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College Students use facebook, Not myspace

Of the 100-or-so college students attending our session on "Internet Etiquette," only one was using myspace. Almost all use facebook. The question on the minds of these future employees was this: What do employers look for when they include facebook in their background checks?

See the Iowa State Daily's summary of our session HERE >>

Ask a Question...

If you have been working with email marketing and have a question, or if you are considering adding email to your marketing strategy, use the comment feature below to ask a question! 

It's free, it's my advice based on my own experiences in email marketing, sales and management for 22 years now! 

Go ahead, ask...

If you have been working with email marketing and have a question, or if you are considering adding email to your marketing strategy, use the comment feature below to ask a question! 

It's free, it's my advice based on my own experiences in email marketing, sales and management for 22 years now! 

Go ahead, ask...

Cool Marketing Resource - Survey Gizmo

Planning an online survey but don't know where to begin? 

Build a simple survey using your email marketing application.  This will deliver the results you need if you are creating a survey with a basic Q&A format. Using ExactTarget's survey tool, I have collected some fantastic marketing information for customers of mine, and the results are automatically tallied and graphically presented. 

In a more sophisotcated environment, where you might want to add page jumping, question piping, question/answer tables, or triggered questions based on prior responses, Survey Gizmo is an easy to use and inexpensive tool that really works.  Survey Gizmo also integrates with ExactTarget so that individual survey responses become relevant email marketing content.

I recommend ExactTarget for email marketing, and Survey Gizmo for online surveys.  WinCommunications will jumpstart you into either of these programs, just email kt@wincommunications.com for more info.

Highlight of the Week - 25 Connections

Yesterday's lunch club meeting was one of those "lightbulb" events for me. 

Our VIP Club had the pleasure of listening to Adam Steen of 25 Connections speak about relationship building.  He focused our thoughts on people helping people.

Aha!  It's a matter of matching resources. 

The idea is simple, and not new - just a really focused approach at what we are all aware really does work.  Help a friend, and some day the friend will help you.  Match resources of mutually invested businesses, and some day they will come looking to make a match with you.

Best Practices - Call to Action

Read through your email that you are about to send out to your target audience.

How clear is your call to action?  What are you asking your reader to do?

I am amazed at how often this obvious feature of a good email campaign is missing.   Even if you are sending a news item or a transactional email, a clear and well placed call to action will elevate the response of your email. 

Examples include:

• Order by Monday to receive the 10% discount.
• Download the report for more information
• Try our new recipe using Mesquite Marinade.

I enjoy the emails sent by Blue Moon Dueling Piano Bar & Restaurant.  The call to action is obvious in the right top corner, where it says, "$1 Margarita Click Here" and that takes me to a printable coupon.  (However, the same email requires me  to scroll down to find information about the promotional event, which I may never see because I have clicked to print the coupon.) 

Preview emails for the call to action and see what you find. 

Cool Marketing Resource - article2video.com

Wow, here is a bright idea!  I am not sure if the concept of putting an article into video format is a good idea, but if it seems to be worth a test. 

One trial is allowed for free.  www.article2video.com

Check it out, comment here!

Best Practices - Apply the "BEEPD" Strategy...

Struggling to figure out how to manage your social media marketing? 

Struggling to find the right route through the web of social media?

Stop straying in all different directions, quit wasting time in the wrong traffic.

Get BEEPD!

Here's a simple process that will work.  Keep it handy, the world of social media can be very enticing.   And so far, there are a few spots that have proven to be worthwhile for business marketing:

1. Brainstorm at your blog.
2. Elaborate at your web site.
3. Email to announce.
4. Promote at Twitter.
5. Discuss on LinkedIn.

© Kathryn Towner, WinCommunications

Highlight of the Week - PDI Committee Meeting

Ok, this may be the ONLY time I say this...the committee meeting I attended yesterday was the highlight of my day!

Here's why:

1. Our committee of 12 from around the state of Iowa met via telephone.  This cost effective, time-sensative strategy allows me to keep working until the moment we meet and get back to work as soon as we are done.  I am able to take notes and research issues on my computer as we talk.  And we do truly get straight to the "work" of the committee.

2. The first topic of discussion was social media. Our moderator, the Professional Developers of Iowa Director, asked the question, "What social media do you use and what results do you see?"  I learned that among this group of professionals, Linked-In is the most popular social media tool.  Facebook was mentioned, but was used for more personal connections.  Almost everyone had a Twitter account, but almost noone had a real strategy for results.  And YouTube got the nod for posting training and promotional videos.

So, the takeaway?  The three tools worth my time seem to be Linked-In, Twitter, and YouTube. 

The challenge? Integrating the tasks of marketing via social media with existing tools like web site content management, blog posts, email newsletters and online forums. 

So, here is my suggested organizational structure for distributing online marketing content:

1. Begin with the blog.  Jot down ideas and collect responses here.
2. Repurpose for the web.  Refine, support, detail and edit your ideas for posting to a web page. 
3. Summarize in your newsletter.  Email your target audience, explain the relevance of your idea, link to your web page.
4. Promote via Twitter. Write about ideas, link to your web page, ask for retweets.
5. Solicit feedback and create discussion on Linked-In.  Contact your groups, link to the ideas on your web page, and ask a relevant question to open discussion.
6. Go live on YouTube.  Prepare a related interview and post to YouTube.

Cool Marketing Resource - Sherpa Stats on Social Media

Here's something, MarketingSherpa has a chart concluding that marketers believe social media to be effective, although unmeasuarable.

I wonder how they know these strategies are effective?

MarketingSherpa Chart >>
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31043

Best Practices - Managing Email Bounces

Small or big business, non-profit or otherwise, it is important to understand the nature of email bounce management.  The success of your targeted permission-based email program may hinge on how well you maintain your list, and here's why:

1. Bounced emails are unreceived, and if ignored, these subscribers will forget they ever subscribed.  It is up to you, the sender, to investigate best strategies for insuring delviery to this segment of your audience.

2. A high and continuous rate of bounced emails will tarnish your email reputation with the receiving internet service providers, and that bad reputation can cause further disruptions in your email deliveries.

For more on this topic today, read J. Jennings's article at Clickz:
http://www.clickz.com/3632719/print

Email Style & Etiquette - Editing

Just when you thought you were finished, THAT's the time to get out the red pen.

Your business email writing process should conclude with a check for:

spelling, grammar and punctuation errors

sentence structure errors and unnecessary run-ons 

proper language and word choice

natural and professional tone of voice

See this useful list of tips for email writing by Dennis Jerz at Seton Hill Univeristy
http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/e-text/e-mail.htm

Cool Marketing Resource - @deliverability

A Twitter account allows you to follow the thoughts and daily interactions of another individual who is also using Twitter.

For email marketing pros, I recommend following @deliverability.

You can also read the blog at www.Deliverability.com  

And here is a useful article about email deliverability:
http://www.demandgenreport.com/articles_print.php?codearti=1243

Highlight of the Week - The Wine Lady @ Gateway

We are publishing a new newsletter for local wine lovers. 

The Wine Lady @ Gateway... makes use of one of the key elements for good email newsletter writing: personal tone.

One of the most challenging creative tasks for email newsletter writers is to produce a professional publication with a more personal tone - something that has style and is memorable yet not flashy or gauche.

With our highlight this week, Abbe writes with authority, and at the same time when you read the newsletter it sounds like she is speaking directly to you.  This is the right mix!

Another challenging creative task for email newsletter writers is to be concise.  This requires:

• touch decision-making
• well crafted sentences
• use of bulleted information
• and good grammar. 

Check around for the perfect mix in the newsletters you read in your inbox.  Who has that perfect mix of tone, professionalism, and content?

Creative Strategies - Internet Branding at No Added Cost

It is so fantastic to see your name or your brand meander from source to source, leaving a searchable trail as it travels, logging trackable records good for measuring and reporting.

I searched my name and specialty at Google recently and found myself all over the place! 

Today I'd like to report my name appears at Voddie.com - I never heard of Voddie.com, but it is really cool. It is an internet & marketing company managed out of England.  The reason I am there is an article I wrote on Email Etiquette.  Read my article here >> http://www.voddie.com/blog/2008/03/11/email-etiquette%E2%80%94use-it-or-lose-business/

I am referenced at TCEWorld as a source for a similar article - read their article and find me at the bottom >> 
http://www.tceworld.co.in/index_files/tmm/new/kma/mkt/mc/mc_020408.htm

Today I got busy and updated "what I am doing" at LinkedIn, Plaxo, Twitter and my 3sixty account. 

None of these appearances on the Internet stage cost me a dime, and all of them are trackable, searchable, and focused on my area of expertise. 

Now why wouldn't someone dive in and begin building a social network, an internet persona. 

Search me!

Best Practices - Writing for Email

Emails are unique.  A well-structured business email will:

• Contain more content than a social media message like those posted at Twitter or LinkedIn
• Use correct grammer and spelling
• Present less information than a business document, often sent instead as attachments
• Present the most important idea at the top (See this nice demonstration from Yale >> )
• Use bullets

Make your emails more effective - write effectively, efficiently and correctly.

Email Style & Etiquette - Reply to the question

It is true we usually scan email messages rather than read them. 

This is no excuse, however, for overlooking the most important question asked within a business inquiry.

How much time is wasted repeating a question via email - I asked the question in the first email, my contact replied to my email without answering the question I asked.  So I need to reply again with the same question.

This is a business etiquette issue because it wastes the time and patience of your professional contacts.

Be reminded: Scan the ENTIRE email before replying.

Cool Marketing Resource - Social Media

It's the rage, there are webinars, seminars, white papers, and loads of tweets on how to use social media for marketing. 

I attended a presentation by Hillary Brown (@hillabean) on social media marketing strategies, and I am finally sold. 

There are two valid reasons to monitor and participate in social media marketing:

1) Search engine rankings - the more your brand appears online, the more likely your brand name will appear in search findings.

2) Viral marketing - the online form of word-of-mouth marketing.  If your business has flourished as a result of good customers talking good things about your business, those same good customers are now likely twittering, blogging, facebooking, and posting comments about your business. 

The tools exist to track your brand name across these social media platforms.  Want to know what people are saying about you?  Moreover, would you prefer to contribute to the positive image your brand name already enjoys?  Join Twitter, create a Facebook page, build a blog...

The time has come.

For more on social media marketing, keep up with Hillary Brown at www.lavarow.com

Ask a Question...

If you have been working with email marketing and have a question, or if you are considering adding email to your marketing strategy, use the comment feature below to ask a question! 

It's free, it's my advice based on my own experiences in email marketing, sales and management for 22 years now! 

Go ahead, ask...

Highlight of the Week - Twitter

I have figured out Twitter.  See me wade my way into the social waters at:

http://www.twitter.com/katwired

I plan to follow local social media expert Hillary Brown of Lava Row, international email marketing consultant Tamara Gielen, and Kenneth Yu.  Click their names to learn more about each Tweet.  Sign up with a community of Tweets to begin reading their Tweeps!

If you figure out how this will benefit marketing professionals, comment here!

Best Practices - Understanding SPF Records

Email servers, whether they are owned and operated by your corporate office or if they are Yahoo or MSN, are bound by rules and algorithms that determine the validity of the emails they receive.  Obviously a great focus in recent years has been on creating rules by which to sort out the unwanted emails.  By checking the actual behind-the-scenes "envelope" information of an incoming email, the receiving server decides if the sender if valid, forged, or possible SPAM - and all of this is automated.

Improving the success of your email deliveries requires an understanding of email authentication, and the main factor in this equation is your own email domain's SPF (Sender Policy Framework) record.  Read about SPF at www.openspf.org and follow the wizard under the heading Deploying SPF.

To check your record, go to to a helpful page at the Microsoft site: http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/safety/content/technologies/senderid/wizard/
and enter your domain name in the field on the right side of the screen.  This will bring up your SPF record if it exists. 

Best Practices - Targeting

One of the hardest concepts for small businesses to buy into is the idea of segmenting their target audience and building messages based on customer needs. 

Either time, technology or knowledge seems to hamper this type of true target marketing for smaller businesses. Email promotions or customer retention programs are usually sent out to one group all the same.  I know that large retailers and national service organizations are on board to segment their various audiences and then they can email more relevant messages and draw better results.

But what about small businesses?  If your house list is only 400 addresses, are you thinking you can treat those 400 individuals as one?  Think hard about those 400 individuals - are there even just a couple of significant characteristics that make half those business prospects unique?  If so, put those people into a group of their own and recreate your message to address that unique characteristic.  If you do, your message will more likely be opened and read!

For more on audience segmentation, see Stefan Pollard's Five Tips for Building Better Segments at http://www.clickz.com/showPage.html?page=clickz_print&id=3630580

Cool Marketing Resource - Salesforce.com

I was a sales rep with a large international company for 15 years.  Managing the information flow to and from sales reps was a trick in and of itself.  And overseeing data collection and information flow from reps to customers was nearly impossible.

This has all changed in the past 5 years with new technologies and the creative use of Customer Relationship Management tools.

What is fantastic, as a sales rep AND an email marketing professional, is how we can integrate email programs with CRM tools, resulting in more timely communication, easier communciation management, and more satisfied and connected customers.

Triggered email, as defined at Webopedia.com, is: "Any email message that is automatically sent to a person based on an event..."  Triggered emails are created in advance and delivered as they are triggered.  The trigger can be a click at a web site, a relationship to a particular data field in a database (date of birth, for example), or any type of action within a customer relationship cycle.  Triggered emails are often "transactional" in nature, confirming a sale or a registration.  More and more, email marketing professionals are focusing on triggered one-to-one emails to implement marketing campaigns.  With our email solution, we can integrate a product update with a purchase confirmation, automate an annual renewal email or send an personalized offer based on a recent registration or purchase.

Our tool of choice for email marketing is ExactTarget, and the online sales tool of choice for our customers is Salesforce.com - which integrates seemlessly with ExactTarget.  See ExactTarget.com and Salesforce.com. 

Best Practices - Inbox Management

My Inbox is my best friend and my worst enemy all in the same.  I click to recieve emails with the anticipation of a child at Christmas, always expecting that new inquiry or happy customer or friendly invitation.  At the same time, it often feels like a spring rain that never stops, like the summer of 1993 in Iowa or the winter of 2008.

What is great is knowing I have a system for managing all of the messages. 

And my system has a lot in common with the manamgent strategy posted at the EEC recently.  For tips on how to better manage large quantities of email in your inbox, visit this list of "Inbox Managment Tips"
http://www.emailexperience.org/resources/inbox-management-tips/

Cool Marketing Resource - ExactTarget Seminar

ExactTarget's Route 1 to 1: The New eMarketing Essentials is heading your way!  More info >>

In addition to informative presentations, top industry experts and analysts will provide one-to-one marketing technology insight, and ExactTarget clients will share real-life examples of B2B and B2C email marketing success.

WinCommunications will be there in Chicago in May.  Look for the latest tips here at WinBlogger soon after the May seminar, and be sure to call 1-866-win-mail if you are interested in learning more about how to incorporate ExactTarget's tool into your marketing plan.

Best Practices - Good Business

I am impressed with the Hilton Corporation.  We are regulars at the Homewood Suites in Chicago and ever since our first stay, I have been an subscriber to the Hilton's email newsletter. What the Hilton does right is customer service, and their style of customer service is no longer surprising - for me it is the standard and the norm.

Of course, if I go online and make a reservation, I get an email receipt.  What's more, if I call in a reservation by phone, I also get an email receipt. 

In the receipt, I find details about the hotel location with a link to a map, as well as the weather and local events.

Their newsletter is published in very digestible size, with manageable frequency.

The hotel industry has other customer service queens - I liked something that the Minneapolis Radisson did for me back in February.  My reservation had been made 6 weeks prior to that visit, and the week before our stay the Radisson emailed me a reminder of my reservation.  That was handy to have, because once again it had the weather report - perfect for our ski trip and no icy roads!

These hotel chains are doing it right with email and customer service.  Take a lesson!

Email Style & Etiquette - Published Again!

I am please to share a terrific article on the fundamental manners of email.  Its author and I have a lot in common!

Read Article Here >>
http://www.marketingprofs.com/8/email-etiquette-use-or-lose-business-towner.asp?adref=znnpbsc238

In a related blog moment, Rick Short of Indium Corporation built on the idea of email etiquette in his recent post.  Short's message adds that everyone in business is an Internet representative for their company - via email, we all wear our business badge and need to remember our mission and our image.  His blog "Rich Short's B2B Marcom Blog" is fun and full of interesting stories and marketing tips.

Highlight of the Week - Trilix Group

I love contests.  I never win, but there's no "quit" in me, and I will keep trying 'til they close the entry box.

Which is why I love the email marketing strategy that includes a well-crafted, relevant and informative contest that is also fun and entertaining.

Trilix Marketing Group developed such a contest using a combination of You-Tube video, sports statistics, their web site, and of course a daily email campaign the weeks preceeding this year's Super Bowl.

The contest comes in with a daily drawing, followed by a grand prize after the Super Bowl Game is played.  And the fun part is the video - ads from previous Super Bowl Games that bring back memories and make me laugh.  What a great idea!

What a great way to keep in front of customers and highlight the agency's strengths.  I would bet they've added a few subscribers to their email list along the way, too.

Highlight of the Week - Educational Opportunities

A host of professional organizations, seminars and conferences have sprung up over the past few years.  Join the Email Experience Council (www.emailexperience.org), read articles at www.Clickz.com, and spend time in training at an upcoming conference: Email Evolution Conference, eTail 2008, Email Summit '08.  Or call me for a one-hour training session on a variety of topics in Internet marketing (866-Win-Mail).

Best Practices - Email Marketing Goals

Email is the perfect way to announce upcoming events and invite our customers to visit and try out our new wines,"- Kristin McClarnon, WinM@il Customer, Summerset Winery

What's the goal of your campaign?  Did you make more money than you invested in your marketing efforts? Did you set and meet your marketing goals? How do you plan to calculate this relationship in 2008?  I am constantly surprised at how often this concept is left in the dust as businesses rush forward with an email, or even an email campaign.

Reports show that email marketing, when done correctly, returns more dollars o n your investment than any other marketing strategy. Results from email marketing are simple to measure.

And remember that the best way to measure results is to track them back to the goals of your email campaign.  What are your marketing goals?  Below are some sample email marketing goals derived from WinM@il customers in 2007:

Goal of Campaign: Raise awareness, develop sense of community, fill and retain properties
Goal of Campaign: Increase web traffic, increase visits to booths at trade shows
Goal of Campaign: Increase registrations of clinics and camps
Goal of Campaign: Increase sales
Goal of Campaign: Increased member retention, increase attendance
Goal of Campaign: Develop loyalty, bring in customers

Creative Strategies - List Building

A good WinM@il customer who oversees the operations of a variety of dining establishments created a holiday email coupon for the subscribers of one restaurant's email program.  That right there is a good idea.

And going one step further, in an effort to share that good news, they sent a promotional email to a nearby property's subscribers encouraging them to sign up for the first restaurant's email program.

This kind of cross marketing works.  It makes more sense, costs less, and drives more business in the door than purchasing a random list of who-knows-who.

Other creative list building strategies include:

1-When speaking with a radio or television reporter, remember to ask listeners to go to your web site for more info and say the address.

2-At a trade show, put your web site address on every banner, hand-out and registration form. Acquire e-mail addresses of booth visitors.

3-Mention your web site and ask for e-mail addresses at every event you attend on behalf of your organization.

4-Partner with a like-minded organization and put an ad at their web site – link it to your web site, spell out your address.

Highlight of the Week - Younkers Gets It!

I don't know exactly when it happened, but the midwest regional retailer Younkers - owned by Saks Incorporated - has finally created an email that works! 

The shift to more effective design includes:

1. more links to choose from
2. more visual motivation to click those links
3. and greater access directly to parts of their web site that interest me.

Now, on the the next step: Personalization!  Perhaps they already have this in the works, but ideally Younkers would send me something more directed to my buying habits.  So many campaigns like this one are created with a one-size-fits-all mentality.  This is surprising - especially for the larger companies spending huge dollars on advertising - that marketing can't figure out the simple task of targeting via email.  This strategy is so available and so affordable that I am baffled it is not more often utilized.

This is not a new issue.  Back in 2005 JupiterResearch was writing about it - read their assessment here >>

Cool Marketing Resource - Clickz Conference

Q: Who reads email and why?

A: From "Beyond Direct: E-mail Branding & Relationships to Build Business," at the Clickz Email Marketing Conference come these facts:

• 81 percent of U.S. executives subscribe to industry e-mail newsletters for product information and business intelligence (Wall Street Journal).
• 60 percent of business decision makers said Internet and email are the best ways for advertisers to reach them (Jupiter Research).

Read more statistics reported at the conference in this Clickz article: http://www.clickz.com/3627305/print

Email Style & Etiquette - Oops, there it is

Ever send an email to a group only to discover that the embedded link was the wrong one? 

Ever email your subscribers about this year's event only to learn later that the info included was for last year?

It is worth repeating, and can never be overemphasized: PROOFREAD your emails before hitting SEND.

If it is a business email, the best idea is to routinely request help from another set of eyes to look at your message, both looking for simple errors and content misperceptions or improvements.

Simple reminder on proofreading >>
http://www.ucc.vt.edu/stdysk/proofing.html

Cool Marketing Resource - WDFM.com

I like lists.  They are:

1. Easy to follow
2. Organized
3. Succinct

The email newsletter by Larry Chase called "Web Digest for Marketers" organizes information in a numbered list which is consistent and familiar every time it is published.  The lists are always topic-specific, so I know right away if I am going to want to browse the list or not.

One thing I don't like is how I have to skip past the large advertisement that pops into my preview pane in order to get to the content of the newsletter.  This is an unfortunate misunderstanding of priorities.  I also think it would be helpful to have a table of contents and some back-and-forth navigation.

Still, the information is terrific and I appreciate the lists he sends out on topics like "Top 12 Advance Email Marketing Resources" and "How to Get Email Newsletter Subscribers." 

See more at www.wdfm.com .

Highlight of the Week - American Airlines

As watching videos on the computer becomes more and more common, the idea of adding video and/or audio to email campaigns is becoming more viable and attractive. 

I recently received an email from American Airlines, as I am one of their past customers, and the email is lively and enticing.  It addresses me by name, it reminds me how many rewards points I have, and then it invites me to "Catch the Show"  When I clicked that image, it lined me to a web page that was obviously designed specifically for this email, and it includes some video, some music, and some more choices for me to select.  ( See the related AA web page >> )

I was entice and a little entertained.

It worked!

Best Practices - Worst Practices

Here are ten dead giveaways that tell me a company needs help with their email campaign:

1. I sign up for their newsletter at their web site and nothing happens - ever.
2. I unsubscribe from a regularly scheduled email news publication but I continue to get their news.
3. The email has no automatic unsubscribe option.
4. The same email newsletter arrives to my inbox three or four times.
5. The email "design" consists of nothing but verious fonts in various sizes and colors.
6. The news I receive is redundant, irrelevant, or worse - unsolicited.
7. The most imporant information in the email is at the bottom.
8. The email comes from an unrelated domain.
9. I check the email from my phone and all I see are words like "Mark for Download."
10. The email lacks contact info or physical address.

Any other worst practices?  Sign in and post your's here!

Highlight of the Week - Google Video

Google not only sells their services through completely integrated marketing strategies, they also have a lot of fun!

See this >> http://mail.google.com/mail/help/gmail_video.html

It is a video assembled by their marketing team not doubt, and it is entirely composed from customer submissions.  These are happy Google users made even happier now, while they watch their own video clips at Google.com!

This is a nice reminder that marketing isn't all about survey stats and metrics - it can also be about fun!

Creative Strategies - Edit for cells & pda's

I am a little surprised by the number of companies that do not revise their email marketing content to suit the growing crowd reading emails on their BlackBerrys, cell phones or other mobile devices.

If I only have a few seconds to view an email from my phone, most of the time here is what I see:

"Problems viewing this email?"

"To view this email as a web page go here."

"This email was sent to kt@wincommunications.com by..."

And then I run out of time and I close my phone.  When I am back at my computer, I see those emails I already scanned and I delete them thinking I already read them.

A more effective approach would utilize the tool an email service provider offers you to edit the text version separately from the HTML email. 

Next, decide what ONE THING you want cell phone and PDA users to know before they exit their email screen, and type that at the top of the text version.

More on email rendering for mobile devices >>

Highlight of the Week - Branding

I have never been so excited about branding. 

This is because I spent 4 hours in a strategic planning session yesterday with the Iowa Society of Association Executives and we were coached through some very creative and thought-provoking material by Mike Wagner, author of "Own Your Own Brand" and owner of the White Rabbit Group.

The overall message was "branding is not about branding."  I love that!

So what is branding?  It is about ownership.  And branding is not just a logo and a color scheme, it is a unique identity that speaks without words.  It comes from within and is what makes one company's message more memorable, more identifiable than the hundreds of messages we filter through in a day.

Touching on marketing, Wagner reminded us that the modern media scene is no longer focused on one message to the masses.  "The mass market is dead."

Which means that successful companies and business owners are connecting with very targeted audiences through multiple channels with unique, timely and relevant messages.

This is exactly why email marketing is one of the most effective marketing tools available and essential to any and all businesses and organizations.  Email with permission to a targeted audience with a unique and relevant message that truly represents your brand, and watch this strategy jumpstart your plan for growth.  It is about relationships.  It is about fulfilling promises.  It is about reinforcing your brand.

For more on branding, see "Branding Redux | 3 New Rules."

Best Practices - Above the Fold

Recently a customer asked what "above the fold" meant and why it mattered.

Originally the phrase related to newspapers and it meant the printed material on the top of the page before the paper folds in half.

For email marketers, the same phrase means within the first viewable screen of an email, before any scrolling.  It matters because the content in the email "above the fold" is more likely to be viewed than anything below the scroll.  A few points to consider:

1. A good percentage of people view their emails in a "Preview Pane" (the top 1 1/2 inches of the email), so an ideal design would have the most important information right up top.
2. Often readers are not willing to take time to scroll down in an email.  To avoid having the message lost, an effective email design would have the bulk of the entire contents within one screen, above the fold.
3. For more details, encourage readers to click a link to a web site or an online brochure.  This enables tracking of that activity, which develops a better report on the effectiveness of the message.

Highlight of the Week - Cubs.com

The MLB and Cubs.com really know what fans want. 

Just think, how ideal to be a business that has such loyal and avid customers!

The web site knows what fans want, and they give it to us via news at the web site, contests, ticket ordering, video, mobile notices and downloads, and even pitch-by-pitch coverage via mobile phone! 

And a significant piece of this integrated marketing campaign is an email that follows all the rules.  It begins with my permission, it arrives in a timely manner, and it offers me relevant information and exciting opportunities exclusive to the email audience.

Just imagine - if your business knows your customers as well as the Cubs know their fans, how successful would your integrated marketing become?!

Know your customers.  IT BEGINS THERE.

Cool Marketing Resource - SendOutCards.com

A perfect complement to a targeted permission-based email campaign is an occasional direct mail communication. 

I have discovered SendOutCards.com.  This online tool creates personal and personalized greeting cards, then the company has your cards stuffed, stamped and delivered within 7 business days. 

What is nice is not only do they have huge collection of greeting cards to select from, they also allow you to create cards from pictures on your desktop.

When email campaigns integrate with a variety marketing tools like this one, the results improve. 

"If effectively used, these campaings increase response rates, market awareness and revenue, and maximize profits." - Integrated Marketing Campaigns 101, OnDemandJournal.com

Best Practices - List Building

Regarding "opt-in" email list purchasing or list rental, I most often advise otherwise.  What I have read is that when you rent a list from a list vendor, they do the delivery themselves, and the only email addresses you receive are those of the recipients who have opened the mail or clicked on your link.  Therefore, often the return is small and not worth the expense.  When you purchase a list, that means you would be sending from your own email domain (@yourcompany.com) and sending to an unknown list always results in high bounce rates - and often results in high complaint or unsubscribe rates, both of which can cause problems for future deliveries from your domain.

What I like is the idea of partnering with organizations which are willing to do cross-marketing.  For example, if there is a local department store near your company's restaurant & bar, and that store already has an email loyalty program, investigate the possiblity of putting a link to your web site in their next email promo – make sure then that the landing page at your web site has an email sign-up area.

Or create a mail postcard campaign to a certain geography which includes a pitch for recipients to go online and sign up for your news, perhaps in exchange for an immediate special offer.  For example, a postcard that says – visit YourCompany.com today to receive a 2-for-1 dinner coupon…

Integrate the list-building process into all marketing and sales functions.  This is the best way to grow an inhouse email list.

Best Practices - Permission & Perserverence

Communication professionals using emial to build and retain customer relationships are challenged to gain permission in order to email. 

But the challenge doesn't stop once permission is obtained.  A relationship is built on meaningful two-way messaging, perserverance, and promises kept.

So many times I have signed up for email at a web site and not received any confirmation and not received any emails.  In this case, if I do some day receive an email from  one of these resources, I will have forgotten I signed up for the email, and I'll probably delete it thinking it was unwanted/unsolicited spam.

The point is, as useful as email is at building relationships, it is a competitive and fragile relationship that can crumble without attention, persistance, and the fulfillment of promises. 

If you are collecting addresses at your web site, be sure not to let that relationship die on the line. 

Plan ahead, get permission and then pursue a closer connection. 

Email Style & Etiquette - For Those Who Print

Here's something that I am amazed to find many people do not understand.  When you design an email, or a web page for that matter, the idea is to create online interactive content that maximizes the delivery of your information and faciliates the user's quick understanding of your message.

Email design is not based upon, synchronized with, aligned the same as, or even conceived the same as print design. 

HTML emails and web pages do not have a "Page 1" or a "Page 2."

HTML emails and web pages function with online design in mind, not printers.

So, for those who are inclined to print the newseltter you are creating in HTML and sending via email, one of two things must be understood:

Either

1. The audience is aware that the printed piece may not look exactly like it did on the screen, and they are forgiving of these design descrepencies or
2. The designer includes a link to a print-ready document that will look on paper the way it does in the document on the screen.

Offering a "Print Version" is a nice option when your email has a lot of written information and your list includes readers who print to read.

Creative Strategies - Hilton's Homewood Headlines

I love to read emails from my favorite hotels in my favorite cities around the country. 

I signed up a few years ago for Hilton's Homewood Headlines.  The Hilton's email marketing strategies are consistently direct and relevant and the content is useful and entertaining.  I like the note they include to the right, which is usually very personal in tone and offers a chance to win a prize. 

Here's a fun one:

The magic of a family vacation is in the simple moments you share together. That's why Homewood Suites by Hilton offers your family everything you need to create as many of those moments as possible. Spacious suites with fully equipped kitchens and complimentary high-speed internet access keep everyone comfortable. Complimentary hot breakfast starts each day off right. Now through July 15, 2007, show us a photo of the moment that made your vacation unforgettable, and it might end up on a Times Square billboard.

I didn't enter a picture, but would love to see the billboard they mention!

Best Practices - Practice v Profit

There is an email marketing debate out there today, and the question seems to be based in the argument of best practice vs. most profit.  (See http://www.clickz.com/3626503 and then read http://blog.emailexperience.org/)

Email marketing has a growing list of industry leaders who participate in the ongoing discussion and promotion of best practices in email marketing.  This seems to be in response to two things:

1. The need for standards and a more common set of measurements to determine value and ROI
2. The need to stop abuse of email

Meanwhile, email marketing also has an eager group of leaders who focus on improving profits by integrating this strategy into their marketing mix.  This seems to be in response to two things:

1. The need to increase profits and grow business
2. The need to report positive ROI and meet departmental goals

These two groups are not mutually exclusive.  What's important is knowing how to maintain a positive position in business, both in terms of adhering to and benefiting from industry standards and in terms of turning a profit.

Email marketing pioneer Al DiGuido says that best practices in email marketing do matter (Clickz article Putting the Service in E-mail Service Provider):

"Don't expect an ESP to divulge proprietary information about an individual company's performance or strategy, but do expect the aggregate lessons from assembling best-practice information."

Here, DiGuido points out that marketing professionals who hire an Email Service Provider need to pursue aggressive Q&A.  Adoption of an ESP should depend on how well it can help your business meet financial goals.  The vendor must display a combination of knowledge of best practices and superior functionality of the technology they are selling.

The importance of best practices in email marketing brings us to another point.  In today's email news from eROI, read about a study that points out the descrepency between professionals who preach "best practices" and those who just preach them. 

"Email deliverability and rendering has been a hot topic for a long time, but how important is it to marketers? There is a vast difference between what they say and what they do." 

The eROI study indicates that the two most important elements of an email campaign's success are 1) content and 2) deliverability.  When success in terms of dollars is based on ideas like content and deliverability, it is no wonder they are hot topics often discussed at roundtables and seminars. 

What is interesting is that almost half of the marketers surveyed are not adjusting their email design to the diverse demands of various email applications like the new Outlook 2007.  If deliverability is key, and success is measured on real results from opened and viewed emails, then it would be worth while to pay attention to best practices in HTML rendering.

It's all connected.  Email best practices and increasing ROI on email campaigns are not mutually exclusive. 

What's more, best practices today are different than they were even a year ago, so one global online discussion in the summer of 2007 is not enough.  It is too much to assume that what works today will work tomorrow.  The discussion needs to continue, needs foundation in statistics, and needs proponents.  Organizations like the DMA's eec are filling that bill.

Cool Marketing Resource - EmailStatCenter.com

The relatively new resource EmailStatCenter.com boasts to be "The Leading Authority on Email Marketing Metrics."  The statistics are collected from a variety of sources and sorted by topics, such as "Authentication," "From Lines" or "Trend Reports."  All statics are attributed.

For example, at the category labeled "Creative" are these statistics, among others:

• Most common screen resoltion is 1024 X 768. - OneStat.com (April 2007)
• Fewer than 50 percent of marketers create emails that render appropriately.
  - Email Experience Council, Jan 2007

Highlight of the Week - Email Statistics

Statistics support use of email
A poll of women business owners reported by the National Association of Women Business Owners showed that 81% of respondents either currently use or are considering the use of email marketing for their businesses.

Email marketing continues to be a key component of the marketing mix for businesses. 

Some may say the popularity of email is shrinking.  But the stats are in all around us, and the facts are just the opposite.  Let's be clear, the future of email is strong.  It's the function of email that is changing.

Email is shifting away from a dual-purpose mechanism.  As a social communication tool, email is primarily used by generations X and above.  However, as an article at News.com explains, the younger generation gravitates toward quicker and more customized communication tools with instant messaging, MySpace pages, and texting.  See "Kids say e-mail is, like, soooo dead" by Stefanie Olsen.

But LISTEN UP, young ones!  At work if you only read your email once a week you may be in for a shock.  Most jobs rely heavily on email for official notices, educational information, instructions and requests, and report submisions. 

Business-to-business email has solidified its place in our working world.    And while we are busy keeping up with the pace, a timely, relevant and useful email message from a key vendor or customer is often effective and appreciated.

Top quality email marketing campaigns follow the rules, pay attention to target audiences, key in on subscriber preferences, and prove effective time after time.

Creative Strategies - Thank You Notes

VistaPrint.com sent a thank you note after I purchased some printed postcards.  The note came immediately after I made the online purchase at their web site.  It was more than a thank you and confirmation message, it was a special offer for more discounts. 

And a couple days later they sent another email with more special offers.

This online retailer invests in an email campign geared at driving existing customers to spend even more at their site.  Repeat customers.  Loyalty programs.

A transactional email such as a confirmation message is one of the best places to add some customized direct marketing.  Successful online strategies include marketing via invoices, thank you notes, event confirmation messages, purchase orders.  The key is to make the most of each and every email communication, while staying focused on customer needs.