Posts tagged ‘Email’
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Spam redefined (again)
You’ve probably all heard about Microsoft’s plans to upgrade Hotmail in order to “address inbox clutter”. With important repercussions for online marketers I thought I’d take this opportunity to clear up a few details about why the system has been introduced, how the plans will affect email marketing campaigns and suggest what email marketers can do to avoid the spam trap. But before I start I want to make one thing clear; marketers need not be afraid. ISPs are not the enemy. Read more »
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How to get more from your email this Christmas
Catalogue e-business – July 2010
We’ve seen a shift in catalogue marketing moving towards better targeting and more channels. In the eighties, catalogues mainly used off-the-page advertising for customer aquisition. The nineties saw the advent of co-op databases, such as Abacus and Transactis, which led to an increase in direct mail targeting. With the new millennium the Internet started to generate meaningful sales for cataloguers. In the next decade catalogues will use more effective online targeting tools such as behavioural email.
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Evolution of behavioural email
I’ve been asked to write a piece for a magazine about the future of behavioural email and as any good historian knows, before you start writing about the future you need to understand the past. So I thought I’d write down a few lines about how behavioural email has evolved over the last 10 years (it really has been around that long).
The first genuine example I can find of behavioural email (that’s email driven off behavioural information not simple transaction confirmation emails) was William Hill in 2001 with a registered and not deposited email targeting users that were warm (registered but had not deposited any money). Read more »
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Is your email marketing moving in the right direction?
Looking back, I am surprised about the speed of development and thinking amongst emailers in 2009. It seems to me that all but the most backward of mailers have finally stopped bulk sending, chided as they were by deliverability concerns. The real sea change, however, is the recognition that in email terms less is often more (revenue, that is!). 2009 was also the year triggers became central to most email strategies, mobile handsets began truly to manage email and email platforms became integrated with social media. Read more »
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The Rules of Email Engagement
This article provides a quick and easy solution to increase customer engagement and improve deliverability.
Bulk email is dead. OK, some people might still be doing it, but does that mean it works as well as it could? Just look in your own junk folder. How many emails have you opted into that no longer reach your inbox?
So why is bulk email on the way out? Well, let’s consider what the top three email ISPs have to say. Read more »
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Recession Busters: Behavioural Email
Marketing Magazine – May 2009
The best way to over come the fatigue of consumers bombarded by email and improve your ROI is behavioural email, says Mark Patron.
Email, more so than perhaps any other channel, is having a good recession. That’s because it’s a cost-effective, fast and flexible way of getting your commercial message to interested parties. It will come as no surprise that email volumes overtook those of direct mail some time ago.
Yet while the best thing about email is low cost, it’s also the worst.
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Test, test, test. Testing should be the first line on any email marketing plan.
Test test test and test some more, then when you’ve learnt what makes a positive impact on your email results start testing all over again!
We’ve all heard about the benefits of email testing many times before; so why are so many big brands not testing? Is it a lack of resources? A lack of ideas? Or is it just that optimisation is not viewed as a key strategic goal? It might be worth adding one reason is because email is so cheap people don’t bother as the ROI is normally good whilst on expensive media (e.g. print or paid search) you have to test to optimise, to justify spend.
When writing an email, strategy testing should be central to every initiative. We should celebrate successful tests as they allow us to make change for the better, but we should also celebrate unsuccessful tests as they show us where to re-focus our testing efforts next time. The beauty of testing is it’s a win win situation.
