources MailChimp offers a breakdown of what ISPs and receivers are using which types of authentication. (tags: deliverability authentication senderid domainkeys spf) Creating e-mail surveys that work :: BtoB Magazine Melissa Read believes managers send surveys too often, causing respondents to burn out on the novelty of providing feedback. Eventually, she said, they’ll... - [links for 2008-02-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-8/): AOTA: E-Mail/Domain Authentication Adoption Exceeds 50 Percent Online Marketing Strategies and Tactics : eMarketing and Commerce After a 5-month review of over 100 million e-mails from Fortune 500 brands, the AOTA reported last week that more than 50 percent of legitimate e-mail sent worldwide on a daily basis from more than 15 million domain holders... - [links for 2008-02-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-9/): Networking Opportunity Read how Crossbeam Systems uses good old-fashioned in-person events coupled with a multitouch e-mail strategy to spur interest from prospects and established customers. (tags: cases) Trouble with Comcast? You’re Not Alone senders should limit their connections to Comcast’s servers to 10 per IP address. (tags: deliverability Comcast) - [ENurturing For An Efficient Sales Pipeline](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/enurturing-for/): Gretchen Scheiman wrote a very interesting article about eNurturing and how email is the perfect channel to keep leads warm until they are ready to buy. … creating a lead generation program the sales team will support is a challenge. This is where email can be a real hero. An eNurturing program, where leads are... - [links for 2008-02-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-9/): Database and analytics skills are investment focus for marketers this year Two-thirds of marketers (67%) says resources for database and analytics to support online marketing efforts call for the most marketing investment this year, according to Alterian, (tags: study) Wake Up! It’s Time to Combat Subscriber Fatigue – webinar February 20 @ 2pm ET/11am PT... - [Jeanniey Mullen to Leave OgilvyOne](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/jeanniey-mullen/): On Monday, Jeanniey Mullen announced to us that she will be leaving OgilvyOne very soon and that she will be joining Zinio Systems and VIV Magazine to be their EVP and CMO. It sounds like a great and exciting opportunity for her and I wish her all the best! We’re sad to see you go,... - [How Bronto Builds Relationships with its Customers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-bronto-buil/): Bronto‘s DJ Waldow forwarded me a copy of their latest customer newsletter in which they featured this blog as one of their resources. Thanks guys! Apart from them mentioning this blog 😉 I find this newsletter particularly good because it’s simple, short and contains valuable information. Another thing I like about it is the fact... - [links for 2008-02-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-9/): Do you create a sense of continuity within your email campaigns? “It’s OK to say, “We emailed you a few days ago to tell you about…etc.” Taking that approach is much better than somehow pretending that you have never written to them before.” (tags: messaging) - [links for 2008-02-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-9/): A Complete List of the Many Forms of Web Marketing for 2008 Forrester’s Jeremiah Owyang lists the many tools and tactics available for corporate web strategy in 2008. Email is of course included since it’s the glue that ties everything together. I love this industry 🙂 (tags: strategy) iMedia Connection: Make your email strategy Facebook-friendly... - [The Email Marketer's Club in a Job Description](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-email-marke/): This is kinda cool: In December Cakemail posted a job opening on their blog because they were/are looking for a Deliverability Manager. They included the following item in the job description: Contribute to industry discussions online, such as ReputationWiki.org and the Email Marketer’s Club. This shows, once again, that the Email Marketer’s Club is being... - [links for 2008-02-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-11/): What the BlackBerry Update Means for You The upcoming BlackBerry 4.5 software will give Blackberry 8100, 880, 8130, 8820, 8700 HTML e-mail support! If you aren’t yet, now to start worrying about how you’re html emails look on a mobile device. (tags: mobile) - [AOTA Reports Email Authentication Has Reached 'Tipping Point'](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/aota-reports-em/): The Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (AOTA) announced that adoption of email and domain authentication has reached its tipping point, exceeding 50 percent in several key metrics. AOTA research highlights the top Fortune 500 and Internet retailers who have realized the business value of protecting consumers and their brands from forged email and phishing ploys... - [links for 2008-01-31](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-19-3/): Wacom Wins Email Experience Council’s Email Performance Award The EEC, the DMA’s email marketing arm, today announced that Wacom is the winner of its 2008 Email Performance Award, which recognizes an organization that has created an email marketing campaign that demonstrates the full power of the email channel. (tags: industry cases) Couple of ISP announcements... - [How Eye-Tracking Can Help Improve the ROI of Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-eye-trackin/): Basically, eye-tracking technology is a neat way to figure out how your customers want your page to look like. At least theoretically, such technology can increase both company profits and customer satisfaction. Costs must be reasonable, data reliable and interpretation correct, but the potential for tasty ROI is clearly out there. People can only click... - [Eight Steps to More Effective Welcome E-mails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/eight-steps-to/): Brand and subject lines are key factors in getting your e-mails opened, but so is your recipients’ prior experiences with your e-mail efforts. According to a study conducted last year by Return Path, 51.2 percent of survey respondents indicated prior value influences their decisions to open e-mail. What’s more, prior value was the only factor... - [A Panel of Humans Tell Microsoft Which Emails are Spam](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-panel-of-huma/): In his latest column on ClickZ, Stefan Pollard explains how a panel of humans tell Microsoft whether they believe an email is spam or not: We usually think of spam filtering as a highly automated function that fends off the millions of spam messages trying to force their way into inboxes. Yet even the most... - [UK DMA Releases 2007 National Client Email Marketing Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk-dma-releases/): The UK DMA just released its 2007 National Client Email Marketing Study. Here are some of the highlights: Regular newsletters are the most common type of email messages used by over 70% of UK email marketers but only 24% apply any purchase segmentation to their newsletters. Tactical campaigns also seem to be popular with marketers... - [links for 2008-01-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-18-3/): Sender Score Certified Now Covers 1.2 Billion Inboxes Receivers that accept the Sender Score Certified whitelist include, among others, Windows Live Hotmail, Time Warner Cable, GoDaddy, Spam Assassin, IronPort Systems, Barracuda Networks and Cloudmark… (tags: industry deliverability) HTML email coming soon on the Blackberry – Campaign Monitor Blog While existing Blackberry devices and software only... - [In the EU You Cannot Filter Email by Inspecting its Content - huh?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/in-the-eu-you-c/): Just read this on Terry Zink’s blog and thought it was worth re-posting here. Here’s what he says: Some of this stuff I couldn’t make up if I tried… With all the hoopla about the David Ritz case (which I will blog about in a future post), I thought I’d remark about a very strange... - [links for 2008-01-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-17-3/): Sony Ericsson getting personal with email marketing “I was rather delighted to see that in their email out to (one imagines, hundreds of thousands of) their European consumers, they’ve gone personal” (tags: cases) - [links for 2008-01-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-16-5/): Word to the Wise » Comcast rate limiting Our (Port25) understanding is that Comcast is rate limiting such that they’re only accepting 6 recipients per second per sending IP. (tags: deliverability comcast) Email Reputation – Tools Of The Trade While these tools can sometimes provide copious amounts of data, sometimes it takes a combination of... - [Resisting the Temptation to Spam](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/resisting-the-t/): Over at the Email Marketer’s Club recently a member posted a question which resulted in 38 heated replies. The question was, is it OK to send a one-off email to people who have bought something from you but who have not opted in to receive email? The person who asked the question said that out... - [links for 2008-01-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-15-6/): SiteVista/Litmus adds new tool: webmail spam filter checks (tags: tools) RetailEmail.Blogspot: Retail Email Unsubscribe Benchmark Study: Executive Summary While major online retailers do a great job of honoring unsubscribe requests quickly, there’s plenty of room for their opt-out processes to improve, like providing subscribers with alternatives to opting out and of lowering barriers to opting... - [links for 2008-01-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14-7/): Best (and worst?) Transactional Email Campaigns Anna highlights some great transactional campaigns (tags: cases transactional_emails) - [links for 2008-01-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13-7/): Ten things that will make your newsletter sticky Denise Cox lists 10 ideas that could make your email newsletter more interactive, or sticky. When readers engage, they’re more likely to respond – and also keep opening. (tags: messaging strategy) Image-Heavy HTML Email Campaign Trick | MailChimp Blog Do you have an HTML email to send,... - [Choosing An Email Service Provider: Some Useful Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/choosing-an-ema/): Over on the E-Consultancy blog, Dela Quist offers some excellent tips to help you find the right email service provider: Go for the larger companies. Their servers are going to be more robust, they’re likely to have more staff, including a big ISP relations or reputation management team and have the ear of companies such... - [links for 2008-01-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-8/): Demystifying Postini – Email Marketer’s Club In the past Postini has been one of those filters we could know when we got filtered but never why. After much research and testing one of our club members figured this filter out and share the information on the Email Marketer’s Club Wiki. (tags: Deliverability) - [links for 2008-01-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-9/): The Anatomy Of A SpamTrap A spamtrap is an email address designed only to receive spam. The owner of such an email address will never use it to solicit email communications, and thus any email received by that spamtrap will be immediately be considered unsolicited. (tags: spam deliverability) Steady Growth for E-Mail Budgets – eMarketer... - [links for 2008-01-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-9/): Using both blogs and email for marketing purposes "blogs and email newsletters are kind of like a digital "peanut butter and jelly sandwich" and can work together very well. To rely on one at the expense of the other is to not take advantage of the full suite of strengths using both can supply" (tags:... - [links for 2008-01-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-9/): Email Marketing Calendars: Let’s Get Planning – AWeber Blog To stay in touch with your subscribers consistently, and not feel like you’re rushing at the last minute, it’s best to space out your writing/publishing duties over time. This is where an email marketing calendar can do you a world of good. (tags: strategy) MarketingSherpa: Why... - [links for 2008-01-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-9/): Christmas email competition winners! – Campaign Monitor Blog (tags: cases) RIP last click wins? – E-consultancy.com some insights into how you can integrate your paid search, display, affiliate and email marketing channels to give clear visibility of customer journeys. (tags: strategy analysis) EmailKarma: Are you missing out, join the EMC Some great discussions are happening... - [Return Path's 4th Annual Holiday Email Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/return-paths-4t/): Subscribers report a general love of email as a channel and say they find value in many email messages. Yet, respondents in Return Path’s fourth annual Holiday Email Survey also report that overall, email marketing connections are fatigued, and many are just plain weak. For the fourth year, subscribers said that relevance is in their... - [9-Step Checklist for Your Email Sign-up Process](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/9-step-checklis/): In this article, Simms Jenkins share a couple of questions to ask yourself to ensure you treat your email sign-up form/preference center like a binding contract: What did you say you do? Offer up the benefits and a general overview of what they would be receiving. Can you show me what you are talking about?Samples... - [links for 2008-01-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-9/): Email Marketing Webinar: Consumer Email Perceptions and How They Impact Your Brand Consumers receive on average 20-60 emails daily. Nearly 80% say they receive too many. Almost 70% delete most of their email without reading them. What consumers think about email matters. How it affects your brand has an impact on your bottom line. (tags:... - [Reactivating Inactive Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/reactivating-in/): A reactivation campaign will identify which addresses you can safely drop from your list without killing off live ones and re-establish connections with past customers. How do you identify inative subscribers? Wendy Roth suggests to create a separate mailing list, and add anyone who hasn’t opened or clicked on a message in, say, six months... - [links for 2008-01-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-9/): Learning From the Presidential Race in Your Inbox – ClickZ With so much at stake, the most innovative use of e-mail in 2008 will likely come out of the political arena. Karen Gedney is watching these e-mails closely — and you also might want to sign up for a few candidates’ e-mails to follow along.... - [B-to-B Marketing Emails Likely to Be Filtered By Mistake](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/b-to-b-marketin/): A new study entitled, ‘Email Filters & Blacklists in Corporate America: B-to-B Marketing Email Deliverability’ features survey answers from 513 executives working at corporations with 500 or more employees concerning their use of whitelists, filters and email list-joining habits. Respondents were asked detailed questions concerning their use of whitelists, company spam filters, junk mail filters,... - [2007 Retail Holiday Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2007-retail-hol/): From the end of November through the start of January, Lisa Harmon received 16 holiday cards from retailers in her email inbox. She made a nice pdf collection showcasing all digital cards. Check them out here. - [links for 2008-01-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-9/): 8] HTML E-Mail Design TIPS If you take away anything from this post, take away "CONSISTENCY IS KEY. & DON’T OVER DO IT." (tags: design) - [Several Domains Disabled on the Road Runner Network effective Jan 7](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/several-domains/): Matt Vernhout reports that he’s received several notices today stating that the following domains have been disabled on the Road Runner network effective 1/7/2008, as part of their planned migration announced in 2007: jam.rr.com midsouth.rr.com mn.rr.com se.rr.com sport.rr.com swfla.rr.com ucwphilly.rr.com houston.rr.com Mail that is being sent to these domain is bouncing as “User Unknown”. For... - [links for 2008-01-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-10/): The Importance of Analyzing Bounce Rates in Email Marketing Bounce Rates are an extremely important metric in online marketing. For those engaged in email marketing, there are two separate definitions for ‘Bounce Rates’ to consider. (tags: bounce_management metrics) Hispanic Email Marketing (tags: study strategy) - [links for 2008-01-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-10/): Word to the Wise » Yahoo and Spamhaus Yahoo has updated and modified their postmaster pages. They have also put a lot of work into clarifying their response codes. The changes should help senders identify and troubleshoot problems without relying on individual help from Yahoo. (tags: deliverability yahoo isp bounce_management) E-Mail Marketing And Conditional Response... - [links for 2008-01-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-10/): Email Blows Away All Other Social Networks email is still by far the dominant and most practical platform for social connections… in fact, email is so dominant that it’s the single open-source backbone of nearly every social network. (tags: industry) Authenticate, Authenticate, Authenticate While Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and SenderID have become mainstream methods of... - [Join Me at the EEC Email Marketing Conference in San Diego](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join-me-at-the/): Four good reasons why you should go to the EEC’s Email Evolution Conference in San Diego on February 12-13, 2008: Dylan Boyd is offering $200 dollars off the registration fee. Get the secret discount code here. You get to hang out with all the cool kids from the email marketing industry, including myself 😉 The... - [links for 2008-01-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-10/): Hispanic-American Consumers Accept More E-Mail – eMarketer “Hispanics tend to spend more time online while at home than the general population (9.2 hours per week versus 8.5 hours), so receiving information and offers through e-mail makes sense to them” (tags: studies) NBC teaches a few things about “The Fold” Here’s a nice example of putting... - [Things to Check Before You Launch Your Email Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/things-to-check/): I just added the following checklist to the Email Marketer’s Club Wiki. It contains the things you should check before you send out your email campaigns. I’m sure I’ve missed stuff, so feel free to help build a thorough checklist here. The list Are you sending it to the correct list? Particularly important if you’re... - [4 Tips to Improve Your Email Marketing Campaigns in 2008](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/4-tips-to-impro/): The Messaging Times offers 3 great tips to improve your email marketing campaigns in 2008. Here they are: Create a calendar for your email marketing campaigns so that you have a visual representation of your recipients, content and frequency (Who, What, When). Paste it on the wall in front of your desk or save it... - [links for 2008-01-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-12/): 10 Email Marketing Resolutions for 2008 Greg Cangialosi lists 10 smart resolutions for better email marketing. (tags: strategy) Yahoo using Spamhaus lists Al reports that Yahoo is now indicating that they will refuse email messages from IP addresses on the Spamhaus SBL, XBL, or PBL blacklists. (tags: spam isp) Unsubscribing in 2007: Marketers Can Get... - [Preference Centers And Targeting](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/preference-cent/): David Baker wrote an excellent article about preference centers and targeting a couple of weeks ago which I didn’t get round to reading until this morning. Here’s what he says: While the concept of an online consumer preference center is a great idea, does it really add value to an email program or consumer experience? ... - [Email Marketing: What's Coming in 2008?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-5/): In this article, Jordan Ayan, president of SubscriberMail, and Joel Book, director of eMarketing Education at ExactTarget weigh in on what’s coming in 2008. Here’s a summary of what they said: More CRM integration, especially with software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings. “E-mail can play a vital role in lead nurturing if you can track the many data... - [5 Segmentation Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-segmentation/): In this article, Stefan Pollard shares 5 segmentation tips. Why should you care? That’s easy: the more relevant your messages are to your subscribers’ needs, wants, and expectations, the better the response and deliverability. Segmentation can help you with that. The following list of ways to collect more information can be used to create segments... - [Happy New Year!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/happy-new-year/): I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008! May all your dreams and wishes come true! - [links for 2007-12-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-18-4/): Implicit many-to-one communication in online communities paper (tags: social_networking) Lotus Notes 8 Update – IBM responds | Email Standards Project Your subscribers on Notes 8 may be getting a better experience than previously thought! (tags: industry coding lotus_notes) - [links for 2007-12-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-17-4/): 9 Out of 10 Emails Delivered To Large Companies In November Were Spam (tags: Spam) The Role of Segmentation | (tags: segmentation) Email Standards Project on the BoagWorld podcast (tags: industry) The Wide Format Email is GROWING (tags: cases) MarketingSherpa: Submit Your Quote for Sherpa’s Annual Wisdom Report The 80/20 rule for transactional emails Although... - [Happy holidays!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/happy-holidays/): Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanza, Feliz Navidad, Prettige feestdagen, Καλά Χριστούγεννα and Season’s Greetings to all of you! - [Top 4 tips for Image Usage in HTML Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top-4-tips-for/): Another great post on Mike Kleiman’s blog. This time he offers some great tips with regards to image formats, size, etc. Here are some of the takeaways: JPG’s are best for larger graphics that consist primarily of images, such as a masthead photograph. GIF’s are perfect for smaller items which contain less colour complexity and/or... - [Using DOCTYPE in an Email Makes a Big Difference in Some Major Email Clients](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using-doctype-i/): Thindata’s Mike Kleiman was wondering what happens when you include or exclude a DOCTYPE from an email code so he decided to test it. He shares the results of his test on his brandnew blog. Main finding: putting the DOCTYPE in doesn’t actually do harm, if anything it helps ensure you’re rendering to compliance spec... - [The Forrester Wave: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q4 2007](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-forrester-w/): What differentiates the leaders in the highly competitive email marketing industry? Learn how the 8 evaluated vendors stack up across 64 criteria in this latest evaluation from Forrester Research.  Download this report from the Responsys website. And while you’re there, check out the other white papers too 🙂 - [links for 2007-12-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-16-6/): Calculating the Cost of Increased E-Mail Frequency This is an article from last year, but still extremely valid, so I thought I’d dig it up for you again: overmailing to your email list can have a significant negative financial and deliverability outcome! (tags: frequency) Ways to create attractive email messages without relying on images The... - [Key Email Trends According to Bill McCloskey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/key-email-trend/): Industry vet Bill McCloskey (founder and chairman of Email Data Source) lists these key trends in email marketing: 1. The largest corporations shifting focus from e-mail marketing to newer channels. Many of the larger Fortune 100 companies are pulling their attention away from e-mail and instead looking at other new marketing channels, such as mobile... - [How To Make Your Email Marketing Campaign Stand Out From the Rest](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-make-you/): 1) Simplicity. It’s the old KISS metaphor (Keep It Simple, Stupid). Email has an attention-capturing window of opportunity that is greatly diminishing. Some say three seconds, some five, but either way, it isn’t a lot of time. Nielson Norman Group produced a newsletter usability report in June of 2006 (“Email Newsletter Usability”) which indicated an... - [links for 2008-04-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-6/): Pivotal Veracity Adds Apple iPhone to Optimization Tool E-mail deliverability concern Pivotal Veracity today announced it has added the Apple iPhone to its eDesign Optimizer rendering product. (tags: industry rendering tools) E-mail is Like Crack for Marketers: Forrester Though all the talk in e-mail marketing circles is about creating relationships with customers and delivering relevant... - [Calculating Statistical Relevance of Your A/B Tests](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/calculating-sta/): Thanks to Tim Wilson for pointing this out to me in a comment on a previous post. For those who lack access to a statistical software solution that will also interpret the results, A/B testing is challenging at best. Testing for statistical significance is important, but just as critical is an understanding of your tests’... - [links for 2008-05-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-6/): A couple of simple but oh-so-effective conversion tips Denise Cox shares some great examples of event alerts via email. Check them out! (tags: tactics events) AOL’s New Sender Best Practices Document (tags: deliverability aol reputation) Postini Portal – Header Analyzer Postini is now providing a decoder service for their headers (tags: postini deliverability) Blue Sky... - [Use Re-Opt-In Campaigns to Reengage Unengaged Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/use-re-opt-in-c/): In this article, Morgan Stewart shares some tips on how to use re-opt-in campaigns to verify email permission and reengage unengaged subscribers on your list. Unengaged subscribers result in lower response rates and wasted marketing dollars. Re-opt-in campaigns are useful for cleaning old or unengaged subscribers off your list by confirming which subscribers want to... - [How to Build a Test Plan to Improve Your Email Program's Effectiveness](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-build-a-2/): Here’s an exerpt from SubscriberMail’s CEO Jordan Ayan’s book “The Practical Guide to E-mail Marketing” on email testing. Use this checklist next time you go into a meeting to discuss how to improve your e-mail marketing performance. Step 1: Ask a Question Start the testing process by asking a question. What are you hoping for?... - [How To Write a Powerful Call-to-Action](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-write-a/): In this article Constant Contact’s Amy Black provides these tips on how to get your readers to take action when they receive your emails: Know exactly what you want them to do. If you don’t know what you want the reader to do, they certainly won’t know. Do you want them to: Buy something?  Sign... - [What Makes a Relevant Email?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-makes-a-re/): There are several tactics you can take to increasing e-mail relevance, all relying on marketing ingenuity and information contained in your customer database. These tactics can be broken down into six key elements that characterize relevant e-mail, and are guaranteed to increase customer engagement and e-mail productivity. Segmentation – Why broadcast an e-mail campaign if... - [links for 2008-05-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-8/): Not all web traffic is equal: using predictive modeling to optimize lead generation – webinar May 13 @ 2pm ET – Join Target Marketing and a panel of analytics experts as we discuss the finer points of online lead generation and share strategies for improving the effectiveness of your campaigns through predictive modeling techniques. (tags:... - [Profiling Your Retail E-mail Marketing List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/profiling-your/): In this blog post, Kevin Hillstrom tells us to ask our business intelligence or data mining or SAS programming expert to profile our e-mail marketing list for us. Keep your analysis simple. Take twelve month buyers, and split them into three groups … those without an e-mail address, inactive e-mail subscribers, and active e-mail subscribers.... - [links for 2008-04-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-20/): MarketingSherpa: How to Get Double-Digit Response From Customer Surveys – Copywriting & Subject Line Tips See how a software provider entices 12% of past customers and 31% of all new customers to complete their surveys. Includes a dozen tips to help you craft your survey and subject lines that will gather revenue-boosting responses. (tags: cases)... - [Should the Email Industry Lobby for Stricter CAN-SPAM Legislation?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/should-the-emai/): A while back I asked the following question on the Email Marketer’s Club‘s forum: If we all agree that CAN-SPAM legislation is just the bare minimum that email marketers should adhere to in the US, doesn’t that mean it’s time the email industry lobbies for stricter legislation? In my view stricter US spam legislation (at... - [How To Determine Your Optimal Frequency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-determ-1/): To determine your optimal frequency, analyze your data and use common sense as your guide.  Carefully monitor the results of each send, not just the emails that your subscribers are opening and clicking on, but also the emails they are not reading as this could be a sign of fatigue.  It is also important to... - [Revised: MAAWG Best Practices for Volume Senders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/revised-maawg-b/): Matt Vernhout just posted this message on his excellent blog: Announced today the MAAWG Senders Best Practices Document (Version 2.0 – pfd) has been officially released. Updates to the documentation include: New guidelines for legitimate email avoid being mistaken for image-based junk mail. List permission and opt-in recommendations have been amended to reflect current best... - [links for 2008-04-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-19/): Please unsubscribe me from your internet. granny sends a letter asking to be unsubscribed “from your internet” 🙂 cute! (tags: fun) Not Again: Anti-Spam Bill Being Crafted in CA A bill is working its way through the California legislature that supporters contend would strengthen its anti-spam laws and could go in to effect as early... - [Triggered Email is Only as Good as Your Data](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/triggered-email/): If you’re sending triggered emails in response to one-time events (for example, welcome emails, website confirmation downloads, etc.) then chances are your data is pretty good.  Someone does “something” (subscribes, purchases, downloads, etc.) and you trigger an email in response to whatever that something may be.    But what about the following, more complicated, scenarios?  The... - [Opt-in, Out-out and Feedback Loops: eROI Releases Survey Results](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/opt-in-out-out/): eROI surveyed over 500 marketers about their subscribe/unsubscribe process and found that while these processes are improving, they have yet to reach what we would call exceptional. Here are some of the main findings: only about 30% of email marketers use a confirmed opt-in method, where a confirmation e-mail including an activation web link (or... - [links for 2008-04-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-18/): Happy Birthday: Rewards for a Special Day – ClickZ Jeanne Jennings reviews a number of birthday emails she received recently. Very inspiring! (tags: strategy triggered_emails) - [Happy Earth Day! Retailers go green with email...](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/we-often-see-em/): We often see emails tied around holidays–especially the ones that mean big bucks for retailers. However, I was delighted to see a few emails in my inbox talking about Earth Day. Two were even completely dedicated to it! Environmental issues are hot right now (and thank goodness – it’s about time we start looking after... - [links for 2008-04-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-17/): The MineThatData Blog: A Sample Multichannel Results Meeting Another interesting challenge posed to us by Kevin Hillstrom. Do you know the answer to his questions? (tags: analysis) E-mail Marketing to Hispanic Users : Understanding Similarities and Differences of Personal E-mail Use – JupiterResearch How does personal e-mail use and influence vary between online US Hispanics... - [links for 2008-04-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-16-3/): 51 Seconds to E-Newsletter Success – ClickZ think about what message you want readers to take away from their 51 seconds with your e-newsletter. (tags: messaging copywriting) - [View from the Inbox - E-Mail Marketing Trends Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/view-from-the-i/): Merkle released its annual e-mail marketing ‘View from the Inbox’™ study. This study measures and tracks attitudes and behaviors toward permission-based e-mail among U.S. consumers and points to several trends in consumers’ attitudes and use of permission-based e-mail marketing: Consumers feel in control: Most consumers (88%) feel mostly or completely in control of their inboxes... - [Why You Need to Manage Expectations](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-you-need-to/): It’s important to let subscribers know exactly what they can expect from you even before they opt in to your program. Then, meet or exceed those expectations throughout the relationship. This creates engaged subscribers who will anticipate your messages and act on them. If you fail to meet expectations at crucial touch points during the... - [links for 2008-04-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-15-4/): Improve Your HTML Email for Gmail Subscribers Use an Invisible Image to Say Something Meaningful (tags: coding) Last Days to Save on Email Insider Summit Dylan will buy us a drink with an rainbow umbrella… I’m doing anything I can to get approval to go! 🙂 (tags: events) Break Free From Bad Email – Forrester... - [Sender-Line Branding Tactics In Retail Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/sender-line-bra/): To gain a better understanding of the range of branding tactics used in sender lines, Chad White examined both the sender names and addresses used in the promotional emails of 111 of the online retailers that he tracks via RetailEmail.Blogspot. Here’s what he found: Sender Name BrandingIn their promotional emails, retailers used one of four... - [5 Smart Marketing Lessons Learned From Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-smart-marketi/): For my debut on BeRelevant, I’m going to share five lessons about email you should master, because they will help you in other marketing scenarios as well. Although I’ve spent most of my career working in email marketing, my current position is a broader communications role (email still plays a part) I also spend a... - [links for 2008-04-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14-4/): E-mail marketers: Wake up and embrace mobile Still think mobile has no relevance to your e-mail marketing program? Think again. With more than 250 million wireless users in the USA and more than 3 billion users worldwide, mobile phones have reached mainstream status. (tags: mobile design) Sign-up forms: take another look The sign-up form is... - [links for 2008-04-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13-4/): Email Authentication – Are you in the game? Email authentication for dummies – why you should do it and what it’s about… (tags: deliverability authentication senderid spf domainkeys dkim) Maslow And EMail Marketing David Baker uses Maslow’s hierarchy to talk about email programs and where they fit in helping consumers fulfill needs. (tags: strategy) Engaging... - [links for 2008-04-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-5/): One Giant Step for E-mail Marketing – ClickZ Continental understands that its customers leverage different devices to enable a digital lifestyle, and e-mail is much more than copy sent to an inbox. It’s an electronic message you receive, regardless of the mode, device, or method you use to read it. (tags: cases) Gmail Appeal Update... - [How to Determine Contact Frequency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-determin/): Stefan Pollard offers a few ideas on how you can let your customers voice their frequency preferences: Meaningful choice at sign up. From the time that the users inputs their e-mail addresses, give them the opportunity to let you know what they’re interested in. Allow recipients to tell you from the start if they’re interested... - [How to Develop a Contact Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-develop/): In this article, Stefan Pollard looks at four common tactics used in developing a contact strategy. When you’re reaching out to your customers via e-mail, there are many variables you’ll want to consider: How long have they been a customer? How long has it been since they’ve made a purchase? What’s the next logical step... - [links for 2008-04-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-6/): Adventures in Email Marketing » Terminology: Transactional, Lifecycle, Event-Based, Trigger | Anna Billstrom provides some common usages and accepted definitions of these terms (tags: definitions) - [links for 2008-04-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-6/): Judge rules in e360 v. Comcast (tags: industry legislation canspam) Email Marketing Is One of The Best Marketing Programs for Retailers According to the “The State of Online Retailing 2008″ report, email marketing continues to be one of the most successful marketing program for retailers. (tags: study) Constant Contact reports revenue, after public filing –... - [Subscriber Only Rewards](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/offering-value/): Yesterday I received an email from Waterstones, a major UK bookstore chain. They were offering  10% off all books when bought from waterstones.com….nice. But what’s even more exciting was the discount code that you needed to use in order to receive the discount. Hmmm – Did this actually mean that this was a special offer... - [links for 2008-04-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-6/): Useful Tools and Links The EEC recently revised their Useful Tools and Links page, and added a bunch of new links. Check them out! (tags: tools) Integrate Your Online and Offline Initiatives with Email Marketing – webinar April 16, 2008 – 2:00 pm ET / 11:00 am PT – Discover how companies are using email... - [How to Introduce Behavioral Targeting Into an E-mail Newsletter?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-introduc/): Behaviorally targeted messages provide better response and can even be credited with shortening sales cycles. The easiest way to obtain behavioral targeting data is through the reporting capabilities of your e-mail marketing campaign tool: what customers open and what exactly they click on. Targeting messages based on open or click-through activity allows you to communicate... - [links for 2008-04-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-6/): Dealing with ISPs when you are blocked some advice on dealing with ISPs over a blocking issue (tags: deliverability isp) The Email Wars: How to Use Video in Email some good examples of how not only to code emails so that they work, but also how to use video in your email marketing campaigns. (tags:... - [Triggered Campaigns: 3 Things to Keep In Mind](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/triggered-campa/): Triggered campaigns center around website behaviors like previous purchases, abandoned carts, browse history, etc. They are becoming more and more popular due to their high subscriber relevancy and response. However, in the whirlwind to implement such high impact programs, it’s easy to lose focus on the subscriber experience. To truly optimize results, and foster your... - [links for 2008-04-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-6/): Outlook not so great with text-only email, either After all the fuss with Outlook 2007’s treatment of HTML email, you might be forgiven a resigned grimace at the “news” that Outlook does unusual things to your plain text emails, too. (tags: design outlook_2007) How to Make Email Marketing More Mobile-Friendly Over two-thirds of B2B emailers... - [Key Elements of Email Design](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/key-elements-of/): In this article, Amy Black talks about the key elements of email design. Here are some of the takeaways: a well-designed email campaign is easy to read, it’s simply designed, it’s scanable, and it’s professional looking. Next to that it should be inviting and professional, represent your company, and show your customers that you value... - [Yahoo!: 4 Steps to Get Your Email Delivered](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/yahoo-4-steps-t/): Yahoo! continues to try to squash spammers by making message-blocking tweaks to its email filters. A quick survey of numerous email service providers shows that the problem is hurting at least half of marketers. Emails are being sent to junk folders or getting held up in the Yahoo! system queue for as long as three... - [Basic Formatting Rules for Mobile Devices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/basic-formattin/): MarketingProfs provides a few basic formatting rules for mobile devices:     Coding fonts may or may not work on the user’s device. Most mobile devices allow the user to select a preferred default font. Although the link to the mobile communication is actually a web link, simple (default) font coding or basic fonts are... - [links for 2008-04-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-6/): New e-mail marketing program is a sweet spot for Jelly Belly Confectioner Jelly Belly Candy Co. says an overhaul of its e-mail marketing program spurred a 46% increase in conversions and a rise in both deliverability and open rates. And the retailer saved money. (tags: cases) Trust in Email Begins with Authentication – MAAWG white... - [links for 2008-04-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-6/): Engage Your E-Newsletter Readers – ClickZ There are many ways to encourage readers to interact with an e-mail newsletter or Web site and just as many ways to use the resulting content. Here are a few tips for getting started. (tags: messaging) Validating Short Form and Progressive Profiling Forms are always something that are debated... - [Win a Free Year of EEC Platinum Membership](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/win-a-free-year/): Jeanniey Mullen asked me to spread the word about a fun challenge: Get a free year of eec platinum membership if you can provide these 3 pieces of information: What is the name of the photographer of the pictures above? What is the location where these photos were taken? A new photo of these army... - [links for 2008-04-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-7/): Integrate Your Online and Offline Initiatives with Email Marketing – Webinar April 16th @ 2pm ET/11am PT/8pm CET – Whether you’re a fully functioning web merchant, a cataloger moving online or a traditional brick and mortar retailer with an exciting website, email marketing provides a direct means to interact with your audience. (tags: events) Free... - [10 Essential Elements for Your Opt-In Forms](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-essential-el/): Denise Cox lists these 10 ten elements she thinks are essential for your opt-in forms: The ability to sign up should be on every page of your website and your emails. Samples of past issues. Give subscribers as many choices as you have available, e.g. frequency, monthly mailings AND event alerts, or just monthly, etc.... - [links for 2008-04-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-7/): Dissecting the New Factory Direct Design and How it Can Help Your Emails Blue Sky Factory redesigned their newsletter and explains the purpose behind the different elements of design. (tags: design) Canada Expected to Introduce Anti-Spam Legislation CMA has been advised by both federal Ministers and their staff that the federal government plans to introduce... - [Strategies to Re-engage Inactive Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/strategies-to-r/): Over on the EEC blog Dan Babb and Austin Bliss share some strategies to re-engage inactive subscribers: Explore segmentation tactics. One-to-one communication and segmentation are so easy to do with email. It’s highly recommended that you start categorizing your non-responders into various cells, and start testing different content and subject lines for each cell. When... - [Using Email to Promote Conferences and Events](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using-email-to/): E-mail is one of the most popular ways for b-to-b marketers to publicize conferences or other events they’re hosting or attending. In this article Tara Lamberson provides some tips to make the most of your event-oriented e-mail campaigns: 1) Make sure the right people get invited to events they’d care about. If you already have... - [The Five Commandments For Effective Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-five-comman/):   Source: Building an admissions email marketing plan: Part 1 – The Five Commandments - [Education is the answer](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/education-is-th/): Two articles recently have focussed on a survey performed by Q Interactive, which was published in Marketing Sherpa’s Email Marketing Benchmark Guide 2008. You can read the articles here and here. A couple of the key points they found were: Fifty-six percent of consumers consider marketing messages from known senders to be spam if the... - [links for 2008-04-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-7/): B2B Email Marketing – New MarketingSherpa Webinar April 9 @ 2pm EST – Optimizing B2B Email Marketing for Lead Generation (tags: events) Learn From a Great Email Newsletter Example: Kayak – AWeber Blog Justin Premick explains why he likes Kayak’s emails — both as an email marketing guy and as a subscriber — so much... - [links for 2008-04-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-7/): Putting Pitches to the Test Bluefly crafted an e-mail marketing pitch that included animated text and tested it to see how customers would respond. They found a 5% increase in the click-through rate for recipients of the animated version over recipients of the non-animated version. (tags: cases) Stupid Media Watch: Journal Times Better Get With... - [Benchmarking Email Response Metrics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/benchmarking-em/): In the first half of 2007, the travel and hospitality and entertainment industries received the highest delivery, open and click-through rates of the 13 industries monitored by the Harte-Hanks Postfuture Index, a periodic e-mail benchmarking monitor. The Postfuture Index provides comparative e-mail metrics in aggregate, and includes business and consumer e-mail campaigns executed using the... - [Three Big Secrets to Creating an Effective E-newsletter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three-big-secre/): In her ClickZ column, Karen Gedney shares three big secrets to creating an effective e-newsletter from Michael J. Katz’ book, “E-Newsletters That Work“. Secret 1: Focus on the ContentIn an e-mail-fatigued world in which business people scan their inboxes, ready to press the “delete” key, your e-newsletter must be engaging, relevant, and a must-read. One... - [16 Free Newsletter Templates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/16-free-newslet/): Kekeko offers 16 free newsletter template archive on their website. All these templates are free to use, distribute and modify under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license. Check them out here! - [Increase Revenues and Protect Brands with Online Reputation Management - Webinar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/increase-revenu/): On Tuesday April 29th, experts from Habeas, LashBack and Publishers Clearing House will discuss: How being reputable online is a competitive advantage in any economy How to analyze, improve and manage email and Web operations with online reputation management strategies and tools Case studies, best practices and tips you can leverage immediately for your business... - [links for 2008-04-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-9/): RetailEmail.Blogspot: Help Us Gather Email Design and Rendering Insights Share your views on email design and rendering by participating in this survey (tags: study design) New “report subscriber” button launches Marketers cursing the overzealous use of report spam buttons will enjoy a new email list management tool due to be launched today by Bluegill Mail.... - [links for 2008-03-31](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-19-2/): Obsessed with Open Rates? Stop it; Focus on Feedback Loops Monitoring feedback loops is crucial because if enough people report your email as spam by clicking the ‘this is spam’ button, it doesn’t matter if the reader opted in or not, inbox providers will start blocking your email! (tags: fbl deliverability) Word to the Wise... - [Testing Your Copy: What You Should Test](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/testing-your-co/): To reach optimum returns on your emails, invest some time in filtering your email strategy through your brand standards and your marketing goals to arrive at a selection of possible messaging approaches. Then test the variables, using a basic A/B split or any other segmentation that is important you. Here are a few things you... - [How To Make Your Email Campaigns Mobile-Friendly](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-make-you-2/): In this article, Stefan Pollard explains how to make your email campaigns mobile-friendly: 1. Reformat text You should always offer a text option as an alternative to HTML for all readers. You can send this version to your mobile readers, but you might also have to reformat it to make it show up better on... - [links for 2008-03-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-18-2/): Finding the Ideal Incentive: How We Increased Email Capture by 319% – webinar April 2nd @ 4pm EDT (tags: events) - [How to Use Alt Text?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-use-alt/): Found in EmailLabs’ excellent newsletter Intevation Report: Question: I understand about using alt text to get my message across if a reader blocks images from downloading, but is there a limit on the number of words I should put in the text? Answer: For most images, you should need only a few words to describe... - [Unsubscribe Do's and Don'ts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/unsubscribe-dos/): Most marketers handle e-mail opt-outs very poorly because they generally think people opting out of their e-mail communications is a negative event and treat it as such. However, opt-outs create tremendous opportunities for marketers to hone their e-mail programs. For example, offering the option of receiving e-mail less frequently can save a subscriber who would... - [Maximizing the 5 Key Elements of E-mail Design](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/maximizing-the/): updated on 22 November 2024 Your customers and prospects view e-mails in five stages. Those stages are: looking at the “from” line, the subject line, the preview pane, the opened but not-yet-scrolled message and the full e-mail. How well you design for each stage will affect how many people read your message all the way... - [How to Make Sure Your Email Campaigns Are Relevant and Effective](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-make-sur/): In their whitepaper, The Retail Marketer’s Playbook: Your 180-Day Email Marketing Game Plan with Top 5 Plays, Responsys offers five “top plays” to make sure your e-mail marketing campaigns are relevant and effective: 1. Refine segmentation tactics. Segmentation allows for more targeted e-mail messages. The white paper provides some tips on how to segment: Segment... - [AOL Is Looking for Input From ISPs and ESPs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/aol-is-looking/): Just read this on Laura’s excellent Word to the Wise blog and thought I’d help spread the word: AOL is looking for input from ISPs and ESPs to better understand how you handle data sent to you by AOL. In regards to bounces – users unknown, specifically – could you please explain the following: ESPs:... - [6 Inbox Management Tips From the EEC](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6-inbox-managem/): The Email Experience Council has assembled this list of seven email management tips to help you reduce inbox congestion and frustration: 1. Take action when you receive an email. Whenever you open an email, resolve to take one of the following four actions: Delete/Archive: If the email requires no action, then either delete it or... - [A Simple Formula to Testing Email Creative](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-simple-formul/): In this article, David Baker provides a simple formula to testing email creative: 1. Draw a wireframes of several templates (they vary by purpose). These are simply boxes designed for the optimal width and length. Rule of thumb is, keep promotional messages and email that is designed for early lifecycle simple and straightforward and minimize... - [Linking to Video's Can Have a Positive Impact on Email Performance](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/linking-to-vide/): Although it’s still as good as technically impossible to embed actual videos into email messages with reliable success, linking out to hosted videos can have a positive impact on email performance. In this blog post on the EEC blog, Lisa Harmon provides these 3 tips: Reference Video in Your Subject Line. Including the word “video”... - [Spam Definition Changes from Unsolicited to Unwanted](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spam-definition-2/): The definition of spam has effectively changed from “unsolicited commercial email,” an idea based on permission, to a perception-based definition – i.e., it’s unwanted – according to the “Spam Complainers Survey” by Q Interactive and MarketingSherpa. The survey sought to determine consumers’ perceptions of what spam is, why they report emails as spam and what... - [links for 2008-03-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-17-2/): Goodmail Launches E-mail Proof-of-Delivery Service E-mail certification firm Goodmail Systems yesterday announced a new service that allows businesses such as insurance firms, financial institutions and healthcare companies to have proof electronic messages were delivered. (tags: industry) How valuable is the open rate for e-mail? – DMNews McDonald makes a sturdy case for the shortcomings of... - [Search Results](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/search-results/): var googleSearchIframeName = ‘googleSearchUnitIframe’; var googleSearchFrameWidth = 550; var googleSearchFrameborder = 0 ; var googleSearchDomain = ‘www.google.com’; http://www.google.com/afsonline/show_afs_search.js - [links for 2008-03-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-16-4/): Epsilon Changes Agency Name to Purple@Epsilon Marketing and database services firm Epsilon is expected to announce today it has changed its interactive and direct agency services unit’s name to Purple@Epilson. (tags: industry) The art of event-triggered e-mail Different from transactional e-mail, which is connected to a current or previous sale, triggered e-mails are one part... - [Complete eROI's Survey and Win an iPod Shuffle!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/complete-erois/): Our friends over at eROI are conducting a survey and asked me to help spread the word: We would like your help to better understand our customers current subscribe/unsubscribe processes. This survey should take just a couple minutes of your time, and we will share the results with you upon request. To show our appreciation,... - [Are You Doing Email Sales or Email Marketing?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/are-you-doing-e/): Jeanne Jennings makes a good point in her ClickZ column today: In many companies the marketing team is tasked with driving leads to the sales team. This isn’t a trivial thing; businesses must sign on new customers to grow. But sometimes, especially in e-mail marketing, the broader responsibilities and goals of marketing, over and above... - [links for 2008-03-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-15-5/): A Long March for Yahoo E-Mail – ClickZ When spammers change their tactics, so do e-mail providers. Those changes can cause hiccups in deliverability, and temporarily slow the time it takes for mail to get from a sender to a recipient. (tags: yahoo deliverability) - [links for 2008-03-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14-5/): A Five-Point Email Marketing Service Provider Checklist a handy-dandy guide that you can use whether you’re venturing into email for the first time or shopping around for a new provider. (tags: esp) There’s more to e-mail than e-mail Using e-mail as a full-fledged direct marketing channel, and applying the same analytical standards you’ve set for... - [Adding More Images to Increase Open Rates?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/adding-more-ima/): One of the members of the Email Marketer’s Club posted an interesting question on our forum yesterday: Hello everyone, One of my managers asked me recently about adding more images in hopes of getting our open rate increased. The thought behind adding some more images is that you may force the person receiving the email... - [Three Keys to an Effective Unsubscribe Process](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three-keys-to-a/): A quick, easy and reliable unsubscribe process is an essential element of your email marketing program. However, not everyone who clicks the unsubscribe link actually wants to end the relationship with your company. But, if you don’t give them options, or if you make the ones you have hard to find, you will certainly lose... - [links for 2008-03-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13-5/): How to create a PDA version of your email no line should exceed 43 characters which works out to be about 7-8 words (tags: design coding mobile) - [links for 2008-03-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-6/): The Blooms Today Case – Webinar March 25 @ 2pm EDT – Join this webcast to learn how Blooms Today effectively uses pre-headers, improved email design, and remailing to maximize success in email marketing. (tags: cases events) - [10 B2B Email Marketing Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-b2b-email-ma/): A B2B email campaign is very different from a B2C campaign. According to Simms Jenkins there are three major differences: Your tone should be much like it would be in a face-to-face meeting with your prospects: direct, professional and in a manner that makes your audience want to do business with you. Don’t waste your... - [links for 2008-03-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-7/): Impactful Email Marketing Having the ability to take your email marketing/web analytics integration beyond the traffic analysis, and gather specific data in real-time on your prospects and customers creates true relationship email marketing. (tags: strategy web_analytics) - [Reaching Out to Yahoo's Postmaster Team](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/reaching-out-to/): The MindComet blog reports: If you manage your own email campaigns and you’ve noticed your Yahoo! bounces rates to be higher than usual, then there’s good news coming your way. First off, reach out to their Postmaster team and explain your current issues. There are 3 different forms to fill out, depending on your persisting... - [links for 2008-03-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-7/): What’s the Best Frequency? Who Cares The better, though more complicated, question might be: “What demographics, preferences and behaviors can I use to drive a continuous program that maximizes the lifetime value of my customers?” (tags: strategy) - [4 Ideas for Triggered Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/4-ideas-for-tri/): Increasingly, marketers are turning to triggered campaigns to achieve the level of relevancy needed to compete in today’s marketplace. Part timing and part content, trigger campaigns aim to deliver the information and offers customers want at the precise time in the buying cycle.To produce quick wins when implementing a trigger program, consider the following ideas:... - [Are we conditioning our non responders?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/are-we-conditio/): I attended the list attrition presentation at the EEC Conference in February and as expected, the subject of non responders arose. I guess my concern is similar to Stephanie Miller’s in her recent blog about subscribers becoming hooked on discounts, so much so, that they don’t respond to regular emails. Albeit a different subject matter... - [links for 2008-03-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-7/): Email Marketing Industry Census 2008 | Research | E-consultancy.com The census looks at the amount and type of email marketing carried out by UK organisations, the way that email marketing is conducted and issues affecting the industry such as deliverability. (tags: study) Australian Email Marketing Metrics Report July – December 2007 The report is intended... - [Tips for Using Email to Send Press Releases](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips-for-using-2/): If you want your important news to get opened—and, more important, get covered—follow these best practices: Stop including the entire press release in the body of the e-mail. Research reports you have less than six seconds to capture attention in the preview pane. Press releases can average five or more paragraphs. Instead, include a teaser... - [links for 2008-03-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-7/): Things you shouldn’t do with email The E-mail To-Don’t List Before you hit send, check for violations (tags: fun email_etiquette) Yahoo! Reaches out to Senders On Yahoo’s Mail blog you will find a notice for bulk senders, ISPs, and commercial emailers, describing the delays and steps that need to be reviewed when reaching out to... - [Five Levels of Permission](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five-levels-of/): There are essentially five levels of permission you need to consider when designing your email programs. Each has their pros and cons and its usage depends on the type of program you are developing and the subscriber experience you want to provide. When trying to decide which one to implement, it might be helpful to... - [How To Combat "Inbox Triage"](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-combat-i/): What do you think your subscribers are doing with your e-mail right this minute? Most likely, they aren’t sitting at a desk scrolling patiently through their inboxes, looking for your message. Instead, they’re doing what David Daniels, Jupiter Research VP, calls “inbox triage” — wading through their increasingly cluttered inboxes quickly to remove the junk... - [links for 2008-03-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-7/): The Thinking Inbox: Issue Brief: Mobile Email Marketing The rise and popularity of mobile devices has presented both challenges and opportunities for email marketers. Download Blue Sky’s perspective and advice on countering these new challenges. (tags: study mobile) iMedia Connection: 5 telltale signs of list abuse Email marketers’ most valued asset is the mailing list,... - [Half UK retailers 'fall short in email strategy' — Netimperative](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/half-uk-retaile/):            A new retail benchmark study, Hitting the Mark by dotMailer, reveals that some of the UK’s largest online and offline retailers are neglecting key areas of the email marketing process and failing to comply with Best Practice Guidelines. Almost half of the retailers (46%) failed to comply with basic legal requirements,... - [Unsubscribe Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/unsubscribe-bes/): To summarize: Make it easy for people to unsubscribe instantly using whatever method they want, and tell them where to go if they just can’t unsubscribe. Doing that will help you with the law, as well as help you build your brand’s credibility with your users. Marketers should make it clear and easy for people... - [Why Birthdays Are Important for Email Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-birthdays-a/): Most people, even those who claim otherwise, like birthdays. They provide an opportunity to take stock of one’s life, pat oneself on the back for accomplishments, and give thanks for years past. For marketers birthdays are an opportunity to reach out to current, former, and prospective consumers. The message might be one of congratulations and... - [links for 2008-03-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-7/): Dunkin’ Donuts brews up another great email marketing campaign Marketers of consumable products need to look at campaigns like this and wonder how they can use the email medium to bring in more business on slow days. (tags: cases) Ezemail’s Blog: Email Evolution Conference Takeaways, San Diego, February 2008 Kath Pay posted a bunch of... - [links for 2008-07-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-3/): Email Marketing Survey 2008 Some UK email marketing stats (tags: study) Peeking at Someone Else’s Paper? Watch Out! – ClickZ don’t assume that everything top-flight companies do with their e-mail marketing has been as carefully thought out and tested to make sure it works. (tags: design strategy study getting_started) Making Sense of Subject Line Research... - [What Often Gets Overlooked In the Email Planning Process](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-often-gets/): According to Stefan Pollard, these are the steps marketers often overlook as part of the planning process: 1. Align the goals. Define the marketer’s/sender’s message goals. Define the goals you expect the readers had when they signed up. Do these match? If not, you aren’t meeting your readers’ expectations. What happens when readers’ expectations get... - [3 Tips to Reactive Your Recipients and Get Them Engaged Again](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3-tips-to-react/): Despite your hard work and what is in your opinion a well-planned and flawlessly executed email campaign, you may still find yourself with deadwood on your list. Recipients who have been inactive, meaning no opens and no clicks, for six months or more are dragging down your campaign’s performance. There are a variety of reasons... - [What Is the Optimum Frequency For My Newsletter Program?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-is-the-opt/): Many email marketers (and a lot more CFOs) think if a little email is good, a lot more is even better. It’s an easy assumption to make. If a campaign or program does great business once, it will the second, third and fourth time, right? Certainly, that’s what your boss thinks, especially during high-volume retail... - [Improving Your Core Email Marketing Metrics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/improving-your/): Savvy marketers realize that you can only achieve solid improvement on campaign elements that you actually take the time to measure. The great thing about email marketing is its ability to be evaluated quickly and effectively. If you’re not evaluating past campaign performance, you’re missing out on key insights that can improve results. Email marketers... - [links for 2008-07-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-3/): Case study: VistaPrint offers ‘opt-down’ option (tags: cases) Deliverability.com: More depth on CAN-SPAM Justin Weiss of the ESPC and IAPP just published an article in the IAPP PrivacyTracker about the implications of the latest CAN-SPAM rulings by the FTC. (tags: canspam legislation) Direct Mail? Or Email? It’s not an either/or don’t throw out the baby... - [links for 2008-07-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-3/): Use it or lose it How you collect and maintain your database will be a key factor in the success your email marketing activities achieve – so what is the best way of doing it? (tags: list_management list_building) MarketingSherpa: How to Profit from Speedy Replies to Customer Inquiries: 6 Tactics to Lift Revenue 10% Check... - [Relevancy Is Key According to Asia-Pacific Consumer Email Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/relevancy-is-ke/): More than one-quarter of consumers in Asia-Pacific believe that promotional e-mail or newsletters that were opt-in—but no longer engage them or address their needs—are spam, according to the Epsilon/Return Path “2008 Consumer E-mail Survey.” More than four out of 10 respondents said that instead of just unsubscribing, they reported legitimate e-mails to which they had... - [6 Strategies to Keep Readers Engaged and to Reduce Unsubscribes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6-strategies-to/): You can help minimize unsubscribes by incorporating basic strategies to encourage customers to remain engaged with your organization. Establish loyalty programs that reward and incent current and future customers to remain active in your email messaging programs. Offer alternatives during the unsubscribe process, which is a very easy method to retain customers. A simple line... - [Tips for Using Email to Send Press Releases](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips-for-using/): As the saying goes, when all you have is hammer, everything looks like a nail. Such is the case with e-mail. It is pervasive in all corporations and an often preferred method of contact by editors, reporters and analysts. As with any e-mail program, corporate PR e-mail starts with considering the needs of the audience.... - [links for 2008-07-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-3/): Andy Sernovitz’s Damn, I Wish I’d Thought of That!: If you want word of mouth, ask for it. example of a great follow-up email, asking for feedback and referrals from EthicalSuperstore.com (tags: cases) I love Overstock sign-up popup (tags: cases list_growth) Seth’s Blog: Scarcity “We can learn a lot from the abysmal performance of Apple... - [Warning Signs That Your Small Business Client is Spamming](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/warning-signs-t/): In their latest whitepaper "Warning Signs That Your Client is Spamming", MailChimp lists the most common reasons they end up having to shut down an agency’s client for too many spam complaints: Old lists – If your client has been collecting email addresses on their website for years, and this is their first email campaign... - [10 Email Marketing Mistakes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-email-market/): Loren McDonald lists 10 email marketing mistakes in his Email Insider column: Making it difficult to unsubscribe. No "welcome" message and/or waiting weeks to send the first message. Overmailing. Using a large single image as the core of your email. Not using alt tags. Relying on graphical links. Not having a preference center. Not designing... - [links for 2008-07-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-4/): E-mail Bounces, Hard and Soft Hard/soft is simply too blunt an instrument. Failures don’t split neatly into temporary and permanent. Some may be permanent unless corrective action is taken. Other failures may be temporary but become permanent if you take the wrong action. (tags: deliverability bounce_management) Favthumbs / tgielen check out my del.icio.us bookmarks on... - [Top 5 Mistakes that Email Senders Make in Scheduling their Mailings](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top-5-mistakes/): I just stumbled on a new email deliverability blog by Anne P. Mitchell and found this great article: In all of the focus that email marketers, newsletter publishers, and other volume email senders put on tweaking their content, format, and other aspects of their email to help maximize deliverability, they often overlook the scheduling of... - [Research Reveals That Leveraging Email Personalization Techniques Increased Average Order Values by 57%](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/research-reveal/): With increased competition for the customers’ time, wallet, and mindshare, top performing organizations are maximizing the effectiveness of their email campaigns by personalizing outbound marketing messages. Heavy personalization techniques allow organizations to develop highly personalized relevant marketing campaigns by incorporating customer profile information, segmentation or demographic behavior, channel behavior, purchase history, personalized product or service... - [Test Shows Embedding Images in HTML Emails Is No Solution to Image Blocking](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/test-shows-embe/): Ron Blaisdell, a member of the Email Marketer’s Club, recently tested whether embedding images in HTML emails could be an answer to image blocking. He shared the results of this test on the Club’s forum and I thought I’d share them here as well: Over the years, a number of folks have asked if "encoding"... - [links for 2008-07-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-4/): Digital bites – a set on Flickr awesome pictures and awesome quotes – check them out! (tags: quotes) How to Code HTML Email Newsletters coding HTML email can be a mix of misery and pain for programmers. This article will bring you up to date on how to code HTML email so that it will... - [links for 2008-07-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-4/): Customers shun personalised marketing e-mails, study finds Marketing e-mails that include customers’ names, hobbies and other personal information could come across as “too pushy”, a U.S. study of e-mail marketing has found. (tags: study) Targeting Influential E-mail Subscribers : Tactics to Harness Influencers – JupiterResearch JupiterResearch has identified a segment of online users as influencers.... - [12 Ways to Reel Inactive Subscribers Back In](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/12-ways-to-reel/): In a recent whitepaper, Spring Clean Your Email List: 5 Easy Steps, marketing technology company Lyris touches on 12 ways to reel these inactive subscribers back in. Special offers. Consider offering discounts or free shipping for retail or a motivational whitepaper for B-to-B communications, suggests the whitepaper. Survey subscribers. Find out why inactives have become... - [The Cost of Irrelevancy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-cost-of-irr/): In order to create the type of email program that is responsive to our subscriber needs, we need resources, both technology and human.  And that means we need money.   In this article Stephanie Miller explains how to make a business case for investment in the email channel by showing your management what the the cost... - [links for 2008-07-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-4/): Email List Rental from Simple Shoes ""Here’s a GOOD example from Simple Shoes on how to advertise someone else’s stuff (Horny Toad) to your own newsletter subscribers. In fact, I’m not even sure I can call it a “list rental.” That’s how good it is." (tags: cases list_rental) Subscribers Rule Deliverability! How to Optimize ROI... - [Four Email Marketing Essentials](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/four-email-mark/): In this post on the UK DMA’s Email Marketing blog, Jonathan Burston summarizes what he learned at a recent email marketing conference: Data is key – collect enough but not too much as you risk customer disengagement. Use the data you collect and continually ask your customers questions to build up a richer picture of... - [7 Tips for Your Welcome Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/7-tips-for-your/): In this article Jordan Ayan provides these 7 tips for your welcome messages: To start, html is a standard. Your welcome email should be a well-designed html message sent out in multi-part mime so that it will display properly in text or html. It should also be optimized so that if a recipient’s images are... - [Copywriting for Email: Key Things to Focus On](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/copywriting-for/): There aren’t a lot of writers trained in the fine points of e-mail writing. As a result, most companies aren’t achieving their objectives in terms of sales generated.  To make things easier, create fill-in-the-blank templates for the main types of e-mail communication you send out. Areas to include in your template: Subject lines: Specify the... - [links for 2008-07-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-6/): Emails from hotels – an overview Interestingly these emails coming various hotel chains don’t really focus on deals. Their is one here and there, but overall the focus is more on the experience. (tags: cases) 64 Fathers Day Promotions (tags: cases) How we read online "[U]sers are selfish, lazy, and ruthless." When you arrive on... - [Survey Finds Email Is the Most Popular Direct Response Medium in the US](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/survey-finds-em/): E-mail is now the most popular form of direct response marketing, per a new survey of large U.S. corporations conducted by Direct Partners. E-mail is used primarily by 35 percent of companies compared to 25 percent that use traditional direct mail and 21 percent that use promo packages, statement stuffers or freestanding inserts. The findings... - [Benchmark Your Email Organization: Take Forrester's Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/benchmark-your/): Re-posting this from the Return Path blog: "Our good friends over at Forrester are fielding a survey for email marketing professionals aimed at getting a handle on how email is used in companies today. This is a great opportunity for you to have your voice heard – Forrester’s research has a huge influence in the... - [Roundup of Campaign Monitor's HTML Email Support Research](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/roundup-of-camp/): Here are links to Campaign Monitor’s most popular posts on some tricky facets of HTML emails: What CSS is supported in email clients? Does Flash work in emails? Can I use forms in my emails? Which clients block my images? Do animated gifs render in email clients? Will image maps work in an email? - [Why is List Rental So Controversial?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-is-list-ren/): I couldn’t have said it better than DJ Waldow: "The problem with list rental is that the subscribers are not nearly as engaged as those who find you directly and ask specifically to be included in your email marketing campaigns. To me, that is the biggest difference. From what I’ve seen, list rentals tend to... - [New Webinar – Your Digital Company, Today and in 2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new-webinar-you/): Join Jeanniey Mullen from eec / Zinio, David Daniels from JupiterResearch, Des Cahill from Habeas, hundreds of your colleagues and Erick Mott live on July 15th for a complimentary Habeas Huddle™ webinar: Your Digital Company, Today and in 2013How to Leverage Email and Online Trust for Success Live July 15, 2008; 11:00 AM PDT /... - [Sneak Preview: Subject Lines - Length Does Matter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/sneak-preview-s/): Alchemy Worx are about to release their new whitepaper on Subject Lines, in this week’s Infobox, and it has some very interesting  (and possibly quite controversial) findings. The study was conducted on 646 subject lines across 205 million messages earlier this year. By repeating the strategy behind MailerMailer’s Email Marketing Metric Report (2008), they were... - [Use Serialization to Boost Your Readership](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/use-serializati/): OK…so you’ve heard it before, yeah yeah…serialize articles and it will draw people back again and again. But how many of us actually do it within our newsletters? This week at Inbox/Outbox London in his presentation, my good friend Dela Quist of Alchemy Worx brought this up as a great way to increase readership. So... - [links for 2008-06-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-4/): Happy Birthday to Me? Remember, when collecting opt-in information, ask your customers for personal information for marketing efforts such as birthday offers. (tags: strategy) How to Whitelist Page The folks over at Blue Sky Factory developed a “How to Whitelist” page. (tags: whitelisting deliverability) Christmas in June – Time to Start Planning for Holidays Promotions... - [links for 2008-06-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-4/): Yahoo debuts new domain name in e-mail – DMNews Yahoo has introduced the availability of two new e-mail domains that will give users the chance to register for the e-mail address or Yahoo ID of their choice at ymail.com or rocketmail.com. (tags: yahoo) - [Study Reveals Email Tactics of Top U.S. Retailers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study-reveals-e/): Silverpop uncovered some interesting results when it recently joined with Internet Retailer magazine to conduct research for the “Top 500 Guide” profiling the largest 500 U.S. retail Web sites ranked by annual sales. To evaluate the email programs of the top online retailers, their research team logged on to the Web sites of 820 top... - [links for 2008-06-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-4/): Signup process done right Here’s why Newegg.com’s sign up process is successful (tags: cases) Norwegian Cruise Line’s example of a weak call to action (tags: cases) Norwegian Cruise Line example: fixing a bad first message (tags: cases) MarketingSherpa: Embedded Video Lifts Conversion Rate 50%: 5 Steps to Test Deliverability & Subject Line See how a... - [Newsflash: Your Open Rate Does NOT Tell You How Many People Opened Your Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/newsflash-your/): It’s amazing how many people do not know how open rates are calculated. Loren McDonald rightfully is trying to convince the email marketing world to change the name from "open rate" to "render rate" because that is what it is. Read his articles and the comments on them here and here. Open rates are tracked... - [10 Tips to Enhance Your Transactional Messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-tips-to-en-1/): Lisa Harmon posted these 10 tips to enhance your transactional messages over on the EEC blog:                    Include your company logo and colors to make transactional communications feel consistent with your other marketing materials. Include navigation items relevant to the transaction Use text treatments, color and graphics to maximize usablity... - [New Tool Helps You Find Out Which Email Clients Your Recipients Are Using](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new-tool-helps/): I got an email yesterday about a new tool developped by the folks behind Litmus (a tool that shows you what your email will look like in different browsers). The new tool is called Fingerprint and it shows you which email clients your readers are using. I tried it out when I was sending out... - [links for 2008-06-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-4/): Email marketing in 2028 What does email marketing look like in 20 years time? (tags: fun) - [links for 2008-06-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-4/): A Guide to CSS Support in Email Campaign Monitor retested a bunch of desktop and web email clients to see how they support CSS. (tags: coding css) - [links for 2008-06-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-4/): 7 Split Tests You Can Implement Today to help you get started with split testing, here are seven split tests you can run on your website to get and retain more subscribers, lower spam complaints, and increase response. (tags: testing) Tactics to Optimize Enterprise Email Marketing – webinar June 19th @ 10am CDT / 4pm... - [Five Questions to Ask During Your Mid-Year Email Review](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five-questions/): Karen Gedney talks about a mid-year review that she will be doing for one of her email marketing clients. These are some of the  questions she is going to focus on: Is it Time to Switch to Some New Metrics Beyond Open Rates and Click-Throughs? How are Your Landing Pages Performing? How can you Increase... - [Customers Open & Read Transactional Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/customers-open/): Transactional messages remain one of the few underutilized opportunities in email marketing. Used properly, marketing within transactional (or “service”) emails can be timely, helpful and relevant. Used incorrectly, transactional emails can sour a permission relationship just as quickly. The chart shows that most consumers are comfortable with many types of email transactions. The exception is... - [Tackling List Churn](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tackling-list-c/): List churn may be the least-talked-about but highest-impact issue in email marketing. Look at the facts. While every list is different, the typical rule of thumb is that about 30% of your list’s email addresses will vanish each year. This actual churn is comprised of bounces, abandoned/changed email addresses, unsubscribes and spam complaints. Say you... - [links for 2008-06-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-4/): Google Analytics: Using Metrics to Track and Improve Email Marketing Results Using Google Analytics, email marketers can discover how to tailor their promotional messages, design and lay out to their audience’s preferences, minimize steps in the purchase process, reduce shopping-cart abandonment, improve landing pages, and more. (tags: analysis Google_Analytics) Images not always rendering in consumer... - [Seth Godin's Email checklist](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/seth-godins-ema/): Before you hit send on that next email, Seth Godin advises us run down this list, just to be sure:   Is it going to just one person? (If yes, jump to #10) Since it’s going to a group, have I thought about who is on my list? Are they blind copied? Did every person... - [Email is to direct mail as social networking is to...?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-is-to-dir/): We often associate, compare and group email with direct mail marketing, however, if you look closely at email best practices, following the direct mail marketing rules amounts to a whole lot of no-no’s. The past year I’ve been getting more interested and involved in social media marketing, only to realize its best practices are more... - [3 Tips to Streamline Your Company's Email Communications](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3-tips-to-strea/): It’s not unusual for larger organizations to be actively using several different email platforms to manage their campaigns. In these instances, transitioning to a completely centralized approach requires almost Herculean effort. However, in the absence of a completely centralized approach, there are still things you can do to streamline email communications and ensure a positive... - [links for 2008-06-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-5/): CAN-SPAM Webinar June 10 @ 2pm EST – Join experts from the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and UnsubCentral as they team up to help marketers discover the information needed to successfully navigate the new CAN-SPAM rule provisions. (tags: events) Email Design Enemies: Email Clients You Need To Watch Out For why you need to... - [RSS: Really Simple Segmentation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/rss-really-simp/): Segmenting your list and targeting your content are good ways to improve your e-mail marketing program’s performance. But many companies are operating under the false belief that they don’t have the information they need to segment and target. Even if all you collect at opt-in is an e-mail address, you should have the information you... - [Five Ways to Make Your Communication Preference Center Stand Out](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five-ways-to-ma/): In this post on the Email Experience blog, Lisa Harmon shares there 5 ways to make your communication preference center stand out: (1) Let subscribers decide what information they want to offer.Tommy Bahama asks only the most basic details upfront, then layers in the opportunity to identify optional detailed preferences. This allows subscribers to decide... - [Pass the Mind Filter and the Content Filter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/pass-the-mind-f/): From another great article by Stefan Pollard: Even though a content filter might not punish your message as possible spam, the reader’s "mind filter" might. That in turn will affect how content filters treat your messages in the future.  So it remains important to get on top of your content and understand what triggers a... - [links for 2008-06-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-5/): denise cox’s blog » 60%: The percentage of people who complete a sign up process Denise Cox sums up some of the reasons why 40% of potential subscribers are not completing the sign up process (tags: opt-in) Email churn shouldn’t cost you Churn, when monitored closely, ensures that you are keeping your database clean and... - [Opt-In Laws in the USA and EU](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/opt-in-laws-in/): Because I am looking for information on opt-in and privacy laws in Sweden, I posted a question on LinkedIn Answers. L-Soft‘s Outi Tuomaala pointed me to one of their webpages that contains a table that gives a basic overview of email requirements in the United States and Europe. Of course you should always check national... - [Study Finds Emails of 23% of Retailers Are Completely Unintelligible When Images Are Blocked](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study-finds-ema/): The Email Experience Council, the email marketing arm of the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), released "Retail Email Rendering Benchmark Study." The 41-page study examines the email design practices of 104 top online retailers tracked via RetailEmail.Blogspot, and examines their performance in an images-off email environment. It also includes the results of a survey of 472... - [A/B Testing Explained](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ab-testing-expl/): Consider this situation: You run the marketing department for an e-commerce outdoor outfitter, and your team has decided on a subject line and special offer for your next campaign. The variable you’re trying to settle is whether the main graphic should be a product photo or one of the company president announcing the offer. This... - [Five Factors to Consider When Growing Your List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five-factors-to/): 1. Make your sign-up form easy to findMake sure you have forms (as opposed to buttons) published in hard-to-miss locations on your pages, and on as many pages where the form is relevant. Remember that nearly every page on your site has the potential to be a landing page, particularly in the case of visitors... - [links for 2008-06-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-5/): Trigger campaigns in action This case study illustrates how event- and action-triggered email campaigns can benefit a business. (tags: cases triggered_emails) - [5 Steps Toward an Email Marketing Relevance Plan](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-steps-toward/): Email automation is emerging as a strategic approach for businesses of all sizes to dramatically improve the targeting, relevance and the timeliness of their email marketing campaigns. Marketers still undecided or uncertain about how to begin should follow these best practices to take their email marketing programs to the next level of true relevance: Build... - [Email Marketing Is a Mature Marketing Communications Channel in Belgium](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-4/): A joint survey amongst Belgian internet users and businesses carried out by EmailGarage and iVOX confirms e-mail marketing as a mature marketingcommunications medium: 90% of Belgian internet users subscribe to at least one electronic newsletter 75% of them subscribe to 3 – 4 newsletters Personalization and ‘identification with’ customers prove to be key to successful... - [Five Tips to Get You Started With Mobile Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five-tips-to-ge/): I wrote the below article for the latest issue of Infobox, the UK DMA’s email marketing newsletter:  As mobile technology and devices become more advanced, we see more and more consumers using their mobile phones for a lot more than just making phone calls and sending text messages. Lots of people now read their emails... - [Study Finds That Top Brands Are Not Yet Delivering Good Subscriber Experiences](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study-finds-tha/): A shocking 60% of companies in a just-released study by Return Path did not send "welcome" e-mails to new subscribers. Of the 40% that did send a welcome message, only 33% sent it within 24 hours. The remaining 7% took anywhere from two days to three weeks. Other findings include: The shock of the missing... - [Revolutionary New Tool Combines All Your Mailboxes and IM accounts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/revolutionary-n/): I have 6 email and 4 IM accounts that I regularly check, and until now I’ve been using Netvibes to keep an eye on my inboxes but I think I found a new tool that makes managing my inboxes and IM accounts even easier. Email world: meet Orgoo, an e-mail/IM integration service that sticks together... - [links for 2008-06-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-5/): Anatomy of Forged Spam George, J.D. and Nei over on the Return Path blog explain how spam and botnets work (tags: spam) - [links for 2008-06-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-7/): Understanding New CAN-SPAM Provisions – Webinar June 10 @ 2pm EST/11am PST – Join experts from the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and UnsubCentral as they team up for a complimentary webinar to help marketers discover the information needed to successfully navigate the new CAN-SPAM rule provisions. (tags: events) Grow Your Subscriber Database – Webinar... - [Subscribers Rule!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/subscribers-rul/): I was excited to see the Subscribers Rule! presentation given by Chip House at the Email Insiders Summit, as the subject is very dear to my heart. In fact, ExactTarget is so committed to subscribers being in charge that they have launched a website (www.subscribersrule.com) and printed "Subscribers Rule!" t-shirts and stickers. Alas, I failed... - [links for 2008-05-31](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-15-3/): Do you want to fund the lawsuit? New ideas are great. But you have to strongly believe that they’re the right thing to do under the current regulatory landscape. Are you willing to pay $3,000,000 plus attorney’s fees to prove that your dubious idea isn’t a violation of Can-Spam law (tags: legislation) - [links for 2008-05-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14-3/): Israel Spam Law Israel has passed a new anti-spam law requiring senders to only send opt-in email, according to the Jerusalem Post. (tags: legislation) Great Example of an Opt In Form (tags: cases) Video: Social Media in Plain English | Common Craft This video focuses on basics of social media: new technology that makes everyone... - [links for 2008-05-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13-3/): Yahoo! drops paragraph spacing | Email Standards Project Whereas emails sent to Yahoo! webmail subscribers in the past were appearing fine, recently it seemed like the rendering had changed. Paragraph spacing was now totally removed from many emails. (tags: coding) Rendering in Outlook 2007 Part 2: The Search for Answers | Bronto Blog Lucas Weber... - [E-Mail Gains In Usage But Traditional DM Media Decline: Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/e-mail-gains-in/): E-mail has become the top medium for direct marketers, judging by Direct’s annual forecast survey. Of the firms polled, 72% send e-mail to customers, a 10% increase over 2007, and 50% to prospects, a 9% hike. Furthermore, 55% of those who use the medium plan to increase their budgets for it next year. Direct mail,... - [Use Subscription Landing Pages to Forge an Immediate Relationship with Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/use-subscriptio/): In this video, Bronto’s DJ Waldow and Kimberley Snyder discuss the importance of utilizing subscription landing pages to “sell” and ultimately “seal” the subscription. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9T5RMjRDQ8&w=425&h=350] Read more about creating compelling subscription landing pages here. Source: Bronto - [Campaign Monitor's 2008 Email Design Guidelines](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/campaign-monito/): In this article Mathew Patterson discusses the technical, design and information elements that make up a successful HTML email. Here are the quick and dirty guidelines: Don’t waste your readers’ time — An email inbox is a busy place, you won’t get much attention. Permission matters — Not only do you need to have permission... - [Your Newsletter: The Basics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your-newsletter/): When designing your newsletter always keep in mind the amount of time you can expect your reader to spend viewing your newsletter. Everyone today is information hungry, but always in a hurry. How you display your content within your newsletter can capitalize on this assumption. What Information Should I Include in My Newsletter? Obviously, this... - [Re-activating Bounces](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/re-activating-b/): A while back someone raised a question on the Email Marketer’s Club: ‘Can we re-activate bounced addresses?’ and I thought it would be a good thing to share the the numerous reasons why not to do this. It can negatively affect your brand. If the recipients haven’t received any communications from you in a couple... - [Oopsy-daisy! Creating strategies for email errors](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/oopsy-daisy-cre/): Everyone makes mistakes, but it’s how you handle them that will leave a lasting impression on your audience (either positive or negative!). Email as a medium is prized for it’s quick nature–though when you rush through preparation, the likelihood of errors increases. With email there are basically three routes you can take when you’ve made... - [Mobiles: The new inbox](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mobiles-the-n-1/): The Email Insider’s Summit was fantastic and one of the sessions held looked at all things mobile and in particular designing for the mobile. But before we have a look at these facts and figures, I’d like to make a special note of Chip House of Exact Target’s pertinent remark in his session of ‘Subscriber... - [Survey Reveals Consumers More Receptive to Marketing Messages Through Email Than Text or Social Networking Sites](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/survey-reveals/): ExactTarget announced the results of their 2008 Channel Preference Survey at the Email Insider Summit and in a new whitepaper, How Consumer Preferences Impact One-to-One Marketing Success. The whitepaper addresses the impact of consumer communication preferences on marketing success and highlights the challenges marketers face in today’s world of multi-channel, one-to-one communications. “We asked over... - [Study Confirms Strong, Ongoing Demand for Email in Direct Marketing, Mobile and Web 2.0 Applications](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study-confirms/): Habeas released its 2008 study of consumer attitudes towards email and online interaction with businesses. The study, completed in May 2008 by research firm Ipsos, found that consumers prefer email as a primary method of communications in their personal and business capacities; they will continue to prefer email in the future despite the rise of... - [Live from the Email Insider Summit, Day 2](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/live-from-the-e/): Stay tuned for more coverage from the Email Insider Summit tomorrow at 9am EST (6am PST, 3pm CET) - [Live From the Email Insider Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/live-from-the/): Greetings from Captiva Island. Yes, I will be live blogging again today and tomorrow. Feel free to comment and chime in! /* Main Holder, adjust width to suit your page. */ .cil_mainholder { font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; width: 470px; background: #ffffff; border: solid 1px #333333; } /* Adjust the height to best suite your page... - [links for 2008-05-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-4/): Spam law affects affiliates – DMNews The Federal Trade Com­mission’s just-approved new rule provisions for the CAN-SPAM Act largely place the onus on e-mail marketers and their affili­ates to take responsibility for clean e-mail lists and clear communica­tion among marketing partners. (tags: legislation spam) EmailKarma.net: Transactional Email That Markets Effectively Some key rules that you... - [New FTC Rules Under the CAN-SPAM Act In Layman's Terms.](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new-ftc-rules-1/): Recently the FTC has approved four new rules under the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. You can find the press release here. In this article, Mark Merckler, General Counsel for UniqueLeads explains what it all means in layman’s terms: Contrary to what many believed they would do, the FTC did not shorten the time frame for... - [links for 2008-05-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-5/): The Email Wars: MySpace Wins Largest Anti-Spam Award in History MySpace has informed us that on Monday it was awarded $234 million in statutory damages, the largest anti-spam sum ever made under CAN-SPAM and apparently ever under any law. (tags: spam canspam) What the Changes in CAN-SPAM Mean for You (tags: canspam legislation) Videos in... - [Clever pun or typo?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/clever-pun-or-t/): When crafting your subject lines, you have to consider how your audience will perceive it, especially if you want to get ‘cute’ with it. And be sure to follow up right away in the message… This morning I received an email from a retailers in which I immediately noticed something odd in the subject line.... - [links for 2008-05-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-5/): Virgin lands in the rough with email invitation to golf resort event The company sent an email on Thursday inviting people to an event at The Grove Golf Resort Hotel, Herts, an 18th century country estate. But the offer was intended only for the 75 members of its first class Traveller club. (tags: cases) Larry... - [Conference: Customer focused email - marketing to people not lists](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/conference-cust/): In this day and age of marketing via the email channel, it’s becoming more obvious than ever that we, as marketers need to change our methods to keep up with our subscribers’ requirements. We need to be more subscriber/customer focused and ensure we deliver emails which the subscriber wants. In return we will be rewarded... - [User Experience Testing: Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/user-experience/): User experience testing is a powerful e-mail optimization technique. Unlike multivariate and A/B testing, it tells you more than what users do with your e-mail. It tells you why they do it. But there are essential best practices to consider if you want to get the most out of testing. Here are a few. Begin... - [Email Marketers Report Improved Results](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketers/): In March of 2008, SubscriberMail surveyed marketing professionals around the world to gain insight into the way email marketing was being used, the level of success they achieved and the challenges and opportunities they have faced for their email marketing efforts over the past 12 months. Here are some of the results: Email marketers report... - [links for 2008-05-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-5/): Email Marketing for Nonprofits Whether you’re launching a membership drive, soliciting donations, or selling tickets to a fundraising event, email marketing can provide the biggest bang for your buck. (tags: strategy non_profit) EEC and DMA Members-Only Conference Call About New CAN-SPAM Rules Friday, May 16 at 1pm EST – The Direct Marketing Association is hosting... - [links for 2008-05-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-5/): Let them unsubscribe … or pick ‘email me less frequently’ great example from J.Crew, which gives the subscriber an opportunity to control the frequency – or to easily go on to totally remove themselves from all J.Crew mailings. (tags: cases unsubscribe) eec Does Good This is just one of the great things that the eec... - [Email is Not A Viable Acquisition Tool in the Way Direct Mail is](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-is-not-a/): In this article, Chris Marriott says that email is not a viable acquisition tool in the way direct mail is for a couple of reasons: anti-spam legislation it’s not as easy to get your email address as it is your postal address. even if a business has your email address, you can opt-out of that... - [links for 2008-05-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-5/): How to setup a Sender ID record in GoDaddy.com (tags: authentication) Canadian Anti-spam Law on the way (tags: legislation) - [links for 2008-05-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-5/): DMA Email Marketing Council Blog Email marketing is very cyclical by nature – it’s never ‘finished’, and that is the beauty of it. The cycle includes: testing, sending, analysing, changing and repeating. This process allows you to improve your results and ROI each and every time (tags: strategy) - [UK DMA Email Marketing Council's Blog Launch](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/uk-dma-email-ma/): The UK DMA Email Marketing Council have been busy! Not content with resting after their re-design of their newsletter, Infobox a couple of month’s ago, they’ve now launched an Email Marketing Blog which aims to impart and encourage Best Practise as well as discuss relevent and topical issues. Some of the blogs already posted are:... - [How Good Intentions Can Go Bad](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/did-the-eec-spa/): Did the EEC spam its members? Ken Magill certainly seems to think so. Here’s what really happened: in celebration of Earth Day the eec thought it would be nice to give something free to our subscribers (just like we did when we gave away free dice from SubscriberMail during the holidays 2 years ago). We... - [links for 2008-05-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-5/): Marketing to Third-Party E-mail Lists Jeanne Jennings provides some tips for reading data cards and choosing lists. (tags: list_rental list_growth) - [links for 2008-05-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-6/): In Pursuit Of Conversion-Landing Page Design For Email Campaigns It’s not too difficult to create an effective landing page. For those of you just starting out, keep it simple, and consider these easy steps. (tags: landing_pages) Deliverability.com: AOTA announces Deliverability Academy The Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (AOTA) announced that they will be having a... - [links for 2008-05-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-6/): Email Marketers Unite! “With all the social networking sites popping up lately, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. However, we’ve found one that anyone in the email marketing world should join – the Email Marketer’s Club!” Thanks for spreading the word, Joanna! (tags: community) How can I experiment with using video in e-mail? :: BtoB Magazine... - [Defining Your Welcome Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/defining-your-w/): Andrew Kordek wrote a great post on the importance of having a welcome strategy. Here are the most important points. Read the entire post here. clipped from thescrappyemailmarketer.wordpress.com welcome emails are probably the most important emails your program can have.  They can generate millions of dollars in revenue if you are an eTailer and are... - [Getting Through the Postini Filter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/getting-through/): Postini, the spam filter owned by Google, is notoriously difficult to get past. Mathew Patterson shares some tips to get past their filters: clipped from www.campaignmonitor.com it seems clear that Postini is placing a lot of importance on the balance between images and text (or HTML) in an email. Avoid repeatedly sending messages to full... - [Holiday Email Marketing: Tips From the Experts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/holiday-email-m/): In this article on Mark Brownlow’s blog, he shares some advice from industry experts on the topics of frequency and standing out from the holiday crowd. Here are some clippings from the article. Make sure to read the complete article here. clipped from www.email-marketing-reports.com The main problem is that everyone is upping frequency, so that... - [Retailers Can Generate $2.9 Million in Additional Revenue With Transactional Email According to JupiterResearch](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/retailers-can-g/): A new JupiterResearch study on transactional email finds that the average retailer can generate an additional $2.9 million in revenue annually by integrating promotional offers into transactional messages. The complete, 15-page study is available for download from the StrongMail website. clipped from www.earthtimes.org adding promotional messages to transactional email can generate $2.9 million annually in... - [The Impact of Social Networking on Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-impact-of-s/): Some clippings from a great article on the role of email in a social networking world by Renen Watermeyer: clipped from www.imediaconnection.com As brand owners turn to social networking sites and services as a marketing channel, many industry observers are beginning to question the role that email marketing will play in a Web 2.0 world.... - [Do Personalized Subject Lines Work?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/do-personalized/): DJ and Julie over at Bronto did some testing and asking around about the effect of personalization in subject lines. Here are their main findings: clipped from blog.bronto.com Do personalized subject lines work? Do they lead to more opens/renders, higher click-through rates, a bump in conversions? Answer: It Depends! Ask yourself, is personalization relevant to... - [The Decline and Fall of Email for Acquisition](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-decline-and/): Some very valid points in this e-consultancy article: clipped from www.e-consultancy.com The use of email marketing to drive customer acquisition is in significant, and terminal, decline. email is not a customer acquisition tool. In fact it never has been, but in the early years of the media, the novelty of receiving email meant that acquisition and... - [Amp Up Email Results with Honeymoon Segmentation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/amp-up-email-re/): Jason Baer has a great post up on his blog about what he calls the Honeymoon segment. Here are some highlights: clipped from www.convinceandconvert.com Subscribers to your email list are most likely to open, click, forward to a friend, and buy in the first 30-60 days after joining the list. This is the Honeymoon and... - [links for 2008-10-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2/): Boost Email Marketing Response With List Segmenting and Triggered Emails Although segmenting will help you target your emails and get you far better outcomes, many people hesitate to start because they are busy and think it will take a lot of time and effort. The reality is that you can start with some basic segmenting,... - [New Forrester Report: Benchmark Your Email Organization](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new-forrester-r/): You can download this report for US $279. clipped from www.forrester.com Forrester surveyed 260 email marketers to better understand the challenges they face in their email organizations. We found that the business processes guiding most email organizations are less sophisticated than their years of experience would predict. Email organizations require higher-level strategies; better approaches to... - [links for 2008-10-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-3/): Email A/B Testing and … Chemistry?!? How to get started with A/B testing (tags: testing) An Interesting Finding About Forms                It turns out that it’s not the number of questions marketers require, but how long it takes the responder to answer them that matters most. Forms that were able... - [DMA Event in London - not to be missed](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma-event-in-lo/): The DMA UK are holding a not to be missed event on the implications of the latest internetand email security measures for digital marketing, on October 29th in London. The Keynote speaker, Craig Spiezle, Chair of AOTA and Director of Online Security and Safety, Microsoft Internet Explorer will be addressing two topics of importance for... - [How to Make the Unsubscribe Process Easier For Your Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-make-the/): Here are some guidelines to make your unsubscribe process as easy as possible for those that want out: Include the unsubscribe link at the top of the email – don’t bury it in the footer where it might be missed. If people can’t find the unsubscribe link, they’ll use the Report Spam button instead Implement... - [MarketingSherpa Releases 2009 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpa/): MarketingSherpa released their 2009 edition of the Email Marketing Benchmark Guide. Here are some of the highlights: A down economy means more email – means more competition at the inbox Attitude toward email budgets correlates with performance To increase opt-ins, offer real benefits – consumers want to opt-in but they want something in exchange You... - [Content and Segmentation Are Key To Successful Email Marketing Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/content-and-seg/): A couple of weeks ago I attended an email marketing conference in the Netherlands at which Bill McCloskey was a keynote speaker. He did an excellent job! He recently wrote an article for the UK DMA’s Email Marketing newsletter Infobox (to which I highly recommend subscribing by the way) that drives away the point he... - [How to Build a Good Email List?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-build-a/): In this article, Kath Pay shares these 11 tips to build a good mailing list: 1. Make the initial opt-in form simple and fast to fill out. 2. If you need more information, such as demographic data or buying behaviour to target emails, send follow-up emails asking for this a little later in the relationship.... - [Email Marketing Wisdom Selected Especially For You](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing/): You might have noticed that I haven’t been blogging much in the last couple of weeks. That’s mainly due to a heavy workload at the office and a personal side project that I’m working on and that I’ll be telling you more about in the next couple of weeks and months. Right now I have... - [links for 2008-10-9](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1/):        Keep the Heat Off That New IP Address             "begin slowly, sending a limited number of messages to small subsets of the best addresses on your mailing list. As you begin to build your reputation, you can start building your volume, but always while keeping an eye on your... - [Think Global, Speak Local](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/as-i-sit-at-hea/): As I sit at Heathrow Airport awaiting my flight back to the U.S., what a truly global village we’ve become – even in email marketing. As I spoke with clients from Germany, Holland, the UK and elsewhere – the challenges, opportuniities and even lexicon was all very consistent. Terms I had thought were very American... - [Links summary](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-summary/): I noticed that Delicious did not post the pages that I bookmarked last week. Here they are: VistaPrint provides blueprint for how to irritate your customers via email “There is no reason to email your customers every single day…N-O-N-E. This is probably as major a violation against building trust with an email list as I’ve... - [Anatomy of an Excellent Transactional Message](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/anatomy-of-an-e/): A passable transactional email focuses on only the event that just happened or is about to happen, such as a subscription request, a hotel reservation, a product order or a recurring payment. A great one describes the event in detail, uses language that makes the customer feel good about what just happened, invites him or... - [Email: Isn't It About Communicating?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-a-key-com/): The global financial meltdown reminds us again how important good communications are in our societies. In 1929, the United States experienced a major stock-market crash, which precipitated disastrous bank runs – thousands of account-holders descended on their local financial institutions, demanding their life savings in cash – and contributed to what we now call The... - [The Secret is out!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-secret-is-o/): Bill McCloskey has written an excellent article for Infobox, The True Secret of Successful Email Marketing. I love Bill’s line of thought: "The real secret to email marketing has nothing to do with deliverability, rendering, or any number of other technical issues we discuss to take our minds off our dwindling response rates. The real... - [Moving to Lifecycle Based Email Marketing - Take this Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/moving-to-lifec/): Stephanie Miller asked me to post this on my blog: Our friends over at the Email Marketing Council of the Online Marketing Summit, led by active industry advocate Stephanie Miller of Return Path, are hosting a survey that should reveal some interesting data for us all.  Check out this 10-minute survey about moving frombatch and... - [links for 2008-09-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12/): Email Insider » Blog Archive » Once Again: Email List Growth Doesn’t Equal Revenue Growth To improve your existing reports, measure response by subscriber profile segments. Then, measure and benchmark to these engagement metrics: (tags: list_growth) Effective Welcome Email Example: SlideShare Slideshare's welcome email does a lot of great things that we can all learn... - [The Pendulum is Swinging Back....](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/long-live-email/): Not too long ago, Matt Blumberg of Return Path wrote "It’s interesting to note that after months (years?) of "email is dead" stories specifically around blogging, RSS feeds, and social media in general, the pendulum seems to be swinging back to email". You can read his full blog post here. I manage a couple of... - [links for 2008-09-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11/): Technorati: State of the Blogosphere 2008 Interesting report about blogging – this blog is featured on the Day 2 page 🙂 (tags: blogosphere blogging blogs) 6 Easy Ways to Improve Your HTML Emails here are 15 things you can do to create great-looking HTML emails (tags: design coding) Fundamental Design Rules for Email Marketing Success... - [links for 2008-09-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10/): Really Simple E-mail Segmentation: Getting Clicks to Convert "The most important thing to do when you're optimizing a landing page is to put yourself in visitors' shoes. Think about what got them to the landing page in the first place and what information they will need to move forward with a conversion. Remember, they don't... - [3 DMA UK events not to be missed](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3-dma-uk-events/): Implications of the Latest Internet and Email Security Measures for Digital Marketing9am-1pm, 29 October 2008, London Keynote speaker: Craig Spiezle, Director of Online Security and Safety, Microsoft Internet Explorer. Learn: what brands can do to win the hearts and minds of the consumers; which delivery tools and tactics are essential for deliverability; and how authentication... - [links for 2008-09-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9/): 3 Quick Apps for Resizing Images on the Fly Here are three great programs for Mac and Windows to resize images on the fly. (tags: design tools) - [U.S. E-mail Marketing Volume Will Reach 838 Billion Messages in 2013, Forrester Says](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/us-e-mail-marke/): E-mail’s low cost and high ROI will drive e-mail marketing volumes upward. In fact, in the U.S. alone, volumes will reach 838 billion messages in 2013, according to a Forrester Research report published this summer titled “US Email Marketing Volume Forecast, 2008 To 2013.” In the report, Julie Katz points out the growth in e-mail... - [IAB Issues Best Practices for E-mail Data Management](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/iab-issues-best/): The Interactive Advertising Bureau has issued Email Data Management Best Practices, a position statement recommending privacy and data security guidelines for publishers, marketers and service providers. Key best practices include: Senders should only send commercial email to individuals who have provided informed consent For all third-party licensed data, a global unsubscribe mechanism should be implemented... - [links for 2008-09-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8/): IN: The Email Reputation Conference November 6, 2008: this is a one day conference organized by Return Path and focuses solely on REPUTATION being the key to the inbox. The agenda looks very interesting! (tags: events) Taking E-mail Personalization to the Next Level It’s okay to start small with personalization, and you should. First decide... - [Building Effective Landing Pages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/building-effect/): Whether you’re sending a promotional email or an email newsletter, your message has specific sales or marketing goals. Most commonly the main goal of your message is to get readers to register for an event or make a purchase, or to build a relationship with readers, which hopefully leads to them making a purchase. Since... - [links for 2008-09-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7/): Reviewing Spam Laws in APAC Singapore, Hong Kong, China spam laws (tags: legislation apac) Alt attributes and image suppression in emails make no assumptions with alt attributes. With all the variations out there, you have no realistic alternative but to test your design in one of the inexpensive tools available to find the image and... - [If you send it - they may reply](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-limit-your/): Today I recieved an email from – no, I won’t name and shame – but basically the from address was:  ‘noreply@nameofcompany.com’. It recalled to mind Seth’s blog post: "If you don’t want to get email…Don’t send email" http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/07/if-you-dont-wan.html I love Seth Godin’s blog – who doesn’t? He has the ability to remind us not to... - [links for 2008-09-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6/): Inspire Me!: Email’s Ten ‘Demandments’ Know your email subscribers' "demandments" and direct your messages toward meeting and exceeding them. (tags: strategy) - [links for 2008-09-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5/): E-Mail Marketing: Fixed And Variable Costs, And Why They Matter When it costs a significant fee to do something, you work very carefully to make sure that you've done everything right (aka "best practices"), so that you get a suitable return on investment. When something is close to free (aka e-mail marketing, on a variable... - [links for 2008-09-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-2/): Webinar: The ROI of Email Deliverability and Centralization Sep 24: This webinar explores how leading online retailer The Parent Company is achieving a 253% risk-adjusted ROI by centralizing email across ten retail and content brands, including eToys, BabyUniverse and ePregnancy. This interactive webinar will present the findings from the newly released Forrester Consulting study "The... - [9 Tips for Your Transactional Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/9-tips-for-your/): Transactional e-mails have the highest open rates of any form of e-mail communication. These e-mails let you build lasting relationships with your customers to help improve your bottom line. To make the most of them, concentrate on their contents and method of delivery by following these important rules: Use HTML Personalize Send them right away... - [Improve Your Results Through Testing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/improve-your-re/): In this article, Aaron Smith explains how to improve the results of your email marketing campaigns through testing. “Meaningful testing is easier to conduct than you might think, and needn’t be disruptive to your regular production process. Effective testing doesn’t have to involve complex multivariate data analysis, or the creation of multiple versions of disparate... - [Make Your Call-to-Action Stand Out: 4 Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/make-your-call/): In this article on the Email Experience Council’s blog, Lisa Harmon explains how to make your call-to-action stand out: 1. Stay focused. Design the entire message to direct recipients towards the CTA. Don’t distract them with too many equally-weighted links and offers. Select imagery that draws the eye toward the point of conversion. Make the... - [Fingerprint : Email Client Market Share Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/fingerprint-ema/): Fingerprint, the analysis tool which enables you to see which email clients your subscribers use to read your emails with, has just released their first report. The report was compiled this month using data from almost 3,000,000 email recipients. The report looks at both business recipients and consumer recipients – with, I must add, some... - [Successful Email is Like a Good Marriage](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/successful-emai/): While I was on holiday recently with friends, they found out how long I’ve been married and immediately began quizzing me on the keys to a successful marriage. Naturally, being the email-marketing person I am, I realised as I was talking that the foundations of a good email relationship with your customer are quite like... - [links for 2008-09-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-2/): The Retail Email Blog: Takeaways from Listrak's Email Marketing Days Chad shares a few of the great insights and learnings from a recent email marketing event he attended. Check them out! (tags: events insights) - [Making Good On Your Mistake](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/making-good-on/): Here’s what I found in just one day’s worth of email messages recently: 1. Wrong landing page2. Spelling mistake in the subject line3. Test subject line not removed4. Email sent to the wrong company division list5. Personalisation code showing instead of name6. 2007 copyright date 7. Broken link to Web version 8. Images failed to... - [links for 2008-09-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-2/): Video email update: can you embed them? There are three alternatives when it comes to putting videos in email: the embedded code, image and embedded file approaches. (tags: video) Email marketing to grow by 24% in 2008 (UK) E-consultancy's latest Email Marketing Platforms Buyers' Guide reveals that the UK market for email platforms and services... - [How to Encourage Readers to Interact with Your Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-encourag/): There are many ways to encourage readers to interact with an e-mail newsletter or Web site and just as many ways to use the resulting content. In this article, Jeanne Jennings offers a few tips for getting started: Surveys, Polls, and Quizzes Jeanne often recommends clients include a survey, poll, or quiz in each issue... - [Welcome Emails: Dos and Don'ts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/welcome-emails/): The first e-mail you send to a new subscriber is where you set and manage expectations. Your efforts will be rewarded if you do this successfully and then meet those expectations. In this article, Derek Harding lists the dos and don’ts for writing and delivering a welcome message to new subscribers. The what, when, and... - [links for 2008-09-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-2/): Member List Going to the Dogs? Simple Email-Postcard Strategy – Not Incentive – Brings Back 15% More Find out how a trade organization used an email-postcard combination – incentive not included – to boost their retention rate by more than 15%. Includes 5 tactics and 3 creative samples. (tags: cases) IT Industry Has Highest E-mail... - [Direct Mail Versus E-mail: You Decide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/direct-mail-ver/): In this article Barry Abel lays out the benefits of email over direct mail. Here are some of his arguments: E-mail costs: For companies whose customers are largely online, e-mail is a cost-effective replacement to direct mail. For organizations that have a blend of online and non-online customers, it can be a welcomed alternative for... - [links for 2008-09-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-4/): MAC mail has a feature that allows you to "false bounce" an email. Something we need to factor into bounce processing! Thanks to Christopher Byrne for the tip! (tags: bounce_management list_management) In Defense of Blacklists When Spamhaus blacklists an e-mailer for spamming, it's the equivalent of a cop pulling someone over for questionable actions in... - [5 Fundamental Segmentations That Drive Relevance](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-fundamental-s/): Whether taking a basic approach or performing extensive data gathering and analysis, there’s a core set of fundamental segmentations that drive relevance and consistently outperform across the most successful e-mail marketing programs. In this article on the Multichannel Merchant website, Millie Park sums them up: E-mail behavior: by leveraging the behavioral data collected from your... - [Email Marketing Stats for UK and EMEA](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-2/): From a press release I received today: Epsilon’s DREAMmail Trends and Benchmarks report found that while recorded open rates for the UK fell by 14.8% for the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period in 2007, click-through rates actually showed a dramatic improvement, up from 7.9% a year ago to 8.8% for Q1... - [links for 2008-08-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-16/): A Good E-mail Marketing Program Costs Money "marketing organizations can no longer afford not to invest in efforts to improve the relevance of their e-mail programs" (tags: strategy budget) Time to learn about email marketing | The Scrappy Email Marketer "I spend 30-60 minutes a day on average reading about this industry to really understand... - [How To Collect More Information From Your Email Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-collect/): In this article, Stefan Pollard lists a couple of ways to collect more information from your email subscribers that can be used to create segments and relevant messages: Invite readers to fill out or update their profiles Use the search engine optimization terms that drive the most traffic to your site Target messages based on... - [links for 2008-08-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-15/): The new definition of spam                 recipients "define spam by the quality of the email itself — not by the overall reputation of the company emailing them." So what are you to do? Spencer Kollas share some tips.  (tags: spam relevancy testing frequency targeting) Really Simple E-mail Segmentation: Getting Openers... - [links for 2008-08-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14/): United Online to update FBL (tags: united_online fbl deliverability) Return Path + Habeas = good for email marketers? "any concentration in a marketplace raises questions. Matt Blumberg, Return Path's CEO and Chairman, was kind enough to take time out to answer them for me." – Mark Brownlow interviews Return Path's CEO, Matt Blumberg (tags: industry... - [links for 2008-08-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13/): Embedding images in email – Campaign Monitor Blog "based on our results, it is clearly not worth using embedded images in your emails. All you will be doing is forcing people to download encoded images that they will not be able to view." (tags: coding) - [links for 2008-08-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-2/): How to Spam Spam is any communication that purports to offer a benefit but is unwanted. Of course that means come-ons for cheap prescription pills, penis enlargment and miracle fat-burner supplements, and mortgage refinancing, but it also includes too-frequent updates from companies you’ve done business with, useless “updates” from newsletters you’ve subscribed to, meaningless self-linking... - [links for 2008-08-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-2/): IBM on advertising in e-newsletters IBM Corp. uses its own e-newsletters to build brand awareness and generate leads, but it also relies on placing ads in outside e-newsletters to reach those publications’ audiences. About 10% of its interactive marketing budget is spent on advertising in other companies’ or organizations’ e-newsletters that are directed at individuals... - [links for 2008-08-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-2/): Email Insider » Blog Archive » Engaging The Unengaged David Baker thinks sometimes we blur the trends of consumer use of email for personal reasons and professional reasons, with that of email marketing and the business value exchanges that have evolved our use of this digital channel. All the consumer trends indicate we are using... - [links for 2008-08-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-2/): What content do B2B customers / prospects want? "It is interesting to note the difference in what marketers think they should provide and what the recipients want to receive. For example, industry research is actually more valuable to End Users then marketers seem to think." (tags: b2b studies) Spamza – Why Using Only Single Opt-In... - [Spam Definition Grows](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spam-definition/): Just because US consumers opt in to e-mail lists does not give marketers license to send endless irrelevant material. That is the main finding of recently released data from a MarketingSherpa/Q Interactive study fielded last fall. While the top reason that respondents reported e-mail as spam was because they had not opted in to mailings,... - [links for 2008-08-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-8-2/): Data-Driven Marketing – ClickZ this article explains the four key components for successful data-driven marketing (tags: database_marketing) Email Apps: Email Innovations You Want in Your Inbox (tags: various) Email Marketers Miss Deliverability Opportunities Email marketers are missing some great opportunities to increase their email deliverability, not to mention opens, clicks and conversions, according to a... - [Designing Emails For Images On and Off](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/designing-email/): The folks over at Bronto posted a new video on their blog. In this month’s video, Kimberly and DJ Waldow take a look at how some of the major online retailers design their emails for images on and off. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgVfDiuZ_IU&hl=en&fs=1&w=425&h=344] - [Readers Prefer Email To Share Interesting Information](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/readers-prefer/): The folks over at ShareThis posted a very interesting chart detailing the "sharing activities" of their users. While it may come to a shock to some, e-mail is still king and is used by 35% of ShareThis users when they want to pass along an interesting online article or post.  In fact, e-mail is used... - [links for 2008-08-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-7-2/): E-mail Marketing to Small Businesses : Assessing E-mail Attitudes and Behavior to Optimize Marketing – JupiterResearch E-mail marketing is an efficient tool for pushing small businesses through the consideration and purchase process, with the number of small businesses (i.e., with fewer than 100 employees) researching products and services online increasing. How cluttered are small-business owners'... - [12 Content Ideas for Your Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/12-content-idea/): If you’re just getting started with email marketing, if it’s been awhile since you sent an email because you aren’t sure what to send, or if you’re looking for new content ideas to help you move beyond an email newsletter, this list is the perfect starting point: Interview an executive. Create a series about your... - [Seven Ways to Leverage Email as a Real Time Marketing Tool](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/seven-ways-to-l/): In a presentation he gave at the eTail East 2008 conference, Morgan Stewart offered a number of pointers on how to make e-mail work in real time as a marketing tool. Here are the seven most noteworthy take-away tips: 1. Use e-mail to turn a potentially negative out-of-stock experience into a positive. Have a call... - [links for 2008-08-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-6-2/): Road Runner FBL is getting a face lift With all the success behind the Road Runner FBL they are finally getting a face lift for their sender reporting tools. Matt Vernhout lists the important dates and the key deliverables that Road Runner is planning. (tags: deliverability fbl roadrunner) - [links for 2008-08-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-5-2/): Email As Experience: Punch Up Your Transactional Messages Transactional messages like membership confirmations and shipping notifications show some of the highest open rates in the inbox. Customers receiving these have already taken a step towards engaging with your company, and they wait ready for you to reach out and seal the deal. Don’t miss a... - [links for 2008-08-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4-3/): Constant Contact revenue rises – Boston Business Journal: E-mail marketing company Constant Contact Inc. drastically boosted revenue but stopped short of achieving profitability in its 2008 second quarter. (tags: industry) MarketingSherpa: We Need Your Input: Annual Email Marketing Questionnaire Please take 5 to 10 minutes to answer Sherpa's annual Email Benchmark Guide Survey. In a... - [Special Offer from MarketingSherpa: 30% Off All Reports, Handbooks or Guides Today and Tomorrow](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/special-offer-f/): MarketingSherpa is moving to new offices this month and would like to reduce the amount of boxes they have to move so they decided to offer a 30% discount on ANY MarketingSherpa Report, Handbook or Guide. Check them out here. According to MarketingSherpa these are the best selling ones, so you might want to get... - [links for 2008-08-13 [delicious.com]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3-3/): Behind the Habeas Fire Sale | Return Path to purchase e-mail deliverability rival Habeas Ken Magill's take on the Habeas acquisition by Return Path. Interesting read… (tags: industry) Official Gmail Blog: We feel your pain, and we're sorry Google apologizes on their blog for the outage on Monday, Aug 11. (tags: gmail) A great email... - [Search Overtaking Email? Ken Magill Doesn't Think So](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/search-overtaki/): This article by Ken Magill made me laugh this morning, especially this part: I’d like to propose The E-Crapper Index. The idea behind this index is that as mobile devices become more mainstream, the percentage of people who say they’ve engaged in a specific Internet activity while on the pot is directly proportional to how... - [Interesting Tidbits from eTail East](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/interesting-tid/): Chad White shares some takeaways from a conference he recently attended. These are my favorites: >>Timelife.com has improved email capture over the phone by moving email collection up in the script, changing the wording of the request, and changing the response if customers ask why they want their email address, saying it’s to send them... - [How to Keep a Recipient From Hitting the Spam Button](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-keep-a-r/): In this article over on MarketingProfs, Louis Chatoff, shares some tips on how to keep a recipient from hitting the Spam button: Before they open your message: Make sure the From address is easily recognizable; it should contain the name of your company or organization. Make sure the Subject line is relevant and truly matches... - [3 Steps to Regular Email Newsletters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3-steps-to-regu/): In this blog post, Mathew Patterson offers these 3 tips to help you send out newsletters on a regular schedule: Create a publishing calendarPick a realistic frequency, whether that’s weekly, monthly or whatever, and add recurring tasks to the calendar. Don’t forget to add in special notes for emails close to major events like Easter,... - [links for 2008-08-12 [delicious.com]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-2-3/): MarketingSherpa: New Chart: Email Recipients Give New Meaning to "Spam": 3 Takeaways Many more email recipients are hitting the "spam" or "junk" button for legitimate emails simply because the content does not interest them. As a result, they are giving a new definition to spam without worrying about the consequences to senders with excellent reputations,... - [Return Path to Acquire Habeas](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/return-path-to/): Looks like Ken Magill was right back in April when he posted “Habeas Getting Shopped Around“. Return Path announced today that they will acquire Habeas. From the press release: “For Return Path customers, this acquisition solidifies Return Path’s market leadership with a larger client base, more innovative tools and services, and a larger professional services... - [Jupiter finds social media use affecting e-mail marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/jupiter-finds-s/): The gaining popularity of social networks, as well as increased texting and cell-phone use, is beginning to impact the effectiveness of e-mail marketing, according to “The Social and Portable Inbox: Optimizing E-mail Marketing in the New Era of Communication Tools,” a report from JupiterResearch. According to the report, 22% of e-mail users said they use... - [Return Path's Q2 Reputation Benchmark Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/return-paths-q2/): Return Path recently released its  Q2 Reputation Benchmark Report. Here is George Bilbrey’s high level take on what they found: Most of the servers sending email shouldn’t be. Only 20% of the IPs we studied were legitimate, well-configured, static email servers. It’s important to point out that this doesn’t speak at all to the quality... - [Three Rules for Reconfirming E-Mail Lists](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three-rules-for/): Reconfirmation is an essential technique for list cleanup when there’s trouble. High complaint rates, high bounce rates, spam-trap hits, uncertain list provenance, periods of inactivity, all point to a need for reconfirmation to clean a bad list. However it can also be used day to day as part of the routine maintenance of a list.... - [links for 2008-08-06 [delicious.com]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-1-3/): Comcast Buys DailyCandy For $125 Million that's a lot of money for a daily newsletter!!! Congratulations, guys! (tags: industry) - [Email: A New Target For The DEA](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-a-new-t-1/): According to AOL Mail’s fourth annual Email Addiction Survey, 46% of email users said they’re hooked on email (up from just 15% last year) and 51% check their email four or more times a day. One in five said they check their email more than 10 times a day. 27% are so overwhelmed by their... - [links for 2008-08-05 [delicious.com]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-5/): Cool Email Idea: A Truly Welcoming Welcome Message by Sephora Their Welcome message does what a Welcome message should – confirms the sign up, makes the subscriber feel delighted to have signed up and gets recipients shopping. And all this in a well-designed format similar to the regular messages Sephora sends. (tags: cases) Shop.org: Effective... - [6 Email Marketing Myths Debunked by Loren McDonald](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6-email-marketi/): In this article, Loren McDonald debunks 6 email marketing myths: Myth #1: The CAN-SPAM Act doesn’t require permission“CAN-SPAM is just a start. Permission, in fact, is the foundation of customer relevance and trust.” Myth #2: Open rates are a good measure of email success“In the early days of email, the open rate was a valued... - [links for 2008-07-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-16-2/): Comcast.net Postmaster Comcast recently updated their Postmaster page (tags: deliverability comcast) - [links for 2008-07-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-15-2/): 42 HTML email design resources Mark Brownlow lists the best HTML email design resources. Check them out! (tags: design coding) Yahoo Anti-Spam Czar Taking Questions Do you have some questions for the omnipitent ruler of Yahoo Mail? Well here is your chance. You have a 4-5pm Window on the 30th to fire off your questions... - [links for 2008-07-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-14-2/): Stop isolating your online marketing efforts Take a moment to evaluate your current practices and determine how you can better integrate your email campaigns with other marketing efforts. You’ll likely find that it’s easier than you think. (tags: strategy integration) Getting Email Delivered What do a spammer and two legitimate email marketers have in common?... - [links for 2008-07-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-13-2/): The E-mail Marketer’s Mandate Test. Monitor. Study. Test. Monitor. Study. Optimization in your e-mail strategy won’t yield the desired results unless you’re committed to ongoing testing, monitoring, studying, and reengaging with the customer. (tags: testing strategy) Top 10 Things IT Needs To Know to Get Commercial Email Delivered – webinar August 6, 2008 – 4pm... - [Lessons From an Unsolicited B2B Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/lessons-from-an/): Very few unsolicited emails ever make it through to Loren McDonalds work inbox – so when one did make it in, he was curious to figure out why it got there. And then what really sparked his interest was all the things that this B2B company did wrong with their email. In this blog post... - [The Greenhouse Effect](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-greenhouse/): In his Mediapost article last week, Loren McDonald yet again provided us with some ‘what not to do’s’ and encouraged we email marketer’s to pick up our acts, saying:  "Email is a global village. Marketers who do stupid things mess it up for everyone".  Additionally, Jordan Ayer posted this blog which is very much along... - [Persuading Consumers with Preheaders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/persuading-cons/): In their latest episode of BrontoFire, DJ Waldow and Kimberly Snyder explore the effectiveness of the preheader by focusing on four major online retail campaigns: Bed Bath & Beyond, Brooks Brothers, Expedia and Orvis. They review and debate the strength and execution of each Preheader in an effort to find the strongest example to follow.... - [links for 2008-07-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-12-3/): Using conditional comments to target Outlook 2007 (tags: coding) US Email Marketing Volume Forecast, 2008 To 2013 by Julie M. Katz – Forrester Research Messages triggered by events, which only 13% of marketers currently send, represent the next era of email marketing. Because they’re tailored to match customer needs, they can generate returns of up... - [links for 2008-07-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-11-3/): Ad Age Power 150 – ranking of the top European blogs Proud to see this blog in the Top 150 European blogs at #45 (tags: blogs) - [Email Marketing's Role in New Media](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-3/): Thought I’d share Greg Cangialosi’s slides on “Email Marketing’s Role in New Media.” The central theme of the presentation is that email is the “digital glue” of the new media landscape, and a medium that is not to be overlooked. Email is the internet’s dominant application, and is where the attention is of our audiences... - [links for 2008-07-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-20-10-3/): The Mobile Multipart/Text Misunderstanding One of the most common questions (and misunderstandings) I hear is – “If we send multipart emails (HTML and plain text) – won’t our ESP/software ‘serve’ up the text email to Blackberry devices and other smart phones?” The answer is no. (tags: mobile) Determining the ROI of Email Marketing (tags: analysis... - [links for 2008-07-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-9-3/): Deliverability is a Shared Responsibility. Right? great content, relevant promotions, strong calls to action, effective design, frequency, permission, privacy, triggered messages, transactions — is often more essential to great deliverability than the technical aspects. (tags: deliverability) Opens – The Term is the Problem Loren McDonald: “the name “open rate” is simply wrong and does not... - [How to Reduce Your Spam Complaints by 75%](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-reduce-your-spam-complaints-by-75/): The guys over at StreamSend posted a couple of tips on How To Reduce Your Spam Complaints by 75%. Here’s a summary: If you find that you are getting 1 complaint out of 1,000 emails sent or more, you risk getting your IP address blocked by one or more ISPs. We have found that customers... - [links for 2009-03-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-15/): Retail Welcome Email Benchmark Study: Executive Summary The welcome email is probably the single greatest opportunity that email marketers have to engage subscribers and drive action. They generate superior open rates, arriving ideally at a time of maximum receptivity. And done well, they create a halo effect that boosts subscribers’ engagement with subsequent promotional and... - [Live Coverage from MarketingSherpa's Email Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/live-coverage-from-marketingsherpas-email-summit/): No, I am not in Miami, but a lot of folks are covering the event via Twitter and you can follow what they are talking about here: <a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&task=viewaltcast&altcast_code=03e267abd9" >MarketingSherpa's Email Summit Day 1</a> - [links for 2009-03-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-13/): Optimizing Email Marketing In An Economic Slowdown And Its Impact On Vendor Selection by David Daniels – Forrester Research Driven by staffing challenges and the need to drive further cost efficiencies, 24% of marketers plan on switching their email service providers (ESPs) over the next 12 months. (tags: study) Opt-In Email Next Best After Family... - [Why Now's a Good Time to Take a Look at Your Welcome Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-nows-a-good-time-to-take-a-look-at-your-welcome-emails/): Email is traditionally a 'retention' tactic: You use it to retain your existing customers & grow them into bigger customers. But, when most of your existing clients are looking to cut costs, now's a great time to focus on the people who are actively telling you "we're interested…". A 'welcome' email is exactly that: Customers... - [links for 2009-03-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-10/): Working with email marketing consultants #1 When? When it comes to specialist expertise, you can acquire it or hire it. But when does it make sense to seek outside guidance? What should you look for in a partner? And how can you make the relationship work? (tags: strategy) 7 Useful Email Strategies for Consumer Marketers... - [Forget relevance - it's about value!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/forget-relevance-its-about-value/): As usual, Dela Quist of Alchemy Worx has decided to turn things on their head and not accept the 'norm'. In this case he's being irreverent to the holy 'relevance' mantra of email marketing….and he makes a good point. In the latest issue of email-worx,, he talks about replacing 'relevance' with 'value' – as without value, it... - [links for 2009-03-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-04/): Notes doesn't support PNG images both 8-bit and 24-bit PNG's are displayed as nothing more than broken images in Notes 6.5.4 and Notes 7. Thankfully, Notes 8 did offer full support. (tags: coding) Emailers, You Don't Know How Good You Are! It's not only that we don't know how good we are, but also that... - [How to Double Your Clients: 5 Tips for ESPs to Survive in a Commoditised Market!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-double-your-clients-5-tips-for-esps-to-survive-in-a-commoditised-market/): In a previous BeRelevant post, I offered 10 Tips for Signing Up with a New Email Service Provider. Much of this was based on getting the best price you possibly can. Fred Testard left a great comment on the article which he called "The voice of the ESP". Here was the gist of it: I... - [links for 2009-03-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-02/): http://smart.brusselsairlines.com/ Smart list growth campaign by Brussels Airlines: the more people that sign up for their newsletter, the bigger the discount everyone gets when they book a flight… (tags: list_growth) Is your company increasing its use of email marketing this year? I am conducting a mini-1-question-only survey. Please answer this short question. It'll take you... - [links for 2009-03-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-01/): What does a complaint really mean? Part I ISP’s regard a complaint as an unsubscribe, and unsubscribe requests must be honored; there is no room for debate. (tags: deliverability) - [links for 2009-02-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-02-28/): Beware of the white label data proposition. If you are considering alternative ways to generate income for your business, then don’t discount monetising your database, but approach it like all good business decisions by gathering all the facts , exploring the options and considering more than one option. Don’t be drawn into promises of large... - [50 Signs You're a Spammer](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/50-signs-youre-a-spammer/): Joe Manna listed 50 unique characteristics of spammers on his blog recently. Read it to determine if you’re on the dark side (or not). My personal favorites are marked in bold 🙂 You begin your emails with, “Dear Friend,” “Dear Customer.” You bought, purchased, rented or “joint ventured” your list with others. You refer to... - [How to Halve Your Email Costs: 10 Tips for Signing with a new Service Provider](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-halve-your-email-costs-10-tips-for-signing-with-a-new-service-provider/): I’m just about to sign a new contract with an email service provider. The difference between the highest quote we were given and the final price we’ve agreed is staggering (we’re paying well under half). This is for the same level of service, the same monthly volume and really similar (if anything, slightly better) functionality.... - [Purchasing email lists is NEVER a good idea. Ever.](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/purchasing-email-lists-is-never-a-good-idea-ever/): A comment from a list provider on a previous post inspired me to write this post because I want to warn you all. Companies that advertise that they sell email lists “for as low as 60$” should never be trusted. Where did they obtain these email addresses? Did they scrape them off a bunch of... - [Links for 2009-02-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-02-25/): Here’s an overview of some interesting articles I read recently. Check them out! Body Background Images & Outlook 2007 Nested tables in HTML email: how much is too much? Bump CTR: use the last email in the next email? Do your customers need a dedicated IP address for sending email? Whitelists, Blacklists, and Greylists: What... - [How To Use Pay-Per-Click to Drive Email Signups & Create New Customers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-use-payperclick-to-drive-email-signups-create-new-customers/): Here’s a simple 4-step technique to grow your opt-in lists, find new customers, and make the most of your pay-per-click budget. Pay Per Click – The Standard Technique The most common use for pay-per-click advertising (search advertising) is direct sales. Here’s a vastly simplified picture of a standard PPC campaign: Figure out your target keywords... - [A Billion Dollar Email Opportunity: Where Are All The Newspapers?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-billion-dollar-email-opportunity-where-are-all-the-newspapers/): 19 years after the world’s first website popped up, newspapers have fully caught up on the web. They have teams of SEOs. Big pay-per-click budgets. Spend millions on analytics. But – here’s the big question: Decades after the first email dropped into an inbox, where are all the great newspaper email programs? Newspapers & Email:... - [Email Marketing Books To Read](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-books-to-read/): In the last year or so a couple of really good books have been published about email marketing. Here’s an overview: Email Marketing: An Hour a DayBy Jeanniey Mullen, David Daniels Jeanniey Mullen and Dave Daniels have written an easy to read, accessible and rewarding guide to email marketing that will appeal to both the... - [14 Ways to Annoy Your Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/14-ways-to-annoy-your-subscribers/): Loren McDonald lists these 14 annoyance factors that drive email list churn: Sending irrelevant email messages Sending emails too frequently Expanding permission to other mailings Sending an offer to customers for a product/service they have already purchased Not using any of the data you collected from recipients to create targeted messages Lack of personalization Bad... - [Common Misconceptions, Truths and Some General Statements About Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/common-misconceptions-truths-and-some-general-statements-about-email-marketing/): Andrew Kordek came up with a list of common misconceptions, truths and some general statements that he hopes some folks will read and take notice. These are my favorites: Sending email only for revenue is short term thinking. The size of your email list doesn’t matter if you don’t take care of your list. It... - [Email Marketing Unconference/Barcamp: Who's in?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-unconferencebarcamp-whos-in/): Anna Billstrom wrote a blog post on an idea she discussed with me when I was in San Francisco last week. Basically she would like to organize an email marketing unconference. We call it a Barcamp here in Belgium. Basically the set-up is as follows: low to zero registration fee (if we can find someone... - [Worst Unsubscribe Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/worst-unsubscribe-practices/): I am still unsubscribing from lots of emails in an email account that I no longer wish to use. While doing so, I’ve come across a couple of practices that make me want to scream. I’ll share them with you so that you can make sure not to do this to your subscribers: don’t make... - [Participate in the Email Marketer's Club's 2009 Inside Email Marketing Study](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/participate-in-the-email-marketers-clubs-2009-inside-email-marketing-study/): I would like to invite all of you to participate in the 2009 Inside Email Marketing Study, sponsored by the Email Marketer’s Club in cooperation with ExactTarget and Ball State University. The purpose of this study is to provide the international marketing community with a better understanding of how email marketing performance is measured across... - [Two European Email Marketing Conferences](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/two-european-email-marketing-conferences/): A while back you could read on this blog that MarketingSherpa is organizing their first Email Marketing Summit on May 12-13 in Munich, Germany. Last week at the Email Evolution Conference, the DMA/EEC and BBP announced that they are organizing a European Email Marketing Conference in Barcelona, Spain on June 3-5. This means that there... - [Email Marketing to Europe](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-to-europe/): As you know, I attended the Email Evolution Conference last week in Arizona where I was invited to sit on a panel with Kath Pay, Skip Fidura and Dela Quist to talk about the do and don'ts of email marketing to Europe. Topics that we covered included the opt-in legislation in Europe, localization of content,... - [Some Unsubscribe Page Inspiration](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some-unsubscribe-page-inspiration/): As I am trying to reduce the email accounts that I need to check on a daily basis, I am unsubscribing from a ton of emails today and re-subscribing to some with another email address. Unsubscribe pages come in all shapes and forms. These ones are the best I’ve come across in my quest against... - [Attending Technology for Marketing & Advertising in London](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/attending-technology-for-marketing-advertising-in-london/): If you’re attending Technology for Marketing & Advertising in London next week, let’s meet up! I will there the full day on Tuesday and until lunch time on Wednesday… - [Links for 2009-02-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-02-17/): C-Level Event Invitations: How It’s DoneI’s nearly impossible to get top-level executives to even open your e-mail, but if you’re short on time and budget and your only option is an e-mail invitation, here are some guidelines to follow. 6 Tips on How to Use E-mail for Market ResearchHere’s how to make the most of... - [European Email Marketing Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/european-email-marketing-survey/): If you live in Europe, I encourage you to take Return Path’s Email Marketing Survey in which they benchmark perceptions among European email marketers.  Your answers will help to develop new products and training that help email marketers improve response and revenues.  The results will be shared with you. Survey:  http://bit.ly/gby6k - [Multivariate Testing in Email Made Easy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/multivariate-testing-in-email-made-easy/): Multivariate testing – testing multiple variations for multiple placements such as headlines, images and call-to-actions – used to be complex and tedious to set up and analyze for email marketers. That’s why the founders of 8seconds decided to develop a tool that simplifies the process. They have just released this tool – and it is... - [Are We Putting Too Much Focus on Deliverability?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/are-we-putting-too-much-focus-on-deliverability/): I was reading this post over on the Deliverability blog in which Andrew Kordek interviews Exact Target’s Morgan Stewart. This particular paragraph got me thinking: So what is wrong with email? I mean what are the biggest problems that are facing the email industry today? Morgan’s answer is simple and yet so relevant. First, he... - [Live Blogging at the Email Evolution Conference in Phoenix, AZ](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/live-blogging-at-the-email-evolution-conference-in-phoenix-az/): Today and tomorrow I will be attending the Email Evolution conference. In this post you'll be able to see tweets and updates from myself and others. There might be some repetition, but repetition is good because it help drive home the most important learnings. Look for a summary post from me after the summit!  ... - [Soft bounces - the real causes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/think-that-soft-bounces-are-caused-by-a-full-inbox-then-think-again/): In this month's issue of Infobox, Dela Quist of Alchemy Worx looks at soft bounces in his article 'Think that soft bounces are caused by a full inbox? Then think again!'. Dela dispels the myth that soft bounces are caused by inboxes being too full, claiming that this is an outdated notion. Whilst this used... - [Return Path Partners with Yahoo Mail for Feedback Loops](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/return-path-partners-with-yahoo-mail-for-feedback-loops/): Return Path has partnered with Yahoo Mail to extend its anti-spam feedback loop service to Yahoo Mail. Under the terms of the agreement, Return Path will monitor Yahoo spam complaints and create anti-spam feedback loops to help track e-mails that have been flagged as spam. Yahoo will send these spam complaints, via feedback loops at... - [Back When HoTMaiL was The Coolest Internet App Ever](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/back-when-hotmail-was-the-coolest-internet-app-ever/): Morgan Stewart dug up some old footage of a computer show from 1997 in which they show this cool new web email client called “HoTMail” which allows you to check your email within a web browser. How cool is that, huh? 🙂 [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wReEA8F6JU0&w=425&h=344] HotMail (and email) has definitely come a long way! - [How Can You Make Your Emails Stand Out?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-can-you-make-your-emails-stand-out/): In this article, Chip House offers these five tips to make your emails stand out in the inbox this year: 1. Differentiate to survive. This year, differentiation is a must. Nearly half of those marketers responding to a MarketingSherpa survey last fall said they plan to increase their e-mail marketing efforts in 2009. So this... - [Retail Email Needs a Little Salesmanship, Says Bill McCloskey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/retail-email-needs-a-little-salesmanship-says-bill-mccloskey/): In his recent ClickZ column, Bill McCloskey says email apparently needs a little salesmanship: “Just look at the lackluster effort most retailers delivered and the poor results they got this holiday season. Retailers suffered some of the worst traffic numbers since the beginning of online shopping, but e-mail could play a significant role in reversing... - [How Much is Too Much?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-much-is-too-much/): Steve Woods wrote a great blog post about email frequency management and control. Here’s his advice on how to manage email frequency: One conversation I end up in a lot with clients is the “how many times can I email a person per month?” conversation. Unfortunately, there is not a magic number, and attempting to... - [The Current State of Video in Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-current-state-of-video-in-email/): David Greiner was wondering if video in email could actually be done, so he decided to test it and wrote up this report on video support in email which I highly recommend you to read. Here’s what he found: The results are quite conclusive – the only reliable way to embed video in email is... - [...and the toughest spam filter award goes to....](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/and-the-toughest-spam-filter-award-goes-to/): … your subscriber! Stefan Pollard in his ClickZ post yesterday summed up why this is so and provides some advice. He says: The toughest spam filter you face is not found at a major ISP or in a spam-reporting service. It's actually the one in your recipient's mind. This "mind filter" determines whether an e-mail... - [Email Evolution Conference Discount Code](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-evolution-conference-discount-code/): As you know, I’ll be speaking at the Email Evolution Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona next month and I have a special treat for you! Sign up now for the event and use priority code JAN09 and pay only 999$ for a full conference pass (that’s a 700$ reduction!).  Some EEC highlights – besides the panel... - [DMA Releases ‘Future of Direct Marketing’ Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma-releases-future-of-direct-marketing-report/): Marketers facing the current weakened economy remain unclear about what this year and beyond will bring, according to the Direct Marketing Association’s first-ever “Future of Direct Marketing” qualitative report, released Monday. Nevertheless, a common theme of the report is that technology will become increasingly essential to success. Consisting of interviews with direct marketing leaders and... - [Subject Line Research Reveals Content is as Important as Length](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/subject-line-research-reveals-content-is-as-important-as-length/): Something I’ve known for years has now been confirmed by this research report by Epsilon. In short, they found that even though shorter email subject lines generally correlate with higher open and click rates, subject-line word order and content may be just as important to email performance. The analysis (pdf), which involved more than one... - [More Email Marketing Resolutions for 2009](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/more-email-marketing-resolutions-for-2009/): A couple of weeks ago, Chad White posted some great tips for your email marketing program in 2009. Here’s a summary: 1. Each month replace one of your previously planned broadcast emails with a targeted email to a segment of your list. A well-crafted, targeted email can generate as much sales as a broadcast email,... - [Upcoming Email Marketing Conferences](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/upcoming-email-marketing-conferences/): There’s two great email marketing conferences coming up in the next couple of months that you don’t want to miss: DMA Email Evolution Conference Feb 9-11, Scottsdale, AZUse discount code MKTVIP to receive $150 off the current rate. MarketingSherpa’s Email Marketing Summit March 15-17, Miami, FLEarly Bird Savings $200 – offer ends January 16. I’ll... - [PCSMail Domain and Service Discontinued](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/pcsmail-domain-and-service-discontinued/): Michelle Eichner posted the below on the Email Marketer’s Club’s forum today and since I know that not all of my readers are a member of the Club (yet), I’d like to share this with you as well: As of Decmber 31st, 2008 Sprint has discontinued the PCSMail domain and service. More info at http://sprint.com/landings/pcsmail/... - [Renting Email Addresses: Some Tips from Ken Magill](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/renting-email-addresses-some-tips-from-ken-magill/): In the article “Signs that an E-mail Deal Smells“, Ken Magill shares a couple of warning signs that should make you wary of an e-mail list renting deal. Here they are: The sales person is pitching you from a Gmail account or has an e-mail address that doesn’t contain a version of his or her... - [2009 Email Marketing Resolutions](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2009-email-marketing-resolutions/): Let me start by wishing all of you (and your families of course) the very best for 2009! May it be the best year ever! 🙂 On my end, life has been pretty hectic over the last couple of weeks. Starting my own business certainly took up a LOT of my time. Check out my... - [Increasing volumes in the UK](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/increasing-volumes-in-the-uk/): Alchemy Worx has just launched their twice-monthly newsletter Email-Worx, and once a month they will be reporting on different aspects of B2C emails received via their monitor. The information reported on will include volumes, frequency, send days, from addresses, subject line lengths, spam folder delivery and more and is aptly named the Alchemy Worx Consumer... - [Call for Speakers: Email Marketing Summit in Germany, May 2009](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/call-for-speakers-email-marketing-summit-in-germany-may-2009/): It seems MarketingSherpa is planning an email summit in Europe in 2009. I just received the below email from them: Over 100 European marketers will gather in Munich, Germany, May 12-13 for MarketingSherpa’s inaugural Email Marketing Summit. Here’s your chance to be one of the speakers. Click here for the speaking proposal form:http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/85714/email-summit-germany-2009-speaking-proposals We’re especially... - [EIS Keynote: Cross Channel Measurement](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/eis-keynote-cro/): http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/428935700 Great presentation by Jim Sterne about measuring and attribution of revenue to the right channel. Definitely worth 45 mins of your time! - [EIS Video: New Tools for New Age Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/eis-video-new-t/): http://services.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f8/428935700 MediaPost posted videos of some of the sessions at the latest Email Insider Summit. In this session Ryan, Ad and Chip talk about talk about trends they see in the market and where they are investing for the future. Enjoy! - [Takeaways From The Email Insider Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/takeaways-from-the-email-insider-summit/): Unfortunately I couldn’t attend the Email Insider Summit this week, but those that did, used Twitter to keep us up to date on what was going on on stage and posted recaps on their blogs. Here are my main takeaways from reading all the great stuff they wrote: Anna Billstrom wrote: Great comment by Jay... - [Strategies Without Metrics Are Only Wishes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/strategies-without-metrics-are-only-wishes/): Stephanie Miller wrote a great post over on the Mediapost Raw blog during this week’s Email Insider Summit. Here are some clippings: …Jim Sterne, the keynote speaker here at the Email Insider Summit today reminds us that strategies without metrics are only wishes. He quoted the oft heard quip, “Do not use stats as a... - [Want To Beta-Test a New Email Alert Service?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/want-to-betatest-a-new-email-alert-service/): My good friend Bill McCloskey is offering 60-day-free trial accounts for their new Alerts offering because they’d like to get as many beta testers as possible. You can pre-register here. But hurry, because pre-registration closes in a couple of days! This alerts service allows you to set up email alerts for emails that come from... - [links for 2008-12-4](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008/): Address-Book Additions Boost Inbox Arrivals Adding add-to-address-book requests and instructions should be a staple feature of your opt-in process, beginning on the subscription or thank-you pages and moving all the way through the welcome phase. Here are five steps to get you listed in subscribers’ address books: (tags: tactics whitelisting) New Anti-Spam Law: Israel if... - [Survey: E-mail Remains Top Internet Activity](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/survey-email-remains-top-internet-activity/): E-mail is the most popular online activity, according to a survey from Mediamark Research and Intelligence, with almost three-quarters (74.2%) of all U.S. adults using e-mail, up 5.2% compared with the fall of 2007. In addition, according to MRI’s “Fall 2008 Survey of the American Consumer”: 46.0% of respondents obtain news online; 37.2% made a... - [Time Of Day: Some Insights](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/time-of-day-some-insights/): After reading this article my colleague Skip Fidura posted a great piece on time of day testing in email marketing: The interesting thing is that we have come full circle. In the early days of email it was a free for all but people quickly realised that email was all about getting the right message... - [It's Not About Email, It's About Great Customer Experiences](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/its-not-about-e/): Great quote from Whitney Hutchinson in her latest Email Insider column: Email marketing, as we probably all agree, is not the be-all and end-all. As David said, it’s simply one piece of the puzzle: a piece integrated with many other pieces, working together, to build a consumer experience with a brand (online or off). It’s... - [Three Things You Can Do for Free to Boost Your Deliverability](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three-things-yo/): Here are some of my takeaways from this post by Anne P. Mitchell about deliverability: Increasing email deliverability is both an art and a science, and to really get results, you need to have some expertise in both. But there are some fairly simple things that you can do on your own to help monitor... - [Elements of a Successful Email Marketing Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/elements-of-a-successful-email-marketing-campaign/): Here are the slides of my presentation at the Brussels Email Marketing Forum yesterday where I talked about the things I look at when I evaluate an email campaign. Let me know if you have any questions! Elements Of A Successful Email Campaign Tamara Gielenhttp://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=elementsofasuccessfulemailcampaigntamaragielen-1227250811447738-9&rel=0&stripped_title=elements-of-a-successful-email-campaign-tamara-gielen-presentation View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: email marketing) - [12 Ways to Reduce Spam Complaints](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/12-ways-to-redu/): If you get one complaint out of thousand emails sent, your dedicated IP address runs the risk of being blocked by one or more ISPs. In this blog post, Neil Anuskiewicz shares a bunch of tips to reduce spam complaints: 1. Never harvest email addresses off of Web sites. 2. Even if it is opt-in,... - [Links for 2008-11-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2008-2/): Here’s an overview of interesting stuff I read lately: AOL to Begin Using DKIMhttp://blog.deliverability.com/2008/11/aol-to-begin-us.htmlhttp://blog.wordtothewise.com/2008/11/aol-and-dkim/AOL announced its plans to begin DKIM verification sometime this next year during an ESPC call moderated by Ben Isaacson of CheetahMail with special guest Mike Adkins from AOL.  DKIM is the next generation of DomainKeys, an encryption based authentication method, which... - [Email As Part of a Multi-Channel Approach](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-as-part-o/): The reality of today’s multitasking market place means none of us exist in a vacuum. As we all compete for engagement, the use of a single slice marketing medium approach is no longer sufficiently supportable. The exclusive path to sought after opportunities must be a shared one. Today is also a sensitive political environment with... - [Landing Page Best Practices to Increase Conversion](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/landing-page-be/): 1. Audience and Goal. Thinking about your intended audience and the actions you want to inspire were your primary foci in creating your email, and they’re also the core of the landing page. Construct your landing page to propel your audience toward1s the next step. 2. Design. To facilitate the unity of the experience, the... - [From Simple to Multivariate Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/from-simple-to/): Here are some of my takeaways from this article by Stephan Dietrich: There are two important things marketers can do to evolve their email strategies and improve interactions with customers and prospects. One is to improve the personalization within the emails themselves, and the other is to better coordinate these emails with other channels such... - [Integrating Web Analytics With Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/integrating-web/): In this article Ryan Deutsch shares some tips and ideas to integrate web analytics with your email marketing efforts. Here are some of the takeaways: clipped from www.emarketingandcommerce.com The following are just some of the core types of Web analytics data that should be considered and incorporated within an e-mail strategy: • shopping cart abandonment... - [10 Steps to Survive the Spam Button](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-steps-to-sur/): Dan Forootan shares these 10 reliable steps to make sure your recipients don’t hit the dreaded spam button: 1. Never send to anyone who didn’t give you explicit consent. Recipients are now conditioned to use the spam button as a way of disposing of unwanted and unknown e-mail messages. 2. Don’t send to old addresses... - [Email Creative Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-creative/): Here are my main takeaways from this article by Ken Magill on email creative: Test, test, test: view the e-mail on as many platforms as possible, such as Yahoo and Gmail accounts, an Outlook address, and on mobile devices. E-mailers can gain insight into which e-mail readers they should be designing for simply by eyeballing... - [Highlights from MailerMailer's Email Marketing Metrics Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/highlights-from/): MailerMailer examined data from over 350 million emails in 21 different industries from the first six months of 2008. Here are some of the highlights of their report: How Soon Do People Open Their Email? – Much sooner than before! Nearly one third, 32.26% to be exact, of all opens occur within the first two... - [Successful Deliverability Lies with the Marketer](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/successful-deli/): Yep – you heard right. Back in 2005, George Bilbrey of Return Path wrote a blog "It’s not your ESP – it’s YOU!" and MarketingProf’s also published an article recently "Email Deliverability is in Your Hands". This seemed to be the theme which was threaded through many of the presentations at both the London DMA’s... - [Are we discriminating against our best customers?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/are-we-discrimi/): In the November Issue of Infobox, Dela Quist of Alchemy Worx, looks at why we keep rewarding those customers who haven’t opened your emails, who haven’t bought in a few months and who abandon shopping carts etc, yet, do not implement a positive reward scheme for those who actually purchase regularly. As Dela sums up... - [Comcast Delivery Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/comcast-deliver/): Ben over at MailChimp spoke to Comcast’s senior spam analyst and shares what he heard on their blog. “For those of you familiar with ISPs and abuse desks in general, none of this is all that new. The interesting stuff is how forthcoming and helpful Comcast is with their error codes and rate limiting charts,”... - [Important Email Marketing Trends](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/important-email/): In his latest Email Insider column, Loren McDonald sums up 6 email marketing trends that he notices in the industry. Here are my main takeaways: clipped from www.mediapost.com Email lead-nurturing programs can help turn many cold and warm leads into those that are sales-ready. On average, about a third of your list (or more) turns... - [The Practical Guide to Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-practical-g/): Jordan Ayan posted a link on Twitter last night to a pdf version of his book “The Practical Guide to Email Marketing”. Here’s an overview of what the book has to offer: 7 Email Strategies The Opt-in Process: 10 Steps to Success Email Segmentation Strategies Guidelines for Effective Email Creative Email Metrics: Identifying Insights to... - [Recession-Proof Email Tactics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recession-proof/): Here are some clippings from an article by Wendy Roth on “recession-proof email tactics“. To summarize, she tells us to do more with inactives on our houselist, don’t increase frequency and use segmentation to target the right message to the right audience. clipped from www.imediaconnection.com look for opportunities you might have overlooked in flusher times... - [3 Steps to Superior Email Snippets](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3-steps-to-supe/): In this article, Blaine Mathieu explains why snippets are important and how you can make the best of them. Here are some of the things I learned: clipped from www.imediaconnection.com A good subject line may catch a reader’s eye, but the text that follows can determine whether your email is opened or deleted. The top-line,... - [Personalized Subject Lines: Beneficial or Bad?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/personalized-su/): In his latest ClickZ column, Stefan Pollard talks about personalizing subject lines. Here are the main takeaways: clipped from www.clickz.com Probably because what works for one sender and one kind of message doesn’t always work in other situations. Personalized subject lines do have a place in the e-mail world, but only if they have a... - [Learnings From The UK DMA's Email Marketing Event](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/learnings-from/): Yesterday I attended an email marketing event organized by the UK DMA’s Email Marketing Council. Here are some of the learnings I took away: Quote of the day: "Making simple things complicated is easy.  Making complicated things simple is hard." Jeanniey Mullen said the 3 most important things that drive return are delivery, welcome messaging... - [Let's meet in London on November 4th](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/lets-meet-in-lo/): I am speaking at a DMA Email Marketing event in London next Tuesday (Nov 4th) called "A practical guide to email marketing" – if you are attending, please come and say hi – I’d love to meet you! Check out the agenda here: http://www.dma.org.uk/content/Evt-Article.asp?id=4361 - [What others say about this blog](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/testimonials/): Tamara Gielen: She has a great email marketing blog, BeRelevant!. I particularly appreciate blogs that are easy to read and have practical advice. This is one of them.Craig Rosenberg – The Funnelholic   BeRelevant is the Best Damn Email Advertising Blog on Earth That’s Tamara Gielen. Her extraordinarily useful email marketing blog is Be Relevant:... - [links for 2008-10-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-4/): Comparing the Obama and McCain Emails excellent learnings form the presidential candidates’ email programs (tags: cases) - [DON'T Use 3rd Party Business Contact Databases To Grow Your List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dont-use-3rd-pa/): Al Iverson wrote an excellent post on business contact databases and opt-in. Here’s a summary: For email addresses retrieved from services such as Zoominfo and Jigsaw, do opt-in requirements and CAN-SPAM requirements still apply? Absolutely, yes. Contacts found on sites like Jigsaw and Zoominfo (and similar services) haven’t opted-in to receive emails from you. If... - [How to Prioritize When You Are On a Tight Budget](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-prioriti/): Some tips from Karen Gedney on prioritizing marketing efforts: clipped from www.clickz.com Suddenly, it’s a whole new world and every expense is up for examination. So repeat this mantra after me: “Dollars spent should generate revenue.” If you follow this mantra, your marketing priorities will arrange themselves. When considering a number of different actions to... - [TakeAways from MarketingProfs' Digital Marketing Mixer Event](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/takeaways-from/): Here are some great takeaways from MarketingProfs’ Digital Marketing Mixer Event. The full post includes takeaways on social media en search marketing as well. Interesting stuff. clipped from www.infusionblog.com Test, test and test again. It’s critical that marketers always test and try new things before “sticking” with a best practice. Permission is crucial. Before sending... - [Email in the Downturn: Looking Ahead to 2009 New Research and 5 Tips to Expanding Your Email Success (teleseminar)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-in-the-do/): MarketingSherpa is hosting a teleseminar titled "Email in the Downturn: Looking Ahead to 2009 New Research and 5 Tips to Expanding Your Email Success" this Thursday (Oct 30th) at 2pm ET. The content is based on their 2009 Email Marketing Benchmark Guide. - [links for 2008-10-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-200-3/): Email Unsubscribes – Embrace Those Who Reject You here’s an interesting thought… (tags: unsubscribe) Lifetime Value: Metric For E-mail Success A far better method to evaluate the success of your e-mail program is by looking at the Lifetime Value (LTV) of your consumers. (tags: ltv analysis metrics) How Email Segmentation Made My List Stronger AND... - [Dealing With Spam Complaints](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dealing-with-sp/): Another excellent article by Stefan Pollard – this time he talks about spam complaints and how to deal with them. Read the full article here. clipped from www.clickz.com complainers are the people who hit the spam-complaint button on the messages they actually signed up to receive once you figure out which segments of your list... - [IP Reputation, the Whitelist, and Inbox Delivery at AOL](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ip-reputation-t/): In this article, Christine, Manager of AOL’s Postmaster Team explains how AOL calculates IP reputation and what they do with it. Here are some clippings: clipped from journals.aol.com Each IP that delivers mail to AOL has a reputation — roughly good, bad, or somewhere in between. Your reputation is a holistic view of your IP... - [Phishing Scams In Plain English (video)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/phishing-scams/): Lee LeFever over at Common Craft created a video that explains the concept of phishing. Please share this with your friends, family, customers and anyone else you can think of! Hat tip: EmailKarma - [It's Time To Invest In Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/its-time-to-inv/): According to the below chart from MarketingSherpa’s latest Email Marketing Benchmark Guide, it’s time to invest in email marketing rather than cut costs: clipped from www.marketingsherpa.com Marketers Say Email a Good Investment During Downturn Those that see the effectiveness of their email programs diminishing are much more likely to have short-sighted organizational attitudes toward the... - [Online Retailers Are Becoming Pushier With Email Deals](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/online-retailer/): Here are some clippings from a USA Today article “E-tailers push e-mail discounts to lure shoppers” clipped from www.usatoday.com Online retailers — grappling with a sharp drop in consumer spending from even their most gung-ho Web enthusiasts — are becoming pushier with e-mails that pitch the latest deals. But such attempts to pump up sales... - [Borders: A prime example of e-tailing done right](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/boders-a-prime/): Previously in this blog, I mentioned the UK bookstore chain, Waterstone’s and how they were doing a great job offering offers only available via email. Well – it looks like Borders are on par with Waterstone’s email marketing strategies. Now – apart from the From address being noreply@bordersmail.com (please see previous post regarding this), I... - [HTML Email Design: A Specialized Art](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html-email-desi/): A major frustration within the industry is the lack of standards to guide designers when creating HTML email. Though there isn’t one email-marketing design bible, there are fundamental design rules that should be applied. This article by Winston Bowden reviews some of the high-level design principles as well as more in-depth rules affecting some of... - [Subject Lines Inspiration](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/subject-lines-i/): In this article, Chad White provide some tips for testing your subject lines. He also posted some great tips if you’re looking for inspiration for your next subject lines: Repeat or tweak successful subject lines from your past campaigns. Pay attention to the searches run on your Web site and the organic searches that bring... - [B2B Email Marketing: share your tips and win eternal fame!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/b2btips/): [googleapps domain=”spreadsheets” dir=”embeddedform” query=”key=p4TdpzO1veHuL5q709Y3qYg” width=”100%” height=”1463″ /] - [Email's ROI in 2008 Was $45.06 for Every Dollar Spent on it](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/emails-roi-in-2/): Ken Magill shares some numbers from a recent DMA study. Here are some clippings from the article: clipped from directmag.com E-mail’s ROI in 2008 was $45.06 for every dollar spent on it The DMA predicts e-mail’s return on investment will steadily drop to $37.99 for every dollar spent in 2013. Non-e-mail Internet marketing delivered $19.94... - [Avoiding Spam Filters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/avoiding-spam-f/): Neil Anuskiewicz wrote a great blog post on avoiding spam filters. Here are some of the tips he shares. Read the rest on his blog: 1. Unless you really have made a breakthrough such as cold fusion or a flying car, avoid claiming you have made an important "breakthrough!" Filters love that. 2. Do not... - [Acquisition, Targeting, Personalization, ESP Selection: Some Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/acquisition-tar/): I had this article by David Baker on my "to read" list for a couple of weeks now. I finally got the chance to sit down, read and digest the contents. Here are some clippings from the article that I especially liked: Email acquisition If you think you will have cause-and-effect from an ad to... - [links for 2009-08-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-11-1/): Campaign Monitor attacked by hackers, some accounts compromised All the evidence points to this being a highly intense, deliberate and planned attack intended to gain access to Campaign Monitor data and to send spam emails. We are committed to stopping this ever being able to happen again, and again apologize for the major let down.... - [links for 2009-08-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-11/): Campaign Monitor attacked by hackers, some accounts compromised All the evidence points to this being a highly intense, deliberate and planned attack intended to gain access to Campaign Monitor data and to send spam emails. We are committed to stopping this ever being able to happen again, and again apologize for the major let down.... - [Things to check before you launch your email campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/things-to-check-before-you-launch-your-email-campaign/): I uploaded a new presentation on SlideShare a couple of days ago and thought I’d share it with you here as well: Things To Check Before You Launch Your Emailhttp://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=thingstocheckbeforeyoulaunchyouremail-090808050314-phpapp01&stripped_title=things-to-check-before-you-launch-your-email View more documents from Tamara Gielen. - [links for 2009-08-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-10/): Tips for Selling Ads in E-mail Newsletters, Part 1 An e-mail newsletter is a great way to build relationships that drive leads, sales, engagement and/or retention. But what many organizations overlook is that it can also be a tool to generate third-party advertising revenue for your business. (tags: advertising) Webinar: It's Christmas in August!: 2009... - [links for 2009-08-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-09/): Target Your Best Customers With RFM Segmentation There's a predictive modeling and segmentation technique that can dramatically improve email click-throughs and conversions. It's called RFM, and direct marketers have been using it for years to identify their best customers and send them special, tailored offers. Learn how it works and start applying it to your... - [links for 2009-08-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-08/): The Mythology of Modeling Statistical models are not bad. In fact, they can be quite helpful. But you have to view them with the same vigor you would look at other aspects of your marketing programs. That way you can see your modelers not as someone whose stare can paralyze you, but someone with an... - [Guide to CSS Support in Email Clients](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/guide-to-css-support-in-email-clients/): The folks over at Campaign Monitor have been hard at work overhauling their CSS guide. The new guide now includes the following updates. Mobile email clients – they took the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Palm Treo for a spin.  Focus on the most popular clients – the web-based version of the report focuses... - [links for 2009-08-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-07/): The Reality of Comcast Deliverability (tags: comcast deliverability) Resources for Your Email Marketing Education If you're ready to start learning or take your program to the next level, check out Loren McDonald's list of email resources to bookmark, download, read, buy or attend. — Thanks for mentioning this blog and the Email Marketer's Club, Loren!... - [links for 2009-08-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-05/): Reebok's Preference Center Reebok’s site is not run of the mill or typical in any way, especially their sign up process. Since they make sporting equipment for a variety of athletic endeavors, they give the users the option to scale up or down their interest in a specific sport. (tags: cases preference_centers) - [links for 2009-08-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-04/): MySpace Introduces Mail and Enlists Return Path to Help Keep Those New Inboxes Spam-Free The new @myspace.com mail service will be integrated with the Return Path Blacklist to keep out spam, phishing scams and other junk. They will also be implementing Return Path Certification to make sure that MySpace members get the email they request…... - [links for 2009-08-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-03/): Pan European Email Marketing Benchmark – Attention ESP's and marketers invitations going out soon – be sure to get yours (tags: study) - [links for 2009-08-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-01/): What is Email Integration? Great article by John Caldwell about email marketing & data integration (tags: integration) Testing, testing…. Email is perhaps the single best platform for marketing testing ever invented. You can design a test, then see the results in minutes or days, versus the weeks and months necessary to evaluate a traditional direct... - [links for 2009-07-31](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-31/): Your Input Needed: Sherpa’s Annual Email Marketing Survey Please take 5 to 10 minutes to answer Sherpa's 7th annual Email Questionnaire (tags: survey) - [links for 2009-07-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-30/): Is Zappos' Email as Good as Their Social Media? Zappos.com is a company known for their customer service and use of social media as a tool to communicate with customers, but how does their email perform? Does it continue the communication with their customers and build on that relationship? (tags: cases) FEDMA's European Email Marketing... - [links for 2009-07-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-29/): Endless e-mails are not the way to win a customer (tags: cases) How to Develop a Successful Facebook Page (tags: social_networking) - [Big Reputation Changes Loom: What They Mean to You](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/big-reputation-changes-loom-what-they-mean-to-you/): In a trend that may dramatically increase some e-mail marketers’ ability to get their e-mail delivered, several household-name inbox providers have reportedly confirmed they are increasingly working toward domain-based reputation monitoring.  For marketers who don’t send spam, this is great news and a development to be taken advantage of.  According to e-mail deliverability firm Pivotal... - [links for 2009-07-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-28/): Best Practices for Successful BtoB Email Marketing – Use Paid Search to Attract Email Subscribers Considering the fact that email list attrition averages 25% per year, BtoB marketers need to stay focused on constantly replenishing their email subscriber database. And to attract quality email subscribers, the one tactic you cannot afford to overlook is Paid... - [Why You Don't Want to Give Up on Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-you-dont-want-to-give-up-on-email/): I was reading an excellent post over on the Copyblogger blog called "Why Email Marketing is Dead (And How to Bring it Back to Life)" and I wanted to share some great quotes from the article with you: Why you don’t want to give up on email   For awhile, it looked like email was old-fashioned... - [Improving Your Deliverability Rates: Some Hints and Tips from Bob Frady](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/improving-your-deliverability-rates-some-hints-and-tips-from-bob-frady/): Here’s a few hints/tips from Bob Frady on how to improve your deliverability: Regularly mail your file – Constant communication with your file is the key to building your reputation at ISPs.  Aggressively handle opt-outs & bounces – This is probably the single most important thing you can do to improve deliverability.   Use an... - [Keys To Great Email Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/keys-to-great-email-strategy/): To be successful in email strategy doesn’t start with a communication strategy.  It starts with a framework for how you’ll make decisions.   Here are some elements that should be included in this framework:  What are your monetary goals and objectives for your program, and how do they change by segment and/or product mix?  What are... - [Changes to AOL Bounce Processing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/changes-to-aol-bounce-processing/): "Last week AOL announced on its postmaster blog changes to the way it will be handling mailer daemon errors.  What does this mean for large-volume email senders? You should expect to see a change in the From: address, as well as the number of asynchronous bounces you receive from AOL. Asynchronous bounces occur after the... - [links for 2009-07-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-27/): Vistaprint now an email service provider? I was stunned to find out that Vistaprint now also offers email marketing services… I wonder who they are whitelabeling? Does anyone know? (tags: esp) Let Me Go: What Not to Do With Your Unsubscribed Contacts As marketers, we know that if someone unsubscribed from your list, that you... - [links for 2009-07-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-24/): Cool Email Idea: Self-Segmentation Email Looking for a quick and easy way to segment your file? Sometimes the best answer is to ask subscribers what they want. State Line Tack sent an email asking its newsletter subscribers to fill in a profile and identify themselves as either Western or English style riders. (tags: segmentation) MarketingSherpa:... - [links for 2009-07-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-23-2/): Gmail Provides Unsubscribe Option for Mailing Lists Gmail is now providing an unsubscribe option for mailing lists to users. They are doing this using the mailto: type of the List-Unsubscribe header. This means that you can get a complaint message in ARF format when someone unsubscribes from you at Gmail. (tags: deliverability gmail) 5 Do’s... - [links for 2009-07-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-22/): Images On At Gmail – For Some Gmail will be enabling images for users that have sent at least two emails to the sender of the inbound email, and only if your authenticating. (tags: gmail deliverability) Does Your Email Need a Frequency Adjustment? Ways to Tune the Dials The industry has officially reached the tipping... - [1 in 5 Commercial Emails Never Reach the Inbox](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/1-in-5-commercial-emails-never-reach-the-inbox/): According to Return Path’s latest Deliverability Benchmark Report, only 79.3% of commercial, permissioned emails reached the inboxes in the United States and Canada during the first half of 2009. With the undelivered email, 3.3% is routed to a "junk" or "bulk" email folder and 17.4% is not delivered at all – with no hard bounce... - [links for 2009-07-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-20/): Where Oh Where Have Your Manners Gone?! This is a MUST-READ article guys… (tags: spam) How to turn customers into list subscribers – Email Marketer's Club Here's an interesting discussion that's going on over at the Email Marketer's Club. Feel free to chime in and give you opinion! (tags: list_growth) - [links for 2009-07-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-17/): Marketing Tip: Keep an Email Headline Swipe File some good inspiration for your subject lines (tags: subject_lines) B2B Email Marketing Comes Of Age 07/16/2009 These examples show how some B2B companies use email to build better client and prospect relationships and generate greater ROI from their marketing efforts (tags: b2b) Time to Drive Solo? Or... - [links for 2009-07-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-16/): Gmail to Enter the Verified Accounts Game Gmail says that because of the arduous process for senders to make their email super-trustworthy, the feature is currently limited to just eBay and PayPal. Gmail hopes to add more senders in the future, making the key icon a more widely used and recognizable symbol for verified accounts.... - [One in Six Consumers Act on Spam](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/one-in-six-consumers-act-on-spam/): The Messaging Anti-Abuse Working group (MAAWG) issued a report titled, "A Look at Consumers’ Awareness of Email Security and Practices" (pdf). MAAWG commissioned the study to gauge users’ understanding of messaging threats and to identify how best to work with users in removing bots and viruses from infected systems. The report is based on 800... - [links for 2009-07-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-15/): The ExactTarget Blog – Email Design Tip of the Week: Gmail takes two steps forward and one step back While testing a number of email campaigns in Gmail we discovered that support has been recently added for the CSS background-repeat property and the HTML cellpadding and cellspacing attributes and appears to be suffering from the... - [links for 2009-07-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-14/): How Many Ways To Say Thank You? (Part I – Thanks) DJ Waldow started his own blog. Don't forget to add it to your feed reader! I suspect he'll be posting about email and social A LOT! 😉 Oh, and I LOVE the listen-connect-engage buttons 🙂 (tags: industry) The longest unsubscribe link in history (tags:... - [links for 2009-07-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-09/): SORBS Update SORBS has posted an update on the SORBS site with some new information. It seems SORBS has received some significant offers and may continue to operate. (tags: deliverability SORBS) Stop selling and take the order already! You’ve given the recipient a reason to open your message with your subject line. You’ve captured their... - [links for 2009-07-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-08/): Stupid Marketer Watch: A Letter to Your Boss (tags: list_management) Email marketing tip of the day – Best practices for the big 4 Know the best practice guidelines for the big 4 email domains (Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail, Gmail). (tags: yahoo aol hotmail gmail guidelines) - [4 Steps to Knowing What Works and What Doesn’t](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/4-steps-to-knowing-what-works-and-what-doesnt/): There is a simple way to explain the importance of a testing plan: It’s the only way to make the leap from what you thought would work to what you know will work. The information that testing generates will help you understand what’s best for your customers in real-life situations and gauge how they are... - [links for 2009-07-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-07/): Mobile email: dealing with the marketing challenges The core message is "don't panic." Mobile email has caught on because people want a way to deal with urgent and personal emails when they are on the go. As such, not many are using mobile email to interact with promotional marketing messages. Instead, they save such emails... - [What Would Chef Ramsay Say?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-would-chef-ramsay-say/): Morgan Stewart claims that we (email marketers) need our own dose of Chef Ramsay (you know, the Hell’s Kitchen guy). In this article, he translates some of Chef Ramsay’s advice to restaurateurs to advice for email marketers (minus the obscenities, of course). Here’s a summary: “How much money are you losing a month?"  Have you... - [Some Interesting Retail Email Marketing Stats](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some-interesting-retail-email-marketing-stats/): Half of all customers who purchased in the past twelve months subscribe to e-mail campaigns. E-mail buyers have a 77% annual repurchase rate, among the most loyal of any channel. Only 25% of your e-mail file bothers to click on at least one e-mail campaign, per year. The remaining 75% are inactive. Only 5% of... - [Turning Your Email Program into a Dialogue](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/turning-your-email-program-into-a-dialogue/): In this article, Wendy Roth shares some tips to liven up emails and add the element of conversation. Here’s a summary: Add contact links to your emails: your email address, your customer support contact and call center contact details, your main office telephone numbers… Add a feedback link to your emails where readers can express... - [links for 2009-07-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-02/): Are You Optimizing your Email for Search? If you’ve got good email marketing content you’re going to post on a public part of your site—content for which you’d like to get found via organic search—here are some things to keep in mind. (tags: copywriting seo) 5 automated campaigns designed to deliver revenue a well crafted... - [links for 2009-07-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-07-01/): How Many Ways Can You Mess Up An Email Program? David Baker talks about five ways you can mess up your email program — so you can learn from others' mistakes. Great article! (tags: strategy mistakes) Delivery Reports: What They Mean, How to Read Them – ClickZ (tags: deliverability) Update on FixOutlook.org campaign (tags: industry... - [links for 2009-06-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-26/): The vendor client relationship this has nothing to do with email marketing, but I really enjoyed watching this video so I though I'd share it with you 🙂 (tags: various video) Product image 360 in Email a great how-to post on creating 360-degree animated Gifs (tags: design) How to Construct a Great B-to-B Email Newsletter... - [links for 2009-06-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-24/): Welcome Aboard: Chris Wheeler Congratulations on the new job, Chris! (tags: industry) MarketingSherpa's Email Marketing Summit 2010 Speaking Proposals Hundreds of top email marketers will gather in Miami on January 20-22, 2010 for MarketingSherpa's 5th Annual Email Summit & Expo. If you'd like to be a featured speaker, now is your chance. MarketingSherpa is looking... - [Microsoft Responds to FixOutlook.org](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/microsoft-responds-to-fixoutlookorg/): Here's Microsoft's response to the FixOutlook.org initiative. Not sure I like the tone: The Power of Word in Outlook This morning we became aware of a Twitter campaign run from the website http://fixoutlook.org. This campaign is intended to provide Microsoft with feedback about our decision to continue to use Microsoft Word for composing and displaying... - [Enough is Enough: Outlook 2010 To Use Word To Render Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/enough-is-enough-outlook-2010-to-use-word-to-render-emails/): I just received an email from the Email Standards Project saying that Outlook 2010 will also be using Word to render emails. I've copied the email below: Microsoft have just confirmed they plan on using the crippled Word rendering engine to display HTML emails in Outlook 2010.  This means for the next 5 years your... - [links for 2009-06-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-22/): Early retirement for SORBS? The list master at SORBS announced that, due to contractual problems with the network provider, it may be closing soon. (tags: deliverability SORBS) Mobile email: the marketing challenges This post outlines the current status of mobile email use and the associated challenges. (tags: mobile) Email List Growth: Stay Away from the... - [links for 2009-06-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-19/): Add a Newsletter Opt-In Box to your Facebook Page In this post Alex shows us how to add a custom tab to your Facebook Fan Page using the Facebook Static FBML application – I tried adding one to my Email Marketer's Club fan page and it was super easy! (tags: facebook list_growth) - [links for 2009-06-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-18/): When a Content Issue Isn't a Content Issue some types of spam filters note which kinds of content receives higher spam complaints, making them more likely to filter that kind of content as spam. Meaning, if you had a bad list receiving enough complaints to cause a concern, this type of spam filter would tag... - [Get Your Recipients To Add You To Their Safe Sender List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/get-your-recipients-to-add-you-to-their-safe-sender-list/): In this article, Stefan Pollard explains why it is important to get your recipients to add your email address to their address books or safe sender lists and he shares some best practices on how to get them to do that: Ask for inclusion at the start. Don't wait until you begin sending messages. You... - [links for 2009-06-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-16/): Delivered May Not Mean To the Inbox email marketers are often confused about the difference between a bounce rate and an inbox deliverability rate. Most email broadcast systems in the U.S. and Europe report something called "delivered." It's usually a pretty high number – like 98% or 93%. And your ESP would like you to... - [links for 2009-06-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-15/): The longest newsletter I have ever seen Wow – this is indeed the longest newsletter I've ever seen as well… and its content is all about "look how great our products are"… Erhm… What's in it for me? (tags: cases) Email Design Tip of the Week: The Box of Nine The box of nine makes... - [Join Me for a Webinar on Effective List Growth on June 23, 2009](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join-me-for-a-webinar-on-effective-list-growth-on-june-23-2009/): On June 23, 2009, Morgan Stewart and I will be presenting a webinar on Effective List Growth: Insights from the 2009 List Growth Study in which we will discuss the results of a recent survey that the Email Marketer's Club conducted in cooperation with Exact Target.  - [links for 2009-06-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-12/): Updated docs for email designers and marketers very useful resources from Mark Brownlow. Check them out! (tags: tools) Reminder: You Can't Trust the "From:" Line in an E-Mail A spoofed e-mail recently caused a stir at the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), underscoring credibility problems in the Internet's e-mail system. (tags: industry spoofing spam) - [links for 2009-06-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-10/): 6 Ways to Acquire More Email Marketing Leads (tags: list_growth) The Hidden Costs of Lazy Email Marketing Listrak is hosting a webinar in which Mark Brownlow will discuss the cost of lazy email marketing. He'll cover the three hidden costs of email marketing and explores how you can recognize the danger and take immediate action.... - [links for 2009-06-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-09/): DKIM Core DKIM Core is a way to attach a token (or tokens) to an email that tells the recipient who is responsible for the email (typically the token would represent the author of the email, the operator of the email service, or the owner of a mailing list, but it might also represent others,... - [links for 2009-06-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-07/): Neiman Marcus – Urgency, urgency, urgency! "The email promotes a 50% off and Free Shipping two-hour promotion that started today at 11:30AM CST and ended at 1:29PM CST. Equally impressive was the send time for the campaign, a little more than an hour prior to the event occurring – plenty of time to be ready... - [links for 2009-06-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-06/): Email Marketing Urban Legends John Caldwell talks about 5 urban legends about spam filtering. Must-read! (tags: deliverability) - [links for 2009-06-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-04/): Share-to-social Buttons Increase Email Interaction: 6 Steps Social sharing features, which allow subscribers to share content from an email with their social networks, are emerging as a counterpart to the long-standing “forward to a friend”. But how do you implement social sharing in your messages, and how do you track the impact? (tags: cases social) - [links for 2009-06-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-06-03/): Assessing the best time to send email You've probably been through the brainstorming process to draw out a "best guess" time to send. And testing may not be an option if you haven't the time or a big enough list. So where do you go from there? (tags: testing timing analysis) 10 examples of e-newsletter... - [Find a Copywriter That Can “Close The Deal”](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/find-a-copywriter-who-can-boost-your-bottom-line-results/): In this article, Karen Gedney advises us not to focus on cost when it comes to choosing a copywriter. Instead, make sure to find a copywriter that knows how to “close the deal”. She offers these tips to find the best copywriter for your business: Look for a copywriter with a direct marketing track record.... - [links for 2009-05-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-29/): Recession Proof Email Marketing DJ Waldow's presentation at OMS (tags: presentations) - [links for 2009-05-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-23/): The Life of an E-Mail Recent statistics show that the average person spends three seconds looking at her inbox to decide what to open and only four seconds reading your e-mail. Yet the impact your brand can make in that time can increase an e-mail's lifespan significantly. Whether your e-mail is read or not, it... - [links for 2009-05-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-17/): The View from Stanford: Why Video Marketing and Email Marketing Make a Perfect Match (tags: video) Dissecting a Major Flaw in CAN-SPAM (tags: legislation canspam perrmission) StreamSend Email Marketing Blog: Some Elements of Good and Bad Subject Lines A subject line should achieve something fairly simple: It should set proper expectations as to the subject... - [links for 2009-05-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-14/): How E-mail Became a Direct-Marketing Rock Star in Recession – Advertising Age E-mail has emerged as a recession darling, as retailers look to proven programs that are cost-effective and results-oriented. (tags: industry) - [links for 2009-05-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-10/): Circuit City here's a bunch of emails from Circuit City that you might want to have a look at if you're looking for inspiration (tags: cases gallery) ExactTarget's $70 million funding announcement huge for email marketing industry, bad for critics For three separate companies to invest this much money in an ESP says volumes about... - [links for 2009-05-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-09/): Email Design Tip of the Week: Synergize Your Brand with Email though your email should be designed for maximum performance and consistent display in email clients, it is critical that your brand emails look like they have the same “parents” – your website and other marketing collateral. (tags: design) Will share-to-social work for e-mail marketers?... - [links for 2009-05-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-08/): Priceline.com Nails the Post-Purchase Email (tags: cases) - [links for 2009-05-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-07/): Despite Recession, ExactTarget Raises A Whopping $70 Million For Marketing Software (tags: industry) - [links for 2009-05-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-06/): 2009 Email Marketing List Growth Study Later this month, ExactTarget, the Email Marketer'sClub and the Center for Media Design at Ball State University will release the “2009 Email List Growth Study,” which will offer some survey results on best practices to build an email database.To be notified when the 2009 Email Marketing List Growth Study... - [Need Your Help: Email Marketing Education Needs Survey](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/need-your-help-email-marketing-education-needs-survey/): I am running a quick survey to find out what your education needs are with regards to email marketing and I would like to invite all of you to participate. It'll take you no more than 5 minutes of your time! Click here to participate. Thanks for participating! - [links for 2009-05-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-05-04/): Spread the News: Effective Email Newsletters some creative and strategic considerations for using email newsletters effectively, including examples from successful brands across a number of verticals. (tags: newsletters) Redesigning Your Template: Basic Best Practice Tips to Consider Whether you’re creating one from scratch or crafting a brand new one, below are 10 straightforward, easy-to-implement suggestions... - [links for 2009-04-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-04-29/): Canada's Electronic Commerce Protection Act Matt Vernhout's explains how this new legislation impacts email marketers mailing into Canada (tags: legislation canada spam) Alert: Gmail defaulting to images off for whitelisted senders There’s growing evidence that Gmail has defaulted back to images off for senders that have been whitelisted. (tags: gmail rendering image_blocking) Message to Readers:... - [links for 2009-04-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-04-27/): How often should I send my email newsletter? (tags: frequency) - [links for 2009-04-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-04-25/): Why “System” Transactional Emails are a Bad Idea (tags: transactional_emails) Free Tool Lets You Check Whether Your Reverse DNS (rDNS) is Set Up Properly (tags: tools) Playing the E-mail 'Match Game?' Be Careful: E-mail Append Poses Serious Risks Marketers who ask about append are often looking for a quick fix. However, append is more likely... - [Creating Best-Practice Transactional Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/creating-best-practice-transactional-emails/): In this post, Loren McDonald makes the point that even though transactional messages are a golden opportunity to engage with customers (to introduce or extend the email relationship with customers or subscribers, to anticipate and answer questions or to cross-sell or up-sell products or services), many marketers don’t take advantage of this easy and obvious... - [links for 2009-04-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-04-22/): The Value of Email Marketing to the Marketing Mix (tags: strategy) Half of Americans Don’t Use Twitter, MySpace, Facebook Though recent high-profile media coverage suggests that a large percentage of the US population participates in online social networking and microblogging, more than half of Americans (51%) do not use Twitter or participate in either of... - [Email Marketing's future is looking good](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketings-future-is-looking-good/): Today Seth Godin came up with a couple of interesting predictions in his post, 'Sixty to zero': Prediction: 90% of your sales will come from word of mouth or digital promotion by 2011. How do you change what you're doing today to be ready for that? Prediction: The effort required to outsource a task involving... - [links for 2009-04-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-04-16/): For Sale: 99% Deliverability and the Brooklyn Bridge Does an Email Service Provider tell you they have "great deliverability"? Here's what that really means. (tags: deliverability) 3 steps to reinvigorating tired email messages Chris Marriott outlines an approach that marketers can use to evaluate and refresh the contents of their emails. (tags: tactics optimization analysis)... - [10 key points to revise in your email's copy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-key-points-to-revise-in-your-emails-copy/): David Silverman on the Harvard Business Blog has put down some key points when revising copy for your next email in his post: 'How to Revise an Email So That People Will Read It' 1. Delete redundancies. Say it once. That's enough. If you're repetitive, the reader will stop reading and start skimming. (Like you... - [Do You, Subscriber, Take Thee, Marketer, to Lawfully Opt-in?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/do-you-subscriber-take-thee-marketer-to-lawfully-optin/): There's a great post over at Blue Sky Factory addressing the fact that unlike the controversial behavioral targeting feature which Google has implemented, as email marketers we are in a wonderful position to use behavioral tracking – as we have permission from our subscribers. As Nikki says :'Email marketing is one of the best online... - [links for 2009-04-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-04-10/): The new key to digital marketing relevance great presentation on digital direct marketing from Knotice's CEO (tags: relevance personalization) - [The Only Marketing Rule That Matters](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-only-marketing-rule-that-matters/): James Myers over on the Ogilvy blog says the only marketing rule that matters is “BE INTERESTING”. to be interesting you have to all of the following. (1) segment your market – create personas if we want to get digital about it. (2) understand your customers requirements (3) give them the personal treatment (4) be... - [links for 2009-04-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-04-02/): Goodmail debuts video in e-mail Goodmail Systems has released a new technology that will let marketers send video in e-mail called CertifiedVideo. (tags: industry) Reportlet: Best Practices for Apology Emails This 13-page reportlet discusses when an apology is needed, how to limit the scope of apologies, apology email formats, and 7 tips for creating a... - [Getting Ready To Go To Florida for 2 Weeks](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/getting-ready-to-go-to-florida-for-2-weeks/): Just a quick note to say that I will be spending the next two weeks in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for a consulting gig. If you live in the neighbourhood and would like to meet up, let me know! - [links for 2009-03-31](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-31/): Sample Right Sizer This calculator helps you decide what sample size is big enough. (tags: testing tools) :::SplitTester.com::: If you've got two ads that have different click-through rates right now, how sure can you be that those ads will perform differently in the long run? Enter your clicks and CTR's for each ad in this... - [Creating an Opt-Down Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/creating-an-opt-down-strategy/): In this article, Stefan Pollard explains why you should offer an opt-down option on your unsubscribe page and offers some advice on how to do this: Use topic choice rather than cadence to reduce e-mail frequency. Define your message streams clearly. Start with a short survey. Encourage subscribers to update their preferences regularly. Act on... - [links for 2009-03-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-30/): 5 Tips for Testing Emails [Video] (tags: testing) - [links for 2009-03-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-27/): Is Your E-Mail Getting Delivered on Prime or Subprime IP Addresses? With a shared IP address your reputation is only as good as the worst person e-mailing from the address. When evaluating an ESP, then, it's probably a good idea to discuss what neighborhood you'll be placed in, since one bad apple could spoil the... - [links for 2009-03-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-26/): Postmaster Pages, FBLs and Whitelists (tags: deliverability fbl whitelisting postmaster) Its gone too far some funny email related cartoons 🙂 (tags: fun) - [If B2B Marketing Emails Could Talk](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/if-b2b-marketing-emails-could-talk/): Mark, you’ve outdone yourself! This video is hilarious! 🙂 http://www.youtube.com/v/97QnmtMn1cs<\/embed><\/object><\/div>";” alt=””> - [links for 2009-03-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-25/): 'Save Now' Is the New 'Buy Now" — And 6 More Recession-Messaging Ideas (tags: messaging) Improve Your Email Marketing Through Segmentation : MarketingProfs Articles Creating different email messages for different groups is a bit more work, but it's worth the extra effort when an email message hits your customer's sweet spot. Your general e-newsletter may... - [links for 2009-03-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-24/): MarketingSherpa: Email Summit Wrap-Up Report: 8 Takeaways on Segmentation, Triggered Campaigns, Web 2.0 Integration and More Here’s a recap of the event, featuring top eight takeaways from the sessions (tags: events) 11 email design best practices If you're starting a new email marketing program, or looking for an edge to take your email campaigns to... - [Most popular email clients in February 2009](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/most-popular-email-clients-in-february-2009/): Campaign Monitor analyzed 6 months of data covering more than 250 million opens. The result – a birds eye view of email client popularity and usage trends over time. Check it out here. What I found most interesting to see is the total market share held by the 5 most popular email email client over... - [Embracing multiple marketing mediums](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/embracing-multiple-marketing-mediums/): For me, Matt Blumberg started the 'email is not dead' cry with his brief but elegant post - but in actuality, the 'email is dead' train started back a couple of years ago – and surprise, surprise – not only is email not dead, but it is going stronger than ever. Recently a couple of friends also... - [Does Email Marketing Have a Future?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/does-email-marketing-have-a-future/): Yesterday someone asked me if a message that is sent from a Facebook fan page owner to his/her fans could be considered to be email marketing. Today someone asked me if I thought that social networks would mean the end of email marketing. My answer to the first question was yes and my answer to... - [links for 2009-03-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-17/): Email Summit: Rok Hrastnik on Email as Branding Rok's thesis is that too many marketers see email marketing strictly as a sales funnel. In real life, the purchase is not a straight line. As a result, you need to always measure indirect impact on sales–not just direct impact. (tags: segmentation strategy measurement) Email Summit: Dr.... - [Four New Marketing Segments You Need to Know About](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/four-new-marketing-segments-you-need-to-know-about/): In her latest ClickZ column, Jeanniey Mullen says we have to be smarter about our segments and find ways to make e-mail work harder for us in this digital world. These are the four new e-mail marketing segments that she says we need to know about: The Social Influencer These are people who signed up... - [Use Your Post-Conversion Page To Grow Email Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/use-your-postconversion-page-to-grow-email-subscribers/): Once a visitor has converted on your site, you know a few things about them: They sit nicely in your target market (they've just bought from you, after all). They trust you enough to purchase from you, or at least to give you some of their personal info. They have just completed the one action... - [links for 2009-03-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-03-16/): Learn the Seven Best Email Practices that Create Active Online Buyers Return Path conducted a study to see just how well major online retail marketers were doing at transactional and promotional email practices that could help to keep purchasers happy, and drive incremental sales. (tags: study webinar) - [Unsubscribe Alternatives & Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/unsubscribe-alternatives-best-practices/): Optimizing your unsubscribe process to provide alternatives to unsubscribing is a key component of minimizing list churn. Check out this presentation by Loren McDonald on unsubscribe alternatives and best practices. http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=unsubscribealternativesbestpractices-1233385656495560-2&stripped_title=unsubscribe-alternatives-best-practices - [Email marketing and deliverability: an interview with Reputy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-and-deliverability-an-interview-with-reputy/): “The days that emails were filtered based on content only are long gone. In the war against growing volumes of spam and fraudulent email such as phishing, ISPs and incoming spam filters are continuously using more and more techniques to filter the bad guys from the good guys. Since email is critical for most businesses,... - [Who said email marketing is dead? Facebook doesn't think so!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/who-said-email-marketing-is-dead-facebook-doesnt-think-so/): This week Facebook will begin giving marketers the ability to collect email address from users of our Facebook applications. Currently, applications communicate with users through Facebook notifications – a constrained inbox with few opportunities for meaningful direct communications and limited opportunities for monetization.  After Wednesday, marketers will have the ability to make email permission optional, or... - [Some Good Deliverability Advice from AOL](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some-good-deliverability-advice-from-aol/): AOL’s Sr. Account Manager AntiSpam Operations Annalivia Ford, posted some good advice for email senders on her blog: …reputation systems don’t care about business models, protestations of opt-in, legitimacy, or urgency. They care about the response generated by a given stream of bulk mail. Whitelisting no longer provides bullet-proof protection from blocks; whitelisting is mostly dynamic and dependent... - [How to Make Sure Split Images Render Correctly in Hotmail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-make-sure-split-images-render-correctly-in-hotmail/): I found this tip on Kevin Joseph Smith’s blog: For emails, if split images, are not rendering properly (i.e. breaking) in Hotmail when using Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Add “display: block” to the style tag in the images’ code. Read his blog post here. - [Are you Attending the Email Evolution Conference in Miami too?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/are-you-attending-the-email-evolution-conference-in-miami-too/): Next week I will be on an expert panel at the Email Evolution Conference in Miami together with email industry thought leaders Loren McDonald, DJ Waldow and Stefan Pollard. We will be dissecting the attendees' email campaigns, breaking down the entire anatomy of the email from the subject line to the footer. It promises to be a... - [The Anatomy of an Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-anatomy-of-an-email/): I stumbled on this great presentation by DJ Waldow in which he explains the anatomy of an email. http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=bsfwebinar-theanatomyofanemail-djwaldow-sep242009-090928163131-phpapp01&stripped_title=blue-sky-factory-the-anatomy-of-an-email-dj-waldow-24-sep-09 - [Design and Build Email Newsletters Without Losing Your Mind](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/design-and-build-email-newsletters-without-losing-your-mind/): This very well documented article by Campaign Monitor’s Mathew Patterson gives you the information you need to plan, design and build an HTML newsletter that renders well and is actually useful to recipients. Definitely worth reading! Check it out here: Design and Build Email Newsletters Without Losing Your Mind (and Soul). - [Day 1 @ the MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Summit 2010](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/day-1-the-marketingsherpa-email-marketing-summit-2010/): The kick-off of this year's MarketingSherpa Email summit started with a pre-workshop hosted by MarketingExperiments. Keynote speaker was Dr. Flint McGlaughlin. Read some interesting key findings from this workshop here - [Five Reasons why Content Strategy comes before Social Media](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/five-reasons-why-content-strategy-comes-before-social-media/): Here are five important reasons why a content strategy needs to be considered before integrating social media into your marketing plans.  Social media = I hear you + I’m listening to you + I understand. Now replace “social media” with “publishing” or “content strategy”. Works, right?  Now try this…content strategy = I hear you +... - [Email deliverability: an interview with Return Path’s Mario Marlisa](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-deliverability-an-interview-with-return-paths-mario-marlisa/): “Big companies with large lists should focus on devising strong segmentation strategies.  List hygiene is incredibly important: make sure to not only regularly remove bounced email addresses, but also look at who is engaged. If you have subscribers that never open, click or buy your offerings, it may not be worth keeping them on your... - [How to segment & target prospects to deliver great results if you have a small Email Marketing budget](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-segment-target-prospects-to-deliver-great-results-if-you-have-a-small-email-marketing-budget/): To do the basics well, you don’t need to be an email marketing or CRM expert, and you don’t need a big budget. To really increase performance, you just need a pinch of patience and some common sense.  Philip Storey explains how to do this with an example case study here: How to segment & target... - [Change your calls to action & see your click-through rates soar](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/change-your-calls-to-action-see-your-click-through-rates-soar/): If you find brand & consistency obstacles in your path when testing calls to action, remember that your job is to try and interrupt someone that is reading through their inbox. Your job is more difficult than that of the website because of this, so try to positively challenge any resistance, ask for a small-scale... - [Integrating Twitter to Your Email Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/integrating-twitter-to-your-email-strategy/): Here are a few ways to integrate Twitter in your email strategy:  automatically post your email as a tweet to your company’s Twitter account.  include buttons in your email message which easily allows your subscribers to share your message.  Start a #hashtag  Post content on your company Twitter account: consider posting links, re-tweeting useful content... - [Benchmark data and analysis for connecting web behavior to email marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/benchmark-data-and-analysis-for-connecting-web-behavior-to-email-marketing/): Online shopping carts are abandoned at a high rate of 56.2 percent, and 61.2 percent of all items that consumers place in their online shopping carts are left behind without purchase.  But with a little prodding from savvy email marketers, these cart abandoners can be converted into active customers. Sending an email to remind browsers... - [Optimize Your Email Sign-Up Part 1: Stand Out & Entice](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/optimize-your-email-sign-up-part-1-stand-out-entice/): Beyond being visible and easily located, it’s also really important that you sell the sign-up! Simple requests like “sign up for email” or “sign-up for our newsletter” don’t really tell me much about what I’m getting, why I should care and how often I’ll be receiving mail.  For best results, explain the benefits of signing... - [Signs Your Email Program Is Behind The Curve](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/signs-your-email-program-is-behind-the-curve/): Here are a few signs that despite “good” results, your email program is getting lapped:  You rarely, if ever, A/B test anything. You don’t review performance metrics.  You don’t segment.  Transactional messages are the only triggered emails that you send. You haven’t updated your sign-up form, opt-in confirmation page or any other such pages since... - [Novelty value in email design: risks and rewards](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/novelty-value-in-email-design-risks-and-rewards/): “If you try something different (a quirky subject line, a video email, an animation) and it has a positive impact, be sure to see if this impact drops off with time…by watching the numbers or repeating comparative tests at regular intervals.” Read the full article: Novelty value in email design: risks and rewards. - [links for 2010-01-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-01-14/): The Secret to Effective Email Marketing: Setting Subscriber Expectations Telling someone what you’re going to do or getting them to do something, just by asking them, is easy and completely obvious, right? Yet most email and web communications don’t do it. (tags: strategy messaging tactics) Planning: E-Mail Marketing Kevin Hillstrom: "Often, in retail, we see... - [links for 2010-01-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-01-13/): International Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study Silverpop analyzed 7,000 emails sent to 188 countries to find the answers. (tags: study benchmarks international) - [links for 2010-01-12](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-01-12/): Email Strategy & Tactics (Online) Roundtable During this highly interactive, 60-minute session, 5 email marketers are invited to present one email marketing issue they are facing in a 3-minute presentation. Our 3 experts will review the material in real-time and provide feedback on the matters at hand. All attendees are able to join in on... - [links for 2010-01-11](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-01-11/): Developing A Scalable Messaging Strategy Morgan Stewart discusses a good approach for creating both manageable and scalable messaging programs. (tags: messaging strategy) Simple Email, Simple Results David Baker offers three reasons why email will remain an under-funded channel for 2010. Good stuff! (tags: trends industry) DMA UK Email Client Report 2009 The DMA UK Email... - [Events you can't afford to miss!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/full-day-workshop-whats-working-now-in-email-marketing/): Email Strategy & Tactics RoundtableFebruary 9, 2010 at 8am PT (11am ET, 5pm CET, 4pm GMT)Only 20 attendees allowed so sign up quickly! During this highly interactive, 60-minute session, 2-3 email marketers are invited to present one email marketing issue they are facing in a 10-minute presentation. Tamara Gielen will review the material in real-time and... - [links for 2010-01-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-01-06/): Long-term email marketing using PPC techniques – Marketing Advisor Blog From impulse buyers to strategic, rational long-term thinkers, internet commerce is split between an incredibly wide range of people. This is reflected in the massive range of different sales tactics and marketing methods out there. Some people respond to sales pages, while others are much... - [links for 2010-01-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-01-04/): The One Worst Question: A Lesson Taught in Song Purchased e-mail lists are by definition not permission based. The marketer who buys names and mails to them will invariably draw significantly increased spam complaints while hitting spam traps and a bunch of nonexistent addresses. This will result in e-mail delivery troubles as inbox providers determine... - [Best wishes for 2010!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best-wishes-for-2010/): Let's kick 2010 off with this excellent checklist for email marketing effectiveness by Eloqua. Happy New Year!!! http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=eloquachecklistsforemailmktgeffectiveness-091208175724-phpapp02&stripped_title=eloqua-checklists-for-email-mktg-effectiveness - [links for 2009-12-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-30/): Aweber Makes a Statement About Their Data Being Compromised Problogger's Darren Rowse comments Aweber's data being compromised saying "While not all will realize why they’re being spammed now some who have set up specific addresses for my newsletters have – and they’re now angry and have a damaged view of my brand " (tags: esp... - [links for 2009-12-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-29/): Call to Action Buttons: Examples and Best Practices – Smashing Magazine How can we create effective call to action buttons that grab the user’s attention and entice them to click? Jacob Gube tries to answer this question in this post by sharing some effective design techniques and exploring some examples. (tags: design call-to-action) Bypass image... - [links for 2009-12-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-18/): The Value of Sharing: Social Engagement | ShareThis Despite reports of its demise, e-mail is still the most popular method of sharing, and despite its meteoric rise of late, Twitter is still not a very popular sharing channel. In research performed by ShareThis, they found that 46 percent of shares came via e-mail, 33 percent... - [links for 2009-12-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-17/): Email Industry Experts Speak Out: Pivotal Veracity "ISPs are now moving toward customer-level adaptive learning filters and placing explicit and learned customer-level behavior over all other levels of filtering (with the exception of outright Port25 blocks). This is an incredibly important shift with huge implications for mailers. It means, for example, that it does not... - [links for 2009-12-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-10/): Feedback Loops De-Mystified – AOL Postmaster Blog Annalivia Ford explains how the AOL Feedback loop works (tags: fbl deliverability aol) The coming changes ISPs and filtering companies are seeing increasing percentages of spam coming out of ESP netspace. Current processes for policing customers are extremely reactive and there are many ESPs that are allowing their... - [links for 2009-12-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-09/): Let's Play the E-mail Blame Game! Amid reports that e-mail deliverability issues are up, experts from two leading e-mail service providers confirm that, yes, there has been a predictable surge in deliverability problems, but the marketers who are experiencing them are those who, for the most part, have failed to follow best practices. (tags: deliverability)... - [links for 2009-12-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-07/): Debunking common email deliverability myths Did you sign up with your last email service provider after a whirlwind romance, only to find yourself disillusioned just a few months into the relationship? If you picked that firm because it promised to make all your deliverability problems go away, you probably fell for the ESP equivalent of... - [links for 2009-12-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-06/): Are You Leveraging Your Metrics For Maximum Benefit? Loren McDonald explains how to use email metrics to find out how your emails are performing. (tags: analysis metrics) Our Emails Are So Pretty, Our Messaging So Consistent … I Wonder Why Everybody Ignores Them? Many associations spend a lot of money and time developing what they... - [Interesting Way to Respond to a Bounce-back](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/interesting-way-to-respond-to-a-bounceback/): Last week I received the below email in my inbox from a mystery sender called "do-not-reply". Hmmm… then I looked at the subject line that said: Tamara, Regarding Your Subscription to Management for the Rest of Us Okay, that gave me a clue as to who this email was coming from. This is what was... - [links for 2009-12-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-05/): ExactTarget Raises $75 Million More, Up To $145 Million In Venture Capital Wow. Marketing email software provider ExactTargethas secured another $70 million in funding, according to an SEC filing, bringing the startup’s total funding this year alone to $145 million. The company raised $70 million earlier this year from Battery Ventures, Scale Venture Partners and... - [links for 2009-12-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-04/): What email users say: Part 1 (attitudes to commercial email) Mark Brownlow spent a few hours with numerous surveys and pulled out some key stats and lessons for you. (tags: study consumers) For The Email Designers: Fixed vs. Fluid and Another Option In the email marketing/design world, fixed layouts have a higher preference because they... - [links for 2009-12-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-02/): When is transactional mail not transactional anymore? “In the case of a membership association, does the nature of a membership renewal message transform from transactional to commercial solely on the basis whether the membership is current?" (tags: transactional_emails canspam legislation) Black Friday Data Shows Increased Marketing Activity, Careful Consumer Spending The trend of emailing more... - [links for 2009-12-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-12-01/): Use Twitter to tell you when to send your Email Newsletter « Toddle Stuff – Beautifully Simple Email Marketing interesting way to use Twitter search 🙂 (tags: twitter) Half of Opt-Outs Are For Irrelevant Material According to a new poll from the Chief Marketing Officer Council, 64% of consumers say promotional offers dominate both the... - [links for 2009-11-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-29/): Getting the right email address how might you persuade would-be subscribers to give you the address they pay most attention to? (tags: list_growth) AOL EWL: low complaints no longer enough – Word to the Wise The AOL Enhanced Whitelist is for those senders that have very good practices. Senders on the EWL not only get... - [links for 2009-11-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-23/): Retail Email Guide to Multichannel Engagement: Executive Summary this guide examines the ways that email marketing has been used to support other channels by the top online retailers. It highlights tactics and standout examples of retailers using email to promote social media, mobile, stores, direct mail, online, and TV and online video. (tags: study) AOL's... - [IAB Releases Email Monetization Strategies Best Practices Document](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/iab-releases-email-monetization-strategies-best-practices-document/): Email monetization provides publishers, advertisers and audiences with a modern method of driving revenue, new customer growth and knowledge of new products previously only available via print ads and television. The recently released “IAB Email Monetization Strategies” seeks to explain how email monetization works, present best practices and serve as a resource for publishers and... - [links for 2009-11-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-21/): Key Trends in B2B: Webinar Recap This post is the Coles-notes version of Brian Walker of Forrester Research’s presentation "Key Trends in B2B eCommerce: From Fulfilling Demand To Creating Demand" (tags: b2b) Which Type of Landing Experience is Right for You? The type of landing experience that’s best for you depends on the situation. Check... - [links for 2009-11-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-19/): Managing Your Email Subscribers' Expectations During The Holidays | Email Responsibly Zappos.com does a great job at managing their email subscribers' expectations – they notified their email subscribers about what they can expect to see in their inbox from Zappos.com this holiday season. (tags: cases frequency tactics) Eight Tips for Effective E-mail Preheaders When you... - [links for 2009-11-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-18/): More Evidence E-mail’s Not Dead Someone forgot to tell small-business owners e-mail is dead. According to a just-released survey done by Hurwitz & Associates on behalf of e-mail service provider Campaigner, 46% of businesses with 20 employees or fewer use e-mail marketing today and of those who don’t, 36% plan to begin doing so in... - [links for 2009-11-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-16/): Writing effective email copy – Blog – Campaign Monitor In this post Campaign Monitor's Ros Hodgekiss highlights some considerations when writing effective email copy, including tone, personality, keeping it concise, offering value to the reader and testing. (tags: copywriting) - [links for 2009-11-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-15/): Digital Marketing Mixer Lessons 33 top digital marketing tips & best quotes of the event (tags: events) Future of deliverability: 5. Sender reputation and B2B email marketing It is true to say that reputation-based filtering plays a smaller role in B2B than it does in B2C. But that doesn't mean reputation is irrelevant in B2B.... - [links for 2009-11-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-05/): Email software popularity: 5 lessons for your list Mark Brownlow explains why there is value to knowing exactly where your emails are viewed (tags: analysis metrics design email_clients) - [links for 2009-11-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-04/): Gen Y Holds Tight to E-Mail and Texting – eMarketer More than one-quarter of college students told the Participatory Marketing Network and Pace University’s Lubin School of Business’ IDM Lab that e-mail was the activity they were least likely to give up for a week—far ahead of the 9% who said they couldn’t live without... - [links for 2009-11-03](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-03/): How to Use Transactional Messages to Boost Revenue & Build Relationships Kristen Gregory explains how you can take your transactional emails to the next level. (tags: transactional_emails) E-mail Not Dead Yet: Study Sixty two percent of respondents to a recent survey commission by marketing software firm smartFOCUS reportedly said e-mail was their preferred channel for... - [links for 2009-11-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-11-02/): Digital Marketing Factbook: A Glimpse Inside The Digital Marketing Factbook includes chapters on email, search, and social media—with 144 pages of findings, including 110 charts and graphs from 60+ sources. Check it out! (tags: study) - [links for 2009-10-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-30/): Future of deliverability: 4. The role of certification (tags: deliverability certification) Seth's Blog: Opt in and opt out Seth Godin believe email should be opt-in – so do I. I'd even go further and say that email should be opt-in by law everywhere in the world. Even in the US. IMHO, making it a legal... - [links for 2009-10-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-29/): Email Marketing Tips for the 2009 Holiday Season Alex Williams provides answers to the following questions: How can email marketers learn from the 2008 holiday season to help improve the success of their campaigns this season? When should email marketers begin their holiday efforts? How should email marketers ramp up their holiday campaigns from their... - [links for 2009-10-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-28/): New MarketingSherpa Research: Email Marketing Benchmarks for 2010 MarketingSherpa surveyed 1,493 email marketers to find out how they’re managing traditional email tactics while adapting to new opportunities like social media. (tags: study) - [links for 2009-10-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-27/): My Name Is Loren. BTW, I'm A 'He' how can you avoid or minimize potentially embarrassing and costly mistakes by assuming the wrong things about your customers and subscribers? Loren McDonald offers a few tips. (tags: database_marketing) 7 fixes for terrible subject lines Think fast: How much time did you spend on the subject line... - [links for 2009-10-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-21/): Conference Recap: ExactTarget Connections '09 a must-read recap with great takeaways from one of the best email marketing conferences I've attended so far. (tags: events) - [links for 2009-10-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-19/): Who needs Subject Lines…? This promotion almost completely makes a subject line strategy completely moot in driving open metrics for the Southwest Click 'n Save email program entirely, and in its place? Good 'ol fashioned bribery. It's genius! I mean, really, why didn't I think of that? (tags: subject_lines) Clinic notes: Ecommerce holiday playbook wrap-up... - [How To Score With Your Email Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-score-with-your-email-campaign/): Great post by Anton, over on his Email Ethics blog: Let’s think about it, sending an email and having the receiver to transform is a little bit like going out in a club to score. Let me just call my email John. John wants to score. He is in his apartment downtown and is dressing... - [2009 Holiday Marketer: Experian’s Benchmark & Trend Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/2009-holiday-marketer-experians-benchmark-trend-report/): What do we expect to see this holiday season in respect to the email marketing industry’s performance? The 2009 holiday marketer: Benchmark and trend report has some interesting points well worth your consideration, especially for all of you email marketers out there looking to gain an edge on the competition this winter. Taking a look... - [links for 2009-10-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-16/): Measuring What Matters in Email Marketing, Part 2 There are many approaches to using email-campaign metrics to measure and improve marketing performance. The following are the top five approaches Karen Talavera recommends, along with appropriate measures and usable insights for each. (tags: analysis metrics) Growing Subscription Revenue With Triggered Emails and Online Renewals: How Three... - [links for 2009-10-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-14/): Gmail Users Get Real-Time Updates in Their Email Messages ecently, some Gmail users spotted a new feature in which small favicons were appearing next to certain email messages in the inbox view. The icons, which only appeared next to commercially sent emails such as those delivered by Netflix, seemed to be a way to highlight... - [links for 2009-10-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-13/): Three years on and still going strong "It seems no new marketing channel can call itself credible until it gets the "email killer" tag." (tags: industry) - [Updates from Connections 2009](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/updates-from-connections-2009/): Until Thursday I am attending Exact Target’s user conference “Connections 2009”. You can follow the tweets from the conference here or here: http://static.hootsuite.com/hoot-embed.swf - [links for 2009-10-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-10-06/): Approaches to Building an E-mail List, Part 2 – ClickZ very good article on list building (tags: list_growth) 13 Ways to Categorize Gifts in Holiday Emails | Get Elastic Helping shoppers find the right present for everyone on their list is the priority of your holiday email campaign. Sure you need to cover the basics,... - [Running an International Email Marketing Program](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/running-an-international-email-marketing-program/): Yesterday I spoke at a B2B email marketing event organized by the UK DMA – it was the best email event I attended in a long while. Great speakers and great content, so well done DMA! 🙂 Here are the slides from my presentation. When I get approval from the other presenters, I’ll post their... - [Tweeting from the DMA’s B2B Email Marketing Event](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tweeting-from-the-dmas-b2b-email-marketing-event/): You can read all the insights and takeaways from the UK DMA’s B2B email marketing event here: http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23dmaemc - [links for 2009-09-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-26/): The "Bulletproof" Button a great technique that enables email marketers to use image-based buttons but still convey the CTA if images are blocked. (tags: coding design) Subject lines: Amazon's lessons on discounts and frontloading The less targeted the email, the more Amazon has to compensate with a bigger discount to encourage attention. So you'll find... - [links for 2009-09-24](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-24/): Two Free E-mail Deliverability Tools Jeanne Jennings shares two free resources that can help you identify and address potential deliverability issues related to your sender reputation. The first is Sender Score, a free e-mail reputation service from Return Path. The second is EDS Alerts from Email Data Source, which allows you to monitor e-mail sent... - [How Are ISPs Changing Their Spam Filters?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-are-isps-changing-their-spam-filters/): The folks at Pivotal Veracity have written a report about how ISPs are changing their spam filters and how legitimate email marketers are impacted by this. You can download it here. Key take-aways: Domain-based Reputation is here! A number of top ISPs including Yahoo & AOL are moving to augment IP-based reputation systems with portable... - [Goodmail in my inbox – on unsolicited mail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/goodmail-in-my-inbox-on-unsolicited-mail/): Alex Schultz, a good friend and ex-colleague of mine posted the following message on his blog: I am confused. I thought goodmail was meant to fix spam or help it and yet here I have two goodmail certified mails from a company who I did’n’t subscribe to and have no idea who they are. These... - [links for 2009-09-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-23/): Three Evil Words or How To Spot a Bad List Rental Service If readers take one lesson away from this newsletter in 2009, let it be that no reputable firm sells e-mail names for perpetual use. A reputable list owner or manager will sell access to subscribers on a one-time basis and mail the list... - [Tactics for Reactivating Non-Responders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tactics-for-reactivating-non-responders/): Successful reactivation begins with creating relevant segments. Specifically, marketers should separate the never-responders from former responders and light responders. This segmentation approach allows the marketer to understand which tactics work best for each group. After all, these segments differ behaviorally. Former responders once found the email interesting, but no longer do. Never-respondents never did; perhaps... - [links for 2009-09-19](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-19/): Inspire Interaction with Promo Emails: 4 Tactics to Boost Clicks, Encourage Social Sharing MarketingSherpa interviewed a marketer from Chick-fil-A to learn how they made their promotional email program more interactive, and have built stronger relationships with subscribers. New content and features are generating an average 15% CTR, and 75% of subscribers said an email inspired... - [links for 2009-09-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-18/): Grow Your List Through Testing with Google Website Optimizer (tags: testing list_growth landing_pages) Best Practices for Collecting Opt-Ins Offline Your company is exhibiting at a conference. Or perhaps one of the senior management team is presenting at an industry seminar. Maybe you’re running ads in trade publications or other vehicles. You can use these channels... - [29 Ways to Collect Email Addresses for Your Business](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/29-ways-to-collect-email-addresses-for-your-business/): Janine Popick lists 29 ways to collect email addresses on the Vertical Response blog. Here are the first 10: Put an offer on the back of your business cards to get people to sign up for your newsletter. Tradeshows – Bring a clipboard or sign-up book with you to tradeshows and ask for permission to... - [links for 2009-09-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-17/): CSS support in MySpace Mail The first thing you'll notice is that there is absolutely no support for using an actual stylesheet. You can't externally reference a stylesheet or even add your CSS inside <style> tags. Just like Gmail, you'll have to move all your CSS inline to get a half decent result. (tags: css... - [Free Shipping Emails Work Best When Planned and Segmented, Study Says](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/free-shipping-emails-work-best-when-planned-and-segmented-study-says/): More multichannel retailers used free shipping promotions in the first quarter of this year compared to Q1 of 2008—up from 47% to 55%, according to a new survey from e-mail marketing vendor Experian CheetahMail. With free shipping offered as an incentive more often, retailers should carefully plan such promotions and be selective about when they... - [Average Email Marketing Performance for UK SMEs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/average-email-marketing-performance-for-uk-smes/): Sign-up.to published their first ever large-scale report on average email marketing performance for small to medium sized businesses in various UK industries. The report is based on more than 216,000,000 emails sent by UK based Sign-Up.to clients in the 12 months to 31st July 2009. They've only included emails from clients who opted-in to their... - [Some Interesting Email Marketing Statistics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some-interesting-email-marketing-statistics/): In a recent article on ClickZ, Jeanny Mullen shared these 7 email marketing statistics: Every year an average of 30 percent of the people who signed up for your e-mail marketing list will not get your e-mails because their ISP will incorrectly block them. 85 percent of the people on your e-mail list will stop... - [Webinar: Getting the most out of your holiday email campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar-getting-the-most-out-of-your-holiday-email-campaigns/): The Email Marketer's Club is proud to announce its very first webinar "Getting the most out of your holiday email campaigns". Date: October 6, 2009 @ 1pm ET (10am PT, 7pm CET, 6pm GMT) - [links for 2009-09-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-13/): Millennials more open to email marketing, new study shows Growing businesses should create email marketing messages which are catered specifically for millennials, those aged between 18 and 25. New research in Epsilon's Global Consumer Email Study found that those in the age bracket were more willing to receive permission-based email marketing, where they have either... - [links for 2009-09-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-09/): Permission is not a legal concept at Word to the Wise One trap I see companies fall into when looking at opt-in and permission is they seem to think that permission is a blanket thing. They believe permission can be bought and sold by the companies that collected email addresses. Legally, they may be correct.... - [links for 2009-09-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-08/): Individual Mailbox-Tracking Tool Unveiled In what is claimed to be a first for the industry, e-mail deliverability consultancy Pivotal Veracity is expected to announce today it has developed technology that allows marketers to track how and on what devices individual subscribers open, sort and interact with their messages. I'm looking forward to seeing the demo... - [Email Marketing Works Because...](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-works-because/): I asked my Twitter followers to finish the sentence "Email marketing works because…" today. Here are some of the responses I got: @marcmunier: Email marketing works because people spend more time at their inbox than any other online activity @adrianragucos: email marketing works because, honestly, who does not use email these days? @MarkatEMR: Email marketing... - [Upcoming speaking engagements](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/upcoming-speaking-engagements/): I'll be speaking at a number of events over the next couple of months. Here's an overview: Brussels, 29 September: Email Marketing Course for Beginners (Dutch) London, 1 October: B2B Engagement Email Marketing Conference  London, 8 October: ECMOD2009 Antwerp, 9 October: KMO Marketingcongres (Dutch) Indianapolis, 14 October: Exact Target's Connections 2009 Barcelona, 13 November: European Email Marketing Conference Miami, 1... - [links for 2009-09-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-02/): Better Pre-Headers – Follow Victoria's Secret (tags: cases preheader) - [links for 2009-09-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-09-01/): A SPECTACULAR email promotion Email and direct can exceptionally reinforce the brand, by delivering knockout content that engages the consumer's sense of connection with the brand. It's a synergy that does not happen often. So when it does we need to pay attention and give credit. (tags: cases) - [links for 2009-08-31](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-31/): Webinar: 5 tips for better email marketing targeting and segmentation Relevant email marketing messages are opened and responded to. Yet most marketers still apply a one size fits all email marketing messaging approach. In this free web seminar, Michael Leander will give you 5 valuable tips to improve your email marketing targeting and segmentation in... - [links for 2009-08-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-27/): Important information for users of spamassassin Recently it has been widely published that bl.open-whois.org, a blocklist which was included within the default install of spamassassin has been taken offline and is no more. Users of the open source spamassassin application started to report that emails were being marked as spam wrongly. Upon investigation it appears... - [links for 2009-08-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-26-1/): Bad Apology E-mails Have Long Tails, Too Just about every e-mail marketer has made a bonehead move that necessitated an apology to the mailing list: sending the wrong offer, mailing to the unsubscribe database instead of the active list, linking to the wrong landing page…You name it, somebody somewhere has done it. Most of them... - [links for 2009-08-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-26/): Bad Apology E-mails Have Long Tails, Too Just about every e-mail marketer has made a bonehead move that necessitated an apology to the mailing list: sending the wrong offer, mailing to the unsubscribe database instead of the active list, linking to the wrong landing page…You name it, somebody somewhere has done it. Most of them... - [links for 2009-08-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-25/): Behavior Is Key in B2B E-Mail Marketing Marketers have begun to use e-mail to replace more expensive human touches in the sales cycle. For example, it's pretty straightforward to trigger messages based on Web site behavior (e.g., download) or time (e.g., contract renewal date). While it's hard to trace business buying behavior to a specific... - [Using Email for B2B Lead Generation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-use-email-marketing-for-b2b-lead-generation/): Email marketing experts love to say email doesn’t work for customer acquisition but rocks for customer retention. That can be true when you think about a promotional email going out to a list of people who’ve never heard of the emailing company asking them to become a customer. As inundated as people are with email... - [links for 2009-08-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-21/): More Spam? Say it ain't so! As spam volumes grow, so will the need to have the resources to fight inbound as well as outbound spam. The necessity to develop more aggressive filters and take a deeper look at user-level feedback will continue to be a high priority. (tags: spam) Anti-Spam Legislation Around the World,... - [links for 2009-08-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-20/): URL Shorteners and Blacklists In general, URL shorteners are great tools that serve a good purpose, but spammers have abused the heck out of them to disguise their (already blacklisted) links. In response, some spam filters make a habit out of “clicking” all URLs in an email, just to follow redirects from URL shorteners, and... - [links for 2009-08-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-18/): Video email: when to use it Today we'll highlight some promising approaches and good examples. (tags: video) Integrating Email and Social for Higher Deliverability & Response Stephanie Miller shares a number of tips to help marketers synergize (and energize) their email and social marketing strategies. (tags: social_marketing strategy) Email Marketing Tip OTW: Reusing Blog Posts... - [Video Email Marketing in 2009: Facts, Stats, Limitations, Possibilities](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/video-email-marketing-in-2009-facts-stats-limitations-possibilities/): If you missed the webinar, you can have a look at the slides from the presentation below or view the video here: Video Email Marketing in 2009: Facts, Stats, Limitations, Possibilitieshttp://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=liveclickersmithharmonvideoinemailwebinarfinal-090813193550-phpapp02&stripped_title=liveclicker-smithharmon-video-in-email-webinar-final View more presentations from Justin Foster. - [Winning back inactive subscribers in 7 steps](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/winning-back-inactive-subscribers-in-7-simple-steps/): Your inactive subscribers don’t necessarily represent dead wood, uselessly clogging up your database. They are past and future customers who were once engaged with your program. Chances are, it will cost you less to reach out and re-engage with these subscribers than it will to acquire new ones, so don’t leave good money on the... - [links for 2009-08-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-17/): Holiday email planning in August 2009 has flown by so far, and sooner than you know it, the holiday season will be here. Get a one-up on your competitors by starting your holiday email campaign planning now. Here are some steps to get you started: (tags: holidays) Respect Subscribers by Managing Expectations Managing expectations means... - [links for 2009-08-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2009-08-14/): Relevance: What Is It, Anyway? Most agree that a core principle of relevance is "the right message at the right time." With that in mind, here is Loren McDonald's attempt at defining what goes into "the right message" and "the right time." (tags: relevancy) Failed delivery of permission based email There are 3 primary things... - [Bounce Codes Now Collected in One Location](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/bounce-codes-now-collected-in-one-location/): There are so many bounce codes used by the various ISPs and receivers that it’s hard to keep them all straight. Now there is a great resource for most of the known bounce codes to help simplify your tracking and processing. Thanks primarily to Chris Wheeler of Bronto Software, Jack Sinclair or Return Path and... - [Ask Your Recipients About Your Frequency and Relevancy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ask-your-recipients-about-your-frequency-and-relevancy/): It’s a mindset that I don’t see that used often in today’s email marketing world. Even in a marketing society that is being restructured based on the teachings of social media, there is still that one way mentality when it comes to sending out traditional emails: Step 1:  Collect email address. Step 2:  Add those... - [links for 2010-11-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-29/): Spear Phishing Attacks Snag E-mail Marketers — Krebs on Security Criminals have been conducting complex, targeted e-mail attacks against employees at more than 100 e-mail service providers (ESPs) over the past several months in a bid to hijack computers at companies that market directly to customers of some of the world’s largest corporations, anti-spam experts... - [How to Get More Subscribers for Your Email List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-get-more-subscribers-for-your-email-list/): Understanding the emotional and logical mental processes of your readers is the best way to take your email sign ups to the next level. Make them feel part of an exclusive group. Use direct and compelling language. And overcome as many objections as you can. If you can do these three things, you will grow... - [links for 2010-11-26](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-26/): The Retail Email Blog: Reportlet: SWYN, FTAF and Community Links As we approach the holiday season, it’s worrisome that major retailers aren’t doing more to empower their subscribers to extend the reach of their email campaigns. SWYN and FTAF provide free marketing that’s currently going unused, meaning money is being left on the table. The... - [links for 2010-11-25](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-25/): Security Alert: Phishing Attack Aimed at ESPs Over the course of the past five weeks, spam campaigns have been aimed at the staff members of over 100 ESPs and gambling sites. These targets have received emails typically with content that mentions the staffer by name, and purports to be from a couple, presumably friends or... - [Measuring and analyzing email marketing success](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/measuring-and-analyzing-email-marketing-success-smart-insights-digital-marketing/): Attributing success Assuming the audience is relatively unchanged, peaks and troughs in email responses are typically attributed to the offer/content and the subject line. And, naturally, we take that into account when planning future content/offers and writing future subject lines. But, of course, a proper analysis should consider all the factors that might impact results.... - [links for 2010-11-23](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-23/): Presentations European Email Marketing Conference 2010 (tags: events) Reminder Emails: Groupon Gets It Right (tags: cases) Giving the Right Deal or Giving Away the Store? Free Shipping. It is always something we all look for as consumers, but is free shipping really free to retailer? Are there ways you can use it to benefit your... - [Marketing to an international community [podcast]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketing-to-an-international-community-podcast/): Today, I was invited by the nice folks at theemailguide.com to talk about marketing to the international community on their weekly eMail radio show. You can listen to it here:  http://www.blogtalkradio.com/btrplayer.swf Listen to internet radio with The eMail Guide on Blog Talk Radio - [Facebook Postmaster page](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/facebook-postmaster-page/): Laura Atkins discusses the Facebook Postmaster page: There’s still quite a bit of concern and worry about how the Facebook messaging platform is going to affect marketing. One thing that may help is the Facebook postmaster page. There’s all sorts of good information on those pages Read more here: blog.wordtothewise.com - [links for 2010-11-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-22/): UK businesses face spam backlash from customers Two thirds of adults are annoyed at receiving spam from recognised brands and would back a campaign to change email legislation (tags: study) Majority Of Adults Suffer From Spam Stress 60% of UK adults blame brands – saying they are tricking them into receiving unwanted emails. (tags: study) - [Email Marketing Trends and Best Practices for 2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-trends-and-best-practices-for-2011/): Last Friday I gave a keynote presentation at the Email Marketing Forum in Brussels. Here are the slides: Email Marketing Trends & Best Practices for 2011 http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=20101119-emailforum-emailtrendsbestpracticesfor2011-101119080052-phpapp01&rel=0&stripped_title=email-marketing-trends-best-practices-for-2011&userName=tgielen View more presentations from Tamara Gielen. http://b.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js?c1=7&c2=7400849&c3=1&c4=&c5=&c6= - [links for 2010-11-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-20/): Which doctype should I use in HTML email? there are subtle differences in how email clients render HTML emails with a variety of doctype declarations… Or no doctype at all. (tags: coding) The trouble with anchor links in email newsletters the folks over at Campaign Monitor discovered a rather startling fact – anchor links aren't... - [links for 2010-11-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-17/): What do Email Professionals Make? How much can you make as an Email Professional, and what is the best title to have? And which part of the country have the highest salaries? Bill McCloskey recently polled The Inbox Insiders to see what everyone was making. Where can you make the most money? Read on to... - [links for 2010-11-16](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-16/): Facebook's New Email Offering Facebook describes this as next generation messaging. Zuckerberg said "It will be seamless, informational, immediate, personal, simple, minimal and short." (tags: facebook social_media trends industry) - [links for 2010-11-10](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-10/): No, social media doesn't mean email marketing's dead -According to the Econsultancy report, How We Shop in 2010: Habits and Motivations of Consumers, email marketing is still the channel of choice for receiving correspondence and offers from companies. According to the research, 61% of consumers prefer receiving offers via email, so although customers are more... - [links for 2010-11-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-09/): Marketing Return on Investment (ROI) Calculator The folks over at Toddle released a cool calculator that you can use to see how effective your last campaign was and to give you an idea of how much you can afford to spend in future. Check it out! (tags: tools) - [links for 2010-11-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-07/): Reportlet: Animated Gif Usage Surging -This free 9-page report discusses the three major limitations of animated gifs, deliverability concerns, and outlines a number of animated gif tactics used by major retailers- (tags: design) Groupon and Friends: Active E-mail Address Machines -group-buying platforms like Groupon, LivingSocial, and Woot have been accruing thousands upon thousands of active... - [links for 2010-11-05](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-05/): Ten Numbers Every Email Marketer Should Commit to Memory -here are the ten numbers that every email marketer would have committed to memory- (tags: analysis) Email Marketer Sues Microsoft, Yahoo, Return Path, Cisco Ironport An e-commerce services firm is suing Microsoft, Yahoo, Return Path and Cisco Ironport Systems, claiming theat mass email campaigns it sends... - [links for 2010-11-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-04/): email the online activity with the highest overall penetration -The TNS “Digital Life” survey of internet users around the world found in September 2010 that on average, surfers spent 4.6 hours a week on social sites, compared with 4.4 hours on email, the most common internet activity- (tags: stats) How to Keep Your Email Marketing... - [Main takeaways from the European Email Marketing Conference 2010](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/main-takeaways-from-the-european-email-marketing-conference-2010/): I attended (and spoke) at the European Email Marketing Conference in London today and yesterday. I am back at my hotel in Amsterdam now and spent some time digging for the best takeaways from the conference: StephanieSAM: Once you can find the people who have a propensity to buy, you can target content to them... - [links for 2010-11-02](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-11-02/): E-Mail: This Isn't Hard For a decade, e-mail marketers have measured everything wrong, and are now reaping the rewards of poor measurement techniques with ever-declining open/click/conversion rates. By measuring via "lift", you truly account for the impact of e-mail marketing. (tags: analysis) - [links for 2010-10-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-29/): On the classification of bounces -It is astonishing to see how even large ISPs obfuscate a simple “user unknown” with descriptions such as “unrouteable address”, “no such mail drop defined” or “unsupported mail destination”. This makes it almost impossible to automatically classify bounces without frequent adaptation to newly encountered descriptions. How can these ISPs expect... - [links for 2010-10-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-28/): A Plan? Who Needs a Plan? -We all need a plan — not always exciting or fun, but necessary to accomplish your goals and objectives. Not only will it help you determine what factors are going to drive a program's success, it will also help you avoid best practice mistakes and errors- (tags: planning strategy)... - [links for 2010-10-27](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-27/): A/B Split Test – Sample Size Estimation -this tool allows you to analyze your A/B split and multivariate testing results in addition to doing sample size estimation using the sample size calculator- (tags: tools testing) Powerfully Simple Facebook Applications | North Social -Easy-to-use applications that enable anyone to quickly create & manage a custom Facebook... - [How email can help SEO: 10 email marketing tips for SEOs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-email-can-help-seo-10-email-marketing-tips-for-seos/): On Tuesday, I gave a presentation about email marketing to an audience of SEO professionals at the Pro SEO seminar in London. They asked me to share 10 tips on how email can help SEO. It was an interesting way to look at email marketing and I have learned a lot from it – so... - [links for 2010-10-22](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-22/): What has 5 feet and plays music really loud? – Dan Naden discusses an email he received from Yamaha – We recognize the familiar: A car with four wheels; a coffee maker with an on/off switch; a football game with two teams in different colored jerseys. What happens when things are different? When something seems... - [links for 2010-10-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-15/): How to Resolve Common Deliverability Challenges — More than 80% of all delivery issues arise because of a problem with your sending reputation. Your sending reputation is based upon your sending patterns and volumes, mailing infrastructure, list hygiene (spam traps and unknown users), and subscriber complaints. George Bilbrey explains how you can resolve the reputation... - [links for 2010-10-14](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-14/): Death of Forward-to-a-Friend – forward-to-a-friend (FTAF) has some fatal flaws. Among them: it's still easier just to click the "forward" button and fill in a friend's e-mail address. And, there's the trust issue, because some subscribers don't trust marketers to behave responsibly with their own e-mail addresses, much less their friends' addresses – (tags: ftaf... - [links for 2010-10-13](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-13/): Windows Live Hotmail still breaks some email headers – Do you send foreign-language campaigns? Have you seen a string of characters that starts off with "=?utf-8?Q?…" in your subject lines? Yes, here we go again with the email glitches: Hotmail doesn't like some UTF-8 encoded characters in email headers. (tags: coding hotmail) - [links for 2010-10-07](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-07/): 7 "profit practices" any e-mail marketer should follow – let's throw out the best practices rule book and look at seven "profit practices" any e-mail marketer should follow – (tags: strategy) Statistics for Email Use on Smartphones – 94% are checking the same email on both their mobile device and their PC. The Best Day... - [links for 2010-10-06](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-06/): Feeling blue over Yahoo email? Those of you in the email coding world may have noticed a recent change from Yahoo. If your links are all appearing blue, here is the work-around. Simply add a tag with the color directly inside the <a> tag. (tags: coding) If you do this in an email, I hate... - [links for 2010-10-01](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-10-01/): New Data: Want More Leads? Offer Downloadable Content the folks over at Hubspot conducted a survey asking people to rank a handful of offer types. The results show that people prefer content-based offers rather than "demo" type offers which imply a more sales-oriented process. If you want leads, try offering a downloadable kit, or a... - [links for 2010-09-30](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-09-30/): Optimising HTML Email when Images are Disabled Almost all webmail and desktop email clients now default to not showing images, with the user having to either click ‘allow images from this sender’, mark the sender as a trusted address (eg. add to address book), or update settings within their email client. Some recipients are even... - [How to make email look sexy to the the C-suite](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-make-email-look-sexy-to-the-the-c-suite/): To make email marketing look sexy to the C-suite, Loren McDonald provides these 8 tips: 1. Never talk opens and clicks with other departments or the management suite. They don't or shouldn't care. 2. Talk loudly about revenues and cost savings. 3. Talk up the percentage of total company revenue that comes from email (assuming... - [Email Deliverability Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-deliverability-best-practices/): Last week I presented a webinar hosted by Litmus about email deliverability best practices. You can view the slides below and view the archived webinar here. Email Deliverability Best Practices by Tamara Gielen http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=deliverability-webinar-100930124908-phpapp02&rel=0&stripped_title=email-deliverability-best-practices-by-tamara-gielen&userName=tgielen View more presentations from Tamara Gielen. http://b.scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js?c1=7&c2=7400849&c3=1&c4=&c5=&c6= - [How to Deal With Inactives on Your Email List](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-deal-with-inactives-on-your-email-list/): Over on MarketingProfs, Karen Talavera suggests this four-step course of action for dealing with inactives. 1. Conduct a reactivation email campaign Identify inactives on your list according to agreed-upon criteria (Never purchased? No clicks in 12 weeks? Zero opens in six months?), and segment them for a reactivation email campaign containing a special incentive if... - [Use of Marketing Metrics and Tools](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/use-of-marketing-metrics-and-tools/): US marketers are no slouches when it comes to integrating new technologies and tactics with their email marketing efforts, according to data from summer 2010. Source: eMarketer - [links for 2010-09-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-09-29/): Stupid Marketer Watch: Firm Abandoning Email "And the latest installment of “email-is-dead” stupidity comes from Holiday Brokers, a firm that is abandoning email marketing in favor of social media, according to Travel Weekly." "They’re switching from a proven channel that delivers the highest ROI in marketing to one that people still haven’t figured out how... - [links for 2010-09-21](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-09-21/): Spam unsubscribe links no longer considered harmful We've always been told never to follow unsubscribe links in spam. However, the CAN-SPAM act has created a curious paradox. If the message is readable, then it's highly likely the unsubscribe link is safe and functional. (tags: unsubscribe spam) - [links for 2010-09-20](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-09-20/): Tamara Gielen & Litmus Email Deliverability Webinar In this webinar, I will discuss email deliverability and provide information on improving deliverability for your email campaigns. (tags: deliverability) The Elephant in Marketing's Room (funny cartoon) In this funny cartoon, Steve points out the elephant that’s hiding in plain sight for many marketers:  Why interrupt when you... - [links for 2010-09-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-09-17/): I Love Marie Forleo – because she gets email marketing copy. an interesting approach to list building and a call-to-action you can't miss… (tags: copywriting list_building) New Study Reveals 3 Things You Can Learn from Effective Content Marketers Junta42 & MarketingProfs surveyed over 1,100 B2B marketers in North America and claim it's the largest study... - [eNewsletters, webinars and in-person event most effective B2B marketing tactics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/enewsletters-webinars-and-in-person-event-most-effective-b2b-marketing-tactics/): Just think about this for a second: 70% of b-to-b marketers of all sizes do not feel their social media marketing is effective.  60% aren't getting what they want out of blogs. 55% for videos. Now take a look at this graphic below on marketers' biggest content marketing challenge. via blog.junta42.com - [Email Retargeting to More Than Double](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-retargeting-to-more-than-double-emarketer/): The increase in retargeted advertising will be relatively small, but use of email remarketing will increase from about a third of online marketers to nearly three-quarters. via www.emarketer.com - [links for 2010-09-15](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-09-15/): What You Need to Know About the #NewTwitter (tags: twitter) Take the MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Benchmark Survey (tags: survey) Holiday planning webinar now available on-demand The webinar covers highlights from Chad White's 2010 Retail Email Guide to the Holiday Season as well as additional insights, including five holiday email marketing predictions. Highly recommended! (tags: holidays)... - [Monitoring deliverability problems: advice from a deliverability guru](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/monitoring-deliverability-problems-advice-from-a-deliverability-guru/): In an interview with Direct Mag, email deliverability guru Laura Atkins provides these tips on how to monitor email deliverability: Sign up for Feedback Loops (here's a current list of available FBLs). For small senders, the FBL may be able to be processed by hand. Medium-size senders may need to develop some tools for processing... - [How to add a background image that works in Outlook 2007 and Gmail](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-add-a-background-image-that-works-in-outlook-2007-and-gmail/): In this post, Campaign Monitor's Ros Hodgekiss explains how to get a repeating background image to surround your content in most major email clients, including Gmail and Outlook 2007!  There are some very clever coding tips in the article, so if you're into coding, make sure to check it out! - [Social media marketing tactics US small businesses plan to integrate in 2010](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/social-media-marketing-tactics-us-small-businesses-plan-to-integrate-in-2010/):  source: eMarketer - [You have 2 seconds to make an impression](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/you-have-2-seconds-to-make-an-impression/): Litmus has been examining the data they've collected from their new Email Analytics tool and found that on average, 51.1% of readers spend less than 2 seconds looking at your email. Source: Litmus - [Reasons for not regularly opening email marketing messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/reasons-for-not-regularly-opening-email-marketing-messages/):   - [Study shows marketers must get to know more about their recipients than just a first name](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/study-shows-marketers-must-get-to-know-more-about-their-recipients-than-just-a-first-name/):   - [Stuff you should read](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read/): Do you track your opt-in data? "Surprisingly, I'm finding that many marketing managers aren't tracking this. This is sad, because sometimes this data is the last line of defense against you getting sanctioned over allegations of sending spam. When an ISP, ESP, or recipient asks for proof that a recipient opted-in to your email, they're... - [Webinar: Selecting the email service provider that's right for YOU](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar-selecting-the-email-service-provider-thats-right-for-you/): Next Tuesday (April 27th), I've invited John Caldwell to give a presentation about selecting the email service provider that's right for YOU.  Whether you’re thinking about changing vendors or just looking for tips on getting your email house in order, be sure to attend this event! - [Abandoned Shopping Cart Email Best Practices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/abandoned-shopping-cart-email-best-practices/): I found these slides on Slideshare when I was doing some research for a client on abandoned shopping cart emails and thought some of you might find them interesting too: http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=cart-abandonment-email-best-practices-100405190201-phpapp02&rel=0&stripped_title=cart-abandonment-email-best-practices PS. Don't forget to sign up for next week's webinar "Selecting the email service provider that's right for YOU" - [More stuff you should read](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/more-stuff-you-should-read/): Show value to solve relevance challenges"All e-mail experts tell e-mail marketers to make their programs more relevant to increase deliverability and ROI and decrease spam complaints, unsubscribes, and inactivity. Nobody can argue with that. The problem comes when you try to figure out what "relevance" really means." Shopping cart abandonment emails: issues and resources"Lost" sales... - [Can't be at the Email Insider Summit? Watch the livestream](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/cant-be-at-the-email-insider-summit-watch-the-livestream/): http://cdn.livestream.com/grid/LSPlayer.swf?channel=mpeis&color=0xe7e7e7&autoPlay=false&mute=false Watch live streaming video from mpeis at livestream.com - [Stuff you should read](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stu/): Wake up and send more emailChad Horenfeldt make the point that there are opportunities to send more relevant and timely email communications to certain segments of your database and takes a closer look at sources of fear when it comes to pulling the email trigger. Mailbox Providers Suggest Collaboration with SendersStephanie Miller reports from the Email... - [Email Preferred Over Social Networks for Online Communications with Friends and Family](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-preferred-over-social-networks-for-online-communications-with-friends-and-family/): More stats: more than seven in 10 e-mail users told Windows Live they would rather talk to their friends and family through e-mail than through social networks.   Source: eMarketer - [Email Marketing Tactics That Work in B2C and B2B](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-tactics-that-work-in-b2c-and-b2b/): It's interesting to see in the below chart that both B2C and B2B marketers (or at least 50% of them) agree that identifying the best time to send emails is an email marketing tactic that works well for them. What is also interesting to see is that including links to social networking sites works better... - [Webinar: Powering Email with Social Media: Grow Your List & Generate Leads](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar-powering-email-with-social-media-grow-your-list-generate-leads/): In about 30 mins I will be presenting a webinar called "Powering Email with Social Media: Grow Your List & Generate Leads". You can view it here: http://www.brighttalk.com/dc/swf/dotcom_base.swf?234  This webinar is part of an online email marketing summit organized by Brighttalk. Check out the other presentations here. - [Why good emails get blocked](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-good-emails-get-blocked/): In this 1-minute video, Stephanie Miller talks about why good emails get blocked as bad: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbHItPvxecQ&hl=nl_NL&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&w=480&h=385] As you know, tomorrow I'm hosting a webinar for the members of the Email Marketer's Club in which Stephanie will talk about these things in much more detail, so make sure you reserve your seat here. - [Great email marketing advice from Stephanie Miller](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/great-email-marketing-advice-from-stephanie-miller/): In this 5-minute video, Stephanie Miller shares what she's learned at the MarketingSherpa Email Marketing Summit last January. Some great take-aways here, so make sure you watch the video: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1myAyr3xksU&hl=nl_NL&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999&w=480&h=385] As you might know, Stephanie Miller will be a speaker at a webinar that I'm hosting next Tuesday. In this webinar she'll talk about... - [Building a responsive list](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/building-a-responsive-list/): When it comes to list building, the one thing you need to understand is that there are no shortcuts to building a huge AND responsive list. 1. Visibility When people go to your website, is it easy for them to sign up to your list? Are you displaying the sign-up option prominently on the page? ... - [Building a successful B2B email marketing strategy: A No-Nonsense Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/building-a-successful-b2b-email-marketing-strategy/): Updated on 22 November 2024: Tired of email marketing advice that promises quick wins but delivers nothing? After 20+ years in the trenches of email marketing, I’m sharing a practical approach that actually works for B2B businesses. Why Most B2B Email Marketing Falls Flat Many businesses treat B2B email marketing like a numbers game: blast... - [Developing a social media marketing strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/developing-a-social-media-marketing-strategy/):  The folks over at Social Email Marketing created a 14-page guide on how to develop a social media marketing strategy which I think you'll find interesting. The guide looks at some of the main strategic social media marketing considerations and provides you with a list of questions to ask yourself before implementing a social media strategy... - [5 common reasons why readers aren’t turning into buyers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-common-reasons-why-readers-arent-turning-into-buyers/): 1. They don’t want what you’ve got.  If this is your problem, you have essentially two choices.  offer something that more people want think about how you can build a bridge between something they want and something you offer.  2. They’re confused You may have too many different options for them to choose from. If... - [Upcoming Webinar: Why Good Email Gets Blocked As Bad](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/upcoming-webinar-why-good-email-gets-blocked-as-bad/): On April 13th, the Email Marketer's Club is organizing another webinar. This time the topic is deliverability and we have invited the amazing Stephanie Miller as a guest presenter:  Stephanie is one of the smartest people in the email marketing industry and she's an absolutely amazing speaker. It continues to amaze me how much energy... - [The "Three Layers Of So What" Test](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-three-layers-of-so-what-test/): From a very interesting blog post on web metrics by Avinash Kaushik:  A very simple test can allow you to figure out if the metric you are dutifully reporting (or absolutely in love with) is gold or mud. It is called the Three Layers of So What test.  Ask every web metric you report the... - [Stuff you should read](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-2/): Check out Bronto's 3-part blog post series on optimizing your sign-up process: Part 1: Stand Out & Entice Part 2: Finessing the Form Part 3: Landing Page & Welcome Message Musts Steve Atkins answers the question: Which is better UTF-8 or ISO-? over on the Word to the Wise blog. Mark Brownlow talks about the interesting stuff you can... - [Why do subscribers stop responding?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-do-subscribers-stop-responding/): In this post, Stefan Pollard talks about why subscribers go inactive and how to respond to that.  He lists 8 main reasons why subscribers stop responding: List age. As e-mail ages as a marketing channel, mailing lists themselves get older. If addresses on your list are five to 10 years old, they could be abandoned... - [Email Marketing 101: Design Obstacles](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-101-design-obstacles/): Mailchimp has a bunch of really cool video's explaining the basics of email marketing. This one's about design obstacles: http://blip.tv/play/hP53gbHTdgI%2Em4v - [State of The Internet (Video)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/state-of-the-internet-video/): [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6MfnuvH4Rs&fs=1&w=425&h=344] Some great stats in this video. - [HTML Email Templates](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/html-email-templates/): I recently discovered a website that sells HTML email templates for newsletters and promotional emails at very reasonable prices. So if you're in need of a new template, you might want to check it out.  It seems they are adding new templates very regularly and you can even have some of the templates customized by the... - [Schedule an appointment](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/schedule-an-appointment/): Thank you for purchasing the over-the-phone consulting package.  Go here to schedule an appointment with me. If you have any questions, please contact me. - [Over the phone consulting](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/over-the-phone-consulting/):  Ask me whatever you want, we’ll brainstorm and talk through the issue you are struggling with so you can make your email program more effective.  Call can be recorded on request so you can listen to it later.  I charge 125 euro per hour for this service.  To book an over-the-phone consultation with me, just... - [Email Marketing Consulting Services](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-consulting-services/): As an independent email marketing consultant, I help customers harness the power of email marketing & social media to attract customers, establish though leadership, generate leads and increase sales. Services include:  Over-the-Phone Consulting  Strategy and Consulting  Design and Production  Email Program & Campaign Audits  Deliverability Support  Email Program Optimization  List Growth and Lead Nurturing  Managed... - [What do you do when you don't have enough data to personalize?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-do-you-do-when-you-dont-have-enough-data-to-personalize/): One question that often comes up when marketers are creating a campaign based on customer data is "what do we send if we don't have any data on a customer?"  Some might default to a generic message, or not include those consumers in the mailing at all. Sephora takes a different approach.  In this campaign,... - [Test results to inspire you](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/test-results-to-inspire-you/): For those hesitating about the value of testing, Mark Brownload collated numerous examples of how email tests involving relatively minor effort have a big impact on results and responses. You'll find them all here. - [How to get the attention of inactive subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-get-the-attention-of-inactive-subscribers/): One of the most cost-effective email marketing programs is outreach targeted to recapture the interest of disengaged subscribers.  These are customers who subscribed to your email list but lost interest, and stopped opening or clicking your emails. They're still on your list and receive email, but they're no longer purchasing from you.  It's not uncommon for... - [Video: What do you put on your unsubscribe page?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/video-what-do-you-put-on-your-unsubscribe-page/): In this 5 minute video, I show some examples of unsubscribe pages and give some tips on what to include on your unsubscribe pages. [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FS3yc2Fb-M0&fs=1&w=425&h=344] Did I miss anything? Is there anything you’d like to add? - [Video: Convergence of Social Media & Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/video-convergence-of-social-media-email/):  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSOoDlIVX9U&fs=1&w=425&h=344] Source: Social Email Marketing - [Rendering challenge for Hotmail in Firefox](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/rendering-challenge-for-hotmail-in-firefox/): If emails are not coded properly, a border is added to every image when the email is viewed with Hotmail in Firefox. An examination of emails from 102 major online retailers revealed that 55% of them had not properly coded their emails to circumvent this problem. This new 5-page report discusses this issue in more... - [Email & Social Media: a couple of stats](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-social-media-a-couple-of-stats/): In her post "Making Social & Email Work Together" on the MarketingSherpa blog, Jeanne Jennings shares some interesting stats on email & social: The strategic link between social and email is supported by “View from the Social Inbox 2010”, released by Merkle last month. It builds on the findings published by MarketingSherpa earlier this year,... - [Myth: Sender reputation is irrelevant for B2B marketers.](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/myth-sender-reputation-is-irrelevant-for-b2b-marketers/): According to George Bilbrey and Stephanie Miller:  It's actually more important. Many corporate system administrators use the same types of data as Yahoo, Hotmail and other leading ISPs do — and in many cases, their standards are even tougher. The reality is that B2B marketers have to work twice as hard as B2C marketers because... - [25 easy-to-digest email tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/25-easytodigest-email-tips/): Kara Trivunovic posted a list of 25 Things Email Marketers Don't Seem to Know — But Should These are my favorites: Best time of day to send email is like the chupacabra: it doesn't really exist, but people keep looking for it.  If you don't know the value of an email address to your organization,... - [Top 5 rules for using color in email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top-5-rules-for-using-color-in-email/): In this article, Darrah MacLean discusses 5 rules for using color in your emails: Rule #1: Don't overdo it. If there are too many colors competing for attention (or too much of one color), the messaging impact can get lost.    Rule #2: Stay within the palette. While you want each email to feel unique, you... - [DMA launches UK Email Benchmarking Report Q2 2009](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dma-launches-uk-email-benchmarking-report-q2-2009/): Denise Cox reports: The Direct Martketing Association’s Email Marketing Council has released the Q2 2009 Email Benchmarking Report. In this quarter’s report, email shows a consistent pattern of growth. Volumes have increased, and contacts per month rose for the first time in a year. Everything points to a growing confidence in this channel. Interesting to... - [Top 10 email clients, according to Fingerprint](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/top-10-email-clients-according-to-fingerprint/): Last week the folks over at Fingerprint recompiled their email client usage statistics. Here are some highlights:  Outlook continues to dominate the email client landscape, but Outlook 2007 is still only being used by around 1 in 10 recipients.  Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail are (slowly) losing ground, whilst Gmail gradually gains popularity.  iPhone ranks as... - [30+ Proven tactics to increase reponse to your email campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/30-proven-tactics-to-increase-reponse-to-your-email-campaigns/): On March 2nd I am presenting a webinar called "30+ Proven tactics to increase reponse to your email campaigns". Here's a short video summary of what I will be discussing in this webinar: http://screenr.com/Content/assets/screenr_1116090935.swf Register here and use discount code berelevant to get in at the early bird fee of 27$. - [Gmail is testing a feature that allows browsing within an email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/gmail-is-testing-a-feature-that-allows-browsing-within-an-email/): This week Sears will be wrapping up beta testing of a potential new Google offering called “Enhanced Email,” which allows a form of browsing to occur within an email viewed within Gmail.  For instance, in a limited test of the functionality last month, Sears was able to include seven “pages” containing 20 best-selling products that... - [Introducing the Email Marketer's Club](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/introducing-the-email-marketers-club/): Are you looking for a place to hang out with other email marketers or do you have a question about email marketing that you need an answer on? Then join the Email Marketer’s Club! It’s a community that was founded  by Tamara Gielen back in 2007 . Today it has almost 5,000 members discussing email marketing... - [links for 2010-02-18](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-02-18/): How to Get Subscribers to Whitelist You Each subscriber has the opportunity to whitelist you within their own inbox. This can prevent confusing messages and keep inboxes from filtering you out. So how do you get your readers to give you their stamp of approval? You ask, of course. (tags: whitelisting tactics list_management) - [links for 2010-02-17](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-02-17/): Webinar: 30+ Proven Tactics to Increase Response for your Email Campaigns (tags: tactics list_growth social_media welcome_emails subject_lines frequency webinar) - [GoodMail to pilot CertifiedEmail at Microsoft](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/goodmail-to-pilot-certifiedemail-at-microsoft/): According to a communication that GoodMail sent to their partners, later this month they will start to pilot CertifiedEmail messages at Hotmail, Windows Live and other associated Microsoft domains in North America and in Europe.  CertifiedEmail messages sent to Microsoft domains will enjoy:  Assured delivery to the Inbox  Images always displayed  Links always active More... - [links for 2010-01-29](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-01-29/): Protecting customer data Data security is not something that can be glossed over and ignored. Most of the cases I am aware of have actually been inside jobs. Data has been stolen either by employees or by subcontractors that had access to it and then sold to spammers. There are steps that companies can take... - [10 Tips for Successful Email Preheader Text](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-tips-for-successful-email-preheader-text/): Kristeen Hudson provides these 10 tips for successful preheader text on the Exact Target blog: Use a call-to-action Use positive wording  Make your preheader text support you subject line Keep in mind the length of the preheader text that will be displayed in the inbox The marketing preheader text (aka the call to action) should... - [links for 2010-01-28](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-01-28/): MailChimp's Project Omnivore: Declassified | MailChimp Email Marketing Blog In late 2008, MailChimp Labs began Project Omnivore. Our goal was to build a massively scalable tool for our abuse team that could predict bad behavior — pretty impressive stuff!! (tags: mailchimp omnivore esp spam) Is your list hosted at @iContact? It may have been stolen.... - [The 8 Guiding Principles to Hiring an Email Marketing Agency](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-8-guiding-principles-to-hiring-an-email-marketing-agency/): All too often companies make their selection of an email marketing agency or consultant based on the wrong criteria, which causes heartache, inefficiency, and a significant amount of lost productivity and dollars. In this article Scott Hardigree, provides some useful tips on how to select the best person for the job: Things You Shouldn’t Do... - [Online Email Strategy & Tactics Roundtable, February 23, 2010](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/online-email-strategy-tactics-roundtable-february-9-2010/): On February 23, 2010 at 8am PT (11am ET, 5pm CET, 4pm GMT) the Email Marketer’s Club is hosting it’s second online Email Strategy & Tactics Roundtable. During this highly interactive, 60-minute session, 2-3 email marketers are invited to present one email marketing issue they are facing in a 10-minute presentation. Tamara Gielen will review... - [How to Improve Your Process for Acquiring E-mail Subscribers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-improve-your-process-for-acquiring-e-mail-subscribers/): Too often, when marketers start focusing on growth, they're not asking, "How can I polish up my acquisition practices so my list attracts more qualified, engaged subscribers?" They're really saying, "How can I grow my list 50 percent this year?"  That second focus can lead to tactics like one retailer's recent e-mail, which greeted prospective... - [MarketingSherpa's Email Summit: 7 Takeaways to Improve your Email Marketing in 2010](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/marketingsherpas-email-summit-7-takeaways-to-improve-your-email-marketing-in-2010/): Takeaway #1. So-called email killers aren’t that deadly One of the most significant themes of the event was the symbiotic — not antagonistic — relationship between email and social media (more on this below).  Takeaway #2. Think like an integrated marketer, not just an email marketer Email marketers must integrate their strategies with those of... - [Bringing Sexy Back to Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/bringing-sexy-back-to-email/): I came across two videos this week (kudos to Loren McDonald and David Baker) about innovations in email that I wanted to share with you. The first one is an ad about a BMW (yes, the car!) that reads emails and the second one is a video from Bloomberg with Angel Investor and LiveIntent CEO... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-2-5/): email marketing sample size lookup table How do you decide on the test cell sample size for email splits tests? I’ve often seen discussion about it being important to get right, but seldom seen information on how to do that. If you’ve been waiting for an answer on how to pick test cell size then... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-7/): Is RFM Useful in Email Marketing? -tg hundreds of marketers who grew up in the direct mail industry are using RFM for email marketing. They look very professional with their RFM coding and response charts. What they cannot do, however, is show how RFM is making money over other ways of segmenting their house file.... - [Email Marketers: How The World Sees Us vs How We See Ourselves](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketers-how-the-world-sees-us-vs-how-we-see-ourselves/): All credits go to the creator of this infograph: Ryan Phelan - [The State Of Email Marketing In SMBs - 2011 Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-state-of-email-marketing-in-smbs-2011-report/): GetResponse just published their latest “The State Of Email Marketing In SMBs. 2011 Report”. The study analyzes the implementation of the most popular email marketing practices, strategies and trends amongst the SMB marketers. Key findings The majority of respondents follow best practices and legal compliance regarding the subscription-based lead generation (79% respondents use sign up... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-9/): Birthday email whitepaper with examples -tg tags: birthday_emails tg 6 things subscribers need to hear you say -tg Well I believe that relationships are built on trust. And trust is gained by delivering on clear expectations. With email marketing, this means making promises to new subscribers up-front and then delivering on these promises time and... - [Australian Email Marketing Metrics Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/australian-email-marketing-metrics-report/): Email open rates for the first half of 2011 averaged 22.47% (Email Marketing Metrics Report Australia by Vision6). Whilst metrics provide a benchmark for you to compare against, it's important you set your own benchmarks based on the performance of your own email campaigns. Declining email open rates is a sign you are losing the... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-4-2/): If the email’s legal, it can’t be spam. Can it? Legal compliance is not the main factor used by those who manage incoming mail (ISPs, webmail services and IT departments) to decide if your email should be delivered to the inbox or cast into the nine circles of email hell (the junk folder). Neither is... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-3-3/): How to Build an Email List – Ask the Experts Growing an email list can be a slow and painful process. So what tactics can marketers use to build an email list, without all the headaches? tags: list-growth tg Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-2-6/): 6 Mistakes to Avoid in Email Testing Email marketing makes testing very simple and accurate. Best of all, results come back in 24 hours. But there are several mistakes that many email marketers make when testing. Here are six of them tags: testing tg Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-8/): The Quirks of Japan’s Opt-In Email Marketing Legislation In 2009 the Japanese government changed its email marketing policy from an “opt-out” similar to the USA’s CAN-SPAM Act to an “opt-in” legislation that bears more resemblance to the stricter European Union regulations. There are various aspects in the “Regulation of Transmission of Specified Electronic Mail” legislation... - [How To Generate Leads With Social and Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-generate-leads-with-social-and-email-marketing/): Next Tuesday (January 10) I will be presenting a webinar called “How To Generate Leads With Social and Email Marketing“, as part of BrightTalk’s Demand Generation Summit. In this webinar, I will will cover trends, best practices and tactics to generate leads via social media (Twitter, Facebook, blogs, communities etc) and how to nurture and... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-10/): Launching iOS apps from an Email Newsletter The inevitable accent of Mobile devices becoming the #1 email client has produced some interesting challenges for us email marketers. One such is challenge is how to work with apps, namely how to launch them from an email message tags: design mobile tg apps Graymail Features Roll Out... - [Email Continues To Be An Essential Part Of The Online Marketing Mix](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-continues-to-be-an-essential-part-of-the-online-marketing-mix/): Emailvision released the results of a survey revealing interesting insights regarding perceptions on and use of email as an important part of the marketing mix.   The research was conducted by Emailvision in November 2011. 700 organizations from 10 countries (UK, US, France, Germany,Spain, Italy, Belgium, Netherlands, Scandinavia and Switzerland) were surveyed.  Key findings: Email continues to grow in importance to... - [Is Email Dead? Nah...](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is-email-dead-nah/):   Source: MakeUseOf.com - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-3-4/): 6 things you can do to make your email look awesome! Wish your emails looked better? You don’t need to be a designer to have beautifully designed emails – you just need to start improving your emails bit by bit. This blog post is aimed at helping you get started by sharing some very simple... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-2-7/): 12 Tips for a Successful Holiday Season 12 Top Tips for the Holidays… that you can implement now without significant heavy lifting. tags: holidays tg What to do when subscribers are just not that into you a four step process for how you can turn inactive subscribers around so they become re-engaged with your emails.... - [Must-Watch: Adobe Keynote at SES Chicago (video)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/must-watch-adobe-keynote-at-ses-chicago-video/): Take some time to listen to this inspiring keynote presentation by Adobe's Senior Director of Marketing, Mikel Chertudi at SES Chicago this week. You won't regret it! What is it about? Are you or someone you know, guilty of knowingly or negligently wasting marketing dollars? Odds are you have been and probably still are guilty... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-9/): Best Tactics in Landing Page Optimization breaking down the landing page optimization into actionable steps. tags: landingpages tg Managing expectations in B2B content marketing As content marketing gets more sophisticated and granular, we’re all busy ‘mapping’ our content to stages of the ‘purchase journey’ (ever get caught using marketing jargon in a civilian dinner party?... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-11/): B2C Success for the 2011 Holiday Season With Email and Social Media Have you started your holiday shopping yet? More importantly, have you begun your marketing campaigns for the 2011 holiday season? No matter the answer, here are some statistics, trends, and tips to help you make the most of it. tags: holidays trends stats... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-3-5/): What Is a Bounce? by Dennis Dayman tags: bounce deliverability tg A five point checklist for Christmas email campaigns Here are five key pointers to allow you to run a quick health check on your current email campaigns and help you define your KPI’s ensuring your Christmas and New Year campaigns are a success! tags:... - [10 Facebook Tips For Brands by @randizuckerberg](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-facebook-tips-for-brands-by-randizuckerberg/): I am attending the iStrategy conference in Amsterdam today and wanted to share these 10 Facebook tips that Randi Zuckerberg (@RandiZuckerberg) talked about in her keynote today: Give people a reason to “like” – the days of the “easy like” are over Delight customers by featuring them (fan of the day/week/month) Give businesses a human... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-2-8/): Seven steps to sublime (or at least successful) subject lines by Stefan Tornquist tags: subject_lines tg Video email marketing: 5 ways to make it work video email is more active and interesting than text. But if you’re going to go the video email route, you have to plan well, look before you leap, and follow... - [Looking for a Job in Email Marketing?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/looking-for-a-job-in-email-marketing/): If you are looking for a job in Email Marketing you may want to check out the Email Marketer's Club Job Board. We currently have links to almost a hundred job openings. Jobs that are currently featured: Email Design Specialist, Kerusso, Inc (Georgia, USA) Senior Email Marketing Specialist, Cvent, Inc. (Virginia, USA) I would also like to... - [Email Marketing Content Ideas](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-content-ideas/): Content creation is one of the many tasks that email marketers have to be good at these days. Good content means more engaged subscribers, more social sharing of your content (which will attract new subscribers) and ultimately more leads and customers. This list of content ideas will help you brainstorm and develop content that your... - [Mobile Email Design: Do's and Don'ts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mobile-email-design-dos-and-donts/): Justine Jordan, posted this cool infograph on the Litmus blog last week. It shows do's and don'ts for mobile email design: - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-10/): Email subject lines – debunking the myths Nobody cares about your email as much as you do. I know that’s a hard pill to swallow given all the love and attention you put into making your emails great. But it’s true. People aren’t looking for reasons to open your emails. They’re looking for reasons to delete... - [Presenting at the first Russian Email Marketing Conference ever](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/presenting-at-the-first-russian-email-marketing-conference-ever/): On October 11th, Kath Pay and myself spoke at the first ever Russian Email Marketing Conference, which took place on a boat that sailed from St Petersburg to Tallinn to Stockholm and then back to St Petersburg. Kath and I boarded the Princess Anastasia in Tallinn to avoid needing a visa to enter Russia and... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-12/): Hotmail declares war on newsletters | Econsultancy tags: hotmail deliverability spam tg Email Marketing: Campaign Analysis, Metrics, Best Practices tags: metrics tg The Science of Social Timing Part 2: Timing & Email Marketing tags: timing tg Facebook Launches New Metric: “People Talking About” tags: facebook metrics tg Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite... - [Email Still King Of ROI At $40.56 For Every $1 Spent (DMA)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-still-king-of-roi-at-4056-for-every-1-spent-dma/): Once again, commercial email is returning vastly more for every dollar spent on it this year than every other marketing channel, according to the Direct Marketing Association’s just-released Power of Direct economic impact study. Email is bringing in $40.56 for every dollar spent on it this year, according to the DMA. This is compared to... - [How Many Fields Should Your Forms Have?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-many-fields-should-your-forms-have/): The folks over at Eloqua analyzed data from 1500 forms over the last 3 months and found, as I expected, that the less fields asked, the less friction for submission. Of course, not all forms serve the same purpose: forms offering a trial: max 8 fields forms offering a download: max 11 fields  webinar event registration... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-13/): How to write a valuable email newsletter Do you find yourself struggling for content that’s relevant, timely, targeted, and valuable? Here’s a recipe for finding out exactly what people want you to write about. tags: tg content Lifecycle Email Marketing Lessons: FootSmart tags: cases tg lifecycle What to watch for when choosing an Email marketing provider... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-1/): Creating An Engagement Index 30 percent of consumers changed or created a new email address in the past year. Developing key performance indicators and using them to build an engagement index is a necessary tool to determine how many of these address churning subscribers are on your list. Here’s how to do it. tags: analysis... - [Behavioural Email Benchmark Study - Key Findings](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/behavioural-email-benchmark-study-key-findings/): Generally the use of behavioural email is steadily increasing across all sectors (e-retail, insurance, gambling).  Gambling companies seem to be implementing the majority of triggers, with an average 70% using behavioural email across the triggers monitored. Statistically e-retailers are next in line, with an average 46% of e-retailers using behavioural email. The insurance sector is... - [12 Common Email Marketing Mistakes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/12-common-email-marketing-mistakes/): 1. Blatant Lack of PermissionCompanies still try to get around the permission issues in search for the quick buck. That’s a big mistake.   2. Utterly Deficient Segmentation Content relevancy is the number one issue for the email marketer. Without segmentation, you have no real relevancy. 3. Lame ‘Welcome’ Messages We still receive far too many... - [Why The Position Of Your Email In The Inbox Is Unimportant](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-the-position-of-your-email-in-the-inbox-is-unimportant/): On the EmailVision blog, Tim Watson explains why you shouldn’t worry too much about the best time to send an email.   The answer as to why timing is not so sensitive lies in how people engage and process their email inbox. In a small poll the folks over at EmailVision ran, 94% of people... - [Designing for Mobile Email](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/designing-for-mobile-email/): Neil Berman lists these 8 Steps To Good Mobile Email Design in his recent Email Insider column: Send your emails in MIME Multipart Format so they are readable on mobile devices that can display only the text version of your email.   Keep subject lines to 15 or fewer characters or front-load it so your key... - [Plan to Engage: Kath Pay and Tamara Gielen Join Forces](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/plan-to-engage-kath-pay-and-tamara-gielen-join-forces/): I don't usually post announcements like these, but since this is something that involves me and it's kind of important and I'm really excited about this, I thought I should let my readers know. Kath and I have been good friends for years now. We speak at the same conferences, we go to the same... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly/): Report: Viral & Community Links in Email Retailers are more focused on using their email programs to promote their social communities and less focused on email for social sharing, according to the findings of Responsys’ latest report, Viral & Community Links in Emails. tags: study blog social_sharing Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite... - [The Best and Worst Times to Send an Email (infographic)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-best-and-worst-times-to-send-an-email-infographic/) - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-2/): From Web Forms to Welcome: What to Write in Your Email Campaign tips and examples to guide you through your first communications with your subscribers, starting with your web form. tags: list_building list_growth welcome_emails blog Email can work to boost brand awareness too > Smart Insights Digital Marketing Integrating email marketing into a display ad... - [Preparing Your Holiday Email Marketing Strategy?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/preparing-your-holiday-email-marketing-strategy/): No? Well it's about time you started thinking about it then! 🙂 In the meantime, check out these resources: 1. Mark Brownlow collects useful holiday email marketing articles/reports from around the web in a resource list. Here's last year's.  I'm sure he's already working on the 2011 article, so make sure to subscribe to his... - [Email Marketing Practices of the Top Online Retailers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-practices-of-the-top-online-retailers/): Check out this presentation on Email Marketing Practices of the Top Online Retailers from Silverpop. Some good learnings here. [slideshare id=8339211?rel=0&w=510&h=426&fb=0&mw=0&mh=0&sc=no] - [Email And Search Continue To Be The Most Popular Online Activities](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-and-search-continue-to-be-the-most-popular-online-activities/): A May 2011 Pew Internet survey finds that 92% of online adults use search engines to find information on the Web, including 59% who do so on a typical day. This places search at the top of the list of most popular online activities among U.S. adults. But it is not alone at the top.... - [How to destroy your email program](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-destroy-your-email-program/): I came across this fun slideshow by Andrew Kordek today. If you want to destroy your email program, just follow these tips 😉 How To Destroy Your Email Program. [slideshare id=6793026?rel=0&w=510&h=426&fb=0&mw=0&mh=0&sc=no] - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-1-2/): Image map support in HTML email, revisited tags: design coding blog UK’s Top Retailers Still Failing at Advanced Email Marketing dotMailer’s annual email marketing benchmark study released recently “Hitting the Mark” reveals that, despite ticking the boxes when it comes to the basics of email marketing, top UK retailers are still failing to get the... - [Email Design Approaches That Work for All Devices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-design-approaches-that-work-for-all-devices/): Check out this presentation by Justine Jordan (Litmus) and Jay Jhun (Engauge): Email Design Approaches That Work for All Devices [slideshare id=7985246?rel=0&w=510&h=426&fb=0] View more presentations from Litmus There’s also a UK version: (UK Version) Email Design Approaches That Work for All Devices [slideshare id=8174461?rel=0&w=510&h=426&fb=0&mw=0&mh=0&sc=no] View more presentations from Litmus - [The Impact of Subject Line Personalization on Open Rates (B2B)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-impact-of-subject-line-personalization-on-open-rates-b2b/): Eloqua’s chart of the week shows the impact of subject line personalization on open rates: The graphs shows that subject lines that include a name have open rates about 4.7% over the average. Does that mean you should go ahead and start including your recipient’s name in your subject lines? Maybe. Just make sure to... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-3/): CSS support in email: A CSS3, web and mobile client update for 2011 The folks over at Campaign Monitor have updated their guide to CSS support in email. Check it out! tags: blog css coding design html 6 Awesome Email Marketing Powers of the P.S. According to Copyblogger, ask yourself, “What’s first, last, and unusual in... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-3-2/): Ask an Expert: Best, Easiest Triggers This week’s Ask-an-Expert question is: What are the most effective, relatively non-labor-intensive triggered-email programs every email marketer should implement? tags: blog triggered_emails Facebook Messages what is it and how important is it to us marketers tags: blog facebook A/B and Multivariate Test Validity: Beware of Bad Data!! this article... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-2-2/): Make Coupons Work Better in Your Email Program best practices to use with email coupons to help you realize the greatest success from your coupon program tags: coupons blog Getting Them to Say Yes! four insights into what psychologically motivates people to say yes when given the opportunity to take action tags: list_growth call-to-action blog... - [50 Simple But Highly Effective Email Marketing Tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/50-simple-but-highly-effective-email-marketing-tips/): 50 simple but highly effective email marketing tips [slideshare id=8306051?rel=0&w=510&h=426&fb=0&mw=0&mh=0&sc=no] View more presentations from Tamara Gielen - [Today's 411: All the news worth reading for Email Marketers for June 14th, 2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/todays-411-all-the-new-worth-reading-for-email-marketers-for-june-14th-2011/): Today's 411 is brought to you by Only Influencers, a digital marketing community. 18 Proven Ways to Reach B-to-B Customers with Email Nice list of check points to consider when putting together a B2B campaign. Nothing new but organized in one place. Topic: B2B Newsletters Rating: Worthwhile Socialized Email Marketing Goes Mainstream How is Facebook... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-1-3/): Why Is Deliverability Still an Issue for Marketers? very insightful article! tags: deliverability industry blog EU “Cookies” Directive. Interactive guide to 25th May and what it means for you The EU directive applied literally: a hilarious example courtesy of David Naylor tags: legislation blog EU privacy cookie What’s The EU Privacy/Cookie Directive & What Do... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-4/): Build vs. Buy: The real cost of building an email solution Bottom line: Unless you are sending hundreds of millions of emails monthly, outsourcing is cheaper…and safer. Building might look cheaper at the outset, but the cost is going to be higher than you anticipate. If email isn’t core to your business, outsource. If it... - [Today's 411: All the news worth reading for Email Marketers for May 31st, 2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/todays-411-all-the-new-worth-reading-for-email-marketers-for-may-31st-2011/): Here is Today's 411 brought to you by Only Influencers Karen Talavera: The Number One Way to Connect Email and Social Media Marketing Karen's latest blog post on Only Influencers Topic: Social Media Rating: Worthwhile Steve Webster: Why Email Recapture Campaigns are Worth the Effort Recapture Campaigns are Driving Customer Conversations at more than twice... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-4-2/): 8 Tips for developing the successful Preference Centre – Part 2 In this second part of tips for successful preference centre’s Matthew Simons explores what data should be collected and discusses the potential benefits and pitfalls of using modeling to help drive relevant communication. tags: blog preference_centers list_management Purchase Path of Online Buyers In this... - [Today's 411: All the news worth reading for Email Marketers for May 26th, 2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/todays-411-all-the-new-worth-reading-for-email-marketers-for-may-26th-2011/): Welcome to the Thursday Edition of the 411 brought to you by Only Influencers. Scott Cohen: An Email Snob Interview with Chester Bullock Scott interviews Influencer Chester Bullock who gives Only Influencers a nice plug. Thanks Chester. Topic: Meet the Influencers Rating: Anything that mentions OI gets a Must Read Laurie Sullivan: Google Readies Gmail... - [Today's 411: All the news worth reading on Email Marketing from Only Influencers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/todays-411-all-the-news-worth-reading-on-email-marketing-from-only-influencers/): Starting today, Tamara's Be Relevant! blog will carry the Only Influencers 411. Twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays), Bill McCloskey, founder of Only Influencers, will parse all the articles relevant to Email Marketers, summarizing each article and attaching a "rating" to help busy marketers determine which articles they absolutely must read and which ones they... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-3-3/): Study Says Spam Can Be Cut by Blocking Card Transactions – NYTimes.com The computer scientists say that because the spam system relies on just a few banks and an even smaller number of credit card processors, the business is highly vulnerable to disruption by regulators and law enforcement agencies. tags: spam blog 8 Tips for... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-2-3/): New stats show email marketing more popular than ever for businesses The recently published 2011 version of the Email Marketing Census conducted by United Kingdom online research firms Adesta and Econsultancy reveals some remarkable statistics about the power and reach of email marketing for businesses in the midst of the social media age. If you... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-1-4/): The Past, Present & Future of Email [INFOGRAPHIC] tags: infograph blog stats Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Some great Italian email marketing cartoons](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some-great-italian-email-marketing-cartoons/): I got an email today with a link to some funny email marketing best practices cartoons, developed by the folks over at Web Target, an Italian email and webmarketing magazine. Here they are, enjoy: Only the best-dressed email arrives at its destination: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TNwpfkq3DM?rel=0&w=425&h=349] A good list is a permission-based list: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1ZaEAKEOhU?rel=0&w=425&h=349] Your email... - [Email Insider Summit Videos](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-insider-summit-videos/): If you weren't able to attend the Email Insiders Summit that took place this week at Captiva Island, Florida – you can view some of the sessions here. These are my personal favorites: Keynote by John Pulizzi who talks about content marketing: http://www.ustream.tv/flash/viewer.swf Arthur Middleton Hughes talks about lifetime value of an email subscriber and... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-5/): What Should You Test On Your Landing Pages For Maximum Conversions? Have you ever wondered why all your split testing is only bringing you small, incremental improvements in your conversion rate?  Most website owners blindly slog along, testing tiny but noticeable changes like headlines, button color and so forth. You’ll get some results in your... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-1-5/): 13 Top Email Marketing Resources tags: blog resources Email List Hygiene: Remove four kinds of bad addresses to improve deliverability four types of bad email addresses you should remove from your list to increase deliverability. tags: list_hygiene list_management blog Security Framework for Interactive Messaging Ecosystem This one is for the ESPs out there: Best Practices... - [Stuff you should read (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-weekly-6/): Can I send to email addresses collected using Facebook Login? When a person opts-in to receive email from a company or contact via Facebook Login, this constitutes permission to send and receive email exclusively from the Facebook application. Same goes for social networking sites like LinkedIn, where folks explicitly opt-in to receive updates from contacts... - [Email Marketing Design Guidelines for Mobile Devices](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-design-guidelines-for-mobile-devices/): In her article "Email Marketing Design for Mobile Devices" Kristin Hersant shares somes tips and guidelines for designing email campaigns and newsletters that render well on a mobile device. Conventional wisdom says that the standard layout width for an email is 600 pixels wide. In order for your email creative to render properly on a smart phone,... - [Subscribers Eager to Open Daily Deal Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/subscribers-eager-to-open-daily-deal-emails/): February 2011 research from Yahoo! Mail and Ipsos OTX MediaCT found that US adult internet users subscribe to an average of almost three daily or weekly shopping emails or newsletters, and 56% of internet users subscribe to at least two of the emails. Subscribers also say they regularly read the emails. Among those who subscribe to at least two, 61%... - [A tip for Email Marketing Ninjas from Marketing Sherpa Email Summit 2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-tip-for-email-marketing-ninjas-from-marketing-sherpa-email-summit-2011/): Check out these tips from my fellow industry experts. You can listen to my tip at 6:43 🙂 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UL60IgdfE0?rel=0]   Now it's your turn! What is your tip for the email marketing ninjas? - [Why I choose a qualified email address over a single Facebook like.](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-i-choose-a-qualified-email-address-over-a-single-facebook-like/): In her post "Best Choice: Facebook LIKE or Qualified eMail Address?" Pam Moore asks the question: "If you had to pick one, what would it be? A Facebook “like” or an email address? " Her answer (and also mine) is this: If I have the choice of a qualified email address or a “like” of my... - [7 tips on Building Your Own Engaging Welcome Messages](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/7-tips-on-building-your-own-engaging-welcome-messages/): A welcome series is an automated series of emails that are sent automatically, to a new subscriber, based on a behavior (signed up on web site, purchased an item, etc…) and at a predetermined frequency (daily, weekly, etc…). It’s an extremely efficient and effective communications that is well received by the reader and will provide... - [Stuff you should read 04/07/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-04072011/): Ask an Expert: Remove Inactives? Or no? Should you ever remove inactive, but non-bouncing, non-complaining, addresses from your email file? If so, why, and how do you determine when? The answer, as always, is “it depends”. However, there could be two scenarios in which you may want to consider removing inactive addresses from your list:... - [India's first Email Marketing Trends Report](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/indias-first-email-marketing-trends-report/): India's first Email Marketing Trends Report shows that Indian average open-rate is around 14-15% and  the average click-to-open rate is  10%. The major reason for these low averages is the quality of email campaigns being conducted, according to the folks over at Juvlon, an Indian ESP. Apparently many senders in India are still using the... - [Stuff you should read 03/25/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-03252011/): 2011 Email Design Guidelines Blue Sky Factory released their 2011 Email Design Guidelines tags: design blog TripAdvisor issues warning after part of email database is stolen User review giant TripAdvisor has been forced to notify members of a major security breach after a “portion” of its 20 million-strong email list was stolen. tags: security hacking... - [Stuff you should read 03/20/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-03202011/): Tamara Gielen: The Relevance of Email Marketing I was interviewed by RedEye about why relevance is so important in email marketing. Check out the article here. tags: relevance blog Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Stuff you should read 03/09/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-03092011/): New Guide: Email Security | MailChimp Email Marketing Blog email security is an extremely serious matter. Hackers are jerks, but they’re not stupid, and security attacks are getting more sophisticated every day. The folks over at Mailchimp put together a crash course in email security to help you protect your data from attacks: why are... - [Stuff you should read 02/26/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-02262011/): 6 Design Tips for Mobile Email The following are six tips that will help with creating an email design that is clean and clear enough to be read on smart phones while also looking good on desktop readers. tags: blog mobile design Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Tips for Email Marketing Newbies](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tips-for-email-marketing-newbies/): [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUg260MZr_0?rel=0&w=480&h=390] - [Stuff you should read 02/22/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-02222011/): The Audience Has Spoken – The Best Research Insights from SUBSCRIBERS, FANS, & FOLLOWERS – March 15th 2pm EST you don’t want to miss this webinar! tags: study social_media blog Behavioural Email onDemand interesting new tool to send automated emails targeting abandoners – make sure to check it out! tags: tools blog Posted from Diigo.... - [VIDEO: The biggest challenge for email marketers in 2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/video-the-biggest-challenge-for-email-marketers-in-2011/): At MarketingSherpa's Email Summit in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago (has it already been a coupe of weeks?), some of us were interviewed by Jeff Ginsberg from TheEmailGuide.com about what we believe are the biggest challenges for email marketers in 2011. He made a nice compilation of what we said:   [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtRu_QTy6vg?rel=0] - [Stuff you should read 02/15/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-02152011/): Email the backbone of digital dialogue End of last year, eCircle released findings from the UK’s first European Social Media and Email Marketing study. The research reveals how consumers use social media and email, as well as looking at how marketers can effectively utilise these channels. The findings support the principle that emails forms the... - [Stuff you should read 02/11/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-02112011/): 5 Key Takeaways from the 2011 Email Evolution Conference tags: events blog trends Product Recommendations in Emails tips for Product Recommendations in email/online tags: recommendations blog Four Easy Steps to Reactivate tags: reactivation blog Consumers don’t want to engage with brands on Facebook and Twitter While marketers have flocked to social platforms like Facebook and... - [Stuff you should read 02/03/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-02032011/): MailChimp Launches Simple Transactional Service on Top of Amazon SES tags: ESP blog mailchimp Goodmail Ceases Operations: The UK Announcement tags: deliverability blog goodmail accreditation Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Stuff you should read 02/02/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-02022011/): 5 Things Angry Birds Can Teach You About Online Content there is no better blueprint for online marketing success than the methods of the Angry Birds. tags: strategy blog The Mother of All Post-Click Marketing Diagrams tags: analytics blog Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Stuff you should read 01/28/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-01282011/): 22 sources of inspiration for email marketing designs and tactics tags: design blog 3 Tactics to Add Dynamic Content to Your E-mail Program If you follow this plan, you should be able to integrate dynamic content successfully into your e-mail program and avoid the dangers of using dynamic content without proper planning. tags: personalization blog... - [Stuff you should read 01/27/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-01272011/): Template: HTML email creative brief tags: creative blog design What Amazon’s New Simple Email Service Really Means To The Email Industry the email industry will be watching one thing closely: deliverability. Will emails sent by Amazon get flagged as spam, or will they get through to the inbox? tags: deliverability amazon blog Posted from Diigo.... - [Stuff you should read 01/26/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-01262011/): Email usability: The science of keeping it short and sweet Here are a couple of tips for getting the important bits of your email read tags: usability design blog Top tracked email metrics tags: study blog 3 Ways to Set Expectations at Sign Up Spam complaints can tell you a lot about your email marketing... - [Stuff you should read 01/20/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-01202011/): 3 Steps to Grow Your B2B E-mail List More Effectively If you follow these three tactics, you should begin to see genuine list growth soon and avoid the dangers that lie in wait when you try to grow your list too fast without the proper controls. tags: b2b list_growth blog Posted from Diigo. The rest... - [Stuff you should read 01/15/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-01152011/): MediaPost Publications Organization Influence on Email Marketing Effectiveness 01/05/2011 Strategically, email plays an important role in achieving a wide range of marketing objectives. Tactically, email appears to have unlimited potential especially when integrated with emerging marketing channels like social media. As a mature tactic, performance improvements are no longer measured in quantum leaps but in... - [Stuff you should read 01/14/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-01142011/): Extreme Email Experiment: How Much Is Too Much? Today, email is a more effective channel in a B2B sale than is social media. It is also a great way to get more out of your search engine and advertising traffic. When you get an email address, you get a second chance at the sale. And... - [Stuff you should read 01/05/2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-01052011/): Email Dead? Nope, Not Even Gasping: Part Two While just 5 percent of online Christmas shoppers reported being primarily influenced to visit top retailer sites by social media, 19 percent came to retailer Web sites as the result of a promotional email, according to the ForeSee Results E-Tail Satisfaction Index.\n\nThat means email drove almost four... - [Stuff you should read 12/18/2010](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stuff-you-should-read-12182010/): Email Marketing Workshop – January 31, 2011 Is your email marketing not delivering the ROI your organization wants or needs? Are you looking for advanced strategies and tactics to improve your bottom line results?\n\nThen join industry heavyweights Tamara Gielen and Jeanne Jennings for this full-day session. You’ll not only leave with a framework for taking... - [Overview of Marketing Automation Players](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/overview-of-marketing-automation-players/): Check this out: - [links for 2010-12-09](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-12-09/): All About Email Address Validation If you're wondering what SMTP email address validation is, why it is a bad idea, and what your options are, check out Al Iverson's short series on the topic (tags: list_hygiene) - [links for 2010-12-08](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-12-08/): How Email Marketing Will Evolve In 2011 Email marketing is constantly evolving, with social media, mobile and ISPs driving most of the change right now. Here are five predictions of how things will change in 2011 (tags: trends design) Top tactics for delivering relevant email content Which tactics for improving email relevancy are the most... - [links for 2010-12-04](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/links-for-2010-12-04/): Reportlet: Black Friday & Cyber Monday 2010 On Cyber Monday, 77% of the top online retailers tracked by the Retail Email Blog sent their subscribers at least one promotional email, setting an all-time record. This was up from 71% in 2009. That increase was preceded by strong growth in email volume on Cyber Sunday, when... - [Spamhaus - Phishing Warning](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/spamhaus-phishing-warning/): Just a quick alert. Be on the look out for malware linked messages purporting to come from our friends over at SPAMHaus.  Apparently, there is a version of a malware scam targeting ESPs circulating. The message indicates that a company is being blocked by Spamhaus. They can download an app to remediate the problem. The app then... - [Are Your Subscribers Dogs or Cats?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-best-practices-are-your-customers-dogs-or-cats-the-whitelist-1/): Dogs love you no matter what. Dogs never hold a grudge. They forgive everything. They are miserable when you leave and ecstatic when you return. They think you walk on water and control the heavens and are the greatest creature to ever live. Ever. Dogs adore you. Cats could not care less about you. They... - [3 Email Marketing Trends to Spotlight for 2011](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3-email-marketing-trends-to-spotlight-for-2011/): I see three specific trends that show where email is headed in 2011.  These trends involve (1) delivering real-time value in a real-time marketing world, (2) ESPs becoming a more valuable resource by judiciously differentiating themselves in specific verticals, and (3) maturing ESPs morphing and/or buying into marketing-automation companies. via blog.deliverability.com While I hope that... - [Email Marketing delivers the highest ROI](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-delivers-the-highest-roi/): In Econsultancy's latest Email Marketing Census marketers claim that Email Marketing delivers the best return on investment. For the past 8 years Email Marketing has consistantly been cited by marketers as having delivered the highest or second highest ROI compared to other channels such as PPC, Search, Direct Marketing, Social Media, Content Marketing and Mobile... - [3 keys to improving your customers checkout experience](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3keyscheckoutexperience/): How often have you abandoned a checkout due to a confusing and difficult experience? Unfortunately this is more common than it should be and we lose customer's during the checkout process. In fact you're average abandon rate is around 80%! Plan to Engage recently  hosted a webinar with conversion expert James Critchley of cloud.IQ and provided 3... - [A cool tool to help you design for the new Gmail Grid View](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-cool-tool-to-help-you-design-for-the-new-gmail-grid-view/): So – Gmail has in beta mode a new feature in the Gmail Promotions tab, which picks out images from your emails and presents them in a visual tile layout. This is the next step from having recently made images visible by default (and now we can begin to see why they did so). If... - [Join us for some insightful and inspirational training](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join-us-for-some-insightful-and-inspirational-training/): We have some great offline and online courses lined up for you in the coming months – so why not check them out and see if one (or more!) is suitable for you? The Art of Persuasion: Leveraging Psychology within your Email Programme – April 30th 2014, London Email Marketing Masterclass - London; May 22nd 2014, Brussels; 2nd... - [State of Email Marketing Strategy in the UK](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/state-of-email-marketing-strategy-in-the-uk/): A recent Plan to Engage & Pure360 survey (The current state of email strategy) of over 500 UK marketers revealed a lack of strategy and an over reliance on open rates as a metric in email marketing programmes: 39% of marketers do not currently have an email strategy in place 64% of marketers don’t currently... - [Join us for these upcoming webinars](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join-us-for-these-upcoming-webinars/): We've got a bunch of really good stuff scheduled for you! Here's an overview of our upcoming FREE webinars: 3 keys to improving your customers checkout experience Email Profits Down? How to Analyze Why and Fix The Problem 3 steps to recovering your abandoned carts and generate increased revenue - [How Animated Video Can Boost Your Marketing Message Delivery](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-animated-video-can-boost-your-marketing-message-delivery/): At the Email Evolution Conference in Miami, Kath and I learned that video is a great way to engage an audience – and when featured in an email, they tend to get a lot of clicks! I'm a big fan of animated videos, that's why I invited guest author Manroop Takhar of of Qudos Animations (turn... - [Join us for an email marketing training course](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join-us-for-an-email-marketing-training-course/): Kath and Tamara are planning a couple of live events as well as an online email marketing course in the next couple of weeks. So if you want to learn about email marketing, now is your chance! 5 keys to increase your email marketing conversionsLondon, 19th February  Advanced Email Marketing MasterclassAntwerp, 24 February 2014 Getting Started... - [6 Tips for a Valentine’s Day Email Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6-tips-for-a-valentines-day-email-campaign/): by Liga Bizune, Mailigen The day of love rapidly approaches, and for marketers it’s time to think about a perfect Valentine’s Day email campaign. Follow our tips to develop a smart strategy, build an eye-catching design, create relevant content and make subscribers fall in love with you and your brand. #1 Kick off at the beginnging... - [[Infographic] Boosting Sales Conversion with Cart Abandon Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/infographic-boosting-sales-conversion-with-cart-abandon-emails/): Cart Abandonment experts, Cloud.IQ have just released a new infographic with some fascinating findings regarding how our customers are abandoning their purchases and how we can leverage this opportunity to generate more sales. Some stats of interest: 88% of online shoppers who abandon online purchases before completion are open to being emailed by retailers afterwards.. 35% actually... - [[FREE Event] London - 5 keys to increase your email marketing conversions](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/free-event-london-5-keys-to-increase-your-email-marketing-conversions/): Date: 19th February 2013Cost: It's FREE!Time: 9am -12.00 (includes breakfast, morning tea and networking opportunities)Venue: etc. Venues, 4-12 Norton Folgate Bishopsgate Court, E1 6DQ London, United Kingdom Sponsor: dotMailer In this half-day event you will discover 5 powerful keys to increase your email marketing conversions. During this very tactical session, Kath Pay will show you how to improve your conversions by delving into topics such as: Subject Line,... - [Email Marketing Masterclass in London, January 30th 2014](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-marketing-masterclass-in-london-january-30th-2014/): Join this Masterclass, with trainer, Kath Pay of Plan to Engage on January 30th, London. Come and delve into what makes your customers and subscribers tick, discover what motivates them and learn how to deliver engaging and successful campaigns by leveraging this knowledge. During the course of the day, we will look at how we can... - [Upcoming email marketing training courses, both offline and online](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/upcoming-email-marketing-training-courses-both-offline-and-online/): We are organizing a couple of training courses, seminars and master classes on various email marketing topics in the next 3 months: In London: January 30th: Email Marketing Masterclass In Antwerp, Belgium: 16 januari: E-mailmarketing en psychologie: hoe zet je lezers aan tot actie? 30 januari: 5 redenen waarom je e-mailcampagnes niet het gewenste resultaat halen en... - [3x3 Tips for a Perfect Christmas Email Campaign](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3x3-tips-for-a-perfect-christmas-email-campaign/): An email marketing campaign for the Christmas period is on every marketer’s to-do list, I’m sure. However, there are always numerous questions that arise in one’s mind. What should I send and when? Should I offer something and how do I best engage? Let me guide you with 3×3 tips for your perfect Christmas email... - [Blending personas and personalities to optimise conversions in email marketing [Part 2]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/blending-personas-and-personalities-to-optimise-conversions-in-email-marketing-part-2/): Making your emails more relevant by appealing to different reader personalities In Part 1 we introduced using Personas for Email marketing based upon motivation, in Part 2 I’m going to review the 4 main different personality traits that are common to everyone and show how to apply them to email creative. Aristotle was one of the first... - [Take our Quick Survey & have a chance to win an iPad mini!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/take-our-quick-survey-have-a-chance-to-win-an-ipad-mini/): Email Marketing Strategy Survey Have you ever wondered if larger marketing teams have a more advanced email strategy? Or if high volume senders are using less personalisation? We want to answer these questions! That's why Pure360 and Plan to Engage have teamed up to bring you a ground breaking report on the current state of... - [Blending personas and personalities to increase conversions in email marketing [Part 1]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/blending-personas-and-personalities-to-increase-conversions-in-email-marketing-part-1/): It’s a well-known fact that some of the greatest results can be gained by combining personalisation and persuasive architecture to deliver what the customer wants. In this 2 part post I will look at approaches to leverage 2 types of buyer personas to use to increase conversions within your email marketing programme. When combining both... - [Recommended Reading 11/06/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-11062013/): Does CTA length affect CTRs? tags: tw tg design cta testing Spamhaus Provides First Batch of Answers “Several weeks ago, Steve Linford, chief executive of anti-spam organization Spamhaus agreed to take questions from marketers through the Magill Report. Marketers responded with more than 50 questions. This week, Linford provided answers to the first 14.” tags: tw... - [Recommended Reading 11/05/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-11052013/): Does CTA length affect CTRs? tags: tw tg design cta testing Spamhaus Provides First Batch of Answers “Several weeks ago, Steve Linford, chief executive of anti-spam organization Spamhaus agreed to take questions from marketers through the Magill Report. Marketers responded with more than 50 questions. This week, Linford provided answers to the first 14.” tags: tw... - [How do you leverage personas in email marketing to increase ROI?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-do-you-leverage-personas-in-email-marketing-to-increase-roi/): Having a specific person in mind that represents a segment of our target audience, makes it easier for us to find the right tone, copy and even offer for an email campaign we’re working on. Do you want to learn how this works and how you can create your own personas? It’s not that hard... - [New Tool To Check The Deliverability Quality And Authentication Settings Of Your Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new-tool-to-check-the-deliverability-quality-and-authentication-settings-of-your-email-campaigns/): Message Systems launched a cool new tool recently, called The Validator. It's a free web application that enables email senders to test the deliverability quality and authentication settings of their messages prior to sending. It does this by flagging and identifying issues or failures for the major email authentication and validation schemes used today, including... - [An example of Holistic Email Marketing: Integrate search and email marketing using intelligent personalisation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/an-example-of-holistic-email-marketing-integrate-search-and-email-marketing-using-intelligent-person/): I wrote this post last week for Smartinsights and have received very positive feedback on the concept behind using search to personalise the email subscribers experience. But before we begin, we also need to understand the difference between a pull and a push channel. Websites and search are both pull channels, whilst email is a push channel. The strength... - [5 tips to getting the most from mobile search](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/truly-great-search-is-all-about-turning-intentions-into-actions-lightning-fast-in-the-early-days-of-google-users-woul/): We're excited to be hosting the International Digital Marketing Summit @YourDesk (#IDMS) next tuesday 8th October, and as an appetiser to this event, Rob Thurner of Burner Mobile has kindly shared with us below some of this thoughts on mobile search. To register for this and our other sessions on the day please go to... - [Don't miss the International Digital Marketing Summit @ Your Desk!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dont-miss-the-international-digital-marketing-summit-your-desk/): I have the pleasure to invite you to the International Digital Marketing Summit, an online conference organised by Kath Pay and myself. Tuesday, 8 October 2013 @ your desk – no registration fee REGISTER NOW: http://events.plantoengage.com/digital-summit.html  On the agenda: From search to conversion – 7 keys to a successful customer journey by Kath Pay, Consultant, Speaker & Trainer,... - [Looking for resources on Lead Management Programmes?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/looking-for-resources-on-lead-management-programmes/): Marketo have just released a Lead Management Success Center. It contains a mix of different types of content such as ebooks, webinars, reports and kits, as well as a load of external respurces and reports – certainly well worth a look for those who are needing to implement Lead Nurturing, Lead Scoring or Lead Management... - [The Best Email Marketing Book I've Read in a Loooong Time](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-best-email-marketing-book-ive-read-in-a-loooong-time/): How could I have missed this book when it came out? I just got my hands on a copy of Hillstrom's Email Marketing Excellence and at 72 pages, it's the greatest little email marketing book out there. Seriously.  You should read it. Now! As Kevin says himself on his blog:  What you won't get (there's... - [6 Tips on How to Make Email Subscribers React](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/6-tips-on-how-to-make-email-subscribers-react/): Earlier this year I spoke at iLive 2013 in Latvia, and presented 7 tips on getting your subscribers to action your emails. The sponsor of iLive, Mailigen has just blogged a nice sumary of the main points of the presentation . 6 Tips on How to Make Email Subscribers React Focus on email campaign objectives Email... - [Don't Miss These Upcoming Plan to Engage Events](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dont-miss-these-upcoming-plan-to-engage-events/): Upcoming webinars: August 29, 2013:The Future of Email Marketing – 5 Trends to AnticipateFREE webinar with David Daniels & Chris Marriott of The Relevancy Group Upcoming training courses & workshops: Sep 9, 2013: Email Marketing Masterclass, London Sep 10, 2013: Email Marketing Kickstarter Course, London Oct 28, 2013: Email Marketing Masterclass, New York Oct 29, 2013: Email Marketing Kickstarter Course, New York - [Which Subject Line Keywords Would Get Your Email Opened Every Time?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/which-subject-line-keywords-would-get-your-email-opened-every-time/): Adestra recently published their 2013 Subject Line Analysis Report that presents the key findings of their latest research - a survey of over 2.2 billion emails, from over 90,000 campaigns, to identify keyword trends in subject lines (covering the words and phrases that get recipients to open emails OR are overused and ineffective.) The research was split into six... - [Google Analytics in Real Life: Online Checkout](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/google-analytics-in-real-life-online-checkout/): Okay, so this has been around for a while, but for those of you who haven't seen it yet – it's pretty confrontational – and funny 🙂 [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Sk7cOqB9Dk] There is also one on landing page optimization and one on site search – they're pretty hilarious, so make sure to watch them. - [Data Protection Self-Defence](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/data-protection-self-defence/): by Steve Henderson If you hadn’t noticed, domestic and international data protection laws are changing, consumers are getting greater protection and some of the proposals are causing concern in some industries. The European Commission’s draft proposals for modernisation of the 1995 data protection rules are designed to improve trust between consumers and businesses in order... - [Have you registered for the International Email Marketing Summit already?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/have-you-registered-for-the-international-email-marketing-summit-already/): Next Thursday, Kath and I are hosting the 3rd edition of the International Email Marketing Summit and we’ve got some amazing speakers and topics ligned up for you: Dela Quist: Why finding a balance between inspiration and perspiration is key toi success  Simms Jenkins: The New Inbox: Email Success Strategies for the Mobile Age  Dr... - [How Digital Body Language Increases Sales](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-digital-body-language-increases-sales/): by Michael Zipursky In the golden age of sales, the best salesmen were those that could close a deal by reading body language. In our digital age, those salesmen are pretty much out of a job. Why? Body language means something totally different when you’re looking at online activity. Folded arms and raised eyebrows don’t matter... - [10 key decisions for mCommerce success](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-key-decisions-for-mcommerce-success/): On May 14th, Kath Pay and myself hosted the 1st edition of the International Lifecycle Summit. You can view the recorded webinars on-demand here. You can view Rob Thurner's (BurnerMobile) session on "10 key decisions for mCommerce success" below: https://www.brighttalk.com/clients/flashplatform/viewerdefault/loader.swf - [What will eCommerce look like in 2018?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-will-ecommerce-look-like-in-2018/): What will ecommerce look like in 2018? This presentation by eConsultancy's Stefan Tornquist has some interesting stats. Did you know that currently for every $92 spent acquiring visitors, only $1 is spent converting them? (Econsultancy, 2013) There is some serious work to be done in terms of conversion optimization! [slideshare id=21271534?rel=0&w=427&h=356&fb=0&mw=0&mh=0&style=border: 1px solid #CCC; border-width:... - [How to maximise communications at key touch points in the customer lifecycle](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-maximise-communications-at-key-touch-points-in-the-customer-lifecycle/): On May 14th, Kath Pay and myself hosted the 1st edition of the International Lifecycle Summit. You can view the recorded webinars on-demand here. You can view Kath's session on "How to maximise communications at key touch points in the customer lifecycle" below: https://www.brighttalk.com/clients/flashplatform/viewerdefault/loader.swf - [The Mathematics of Marketing and 7 Tried and True Lead Gen Tactics](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-mathematics-of-marketing-and-7-tried-and-true-lead-gen-tactics/): On May 14th, Kath Pay and myself hosted the 1st edition of the International Lifecycle Summit. You can view the recorded webinars on-demand here. You can view Dave Scott's (Marketfish) session on "The Mathematics of Marketing and 7 Tried and True Lead Gen Tactics" below: https://www.brighttalk.com/clients/flashplatform/viewerdefault/loader.swf - [How to create customer-focused communications and increase customer engagement](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-create-customer-focused-communications-and-increase-customer-engagement/): On May 14th, Kath Pay and myself hosted the 1st edition of the International Lifecycle Summit. You can view the recorded webinars on-demand here. You can view Thomas Bailey's (Teradata eCircle) session on "How to create customer-focused communications and increase customer engagement" below: https://www.brighttalk.com/clients/flashplatform/viewerdefault/loader.swf - [Email as the cornerstone of a solid eCRM strategy: what works and what doesn't?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/email-as-the-cornerstone-of-a-solid-ecrm-strategy-what-works-and-what-doesnt/): On May 14th, Kath Pay and myself hosted the 1st edition of the International Lifecycle Summit. You can view the recorded webinars on-demand here. You can view my session on “Email as the cornerstone of a solid eCRM strategy: what works and what doesn’t?” below:   https://www.brighttalk.com/clients/flashplatform/viewerdefault/loader.swf - [Infographic: The Evolution of Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/infographic-the-evolution-of-email-marketing/): The below infographic (courtesy of Red Eye International) outlines some of the biggest influences on email marketing, showing how it has evolved from a mass marketing approach to a highly targeted form of marketing automation. - [Two Online Marketing Events You Don't Want To Miss!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/two-events-you-dont-want-to-miss/): Kath Pay and myself are planning two online events in the coming months – which are completely free to attend! Make sure to sign up to the mailinglist to find out when we open registrations! May 14, 2013: International Lifecycle Summit @ your desk (the recorded sessions are now available to watch on-demand) June 20, 2013: International Email... - [Recommended Reading 04/05/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-04052013/): Does CTA length affect CTRs? tags: tw tg design cta testing Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Mind Your Email Reputation, Watch Out For Spam Traps](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mind-your-email-reputation-watch-out-for-spam-traps/): Having spam traps in your emailing list is a big problem. They damage your email reputation, resulting in your emails getting stuck in spam filters. That’s why, as an email marketer, you should do everything in your power to prevent spam traps from ending up in your databases. What are spam traps? Spam traps are seemingly valid... - [A Look Into Email Marketing Trends for 2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-look-into-email-marketing-trends-for-2013/): Email is one of the most profitable marketing channels today. Looking at all the new technology hitting the market it does seem like the sky is the limit. With this new technology comes new consumer expectations, and new email marketing trends. Many of the trends in email marketing are heavily based on technology advances. Optimizing... - [Recommended Reading 03/21/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-03212013/): Spamhaus Provides First Batch of Answers “Several weeks ago, Steve Linford, chief executive of anti-spam organization Spamhaus agreed to take questions from marketers through the Magill Report. Marketers responded with more than 50 questions. This week, Linford provided answers to the first 14.” tags: tw tg spamhaus deliverability Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite... - [Recommended Reading 03/15/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-03152013/): Using Integrations to Make Your Emails More Dynamic tags: tw tg strategy integration iPad Opens Grown 49% in 12 Months; Total Mobile Email Opens Back to 43% tags: tw tg mobile stats design coding If Landing Pages Were People – 3 Nasty Habits That Drive Prospects Away tags: tw tg landing_pages Spamhaus warns marketers to... - [Recommended Reading 03/14/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-03142013/): How To Find Good Email Marketing Help tags: tw tg hiring What are Legacy Spam Traps? tags: tw tg spamtraps Case Study: 30 Percent Increase in Email List Growth “moving the sign-up call to action above the fold resulted in 30% increase in email sign-ups and a 27% increase in revenue on the test page”... - [Recommended Reading 03/09/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-03092013/): Customer Relationships – Managing Marketing Content Across the Customer Lifecycle : MarketingProfs Article tags: tg tw E-mail Marketing – E-mail produces 7% more sales per message in Q4 – Internet Retailer tags: tg tw 6 Strategies for Writing Effective Web Copy | Powered by Search tags: tg tw MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2013 Wrap-up: Top 5... - [Recommended Reading 03/02/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-03022013/): 10 Ways to Suck at Email Deliverability | Deliverability.com tags: tw tg deliverability Which is the best way to boost revenue from email marketing? tags: tg tw conversion Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Recommended Reading 03/01/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-03012013/): Making the most of your funnel: the ‘Hail Mary’ email tags: tg tw lifecycle Thoughts on bounce handling from Word to the Wise tags: tg tw bounce-handling deliverability Australia and New Zealand Email Intelligence Report tags: tg tw study What Big Data and Your Kids Have in Common [Infographic] tags: tg tw big-data How to... - [Recommended Reading 02/27/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02272013/): 3 Neuromarketing Considerations For Landing Page Optimization tags: tg tw MediaPost Publications Why (And How) Marketers Should Follow DMARC 02/25/2013 tags: tg tw What will kill email? – Christopher S. Penn : Awaken Your Superhero tags: tg tw 68% of people use their smartphone for email, 26% for shopping | Econsultancy tags: tg tw Using... - [Recommended Reading 02/25/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02252013/): How to Manage an Increase in Email Frequency tags: tg tw frequency Email Preferred Communication Channel; Commands More Clicks & ROI “Not only was email the most popular online activity of 2012, but it also has higher click-through rates, conversion rates and ROI than other channels. And this trend is only going to continue —... - [Recommended Reading 02/21/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02212013/): 3 Long-Form Copywriting Tricks You Should Steal “did you know that some of the highest-converting short copy on the web today is based on simple long-copy principles? True story. So let’s take a look at just 3 landing page copywriting tricks you can steal from long copy today – and test on your own short-copy... - [Recommended Reading 02/19/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02192013/): How Quibb Keeps Daily Email Open Rates between 50% and 70% “There are several tactics that have helped to maintain these open rates over time, along with some tweaks and adjustments that have worked well to keep them high over the past few months. Let’s dive in to what has worked…” tags: tg tw cases... - [Recommended Reading 02/16/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02162013/): 6 lessons you can learn from Amazon’s killer email marketing tags: tg tw cases amazon strategy triggered conversion How to Build an Email Marketing Machine: Gangnam Style tags: tg tw tactics How to Keep Email Marketing Manageable tags: tw tg tactics planning strategy Coding Pixel Perfect Emails [Part 1] tags: tw tg coding design Driving... - [Recommended Reading 02/15/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02152013/): Deliverability Resources All the deliverability resources you’ll ever need 🙂 tags: tw tg deliverability tools The Ultimate Visual Marketing Guide “while visualizations can be a very powerful tool for a HUGE variety of niches, you need to be measuring the impact on your bottom line, that is, more sales, more leads, and more of the... - [Recommended Reading 02/14/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02142013/): Browse Abandonment Emails: How You Can Use Them to Bring Browsers Back to Buy tags: tw tg abandonment triggered automation 3 Questions to Drive Your Multiscreen Email Design Decisions “before you decide to adopt a responsive, screen-agnostic or other design approach, it’s important to have a deep understanding of what’s actually going on with your... - [Recommended Reading 02/13/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02132013/): Facebook Puts A Price On Permission “The program, which is in beta, allows individuals to pay $1 to send someone outside of their network a message and have it land in the recipient’s inbox instead of the junk-collecting black hole-like “Other” folder.” tags: facebook tg tw Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links... - [Video: Tamara Gielen on Email Trends for 2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/video-tamara-gielen-on-email-trends-for-2013/): I was invited to be the keynote speaker at the German Email Expo in Frankfurt last week. Here's a video of an interview in which I talk about trends for 2013. Check it out: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3r6N4qo-u0] I just wish they had cut out the last few seconds 😉 - [3 Startup Mistakes to Avoid in Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/3-startup-mistakes-to-avoid-in-email-marketing/): A new business is born every 5 seconds in the U.S. according to the Startup Ecosytem Report 2012 by Startup Genome. Of them, 45% last only 6 months before closing their doors, and only 1 in 12 businesses succeed and stay in the market. Why is this figure so high? 20% of startups fail because... - [Recommended Reading 02/12/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02122013/): The challenge of Gmail – Word to the Wise “Gmail’s current filtering scheme seems designed to focus on domain reputation and minimize the impact of IP reputation.” tags: deliverability gmail tg tw Embedded image support in HTML email “embedded images in email do not evade image blocking. In the case of ‘the Outlooks’1 above, not... - [Recommended Reading 02/11/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02112013/): The Retail Email Blog: Alert: New Hotmail Rendering Issue -tg “Since Outlook 2007 & 2010 supports style tags we are recommending to use a class for the margin for Outlook that overrides the padding with !important.” tags: coding hotmail outlook tg tw Google Doubles Down on Weak DKIM Keys: What You Need to Do Now to be Compliant... - [Recommended Reading 02/09/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02092013/): Survey Shows B2B Marketers Will Prioritize Email Marketing, SEO, Social Media in 2013 -tg tags: stats b2b tg tw Holy Grail of eCommerce Conversion Optimization – 91 Point Checklist and Infographic -tg tags: conversion ecommerce infographic tg tw How to Get Your Boss to Care About Content Marketing -tg “Whether you’re selling content marketing to... - [Recommended Reading 02/08/2013](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-02082013/): Survey Shows B2B Marketers Will Prioritize Email Marketing, SEO, Social Media in 2013 -tg tags: stats b2b tg tw Holy Grail of eCommerce Conversion Optimization – 91 Point Checklist and Infographic -tg tags: conversion ecommerce infographic tg tw How to Get Your Boss to Care About Content Marketing -tg “Whether you’re selling content marketing to... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1/): The Science Behind Those Obama Campaign E-Mails -tg “Most of the $690 million Obama raised online came from fundraising e-mails. During the campaign, Obama’s staff wouldn’t answer questions about them or the alchemy that made them so successful. Now, with the election over, they’re opening the black box.” tags: tw tg cases testing frequency Posted from... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly/): Email Design Tip: The Fold & Your Call To Action -tg Our results showed that the calls-to-action above the fold were clicked on more often than those below the fold in 78% of the emails tested. Within the emails, above-the-fold calls-to-action received an average of 13% more clicks than their below-the-fold counterparts. tags: tg tw... - [[webinar] How Multivariate Testing Dramatically Improved the Results of Philips' Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar-how-multivariate-testing-dramatically-improved-the-results-of-philips-email-campaigns/): On November 15th, Basile Fattal, Sr. Manager CRM at Philips Consumer Lifestyle will talk about how he uses multivariate testing to dramatically increase the results of his email campaigns at the International Email Marketing Summit. Email creative content is typically based on gut feel and most email campaigns were not optimized, costing Philips thousands in... - [[Webinar] The Role of Email in the new B2B Marketing Mix](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar-the-role-of-email-in-the-new-b2b-marketing-mix/): On November 15th, Kieran Flanagan, Marketo's Online Marketing Manager EMEA, will be giving a keynote presentation at the International Email Marketing Summit next week to discuss why email is an integral part of the new B2B marketing strategy. He will discuss:   How your company can move past batch and blast to event triggered email  Why... - [10 Email Marketing Questions You'll Get Answers to on November 15th](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-email-marketing-questions-youll-get-answers-to-on-november-15th/): How to measure the impact on email frequency on engagement and revenue? How many is too many?  How does Philips systematically increase its email conversion by a minimum factor of 2?  What’s email’s role in driving sales in other channels?  How is Thomas Cook using customer data to enhance the customer experience?  What does it take... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-2/): Responsive email support -tg “Responsive emails = fluid grids, fluid media and media queries. The idea being where @media isn’t supported, you can fallback on a fluid layout. As fluid layouts pose issues on some desktop email clients, alternatively you can fallback to a fixed-width mobile template.” tags: tg tw coding responsive design html mediaqueries... - [International Email Marketing Summit: What's On The Agenda?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/international-email-marketing-summit-whats-on-the-agenda/): Here's an overview of what we've got lined up for you for the 2nd edition of the International Email Marketing Summit on November 15, 2012. Remember there is no registration fee to attend so go ahead and register, even if you can't make it -we'll make the recordings available to all registrants. A Real Life... - [International Email Marketing Summit @ Your Desk](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/attend-the-2nd-edition-of-the-international-email-marketing-summit-your-desk-november-15-2012/): Yes, we're doing it again. Join us for the second edition of the International Email Marketing Summit @ Your Desk on November 15, 2012. There is no registration fee and you'll get tons of free education on email marketing from top speakers so what are you waiting for: check out the agenda and register now!... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-2/): Mobile Email Newsletters -tg People increasingly read their email — and their email newsletters — on mobile devices. Jacob Nielsen’s research into the general usability of phones and tablets shows that small mobile phone screens present big usability challenges. They thus focused on email newsletter usability on those screens in our their research. tags: tg... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-3/): Delivering increased relevance and revenue with automated emails -tg tags: relevance automation tw tg Applying fluid layouts to HTML email design -tg tags: coding design tw tg Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [5 Key Factors for Conversion Rate Optimization Success (infograph)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-key-factors-for-conversion-rate-optimization-success/): Okay, so this is not about email marketing, but I think it's very relevant for email marketers nonetheless. The five key ingredients for successful conversion rate optimization are identified in a new report published by Econsultancy and RedEye this week. The research is based on a survey of almost 900 digital marketers carried out in... - [Best Time To Send Email [INFOGRAPHIC]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/best-time-to-send-email-infographic/): GetResponse has just published a new infographic on optimizing the newsletter timing: "Email hour by hour":   - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-3-2/): Beyond Segmentation: Aim for Engagement Marketing -tg tags: segmentation automation engagement tg tw Less Than 1% of Online Purchases Influenced by Social Media [STUDY] -tg “Ecommerce businesses should concentrate more of their efforts on traditional online marketing tactics like search and e-mail than social media. That’s the conclusion of a Forrester study released Tuesday, which... - [What Colleges Should Be Teaching Marketing Majors](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-colleges-should-be-teaching-marketing-majors/): In this CRMSoftware.TV video roundtable with marketing experts from Hubspot and Silverpop, the panelists discuss the evolved role of marketers and the skills universities need to be teaching students to equip them for success. Great video! - [Tracking & Actioning on Key Email Marketing Metrics [webinar]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tracking-actioning-on-key-email-marketing-metrics-webinar/): This morning I presented a webinar on "Tracking and Actioning on Key Email Marketing Metrics" where I discussed: Which metrics are important to track?  How and when to track to them  Setting up an email marketing dashboard  How to identify and take action on trends, issues and key learnings You can find the recording here.... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-2-2/): The Truth About Spamtraps -tg tags: deliverability spamtraps tw tg Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-3/): Why Email Marketing is King -tg Do you know your off-email multiplier? Zero is of course possible, but studies to date suggest that a number between two and three is typical. tags: metrics industry tg tw Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-4/): 16 Tips for Troubleshooting Your HTML Email -tg tags: coding html tg tw The Foundations of Coding HTML Email -tg tags: coding html tg tw Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-2-3/): 7 Proven Strategies For Creating Effective Email Marketing Messages That Will Increase The Attendance For Your Next Webinar -tg How to you create email marketing messages that will persuade people to attend your webinar? Here are 7 proven strategies on how to do just that. tags: tactics tg tw Posted from Diigo. The rest of... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-4/): Case: HP uses dynamic email content to drive 300% open rate and 600% clickthrough increase -tg Read how Hewlett-Packard is targeting two percent of its email database to drive higher engagement and generate 300% higher open rates and 600% higher clickthrough. tags: segmentation dynamic_content relevance behavioral_targeting tg tw Posted from Diigo. The rest of my... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-5/): Using Media Queries To Improve Readability -tg how to bump up your email’s text size using media queries tags: coding media_queries tg tw INFOGRAPHIC: Mobile is Leading the Email Revolution -tg Return Path looked at nearly one billion data points for this mobile study to see how this growth was affecting email, and the numbers... - [16 Things People Really Hate About Your Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/16-things-people-really-hate-about-your-email-marketing/): Over on the Hubspot blog, Cory Eridon talks about these "16 Things People Really Hate About Your Email Marketing": Emailing People Who Didn't Opt In Making Unsubscribing Difficult   Not Honoring Unsubscribes Writing a Vague Subject Line   Not Indicating How We Know Each Other   Speaking With Forced Sincerity  Providing Irrelevant Content   Bombarding... - [11 Simple Tips on How to Send Email Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/11-simple-tips-on-how-to-send-email-campaigns/): Everybody loves infographs, so here's one on 11 Simple Tips on How to Send Email Campaigns 🙂 - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-6/): 12 Reasons to Use a Welcome Email for Higher ROI -tg After a consumer has connected with you and handed over their email address, what kind of welcome do you give them? It could be they bought something from you, subscribed to your newsletter, or downloaded a whitepaper. No matter the action they take or... - [The State of the Web by Mary Meeker](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-state-of-the-web-by-mary-meeker/): There are some very interesting facts in this presentation. Check it out: - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-2-4/): 20 ideas to inspire your next email newsletter -tg tags: tg tw content newsletters 9 Questions about Email Marketing You’ve Always Wanted to Ask Tamara Gielen -tg The nice folks over at Latvian email service provider Mailigen asked me some questions and posted my responses to their blog… tags: tg tw Posted from Diigo. The... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-5/): 10 Simply Awesome Examples of Email Marketing -tg tags: tg cases tw Email Marketing Strategy Assessment -tg If you’re planning to utilise email as a marketing channel, then it’s imperative to put a plan in place. Econsultancy’s Jake Hird discusses how to execute a best practice email marketing strategy. tags: tg strategy tw Hugh MacLeod’s... - [Don't Forget to Register for the International Email Marketing Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/dont-forget-to-register-for-the-international-email-marketing-summit/): On Wednesday Kath Pay and I will be hosting the International Email Marketing Summit, an online email marketing conference that you can attend for free without having to leave your desk. We’ve got some really amazing speakers and presentations lined up. Here’s an overview: Cracking the Code: Keys to Email Creative Success Riaz Kanani, Alchemy... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-7/): top 5 strategies to drive relevance -tg tags: tg tw relevance Twitter Buys Personalized Email Marketer RestEngine To Deliver Best Tweet Digests -tg Who said email is dead? Even social media itself can’t live without email… just sayin’… tags: tg twitter social_media tw LinkedIn upgrade email effectiveness analysis tags: tg cases 3 steps to revive... - [Elements Of a Successful Email Campaign [webinar]](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/elements-of-a-successful-email-campaign/): Yesterday I presented a webinar on building effective email campaigns. You can find the recording here: [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch8kykUEc8w] Also, make sure to register for the International Email Marketing Summit on May 16th. You'll get a lot more really practical email marketing tips on how to build effective email marketing campaigns. The timing of the event... - [Join me at the International Email Marketing Summit on May 16, 2012](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join-me-at-the-international-email-marketing-summit-on-may-16-2012/): Register now and learn all about the latest trends and best practices in email marketing without leaving your desk! And it won't cost you a penny/eurocent/dollarcent/… 🙂 Plan to Engage & Brighttalk are proud to present to you the very first edition of the International Email Marketing Summit. Not only will you be inspired by the... - [NEW: Tamara Gielen Teaches Live Email Marketing Workshops in Belgium!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/tamara-gielen-teaches-live-email-marketing-workshops-in-belgium/): Over the next couple of months I’m organizing a bunch of email marketing workshops in Belgium (in Dutch): check them out! Topics include:  Getting started with email marketing Building a quality list Creating effective email campaigns HTML for email Performing an audit of your email marketing strategy The workshops will be taught in Dutch and... - [Webinar: B2B Email Marketing and Lead Nurturing – Trends for 2012](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/webinar-b2b-email-marketing-and-lead-nurturing-trends-for-2012/): In B2B marketing, small changes can mean big differences to the success of marketing programmes. Check out this webinar with Tamara Gielen of Plan to Engage and Liz Smyth of Marketo, as they explore best practices and strategies to drive revenue with email marketing. You will learn about: Improving the odds of your emails being... - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-1-6/): Email Marketing Metrics… what do they all mean and how they help you? -tg tags: tg metrics Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [Recommended Reading (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/recommended-reading-weekly-8/): Examples of integrating social media and email marketing -tg There’s more to social-email integration than share buttons tags: tg social tw Email Opt-ins: Be Where Your Customers Are -tg a list of the most important new channels, along with tips on how to leverage them for your own marketing program. tags: tg list-growth social mobile... - [7 reasons why your subscribers don't respond to your email campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/7-reasons-why-your-subscribers-dont-respond-to-your-email-campaigns/): Yesterday I was invited to speak at eCircle’s Connect Europe 2012 event. What a fantastic conference and venue it was!!! Lots of great presentations and a keynote from Sir Renulph Fiennes himself, which was very entertaining 🙂 Thanks to everyone who attended my session, you were a fantastic audience! I just wish there were more seats... - [4 Fun AI Prompts for Family Holiday Activities](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/4-fun-ai-prompts-for-family-holiday-activities/): Holiday boredom is no match for these delightfully crazy AI prompts! From cooking with tiny chefs to math games disguised as fun, your family will be strapped in for a ride of creativity and laughter! - [5 AI Prompts to Make Your Holidays Brighter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-ai-prompts-to-make-your-holidays-brighter/): The winter holidays can be delightful yet demanding. Utilizing AI, you can streamline party planning, packing, reflection, memory preservation, and photo organization, enabling you to focus on creating meaningful experiences with loved ones. - [Your Marketing Team Needs a Dedicated AI Tester](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your-marketing-team-needs-a-dedicated-ai-tester/): Marketing teams are like toddlers with toys; everyone’s playing solo with AI tools instead of sharing insights. Appoint an AI tester to turn scattered experiments into a delightful knowledge feast. Who knew teamwork could spark such joy? - [A Simple Framework for Making AI Decisions in Your Daily Life](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-simple-framework-for-making-ai-decisions-in-your-daily-life/): The rise of AI tools raises questions about their role in our lives. Thoughtfully categorizing tasks can help us decide when to use AI, collaborate with it, or handle tasks ourselves, emphasizing human value and connection. - [AI as Your Strategic Advisor: Building Tomorrow's Business](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/beyond-tools-when-ai-becomes-your-strategic-partner/): Experts predict that by 2025, AI will evolve into a strategic partner for businesses, enhancing decision-making and personalization while taking on routine tasks, thus allowing companies to dynamically respond to market trends and customer needs. - [The Living Business: Why AI Implementation Never Stops Growing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-living-business-why-ai-implementation-never-stops-growing/): Envision your business as a thriving garden where AI flourishes through clear goals, clean data, and continuous adaptation. Embrace resilience and collaboration, nurturing innovative solutions that evolve and enhance your ecosystem for lasting success. - [Your AI Can Do More Than Write Emails: Here's How](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your-ai-can-do-more-than-write-emails-heres-how/): Many businesses are underutilizing AI, applying it to basic tasks instead of leveraging its true potential. To succeed, companies must embrace AI’s superhuman analytical abilities and innovate, solving complex problems beyond human limitations. - [From Resistance to Enthusiasm: Building Your AI-Ready Culture](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/from-resistance-to-enthusiasm-building-your-ai-ready-culture/): The main challenge of AI adoption lies in cultural resistance rather than technical issues. Organizations must reframe AI as an empowering tool, build trust, encourage experimentation, and foster clear communication for successful integration and collaboration. - [The Next Step in AI Evolution: Meet Your New Autonomous Digital Teammate](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-next-step-in-ai-evolution-meet-your-new-autonomous-digital-teammate/): Gartner predicts that by 2028, 33% of enterprise software will feature "agentic AI," capable of independent action, allowing businesses to improve efficiency. Start preparing now by exploring current AI software and building trust gradually. - [Smart AI Use in Marketing: When to Lean In and When to Step Back](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/smart-ai-use-in-marketing-when-to-lean-in-and-when-to-step-back/): Ethan Mollick's article illuminates the potent synergy of AI and marketing, empowering marketers to generate creativity, optimize content, and enhance engagement while emphasizing the irreplaceable value of human intuition and emotional connection in strategy and communication. - [Generative AI Implementation Starts at the Top: A Message for CEOs and Business Leaders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/generative-ai-implementation-starts-at-the-top-a-message-for-ceos-and-business-leaders/): CEOs ignoring hands-on experience with LLMs risk crippling their organizations. This technology isn’t just a tool; it’s a transformative force. Embrace it or fall behind in innovation and leadership. - [The Emotional Side of Working with AI: What's Really Holding You Back?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-emotional-side-of-working-with-ai-whats-really-holding-you-back/): Using AI can evoke feelings of guilt and question our professional identity, but it should be seen as a partner that enhances our capabilities rather than a replacement, fostering growth and creativity. - [The Smart Way to Integrate AI Into Your Business Strategy](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-smart-way-to-integrate-ai-into-your-business-strategy/): Many organizations make the mistake of treating artificial intelligence as a separate initiative, creating standalone AI strategies that end up siloed from their core business objectives. But here’s the thing: AI isn’t meant to be a parallel track – it’s most powerful when woven into your existing business strategy. Think about it this way: If... - [Why Waiting to Learn AI Isn't an Option Anymore](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-waiting-to-learn-ai-isnt-an-option-anymore/): Mastering AI is essential for thriving in today's workforce. Embrace change, learn continuously, and leverage AI to enhance your skills and productivity. Start your journey now! - [The Joy of Inspiring Others: Small Moments, Big Impact](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-joy-of-inspiring-others-small-moments-big-impact/): Small moments like my partner sharing AI knowledge and a community presentation in Moere show how inspiring others creates meaningful ripples of positive change. - [AI Development Tools Are Changing How We Build Software](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-development-tools-are-changing-how-we-build-software/): AI tools like Lovable and Cades are revolutionizing software development, enabling anyone to create applications effortlessly. This accessibility could shatter traditional coding barriers forever. - [Enterprise AI Spending: What the Numbers Tell Us About Implementation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/enterprise-ai-spending-what-the-numbers-tell-us-about-implementation/): Businesses are rapidly implementing AI, with spending increasing from $2.3 billion to $13.8 billion, revealing a shift towards practical applications that offer clear returns on investment. - [AI in Healthcare: What Business Leaders Can Learn from Chatbots Outperforming Doctors](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-in-healthcare-what-business-leaders-can-learn-from-chatbots-outperforming-doctors/): A study shows ChatGPT surpasses human doctors in diagnostic accuracy, emphasizing the potential of AI in business for data analysis, collaboration, and enhancing human expertise. - [When AI Reshapes Career Paths: Navigating the New Professional Landscape](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/when-ai-reshapes-career-paths-navigating-the-new-professional-landscape/): Something caught my attention earlier this week that I haven’t been able to shake off. A local US news station announced they were replacing their entire production team—twenty skilled professionals—with a single AI system managed by one supervisor. This isn’t just another story about AI replacing jobs. It’s making me think harder about how we’ll... - [The New-Team-Member-Test: A Simple Way to Write Better AI Prompts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-new-team-member-test-a-simple-way-to-write-better-ai-prompts/): To enhance AI prompt effectiveness, envision it as a new team member needing clear guidance. Provide context, define expectations, and specify the audience for better results. This approach fosters stronger communication and improves outcomes. - [Creating Your AI Board of Directors: The Power of Multiple Experts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/creating-your-ai-board-of-directors-the-power-of-multiple-experts/): Remember when you first started working with AI prompts? If you’re like most people I work with, you probably discovered that getting better results often means asking AI to take on a specific expert role. Maybe you’ve tried “Act as a master copywriter” or “Take on the role of a marketing strategist.” That approach works—but... - [How AI is Giving Marketers Their Creative Time Back](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-ai-is-giving-marketers-their-creative-time-back/): The marketing landscape has shifted dramatically. Not too long ago, managing Google and Facebook campaigns with Google Analytics was enough to keep things under control. Today’s reality? Marketers are drowning in data, spending up to 80% of their time analyzing numbers instead of crafting compelling campaigns. I recently listened to an interesting “Emerce TV” interview... - [5 Practical Ways to Use ChatGPT's Advanced Voice Features](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/5-practical-ways-to-use-chatgpts-advanced-voice-features/): ChatGPT's voice feature is like having a personal assistant who's also a life coach, meeting buddy, and sales guru—all rolled into one! Practice presentations without the mirror’s judgment, brainstorm in meetings without interruptions, and tackle strategies while pretending to be busy on your commute. Who knew productivity could sound so fun? - [10 AI-Powered Learning Techniques for Business Growth](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/10-ai-powered-learning-techniques-for-business-growth/): When I started exploring AI tools for learning, I discovered very quickly that combining proven educational methods with AI can dramatically speed up how quickly we absorb and retain new information. Here are 10 techniques that are particularly valuable if you want to master new skills efficiently. 1. Break It Down with AI Scaffolding This... - [Getting Started with AI? Make Data Security Your Foundation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/getting-started-with-ai-make-data-security-your-foundation/): As AI becomes more prevalent in business operations, one question keeps coming up: “How do I keep my data safe when using AI?” It’s a critical question, especially considering that 83% of organizations experience more than one data breach in their lifetime. If you’re considering implementing AI in your business, starting with a solid data... - [Generative AI Isn't Optional Anymore - Here's Why](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/generative-ai-isnt-optional-anymore-heres-why/): Two major research studies paint a fascinating picture of AI adoption in business. Last May, McKinsey reported that 75% of companies plan to increase their AI investments over the next three years, while EY’s research in July 2024 revealed that 95% of organizations are already investing in AI. These aren’t just statistics – they represent... - [New Research Shows How Enterprises Are Actually Using Gen AI in 2024](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/new-research-shows-how-enterprises-are-actually-using-gen-ai-in-2024/): In my previous posts, we’ve explored various aspects of AI integration in business. Today, I want to share some fascinating insights from a new report by AI at Wharton and GBK Collective that reveals how enterprises are navigating the early years of generative AI. The research shows a dramatic surge in Gen AI adoption, with... - [Introducing The Hybrid Advantage: A Community for AI-Powered Business Growth](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/introducing-the-hybrid-advantage-a-community-for-ai-powered-business-growth/): Join The Hybrid Advantage, a free community designed for busy professionals eager to harness the power of AI for business growth without feeling overwhelmed. Here, we focus on practical applications, collaborative learning, and direct access to expertise, ensuring that you thrive in this rapidly evolving landscape together with like-minded peers. - [Framework for Prioritizing AI Initiatives](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/framework-for-prioritizing-ai-initiatives/): Unlock the immense potential of AI in your business with the MAP and WIN frameworks! By assessing materials, abilities, and processes, then evaluating project impact, you can achieve significant advancements. Start small, test, and adapt your projects for success. Join The Hybrid Advantage community to learn, connect, and thrive in AI! - [Mastering Prompt Engineering: Key Skills for AI Interaction](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mastering-prompt-engineering-key-skills-for-ai-interaction/): A recent roundtable discussion with Anthropic AI experts emphasized the importance of clear communication in interacting with AI. Key skills for effective prompt engineering include understanding AI capabilities, refining instructions based on output, and fostering collaboration. The conversation suggested a shift towards AI proactively seeking clarification, enhancing user experience as technology evolves. - [Work Smarter, Not Harder: Uncover AI Opportunities to Enhance Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/work-smarter-not-harder-uncover-ai-opportunities-to-enhance-email-marketing/): Feeling stuck in your email marketing tasks? Try this exercise to rediscover joy in your work and identify AI opportunities. Embracing AI can free up your time for more enjoyable work. AI can enhance subject lines, content creation, audience segmentation, A/B test analysis, performance reporting, and personalization at scale in email marketing. - [Master AI for Email Marketing Workshop: Hands-On Strategies & Personalized Guidance](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/master-ai-for-email-marketing-workshop-hands-on-strategies-personalized-guidance/): In my recent posts about AI in email marketing, we’ve explored everything from crafting effective prompts to creating custom GPTs for specialized tasks. I’ve even shared my AI-powered Email Marketing Prompt Generator to help you create more effective campaigns. Now, it’s time to take your skills to the next level. I’m excited to announce that... - [AI-Powered Email Marketing Prompt Generator: Supercharge Your Campaigns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-powered-email-marketing-prompt-generator-supercharge-your-campaigns/): In my recent posts, we’ve explored various aspects of AI in email marketing, from crafting effective prompts to leveraging AI for campaign strategy. Today, I’m excited to share a tool that brings together all these concepts: the Email Marketing Prompt Generator. This app is designed to help email marketers harness the power of AI to... - [Custom GPTs: Supercharging Your Email Marketing with AI](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/custom-gpts-supercharging-your-email-marketing-with-ai/): Custom GPTs are specialized AI assistants that excel at specific tasks, transforming email marketing with tailored expertise, efficiency boost, creativity on demand, powerful automations, and adaptive learning. They complement human capabilities, allowing a focus on creative and strategic aspects of marketing. Interested in leveraging Custom GPTs? Let's explore how they can elevate your email marketing strategies! - [9 Ways AI and Humans Can Collaborate](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/9-ways-ai-and-humans-can-collaborate/): Generative AI is reshaping business, making human-AI collaboration crucial. AI excels at generating content and analyzing data, while humans refine, interpret, and oversee. Collaboration ensures ethical use and societal impact. Embrace AI as a tool to augment human capabilities, focusing on creativity and strategic thinking. Interested in mastering AI collaboration? Personalized coaching is available. - [AI, Email Marketing, Motorcycles and Life Lessons: My Conversation with Joi Brooks](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-email-marketing-motorcycles-and-life-lessons-my-conversation-with-joi-brooks/): I had a fantastic time chatting with Joi Brooks on her "Email and Coffee" podcast, talking about AI, email marketing, and even my beloved motorcycles. We explored AI's role in marketing, emphasizing its collaboration with human creativity. Despite its rapid evolution, continuous learning is key. Let's embrace new tech while staying true to our passions! - [Using ChatGPT for Holiday Planning: My Motorcycle Trip Experience](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/using-chatgpt-for-holiday-planning-my-motorcycle-trip-experience/): AI, specifically ChatGPT, proved invaluable in planning my motorcycle trip to the South of France for 27 people. It effortlessly bridged language barriers, translated email conversations, and provided real-time voice translations during calls. Moreover, it generated tailored packing lists, itineraries, and valuable information on local regulations. This experience showcased AI's transformative power in personal travels. - [7 ChatGPT Pitfalls to Avoid: Maximizing AI for Smarter Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/7-chatgpt-pitfalls-to-avoid-maximizing-ai-for-smarter-email-marketing/): Discover the full potential of ChatGPT! Don't limit it to basic tasks. Engage in actual conversations using voice mode, and customize it to suit your needs. Be mindful of memory limitations and always fact-check its information. Clear instructions are key. Join our workshop to master AI for email marketing and avoid these pitfalls. - [Improving ChatGPT Responses with Iterative Prompting](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/improving-chatgpt-responses-with-iterative-prompting/): Discover the power of iterative prompting with AI. Gain insights, accuracy, and creativity through refining prompts. See how a simple bedtime story evolves into a rich, engaging tale. Explore this technique and unleash ChatGPT's full potential. Join the upcoming workshop for more. Just as with riding a motorcycle, enjoy the journey of improvement. - [Traditional AI vs Generative AI: What's the Difference?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/traditional-ai-vs-generative-ai-whats-the-difference/): AI can revolutionize email marketing. Traditional AI is like a specialized assistant, while generative AI is creative and flexible, drawing from vast knowledge. Generative AI offers fresh ideas, personalization, efficiency, and continuous learning. - [Effective Prompt Engineering for Generative AI: Essential Resources and Practical Advice](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/effective-prompt-engineering-for-generative-ai-essential-resources-and-practical-advice/): In a recent catch-up with an ex-colleague, I was thrilled to see their enthusiasm for Generative AI. Prompt engineering is often overlooked, but it's crucial for effective AI utilization. I recommend "Co-Intelligence" by Ethan Mollick and the Prompt Engineering Specialization course on Coursera for those seeking to enhance their skills. - [Maximizing Productivity with AI: Tools, Tips, and Recommendations](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/maximizing-productivity-with-ai-tools-tips-and-recommendations/): In previous posts, I've stressed the importance of AI in our daily lives. Today, I'll share my experiences with my favorite AI tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, and Perplexity. ChatGPT and Claude are my BFFs, Midjourney creates top-notch images, and Perplexity.ai is my Google substitute. MS Copilot for Web? Only good for quick page summaries! Tell me, which AI tools do you fancy? - [Collaborating with AI: Key Takeaways from Ethan Mollick's Presentation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/collaborating-with-ai-key-takeaways-from-ethan-mollicks-presentation/): AI is revolutionizing work performance, leveling the playing field, and reshaping industries. Ethan Mollick's presentation reveals staggering productivity gains and the potential for AI to enhance idea generation and persuasion. As AI reshapes the future of work, collaboration with AI becomes a crucial skill. Join the "Master AI for Email Marketing" workshop to stay ahead. - [AI-Enhanced Evergreen Newsletters: Boost Engagement and Save Time](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-enhanced-evergreen-newsletters-boost-engagement-and-save-time/): The article introduces the concept of evergreen newsletters and explores ways to enhance them using AI. It suggests using AI to identify evergreen topics, repurpose content, optimize scheduling, and maintain content. The writer acknowledges concerns about AI replacing human creativity but encourages using AI as a tool to amplify creativity, not replace it. - [No-Code AI Hackathon for Email Marketers: Boost Your Team's Skills](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/no-code-ai-hackathon-for-email-marketers-boost-your-teams-skills/): Ethan Mollick's LinkedIn post proposes a game-changing idea: hosting no-code AI hackathons to familiarize teams with Generative AI and integrate it into their work seamlessly. This approach offers hands-on learning, real problem solving, creativity boost, and team building. By implementing this innovative strategy, companies can drive AI adoption and foster a culture of continuous AI exploration. - [The Power of System 2 Thinking: Leveraging AI for Proactive Email Marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-power-of-system-2-thinking-leveraging-ai-for-proactive-email-marketing/): Are you getting swept up in the AI frenzy of email marketing, or are you strategically harnessing its power? Like Kahneman's System 1 and System 2 thinking, quick-fix AI implementation may be tempting, but taking a step back to deeply integrate AI into your strategy is the key to success. Balance efficiency with strategic creativity for impactful campaigns. - [Upskilling Your Email Marketing Team: 5 Strategies for Success](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/upskilling-your-email-marketing-team-5-strategies-for-success/): In the fast-evolving world of email marketing, upskilling is more important than ever. To keep your team at the top of their game, assess their needs, embrace AI tools, make learning enjoyable, customize training, and keep it engaging. By fostering a culture of continuous learning, you can stay ahead of the curve. - [Effective Prompt Engineering Frameworks for Email Marketing Success](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/effective-prompt-engineering-frameworks-for-email-marketing-success/): Crafting effective prompts is essential for smoother communication with AI tools. With frameworks like APE, RACE, and TAG, you can master prompt engineering, improving email campaigns and AI interactions. These frameworks create clarity and precision, leading to more accurate AI responses. Join the "Master AI for Email Marketing" workshop for hands-on experience and valuable insights. - [Master AI for Email Marketing: Learn to Develop Quality Campaigns with ChatGPT (Live Workshop)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/master-ai-for-email-marketing-learn-to-develop-quality-campaigns-with-chatgpt-live-workshop/): Get ready to revolutionize your email marketing strategy! Join our Master AI for Email Marketing workshop, where you'll dive deep into leveraging ChatGPT for impactful campaigns. Learn from industry experts Tamara Gielen and Jeanne Jennings, and secure your spot to unlock the power of generative AI. Early bird pricing available—register now! - [When You’re Stuck: How to Kickstart Your AI with Questions](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/when-youre-stuck-how-to-kickstart-your-ai-with-questions/): When you're stuck, let the AI lead the way. Instruct it to ask questions one at a time, reflecting on each answer. This approach focuses your thoughts, refines your needs, and ensures a productive dialogue. Try it and share your experience! - [Boost Your AI Skills: Just 10 Minutes a Day for Effective Prompts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/boost-your-ai-skills-just-10-minutes-a-day-for-effective-prompts/): Are you tired of vague AI responses? With just 10 minutes a day, refine your prompts. Be specific, provide context, assume a role, use examples, ask open-ended questions, refine, and iterate. See your AI skills grow! - [Join me for this webinar on "Using Generative AI TODAY for Campaign Development (not just copywriting!)"](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/join-me-for-this-webinar-on-using-generative-ai-today-for-campaign-development-not-just-copywriting/): If you’ve been following me on LinkedIn, you may have noticed that I have become rather obsessed with Generative AI these past few months. OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini (previously called Bard), Microsoft CoPilot, MidJourney, Perplexity, Galileo and so many other AI tools are saving me so much time every day. And the more I use... - [A round-up of my favorite reads of the past week](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-round-up-of-my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-2/): Updates to Gmail & Yahoo’s Sender GuidelinesYahoo posted a blog about the upcoming Send Requirements and an FAQ with more information and Google provided more information as well. In this article you’ll find some of the key information and the author promises to update it as more information is shared. Bonus Webinar: A Crash Course... - [A round-up of my favorite reads of the past week](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-round-up-of-my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week/): 10 Challenges Marketers Face When Implementing AI in 2023 [New Data + Tips] Some things to watch out for when using generative AI to improve your marketing campaigns and some good tips to help you getting it right. tags: ai AI Email Marketing: What It Is and How To Do It [Research + Tools] Learn... - [Google's New Email Sender Requirements: What You Need to Know.](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/googles-new-email-sender-requirements-what-you-need-to-know/): As from February 2024, Google will roll out stricter requirements for marketers that want to have their email campaigns delivered to Gmail inboxes. These new rules apply to all senders who send email to Gmail accounts: As I understand it, these requirements apply to all senders when sending email campaigns to personal Gmail accounts, so... - [Building Newsletters that Generate Leads](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/building-newsletters-that-generate-leads/): Watch my presentation on how to generate leads with email newsletters: - [The coolest trends in email marketing](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-coolest-trends-in-email-marketing-for-2018/): Every year Jordie van Rijn collects all of the trends and predictions on email and marketing automation into an EPIC post called “The Future of email marketing”. Now the outlines of email marketing trends start to take form, here are a few of this year’s favorites. Email production automation will become the norm We know... - [My favorite reads of the past week 03/13/2018 (a.m.)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-03132018-am/): Making Sense of Legitimate Interest Under the GDPR | Return Path Making Sense of Legitimate Interest Under the GDPR http://j.mp/2FzZTss Making Sense of Consent Under the GDPR | Return Path Making Sense of Consent Under the GDPR http://j.mp/2Ip8xrQ Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week 03/10/2018 (p.m.)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-03102018-pm/): How to Audit Your Email Campaigns in 4 Steps [Worksheet Provided] – Pinpointe Marketing Blog How to Audit Your Email Campaigns in 4 Steps [Worksheet Provided] http://j.mp/2oXxGSe The coolest trends in email marketing for 2018 – BE RELEVANT The coolest trends in email marketing for 2018 http://j.mp/2FCtroT Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite... - [My favorite reads of the past week 03/09/2018 (p.m.)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-03092018-pm/): How to Leverage the 6 Principles of Persuasion in Your Email Marketing | Movable Ink Blog How to Leverage the 6 Principles of Persuasion in Your Email Marketing http://j.mp/2HkYtPa Bitly Give and thou shall Convert: Adding Reciprocity to your Email Marketing | Emailaudience http://j.mp/2FE02ug Setting the Stage for a Successful Email Marketing Automation Campaign –... - [My favorite reads of the past week 03/01/2018 (p.m.)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-03012018-pm/): Email The Top Channel In Event Marketing Survey 02/28/2018 Email The Top Channel In Event Marketing Survey http://j.mp/2HTr92U Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week 03/01/2018 (a.m.)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-03012018-am/): Nearly 40% of subscribers ultimately cancel services | Retail Dive Nearly 40% of subscribers ultimately cancel subscription service http://j.mp/2F3QiGe Doing The Wrong Thing With The Right Data 02/28/2018 Doing The Wrong Thing With The Right Data http://j.mp/2HUmPk2 13 Email A/B Testing Mistakes that Limit Your Success – Litmus Software, Inc. 13 Email A/B Testing Mistakes... - [My favorite reads of the past week 02/28/2018 (p.m.)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-02282018-pm/): Inactive Email Subscribers Worth 32% of Active “one inactive subscriber is worth 32 percent of an active subscriber.” http://j.mp/2FFrZQb Customer journey mapping: the path to loyal customers – Think with Google Customer journey mapping: the path to loyal customers – Think with Google http://j.mp/2HUH7tE 25 Types of the Best Transactional Emails | Customer.io 25 Types... - [My favorite reads of the past week 02/28/2018 (a.m.)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-02282018-am/): 8 Email Hacks You Never Knew Existed – Litmus Software, Inc. 8 Email Hacks You Never Knew Existed – Litmus Software, Inc. http://j.mp/2GP8L9W Which Is The Best Image Format For Email? Which Is The Best Image Format For Email? http://j.mp/2FamBqg Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly/): DMARC: Help Protect Your Brand Against Email Fraud—Litmus DMARC: Help Protect Your Brand Against Email Fraud by @litmusapp http://j.mp/2oOf5GR How to Make Your Unsubscribe Survey More Actionable – Litmus Software, Inc. How to Make Your Unsubscribe Survey More Actionable http://j.mp/2oOlu5a Email Attention Spans Increasing [Infographic] – Litmus Software, Inc. Email Attention Spans Increasing [Infographic] http://j.mp/2oORg1F... - [Increase your landing page conversion rate with these 10 tips](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/increase-your-landing-page-conversion-rate-with-these-10-tips/): Whether you’re offering a demo of your product or services, or a free 30-minute consultation, or perhaps a free guide or eBook – whatever it is you’re offering, you need to make sure your landing pages are fully optimised to increase the chances of a conversion. So, how can you go about optimising your landing... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1/): Overview of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) | ICO Are you preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that goes into effect on May 1st 2018? http://j.mp/2hSZiU1 Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-2/): Data privacy voor marketeers kluwer Is jouw bedrijf al klaar voor de privacywetgeving die 1 mei 2018 van kracht gaat? Hoog tijd om ermee te beginnen!!! http://j.mp/2fAjOe5 Four predictions for email marketing in 2017 | ClickZ Four predictions for email marketing in 2017 by @ryanphelan http://j.mp/2fLu3L8 Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-3/): The Coming Revolution in Email Design · An A List Apart Article The Coming Revolution in Email Design http://j.mp/2fG2rV9 We Grew Our Email List to 44K, Then Stopped. Here’s Why. We Grew Our Email List to 44K, Then Stopped. Here’s Why. http://j.mp/2fG4FUu IBM Marketing Cloud | 2016 Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study Download it and... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-2-2/): Email Unsubscribes Rise On iOS Devices Since Latest Release 11/16/2016 Email Unsubscribes Rise On iOS Devices Since Latest Release http://j.mp/2fYnoKH Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1-2/): 10 email marketing terms every marketer should know | Campaign Monitor 10 #emailmarketing terms for newbies http://j.mp/2fdolS5 What’s wrong with Email Marketing today – State of Digital What’s wrong with Email Marketing today? http://j.mp/2fAm2r8 Gmail Update: A Closer Look at Google’s Rendering Refresh | Campaign Monitor Gmail Update: A Closer Look at Google’s Rendering Refresh... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-4/): Online Cart Abandonment: 3 Disturbing Industry Statistics and 7 Tips for Successful Cart Reminder Programs – CohereOne Online Cart Abandonment: 3 Disturbing Industry Statistics and 7 Tips for Successful Cart Reminder Programs http://ift.tt/2fjadbQ Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1-3/): Missing link – IFTTT Digging into Abandoned Cart Emails 20 Email Landing Page Examples That Convince Users to Act 20 Email Landing Page Examples That Convince Users to Act http://j.mp/2eQN64T 12 Personalized Email Examples You Can’t Help but Click 12 Personalized Email Examples You Can’t Help but Click http://j.mp/2eF6y6K What Is Marketing Automation? – The... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-5/): Has Zalando designed the perfect email unsubscribe process? | Econsultancy Has Zalando designed the perfect email unsubscribe process? http://j.mp/2e9OMG5 Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1-4/): SPRINT London 2016 Join me in London on Feb 24th for the Sprint 2016 Conference: http://j.mp/1QmFL6M Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-6/): SPRINT London 2016 On Feb 23-24 I’ll be speaking about email & member engagement at Feverbee’s Sprint 2016 conference in London: http://j.mp/1nM83Ba inOrbit 2016 | The largest inbound conference in Europe. Just confirmed! I’m speaking at inOrbit 2016 in Slovenia in March & have a 20% discount code 4u! Ping me 4 details http://j.mp/1nM7HdQ Ten... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1-5/): Copywriting formulas (don’t write from scratch!) all the #copywriting formulas you’ll even need by @copyhackers http://j.mp/1RN4z9P Email Preferred Communication Channel For Financial Services, Social Last 09/29/2015 “Email is the most popular form of customer communication in the financial services industry”” http://j.mp/1LNL1kn Email testing and optimization: an in-depth look into what works | ClickZ Email testing... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-7/): Flexmail Email Marketing download tip: The Ultimate Email Marketing Calendar 2016 – even includes World Nutella Day 🙂 http://j.mp/1PSxuf3 from @flexmail_be The benefits of email emojis in subject lines The benefits of email emojis in subject lines http://j.mp/1MhPFEd How Birchbox engages customers with ‘personalisation that disappears’ | Econsultancy How Birchbox engages customers with ‘personalisation that... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-8/): Asking Questions in Your Copy: Should You? “the only questions you should ask in your copy are those that prompt your prospect to give the answer you want” http://j.mp/1MmNRP5 How to Write Headlines That Convert Top performing headlines/subject lines focus on what the reader will “get” http://j.mp/1ZnPzoy Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-2-3/): The ExactTarget Blog Email Segmentation: Moving Your Strategy From Basic to Best – The ExactTarget Blog #EmailMarketing Segmentation: Moving Your Strategy From Basic to Best http://j.mp/1COOWun 60 Ways to Screw Up the Customer Experience 60 Ways to Screw Up the Customer Experience http://j.mp/1HDV1c5 12 Secrets of the Human Brain | Emma, Inc. 12 Secrets of... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1-6/): Mythbusters: Deliverability vs. Engagement – Part Deux | DMA – Direct Marketing Association – Data Driven Marketing DON’T MISS THIS WEBINAR featuring Comcast, Google & Microsoft: Mythbusters: Deliverability vs. Engagement – March 17 http://j.mp/1BbsjPA Email Marketing: What do customers think of cart abandonment remarketing? | MarketingSherpa What do customers think of cart abandonment remarketing? #emailmarketing... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-9/): Marketing Psychology: 9 Strategies to Influence Consumers Marketing Psychology: 9 Strategies to Influence Consumers http://j.mp/1wdGgqr 50 All-Time Great Retail Subject Lines | VerticalResponse Blog 50 All-Time Great Retail Subject Lines http://j.mp/1B8ty2h Over half of mobile email in the UK is opened on Apple devices Over half of mobile email in the UK is opened on... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-2-4/): The Tyranny of Tables: Why Web and Email Design are So Different | Litmus “The Tyranny of Tables: Why Web and Email Design are So Different” http://j.mp/19Tlisz 5 Ways to Target Email Users With Display Ads | ClickZ “5 Ways to Target Email Users With Display Ads | ClickZ” http://j.mp/1AgH3MB Missing link – IFTTT “Danger... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1-7/): 3 Tips for Better Preheader Text | Matt Byrd – A Few Things About Email Marketing 3 Tips for Better Preheader Text #emailmarketing http://j.mp/1KNLH8f Insights From The Email Evolution Conference Insights From The Email Evolution Conference’s Deliverability Panel http://j.mp/1MadilI A/B Testing: How to improve already effective marketing (and win a ticket to Email Summit in... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-10/): j.mp Webinar: 3 sexy ways to use popovers to increase conversions http://j.mp/1xrztcg Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1-8/): How to Create Call-to-Actions That Drive Conversions | BrightTALK Webinar: How to Create Call-to-Actions That Drive Conversions http://j.mp/17zTJTT Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-11/): It’s Time to Drop the Text Version | ClickZ It’s Time to Drop the Text Version http://j.mp/1AmC1Oq #emailmarketing Email Marketing: What Parts of It Are Dead and What Parts Are Very Much Alive | ClickZ Email Marketing: What Parts of It Are Dead and What Parts Are Very Much Alive by @jeannieymullen http://j.mp/1Db0eqj Coding for... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-3-2/): Get 3X the conversion rate by adding a second “option,” research finds Get 3X the conversion rate by adding a second “option,” research finds http://j.mp/1rgM1q9 Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here. - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-2-5/): j.mp 21 Welcome Emails to Inspire Your Lifecycle Marketing by @veroapp http://j.mp/1J7FJz9 What’s the State of Marketing in 2015? New Industry Survey Reveals Key Trends | StrongView What’s the State of Marketing in 2015? New Industry Survey Reveals Key Trends http://j.mp/1z0qn7o 3 Conversion Psychology Principles to Use in Sales Copy | Writtent Blog 3 Conversion... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-1-9/): Is Double Opt-In Really A Best Practice For Europe? 12/12/2014 Is Double Opt-In Really A Best Practice For Europe? http://j.mp/12WqK9R Gmail iOS App Increases Email Font Size and What You Can Do About It Gmail iOS App Increases Email Font Size and What You Can Do About It http://j.mp/1wdX4AN Posted from Diigo. The rest of... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-12/): Magic, Attention Management and Persuasion How to Use Magic, Attention Management and Persuasion’s Darker Arts http://j.mp/1pWVnH3 8 Mistakes That Could Be Absolutely Destroying Your Checkout Process 8 Mistakes That Could Be Absolutely Destroying Your Checkout Process http://j.mp/1FP4jjK Onboarding Emails: What Happens After They Subscribe? Onboarding Emails: What Happens After They Subscribe? http://j.mp/1ybJPTi Reactivation: How To... - [My favorite reads of the past week (weekly)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-week-weekly-13/): Facebook Has Finally Killed Organic Reach. What Should Marketers Do Next? | Forrester Blogs Facebook Has Finally Killed Organic Reach. What Should Marketers Do Next? | Forrester Blogs http://j.mp/1rn9aSJ Increase your email open rates using this storytelling technique – Campaign Monitor Increase your email open rates using this storytelling technique http://j.mp/1vEyoTz Speed up your email... - [Things to Consider When Collecting Data via Social Signup](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/things-to-consider-when-collecting-data-via-social-signup/): Dave Hendricks posted an interesting article on ClickZ titled "Owned Data, Paid Succes", in which he talks about the risks associated with using data gathering via social sign-in on your website. From the article: Bringing owned data into paid media channels – sometimes referred to as data-onboarding – will revolutionize marketing like nothing seen before... - [The Upside and Downside of Gmail’s Native Unsubscribe Link](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-exacttarget-blog-the-upside-and-downside-of-gmails-native-unsubscribe-link-the-exacttarget-blog/): Gmail is making email marketers sweat again. In the last 12 months alone, the introduction of Tabs caused all-out panic, image caching recalibrated open rate baselines, and grid view caused rendering concerns. Now Gmail is following up with a partial rollout in March of a highly visible native unsubscribe link with a wider rollout, which... - [My favorite reads of the past few weeks](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-few-weeks/): A couple of articles I enjoyed reading recently: Email Benchmarks: Highest Open Rate in Years – Again! 39 Resources for Understanding the Science & Psychology Behind Great Marketing Email as a discovery tool? Try it, you’ll like it! Landing Page Strategies that Serve Up Delicious Results What is marketing automation and why do you need... - [Some Interesting Email Marketing Stats](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/some-interesting-email-marketing-stats/): I got an email from the folks over at Moosend this morning with some interesting and fun email marketing stats they pulled from their system and I thought you might find them interesting as well 🙂 - [Data, Insights & Automation - the Holy Trinity of Effective Online Communications](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/data-insights-automation-the-holy-trinity-of-effective-online-communications/): Yesterday I did a presentation on Data, Insights & Automation – the Holy Trinity of Effective Online Communications at the Conversion Day conference in Brussels. You can view a short snapshot of the presentation below. Next Tuesday (May 13, 2014) I'm doing a much broader presentation on the same topic at the Email Expo in Frankfurt.... - [My favorite reads of the past few weeks](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/my-favorite-reads-of-the-past-few-weeks-2/): Here's some recommended reading for you: Personalisation: where to start and what's to come  Email segmentation and targeting options   Call-to-Action Button Copy: How to reduce clickthrough rate by 26%   5 Examples of Using Special Characters from 100 Inspiring Subject Lines   What I’ve Learned from 100 Responsive Emails  Email Design Toolkit  How to use video in... - [Get ready for the European Email Insider Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/get-ready-for-the-european-email-insider-summit/): I remember we were discussing bringing the Email Insider Summit over to Europe already 5 years ago and now it's finally happening! I'm so excited!! As usual, the Email Insider Summit has a VIP program and they've asked me to be the EU contact person for this. Insider Summits are complimentary to Brand Marketers who... - [Anatomy of the Perfect Email Design](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/anatomy-of-the-perfect-email-design/): Here's a great 2-minute video that explains the anatomy of the perfect email design by the folks at Lyris.  [youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BA-eZ9hr0I?feature=oembed]  Have you seen (or created) other short educational videos on email marketing? Send me the link and I'll feature them on this blog.  - [Build Your AI Trust Posture: A Practical Self-Assessment for AI Governance](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/build-your-ai-trust-posture-for-ai-governance/): Do you know where AI touches your business today? Skip the fluff. Answer five questions, give yourself a quick score, and take three moves this week: map your tools, document risks, set simple guardrails. You’ll feel clearer fast. Want a practical walkthrough you can use tomorrow? Read the post. 💡 - [Why "Role Prompting" and Threatening the AI no Longer Works (and What to Do Instead)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-role-prompting-and-threatening-the-ai-no-longer-works-and-what-to-do-instead/): Stop the AI role-playing theater. Research analyzing 1,500+ studies proves "You are a world-class expert" delivers 0.01% improvement. Threatening AI with career consequences? Pure fiction. Start showing concrete examples instead of dramatic storytelling. Evidence beats theater. - [Beyond ChatGPT: Building Context-Aware AI That Actually Knows Your Business](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/beyond-chatgpt-building-context-aware-ai/): Most professionals treat AI like a fancy search engine - ask generic questions, get generic answers, waste time translating to business reality. Capgemini's research reveals the truth: context-aware AI beats algorithmic sophistication. Stop explaining your business 47 times per week. - [The Real AI Transformation Playbook: Why Everything You've Been Told Is Wrong](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-real-ai-transformation-playbook/): Everything conventional AI wisdom is backwards. Start with workflow mapping, not vendor demos. Invest 80% in change management, 20% in tech. Shadow AI usage isn't rebellion - it's free market research about what actually works. - [The AI Anxiety Factor: How Leaders Should Address AI Job Fears](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-leaders-should-address-ai-anxiety/): Adobe's Don Bennion just said the quiet part out loud: "People are worried about what AI means for their jobs, and they have every right to be." Finally! Someone skipped the corporate theater and addressed the elephant in the conference room. Honesty beats blanket reassurances every time. - [The CEO's AI Transformation Dilemma: What to Own vs What to Delegate](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ceos-ai-transformation-dilemma/): CEOs are treating AI like another ERP implementation - delegate the strategy and expect updates. Lanai's Lexi Reese drops truth bombs: "CEOs can't shove this to third parties." Want to champion AI adoption? Try using it yourself first. Revolutionary concept. - [The 30-60 Day Workflow Mapping Sprint That Transforms AI ROI](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/from-workflow-mapping-to-ai-roi/): Most companies do AI transformation backwards - tech first, workflows later. SAP's secret? 30-60 days mapping actual workflows before buying anything. Stop optimizing for vendor demos. Start optimizing for human reality. You might already own 80% of what you need. - [Coalition of the Willing: Building Internal AI Champions Without Ego Wars](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/building-internal-ai-champions/): Adobe's Don Bennion dropped the truth bomb: "We all want to be AI champions. We all want this to further our career." Finally! Someone admitted the ego wars turning AI transformation into Game of Thrones. Pro tip: abundance mindset beats territorial battles every time. - [The Shadow AI Problem: Why Unsanctioned Usage Signals Success, Not Failure](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-shadow-ai-problem-success-not-failure/): Shadow AI "crisis" = strategic goldmine. When employees circumvent approved tools for ChatGPT, they're not breaking rules - they're doing free market research. Stop blocking, start investigating. Your compliance problem is actually proof people want to work smarter. - [The AI Fitness Score: How Moderna Measures Human-AI Collaboration](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/moderna-ai-fitness-score-human-ai-collaboration/): Most companies measure AI adoption like it's 1999 - counting logins and queries instead of actual effectiveness. Moderna's genius move? An "AI fitness score" that measures real human-AI collaboration. While competitors count gym memberships, they're measuring who's actually getting fit. - [The 80/20 Rule for AI Transformation: Focus on Change Management, Not Technology](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-80-20-rule-for-ai-transformation-change-management/): Companies obsessing over AI platforms while adoption stalls at 5-10%? Classic. The winners aren't buying better tech - they're solving change management. It's 80% helping humans adapt, 20% technology decisions. Stop optimizing for the wrong thing. - [The Manager's New Core Competency: Workflow Redesign in the AI Era](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-managers-new-core-competency-workflow-redesign-in-the-ai-era/): Most managers approach AI like it's 2019 - seeing work pile up and thinking "I need more people." Wrong move. AI flips the entire logic. The winning approach? Start with the work itself, not the hiring plan. Time to develop a new muscle: constant workflow deconstruction. - [AI Literacy for Leaders: Fill the Knowledge Gap Without Getting Too Techy!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-literacy-for-leaders/): Understanding AI isn’t just for tech whizzes anymore, it’s essential for leaders and business owners looking to stay ahead of the curve. - [The AI Frontline Paradox: Why Your Customer-Facing Teams Should Be Leading AI Adoption (But They're Last Instead)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-ai-frontline-paradox-why-your-customer-facing-teams-should-be-leading-ai-adoption-but-theyre-last-instead/): It’s wild how customer service and marketing teams are terrible at using AI, despite needing it most. They're underfunded and undertrained compared to other departments, missing big opportunities while others race ahead. - [Why AI Suddenly Gets Smarter When You Give It a Role to Play](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-ai-suddenly-gets-smarter-when-you-give-it-a-role-to-play/): Want better AI responses? Instead of asking generic questions, give AI a specific role, like "pretend you're a venture capitalist" to get focused and valuable insights. It's a game-changer! - [Seven Ways AI Search Agents Are Transforming Sales Operations](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/seven-ways-ai-search-agents-are-transforming-sales-operations/): Sales teams embracing AI are outpacing competitors stuck in outdated methods. From automating prospect research to enhancing RFP responses, AI revolutionizes efficiency, granting smarter operations and sustainable advantages. Are you ready to adapt? - [The Art of AI-Powered Market Research: A Step-by-Step Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-art-of-ai-powered-market-research-a-step-by-step-guide/): AI-powered tools like Perplexity.ai revolutionize market research by providing fast, comprehensive, and context-rich insights, allowing businesses to make informed strategic decisions quickly and efficiently. - [Your Marketing Agency Just Got Disrupted: What In-House Teams Need to Know](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your-marketing-agency-just-got-disrupted-what-in-house-teams-need-to-know/): Meta is redefining marketing with a fully automated campaign engine, threatening traditional agencies. As AI blurs creation lines, in-house teams must evaluate partnerships strategically, distinguishing between those delivering genuine value and those merely executing outdated tasks. - [AI's Productivity Lie: Why Most People Save Almost No Time Despite Using It Daily](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ais-productivity-lie-why-most-people-save-almost-no-time-despite-using-it-daily/): We're amidst a profound productivity paradox. While AI usage among knowledge workers has surged, the reality is stark: two-thirds save minimal time. Only a select few reap substantial benefits. Mastering AI skills is crucial to unlock its true potential and transform workflows. - [Is AI Making You Dumber? What That MIT Study Really Means for Your Work](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/is-ai-making-you-dumber-what-that-mit-study-really-means-for-your-work/): The MIT study's sensational headline about ChatGPT damaging cognition oversimplifies the issue. The true danger lies in using AI as a crutch rather than a tool to enhance our critical thinking. Engage consciously, or risk becoming replaceable. - [Cloudflare's Plan to Save the Internet from AI Scraping](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/cloudflares-plan-to-save-the-internet-from-ai-scraping/): Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare, warns of a deteriorating content creation ecosystem on the internet due to increasing content scraping by AI companies. He advocates for collective action among publishers to restore balance and sustain original content creation. - [The Hidden Cost of AI Convenience: What Your Chatbot Really Knows About You](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-hidden-cost-of-ai-convenience-what-your-chatbot-really-knows-about-you/): Recent research reveals that AI chatbots collect extensive personal data, raising privacy concerns for professionals. Users must be aware of potential risks and choose platforms wisely. - [The Middle Management AI Paradox: Why Your Managers Are Blocking AI Adoption](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-middle-management-ai-paradox-why-your-managers-are-blocking-ai-adoption/): Despite executive enthusiasm for AI, many middle managers resist its adoption due to accountability pressures, concerns over quality, and fear of obsolescence, creating a productivity gap that organizations can address through targeted support and training. - [What Happens When the 'Work' Disappears? Navigating Identity in an AI-First World](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-happens-when-the-work-disappears-navigating-identity-in-an-ai-first-world/): Marketing is changing fast with AI taking over tasks. It’s not about execution anymore, but directing strategy. - [From 0 to 20 Tool Calls: How Claude Decides When to Research vs. Answer Directly](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/from-0-to-20-tool-calls-how-claude-decides-when-to-research-vs-answer-directly/): Claude's response speed varies based on a smart decision-making framework. It categorizes questions to determine when to rely on training data versus searching for updates. Here's how it works. - [The AI Seven-Month Rule: Why Your Business Timeline Just Got Shorter](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-ai-seven-month-rule-why-your-business-timeline-just-got-shorter/): The seven-month rule indicates AI capabilities double, impacting business planning and workforce development dramatically. - [The Art of Teaching AI Agents to Delegate](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-art-of-teaching-ai-agents-to-delegate/): AI struggles with delegation just like us humans—turns out, prying clarity from chaos is universal! - [February 2025: The AI Compliance Deadline You've Already Missed (And What to Do Now)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/february-2025-the-ai-compliance-deadline-youve-already-missed-and-what-to-do-now/): AI practices banned in the EU since February 2025 affect many businesses, especially SMEs, but they have support to adapt. Compliance means opportunities, not just penalties. - [Three Ways People Are Actually Using AI (And Why It Matters)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/three-ways-people-are-actually-using-ai-and-why-it-matters/): People use AI differently: for quick facts, complex discussions, or as integral workflow partners. How you engage can really change what you get out of it. - [The Great AI Overconfidence Crisis: Why 54% Think They're AI Experts (But Only 10% Actually Are)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-great-ai-overconfidence-crisis-why-54-think-theyre-ai-experts-but-only-10-actually-are/): A confidence crisis looms in today’s workplaces, with 54% believing they excel at AI, but only 10% can back it up. This 5x overconfidence breeds stagnation, misuses technology, and stifles true proficiency, undermining AI's potential. - [Your 90-Day AI Fluency Plan](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/your-90-day-ai-fluency-plan/): Getting AI fluent is key nowadays, but start with a plan! Focus on building knowledge, practicing 2-3 tools, and integrating skills over 90 days for real, sustainable success. - [The 68% Training Gap: How to Future-Proof Your Career When Your Company Won't](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-68-training-gap-how-to-future-proof-your-career-when-your-company-wont/): With 68% of companies neglecting AI training, a golden opportunity arises for you to become the go-to AI expert. Self-education in AI is your path to career advancement and influence. - [The Great AI Job Panic: What the Data Actually Shows](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-great-ai-job-panic-what-the-data-actually-shows/): Despite fears of job loss due to AI, research shows many professionals feel less concerned about their own roles. Embracing AI can actually enhance their value and collaboration. - [Why Your AI Strategy is Backwards (And How to Fix It)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-your-ai-strategy-is-backwards-and-how-to-fix-it/): Companies treating AI like a shopping spree are doomed to chaos. Without a strategic roadmap, 75% flounder while pioneers gain ground by focusing first on governance and measurable outcomes. - [The AI Productivity Promise vs. Reality Gap: Why Some Companies Are Winning Big While Others Are Stuck](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-ai-productivity-promise-vs-reality-gap-why-some-companies-are-winning-big-while-others-are-stuck/): AI's making waves, boosting productivity by 37% for companies that know how to use it. But most aren't trained or ready, leaving 68% of firms clueless on AI. Building a strategy and fostering a culture around AI is key to staying ahead. Don't fall behind! - [Why Your AI Makes Things Up (And How to Work with Its Nature)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-your-ai-makes-things-up-and-how-to-work-with-its-nature/): Your AI just confidently told you about an event that never happened. Again. This isn't a glitch though, it's actually how these models work. They're pattern-matching machines that can't tell the difference between real information and convincing fiction. Once you understand why AI makes things up, you can actually work with this tendency instead of constantly fighting it. New post on why confabulation happens and what to do about it 👇 - [Why Model Context Protocol Is the Missing Piece for Enterprise AI](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-model-context-protocol-is-the-missing-piece-for-enterprise-ai/): Everyone's talking about Model Context Protocol, but most are missing the real opportunity. Yes, it's cool that we can add AI to desktop apps. But that's like using a Ferrari for grocery runs. The real potential? Building AI systems that actually DO things in your business, not just talk about doing them. Most AI today is like having a brilliant consultant locked in a soundproof room. They can see your problems and write perfect advice, but they can't touch anything in your systems. MCP changes that. It lets your AI step out of the room and actually access your CRM, update databases, schedule meetings, and take action. I've written about how this transforms AI from party trick to business infrastructure - and why the companies that get this right will have a massive advantage. The future isn't AI that generates better emails. It's AI that can actually run your sales pipeline. - [How to Spot AI-Generated Nonsense (Before It Ruins Your Reputation)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-spot-ai-generated-nonsense-before-it-ruins-your-reputation/): Navigating today's info overload can be tricky. With perfect infographics and polished case studies everywhere, it's easy to get duped. Trust your instincts, question sources, and avoid sharing without verification. Check for multiple sources and watch for generic content. In the end, it’s about being honest when you’re unsure and refining your info radar. - [How ChatGPT’s Memory Feature Actually Works](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-chatgpts-memory-feature-actually-works/): OpenAI’s new memory feature for ChatGPT lets it remember personal details, making it more helpful over time. You can switch it on/off or clear memories anytime. It won't track everything but focuses on useful insights, saving you time and creating better interactions. Still evolving, but promising! Not available yet in the EU unfortunately though. - [What Is an AI Teammate, Really?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-is-an-ai-teammate-really/): So, AI teammates are getting a lot of buzz, but what are they really? Basically, they’re virtual helpers that make your work smoother and faster. Whether it's taking care of repetitive tasks or sparking creativity, they’re here to support you. From custom AI chatbots to workflow automations, they’re super useful for modern professionals, just use them wisely! - [Black Box or Blueprint?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/black-box-or-blueprint/): So, basically, AI used to be like this confusing black box where you just hoped for good answers, but now, thanks to Claude AI, we’re seeing some inner workings. Researchers figured out how to observe its thought process, showing it can plan and adjust responses based on context. - [Don’t Trust What You Hear: AI, Deepfakes, and the New Reality of Business Risk](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/when-ai-fakes-it-perfectly/): From fake receipts to synthetic voices—discover why AI is reshaping what we trust, and what that means for your work and reputation. - [Finally! An AI Assistant That Knows You: How MCP Helps AI Work the Way You Do (Without the Overwhelm)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/finally-an-ai-assistant-that-knows-you-how-mcp-helps-ai-work-the-way-you-do-without-the-overwhelm/): So, you've probably noticed that AI tools can be cool yet super unhelpful at times. They struggle to give insights tailored to your work because they lack context about your files and systems. Enter MCP, or Model Context Protocol, which allows AI to connect with the tools you use: think email and calendars. It helps AI provide specific suggestions rather than just vague advice. Plus, it keeps your info private. Basically, MCP shifts AI from being a generalist to a collaborator, making your work life way easier and more efficient. - [The AI Workforce Is Coming. Faster Than You Think!](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-ai-workforce-is-coming-faster-than-you-think/): Venture capitalists are funding digital employees: AI systems intended to replace humans, not assist them. This isn’t a future threat; it’s happening now, even in skilled roles. Many aren’t aware or prepared. Workers need to understand AI, develop human skills, and stay adaptable. Ignoring this shift isn’t an option. It’s time to engage and prepare for change. - [Why Structure Matters: How to Get the Most Out of AI Tools](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/why-structure-matters-how-to-get-the-most-out-of-ai-tools/): To get the best results from AI, you need to give it clear, structured prompts. Good instructions boost output quality, so be specific about what you want. A little effort upfront saves time later. - [Mastering ChatGPT: Custom Instructions, Memory, Tasks, and Projects Explained](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mastering-chatgpt-custom-instructions-memory-tasks-and-projects-explained/): ChatGPT has some handy features like Custom Instructions, Memory, Tasks, and Projects that make it super customizable and efficient. You can tailor how it responds, remember past chats, handle tasks, and organize your work effectively. These tools help streamline your workflow, stay organized, and get personalized insights. Basically, it turns ChatGPT into your smart assistant that adapts to your needs. - [AI and the Death of Entry-Level Jobs. What’s Next?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-and-the-death-of-entry-level-jobs-whats-next/): Alright, so entry-level jobs have been the go-to spot for starting a career, but with AI on the rise, they're disappearing fast. AI is taking over tasks that newbies used to handle in marketing, customer support, data analysis, and more. This raises big worries about how people will gain experience to level up. To thrive, folks need to adapt, embrace AI, and build human skills while exploring new paths for experience. - [From Assistant to Partner: 5 Ways Gen AI Reshapes Business Operations](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/from-assistant-to-partner-5-ways-gen3-ai-reshapes-business-operations/): A significant shift just happened in the AI landscape. The new generation of AI models (Gen3) has arrived with Claude 3.7 and Grok 3 leading the way, and they represent a fundamental leap in capabilities that will change how we work. If you’ve been using AI tools like earlier ChatGPT or Claude versions for basic... - [AI as Your Research Assistant: A Practical Guide to Using Deep Research](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-as-your-research-assistant-a-practical-guide-to-using-deep-research/): The research capabilities of AI tools just got a serious upgrade. If you’ve been following recent developments, you might have heard about OpenAI’s new Deep Research tool. Unlike earlier AI models that could only access information they were trained on (with cutoff dates that left them in the past), these new research tools can search... - [Does Tipping ChatGPT Still Work in 2025? I Put It to the Test](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/does-tipping-chatgpt-still-work-in-2025-i-put-it-to-the-test/): So, it turns out tipping ChatGPT still works in 2025! I ran some tests to see if mentioning tips nudges it to give better answers. The results were clear: tipping boosts length, depth, and quality significantly. The $20 tip got a noticeable upgrade, while the $200 tip was top-notch. Who knew tipping could keep working this well? - [The S-Curve of AI Performance: Where Do You Stand?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-s-curve-of-ai-performance-where-do-you-stand/): If you've been using AI tools, you've probably seen mixed results, right? It's not just the AI itself but how you use it. There's this S-curve pattern for performance based on your prompting skills. Most people stay stuck at the basic level. But with a little effort, you can seriously level up your game! Practice, be specific, and keep experimenting to get better results. - [How to Build a High-Performing Custom GPT: A Step-by-Step Guide](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-to-build-a-high-performing-custom-gpt-a-step-by-step-guide/): Creating a custom GPT can really boost your workflow, but it takes more than just a good prompt. That's why I prepared a how-to guide for you :) - [How AI Automation is Transforming Workflow Management](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-ai-automation-is-transforming-workflow-management/): Vincent, awarded the Master of Make, created an AI-powered virtual business analyst using Make to address inefficiencies in manual workflow management. His system extracts tasks from unstructured documents, prioritizes them, and integrates with project management tools, enhancing efficiency and collaboration. - [AI Isn’t Just About Writing Emails](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-isnt-just-about-writing-emails/): Last week, I led a workshop on Generative AI for our sales team, and the vibe was electric. Instead of just thinking of it as a writing tool, they saw how it could be a research buddy and coach. They loved using AI for competitive analysis, customer research, and even role-playing conversations. It was all about inspiring and showing them AI's real value! - [GPT vs. Reasoning AI: Key Differences and How to Leverage Both Effectively](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/gpt-vs-reasoning-ai-key-differences-and-how-to-leverage-both-effectively/): With new AI models cropping up fast, picking the right one matters. GPT models are your go-to for quick content creation, while reasoning models shine in complex problem-solving. Mixing both optimizes results, but knowing when to use each is essential to leverage their strengths effectively. - [AI Agents for Business: Practical Applications & Common Pitfalls](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-agents-for-business-practical-applications-common-pitfalls/): AI agents are changing the game in automation, offering businesses a dynamic alternative to traditional workflows. Unlike scripted models, agents adapt and make decisions on the fly. While they shine in complex tasks like coding or customer support, they’re not a one-size-fits-all solution. Companies should evaluate their needs carefully before diving in. - [LangGraph vs. Autogen vs. CrewAI: Which AI Agent Framework is Right for You?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/langgraph-vs-autogen-vs-crewai-which-ai-agent-framework-is-right-for-you/): Building an AI agent isn't easy, and the framework you pick is super important. You’ve got three key options: LangGraph, ideal for structured workflows; Autogen, great for chatty AI agents; and CrewAI, perfect for specialized team roles. Each has its unique strengths and weaknesses, so choose based on what your project needs. - [Measuring What Matters: Evaluating AI Agent Performance](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/measuring-what-matters-evaluating-ai-agent-performance/): AI agents need proper evaluation to succeed in real-world tasks. Tracking key metrics like context adherence, task completion, response speed, and efficiency is crucial. It's all about keeping them aligned with business goals and ensuring they deliver accurate and valuable results instead of falling short. - [Diving Deeper into Advanced AI Agent Architectures](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/diving-deeper-into-advanced-ai-agent-architectures/): AI agents have evolved from basic bots to highly adaptive systems. Now, we have self-reflecting, memory-enhanced, and self-learning agents that boost efficiency across various industries. These smarter AI tools remember past interactions, adapt to context, and continually improve, paving the way for more personalized and effective solutions in fields like healthcare and finance. - [Andrej Karpathy's Guide to Large Language Models](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/andrej-karpathys-guide-to-large-language-models/): Andrej Karpathy's insightful 3.5-hour YouTube video explores the training and psychology of large language models, providing valuable tips to harness their potential. His approachable teaching style makes complex concepts accessible to all. - [AI Adoption Done Right: The One Red Teaming Exercise Every Business Should Run](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-adoption-done-right-the-one-red-teaming-exercise-every-business-should-run/): AI is increasingly integrated into business workflows, raising questions about its trustworthiness. Red teaming serves as a proactive approach to stress-test AI systems, identifying potential risks before they impact operations. One effective method is the Reworded Prompt Challenge, which involves probing AI responses on boundary topics to expose weaknesses in its built-in safety features. Documenting outcomes helps assess reliability, guiding necessary adjustments. Conducting red teaming exercises is crucial for businesses to ensure AI tools function safely and effectively in real-world applications. - [How AI is Changing Critical Thinking at Work: Benefits and Risks](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/how-ai-is-changing-critical-thinking-at-work-benefits-and-risks/): AI tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot are changing work for the better, making tasks easier and faster. But as we lean on AI, we might stop thinking critically. A study shows that while AI boosts efficiency, it can also lead to disengagement and cognitive decline. We need to balance using AI while sharpening our minds! - [AI + Humans: The Ultimate Power Couple in Business](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-humans-the-ultimate-power-couple-in-business/): AI is revolutionizing work, but it’s not a battle against machines; it’s about collaboration. Embrace the Hybrid Advantage by enhancing skills AI can’t replicate: creativity, strategic judgment, empathy, and leadership. The future belongs to those who adapt and blend human insight with AI's power. Are you ready? - [Sam Altman's Bold AI Predictions for 2025-2027](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/sam-altmans-bold-ai-predictions-for-2025-2027/): Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, forecasts significant advancements in AI from 2025 to 2027, predicting accelerated scientific discoveries and the rise of AI virtual coworkers. Altman emphasizes the need for businesses to invest in AI training, embrace automation, and adapt to evolving workforce roles to remain competitive. - [Beyond Chatbots: The Rise of AI as a True Digital Assistant](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/beyond-chatbots-the-rise-of-ai-as-a-true-digital-assistant/): AI is shifting from just being a chatbot to a proactive digital assistant. Now it can manage workflows, handle emails, and even analyze market trends. This evolution boosts efficiency and decision-making in businesses, freeing up time for strategy. Are you ready to leverage this change? - [AI at Work: Lessons from Early Adopters and Industry Experts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-at-work-lessons-from-early-adopters-and-industry-experts/): Generative AI (GenAI) is rapidly transforming workplaces as organizations integrate it into daily tasks. The main approaches include the Copilot Model, enhancing employee efficiency, and the Workflow Agent Model, automating entire processes. However, challenges such as data security, ethics, and job impacts necessitate clear policies, employee training, and strategic implementation for success. - [Shiny Object Syndrome in AI: How to Focus on What Actually Moves the Needle](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/shiny-object-syndrome-in-ai-how-to-focus-on-what-actually-moves-the-needle/): If you’ve spent any time in the AI and automation space, you know the feeling: A new tool drops. Everyone is talking about it. The YouTube videos roll in. Twitter (X?) is buzzing. And before you know it, you’re deep in a rabbit hole, testing, tweaking, and wondering: Is this the next big thing? Should... - [Boost Your Marketing Efficiency with These 5 Prompts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/boost-your-marketing-efficiency-with-these-5-prompts/): Marketing can feel overwhelming with endless tasks. This post offers five valuable prompts designed to streamline content planning, creation, social media engagement, performance analysis, and email marketing. By using these prompts, marketers can enhance efficiency and effectiveness while saving precious time and energy. - [Streamline Your Workflow: AI for Creative Marketers](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/streamline-your-workflow-ai-for-creative-marketers/): So, AI isn't here to steal jobs from creative marketers; it's more about how savvy marketers can use AI to up their game. By combining AI tools with automation, you can streamline repetitive tasks while keeping your creative touch. Think about tools that can turn one piece of content into various formats, analyze your best work for new ideas, and personalize content for different audiences. Start small with automation, find what works, and build from there to save tons of time. - [DeepSeek's Success Reshapes Global AI Competition](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/deepseeks-success-reshapes-global-ai-competition/): DeepSeek is shaking up AI by proving you don't need top-notch hardware for success. Their innovation shows that any region can compete if they focus on smart software use, not just resources. - [DeepSeek's Rapid Industry Integration: A Sign of AI's Evolving Landscape](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/deepseeks-rapid-industry-integration-a-sign-of-ais-evolving-landscape/): DeepSeek R1 is shaking the AI landscape, challenging OpenAI's dominance with high performance at a lower cost. Its rapid integration into major platforms like Microsoft Azure and Perplexity signals a shift, compelling businesses to reconsider their AI strategies or risk obsolescence in this intensifying arms race. - [DeepSeek's Expert-Based AI Architecture: Making Large Language Models More Resource-Efficient](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/deepseeks-expert-based-ai-architecture-making-large-language-models-more-resource-efficient/): DeepSeek has shattered the myth that bigger is better in AI. Their DeepSeekMoE architecture delivers powerhouse performance using just 40% of the computational resources of traditional models. By harnessing a "Mixture of Experts" approach, it drastically improves efficiency and scalability, making cutting-edge AI accessible for all. Welcome to the future of lean, mean AI machines. - [The Rise of Hybrid Skills in AI: What You Need to Know](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-rise-of-hybrid-skills-in-ai-what-you-need-to-know/): AI is becoming essential across various fields like marketing, healthcare, and finance, requiring professionals to blend tech know-how with industry expertise. This trend shows the importance of cross-functional AI skills, pushing people to learn enough about AI to enhance their work while still relying on their primary expertise. - [AI Agents vs. Automations: Which One to Use?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ai-agents-vs-automations-which-one-to-use/): Choosing between AI agents and AI automations can be tricky, but it boils down to the tasks at hand. Think of automations as strict recipes for repetitive tasks, while agents act like a flexible assistant, adapting to various needs. Automations are great for straightforward, high-volume tasks where accuracy is key, such as sorting emails or processing invoices. In contrast, agents shine with unique customer interactions requiring context and decision-making, like addressing inquiries or brainstorming content. Mix and match these tools based on your business goals to streamline operations and focus on strategic work. Happy automating! - [Beyond Question and Answer: Creating Dynamic Learning Experiences with AI](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/beyond-question-and-answer-creating-dynamic-learning-experiences-with-ai/): AI can do way more than just give quick answers. By asking the right questions and engaging deeply, we can really level up our knowledge. Whether it's through Socratic dialogues or interactive case studies, structured learning helps us understand concepts better and apply them in real life. - [Inside AI Agents: Understanding How They Work](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/inside-ai-agents-understanding-how-they-work/): So, yesterday we covered what AI agents are about, and today we're diving into how they work. Think of them like hotel concierges: they have a knowledge base, tools, and orchestration to help with tasks. The key is understanding what they can do best, so you can give them specific requests for better outcomes. - [Understanding AI Agents: From Basics to Business Use](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/understanding-ai-agents-from-basics-to-business-use/): AI agents are like your high-tech sidekicks that do way more than just chat, they actually help you run your business. While regular AI tools just answer questions, these agents actively find solutions, gather info, and streamline tasks. For example, they can handle customer inquiries by checking tracking info and crafting personalized replies. They're all about saving you time from repetitive tasks, letting you focus on what really matters. Just look for those annoying, repetitive tasks in your day, and you'll find great spots to start using AI agents! - [Stop Asking ChatGPT for One Answer: Why Multiple Variations Lead to Better AI Content](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stop-asking-chatgpt-for-one-answer-why-multiple-variations-lead-to-better-ai-content/): If you're relying on ChatGPT for creative content and feel like you're not getting the good stuff, try asking for more variations! Instead of settling for one email subject line, go for 50! You’ll discover awesome gems amid the mediocre ones. This approach works for blogs, social media, and video titles too. Keep refining your favorites, and you'll unlock amazing ideas and avoid future creative blocks! - [Making AI Your Content Partner](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/making-ai-your-content-partner/): To nail AI content creation, give clear, detailed prompts. Think of it as guiding a new teammate. Specify structure, tone, and brand voice, while considering platform nuances. Better prompts lead to better results—quality control is key for credibility! - [Understanding System vs User Prompts in AI](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/understanding-system-vs-user-prompts-in-ai/): Getting AI prompts right is key! System prompts set the rules for consistent results, while user prompts handle everyday questions. Knowing when to use each can boost your effectiveness, especially in projects needing clarity and structure. - [Chain Prompting: A Practical Guide to Building More Powerful AI Workflows](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/chain-prompting-a-practical-guide-to-building-more-powerful-ai-workflows/): Getting AI to give you the results you want can be tricky, but chain prompting helps. It connects multiple prompts for better outputs. There are three types: linear chains refine steps like an assembly line, branching chains handle different responses, and recursive chains loop back for quality. Start with clear goals and keep testing your approach for the best results. - [Understanding Zero-Shot, One-Shot, Few-Shot Prompting](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/understanding-zero-shot-one-shot-few-shot-prompting/): So, the way you prompt AI really impacts its responses. There are three styles: Zero-Shot, One-Shot, and Few-Shot. Zero-Shot is like tackling a task with no guidance—it can be hit-or-miss. One-Shot gives you one example to guide the AI, while Few-Shot offers multiple examples for a better fit. Zero-Shot’s good for simple stuff, One-Shot for consistency, and Few-Shot for details and style. It’s all about picking the right approach for what you need! - [Chain-of-Thought Prompting: Getting Smarter Analysis From AI](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/chain-of-thought-prompting-getting-smarter-analysis-from-ai/): AI can sometimes give answers that leave you scratching your head because it jumps to conclusions without explaining the thought process. Chain-of-Thought prompting fixes this by having AI think like an analyst, breaking down problems step-by-step. Instead of just getting a final answer, you can guide AI through reasoning to arrive at a better, more reliable conclusion. This method is especially useful for complex decisions, helping you understand the logic behind AI’s responses, so you can trust and refine the insights provided. - [Simple Prompt Frameworks That Get Results (Even If You're New to AI)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/simple-prompt-frameworks-that-get-results-even-if-youre-new-to-ai/): AI prompting doesn't have to be complicated! Think of it like cooking—just follow a simple recipe. The CRAP framework, which stands for Context, Role, Action, and Parameters, is super easy for beginners. By breaking down your prompt into these four parts, you give the AI exactly what it needs to create quality content. Practicing with this framework builds confidence and helps refine your prompts over time. So, forget the jargon and start getting results with CRAP! - [From Confusion to Clarity: A No-Nonsense Guide to Writing AI Prompts That Work](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/from-confusion-to-clarity-a-no-nonsense-guide-to-writing-ai-prompts-that-work/): So, everyone has a tale about their first try with AI, right? Many folks get confusing replies or wrong info, and some throw in the towel. The key to success? It’s all about how you ask. You don’t need to be tech-savvy—just communicate clearly. Use specific prompts, like breaking down tasks or detailing your needs, so AI knows what you want. The better you define the context and expectations, the better the output. Clear, specific instructions are everything for effective AI use! - [Unlock AI’s Potential: Tips for Better Prompts](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/unlock-ais-potential-tips-for-better-prompts/): Effective prompts hinge on clarity and specificity. Context is your ally. Instead of vague requests, articulate your needs as if briefing a teammate. Embrace multi-step prompts for complex tasks, ensuring clarity at each stage. Test and iterate your prompts for continuous improvement and embrace a structured framework to guide your writing. With these techniques, transform generic outputs into tailored, captivating content that resonates with your audience. - [Building My AI Content Creation System: A Two-Week Adventure in Automation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/building-my-ai-content-creation-system-a-two-week-adventure-in-automation/): I don't want to brag, but this holiday season, I became a wizard of AI automation! :) I crafted a content creation system that magically transforms thoughts into blog posts, complete with SEO tags and social media posts — all while sipping gluhwein. I even built a Chrome extension that summarizes YouTube videos quicker than you can say “time-saver.” :) - [Make AI Work Smarter: Your Guide to Effective Prompt Patterns](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/make-ai-work-smarter-your-guide-to-effective-prompt-patterns/): Getting great results from AI tools like ChatGPT is all about how you ask questions, not some secret code. A lot of folks get frustrated because they don’t know how to phrase their requests for better responses. By using five key prompt patterns (like giving the AI a specific role or refining questions) you can totally enhance the quality of the advice you get. Combining these patterns can lead to super tailored and effective interactions. So, give it a go! - [Role-Based Prompts: Making AI Your Perfect Collaborator](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/role-based-prompts-making-ai-your-perfect-collaborator/): Tired of AI just lounging around like a couch potato? Time to make it work for you! By using the magical phrases "Act as" and "You are," you can upgrade your AI from a mere tool to a task-tackling partner in crime. Want quick advice? Tell it to "Act as" a fitness coach, and it’ll flex its muscles just for that session. Need long-term expertise? "You are" a financial advisor, and voila—steady guidance! Mix and match these prompts for killer results. Get ready to whip your AI into shape; it's time for some serious productivity! - [Make AI Your Goal-Setting Partner: A Fresh Take on New Year's Resolutions](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/make-ai-your-goal-setting-partner-a-fresh-take-on-new-years-resolutions/): Statistics reveal that a staggering 80% of people abandon their New Year's resolutions by February. But what if the winning ticket lies in artificial intelligence? It’s not motivation that often falters; it’s vague, unrealistic goals like "get healthy." Enter AI as your relentless coach, aiding in crafting tailored plans from exercise to meditation. It tackles the daunting "how" of goal achievement, turning intimidating ambitions into actionable steps. Say goodbye to guesswork; with adaptive strategies responding to your feedback, AI ensures you're not just dreaming but doing. - [Stop Chasing New AI Tools: A Practical Guide to Sustainable Implementation](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/stop-chasing-new-ai-tools-a-practical-guide-to-sustainable-implementation/): In the thrilling rollercoaster of AI tools, many businesses forget one crucial rule: slow and steady wins the race. Stop tool-hopping like a caffeinated rabbit and focus on mastering just a few to avoid chaos and glitches galore! - [What AI Really Knows (And What It Doesn't)](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-ai-really-knows-and-what-it-doesnt/): AI tools possess vast knowledge yet lack essential real-world context, making them brilliant but ineffective assistants. To truly harness their power, we must bridge this gap with specific guidance. Let me explain why this matters... - [Making AI Work for You: A Practical Guide to Experimenting with LLMs](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/making-ai-work-for-you-a-practical-guide-to-experimenting-with-llms/): Large Language Models are all about adapting to your needs, not just giving perfect answers. Focus on your specific challenges, experiment with different uses, and stay flexible to learn. Progress is key! - [Breaking Technical Barriers: My Journey Installing LibreChat](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/breaking-technical-barriers-my-journey-installing-librechat/): Why celebrate Christmas with eggnog when you can install LibreChat? A coding novice navigates the AI jungle, relies on a French YouTube tutorial, and ultimately creates an AI powerhouse—complete with laughs, lessons, and a touch of holiday magic! - [A New Year's Wish for 2025](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/a-new-years-wish-for-2025/): Here we go, folks! In 2025, let’s swap "boring resolutions" for epic quests! With AI help, get your health, skills, and productivity dialed up—think less gym grunt, more wizardry—those snacks still count, right? - [From Power Problem to Working App in Less than 10 Minutes](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/from-power-problem-to-working-app-in-less-than-10-minutes/): So, a simple battery backup query turned into a superhero AI project! With Claude's help, we made a snazzy calculator to save you from battery-related panic attacks during outages. Who knew power would be this fun? - [Let's Make Generative AI Work for Your Business](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/lets-make-generative-ai-work-for-your-business/): Tired of AI hype? Ditch the jargon and embrace practical solutions that truly elevate your business. Discover tangible insights with hands-on training and workshops designed to transform AI from theory into real-world success. - [The Future of Marketing: Insights from 25 Digital Leaders](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-future-of-marketing-insights-from-25-digital-leaders/): I recently contributed to Mediaforta's white paper with insights from industry leaders on the future of digital marketing. Emphasizing human connection alongside AI innovation, this work highlights the exciting evolution of our industry towards more personalized and effective strategies. - [What Happens When Generative AI Meets Automation?](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/what-happens-when-generative-ai-meets-automation/): The fusion of generative AI and automation revolutionizes efficiency and creativity. Together, they create intelligent workflows, enabling personalized marketing, responsive customer service, and data-driven decision-making, ultimately empowering businesses to thrive in a dynamic landscape. - [The Power of Passing It On: Why I Love Helping Others Succeed](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/the-power-of-passing-it-on-why-i-love-helping-others-succeed/): Knowledge grows when shared, whether it's guiding marketers through AI or organizing bike rides. Watching others learn and succeed is the best part, and every little tip shared can spark connections and lasting impact. ## Pages - [NCOI AI Impact Summit](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/ncoi/): This content is password protected. To view it please enter your password below: Password: - [About](https://www.b2bemailmarketing.com/about/): Over two decades in marketing automation, communications, and relationship management have taught me something invaluable: technology only matters when it makes our work lives better. That’s why I’m passionate about showing businesses how to use AI in practical, meaningful ways. When I’m not exploring the beautiful roads of Luxembourg, the German Eifel, and Mosel regions... ## Optional - [Agent (MCP protocol)](websites-agents.hostinger.com/www.b2bemailmarketing.com/mcp) [comment]: # (Generated by Hostinger Tools Plugin)