Sep 01
Yesterday, Google announced the release of a new feature that could have significant impact on email marketing. Priority Inbox is an inbox enhancement designed to improve the overall experience of Gmail subscribers by highlighting messages in their inbox that are deemed “Important”, ultimately reducing email clutter.
So how does it work? Mail reaching the inbox is grouped into 3 sections – Important and Unread, Starred, and Everything Else. These classifications are powered by the activity and engagement of the end user. Examples of engagement are the frequency of opens, replies or emails to the sender, staring emails, word associations in the content, archiving without opening and deleting. If Priority Inbox makes a mistake, the user is provided with “mark as important” and “mark as not important” buttons for each message. These interactions teach Priority Inbox how to properly classify the mail in the user’s inbox.
Obviously, this new feature has the potential to be a game changer. But it’s way too early to tell how it will impact email marketers. It certainly does reinforce the current trend at major mailbox providers that emails deemed unwanted are less likely to reach the eyes of consumers. The age old models of “Last In, On Top” and “One Message Fits All” no longer apply, and marketers must focus on relevance and personalization in order to keep their subscribers engaged and avoid being lost with “Everything Else”.
For additional information about Priority Inbox, visit the Gmail Help section.
Aug 12
Despite the economic roller coaster we’ve all been riding, marketers remain steadfast in their strategy. According to a recent study by Forbes Insights, in association with MarketShare Partners, on the topic of measurement and accountability, companies are not cutting back on marketing despite the recent economic roller coaster. Three quarters of marketing executives who responded to the survey noted that they expected their marketing budgets to stay the same or increase in their 2010-2011 fiscal year, with fully one-third expecting an increase.
One of the areas marketers associated with the most important marketing strategy is measurement. While marketers are not slashing budgets, they do need to provide accountability for their results, and therefore, measurement is more important than ever before. 40% of respondents said one of the biggest drivers for developing marketing measurement and accountability programs was to justify spend to senior executives. 65% wanted to make marketing more strategic within their organization.
Earlier this year, Datran Media conducted its own marketing survey and discovered that marketers and advertising agencies intend to aggressively deploy online measurement tools in order to obtain actionable business intelligence from their marketing campaigns. This trend will accelerate the budget allocation shift into measurable digital channels going forward.
For the majority of marketers surveyed, clicks (72 percent), conversions (59.2 percent) and impressions (58.4 percent) remain the top three metrics that matter. These data points are indicative of a campaign’s overall success, and the survey findings demonstrate that marketers are now fully focused on quantifying their return on investment. 87.2 percent of respondents said that they believed accurate online audience measurement was important for driving increased brand awareness, increased revenue and better campaign performance.
So what does this all mean, and how should marketers use it to their advantage? Is a click measured in email the same as a click measured in a display campaign? How we as an industry understand this data — how we access it, incorporate it, and implement data insights into actionable intelligence — has been a significant stumbling block for interactive. Marketers need to begin incorporating campaign results from all channels and developing a measurement that assesses the value of a marketing message as a whole. This methodology lays the foundation for the next generation of interactive audience measurement and helps you understand how engagement in the email channel, for instance, ties back to a search or social media campaign. When you use data from a variety of sources like search, email, and direct mail, you can more accurately measure audiences and put an actionable plan together for your next outreach.
Jul 30
Upon browsing my inbox yesterday afternoon my eyes were hypnotically drawn to an email message with a subject line calling out “free ice-cream!” Sold. I quickly opened the message, printed the coupon; which was buy one get one free, and headed straight to the store to redeem my frosty treats. Yes, I ate both if you have to know. Hot summer days often leave me feeling gluttonous and craving sugar.
The point of the story here is not that I have to rethink my diet, but that receiving messages like this is what I love about email. And I’m not alone. According to a CrossView survey among US shoppers in various states, there is a significant consumer preference for receiving promotions via email as opposed to other methods of delivery.
Why email? Maybe it’s the ease of receiving and redeeming a promotion; it comes directly to you, often personalized, without you having to search and scour for discounts like my Mom used to do in the old Sunday circular. It’s also a deal you likely want based on emails you’ve signed up for in the past. So until I am ready to register to receive news and promotions from health food stores, I expect to see discounts for ice cream because it is what I want.
Furthermore, the study reveals 35% of consumers said they were specifically shopping due to receiving a promotion from a retailer. That makes perfect sense. Ice cream was not originally on my menu for the day until I saw the coupon.
So this news is really a win-win for consumers and marketers.
Jul 27
For the first time since the recession reared its ugly head, marketers are once again making new customer acquisition a top priority. According to the “2010 Lead Generation Optimization Key Trends Analysis” from CSO Insights and reported in eMarketer, more than 91% of companies worldwide reported increasing new customer acquisition was one of their top strategic marketing objectives for 2010. And of all the marketing channels used to generate a steady quantity and quality of leads, companies said email was their best lead generation program.
As marketers rev up their new acquisition programs, it’s important to think about the customer as more than just a number in a database. Customers are savvy and are clearly in control more than ever before. So to truly be able to penetrate a new audience, you must treat them like you would a close friend.
Every great relationship, be it with a friend, co-working or customer, is dependent on good communications and a continuous fair value exchange. Without that, someone always feels left out, abused and taken advantage of. If you don’t understand how to listen and value your friends and relationships you’ll have limited success in your personal and business endeavors. How often do you hear of people or groups of people being referred to as Readers, Customers or Consumers? Those names are a bit impersonal, but not as bad as Aggregators, Data, Leads or Screamers. How a company refers to its prospects and customers tells you lot about how those people are treated and valued. How do you like it when “that friend” (and you all have one) call you or stops by only when they want something but are never interested in returning the favor or bringing some sort of value to the table…beyond what you’d expect from an acquaintance.
We’re all somewhat dependent on each other and while developing a competitive advantage is important in business, it’s much more important to building trusting, efficient, scalable and sustainable relationships. If we pick a few important common goals, we’ll be much more aligned with our partners and that’s one of the most important competitive advantages you can have.
Remember, if you put the customer’s needs and wants first, you will generate not just a lead, but a loyal customer.
Jul 08
According to new research by comSore, more than 123 million Americans visited newspaper sites in May, representing 57% of the total U.S. Internet audience, as the New York Times Brand led the category with more than 32 million visitors and 719 million pages viewed during the month. The average visitor viewed 22 pages of content on the New York Times. Tribune Newspapers ranked second in terms of audience with 24.8 million visitors, followed by Advance Internet and USA Today Sites.
This is great news for all print publishers that are concerned about dwindling circulation and readership. News and content is still a priority for consumers, but new technology is simply changing the way readers consume information. Publishers who understand how to use the Web to their advantage will reap the rewards. A couple of weeks ago we reported that online has not been as hard hit as print. According to the annual global entertainment and media outlook from PricewaterhouseCoopers, U.S. consumer magazines will continue to earn increasing digital ad revenue over the next few years, but not enough to erase their troubles selling print advertising. U.S. consumer magazines’ digital ad revenue never declined in the recession – just grew at a far slower rate: 1.6% last year compared with 114.5% in 2008. Their digital ad revenue will grow 8.5% in 2010 and post double-digit percentage increases after that, according to the outlook. U.S. consumer magazines can expect digital ad revenue of $1.6 billion in 2014, up from $902 million in 2009 and $414 million in 2007.
What’s more, according to the study, digital readers are more likely to be engaged with advertising. The report says that comScore research conducted last year for the Online Publishers Association showed that visitors who are exposed to display ads on news sites are more likely than average to visit the advertiser website, are heavier online buyers and tend to have higher household income.
Jul 07
In what is sure to be a ground-breaking research study across the marketing and advertising industry, new data reveals consumers’ attitudes toward behavioral targeting are more complex than indictaed in previous research.
Many studies and pundits have pointed to consumers’ complete disdain for targeted ads due in part to privacy concerns. However this research was based on straight-forward questions that did not put the actual situation in context to real-world scenarios. If someone simply asked me if I would be willing to make an extra $20,000 a year, my answer would be a resounding yes. However, if the question was followed by the fact that in order to do so, I would have to work nights and weekends, my answer would probably change. This type of questioning has provided false views on consumers attitudes towards advertising.
Adhering to a more realistic and accurate methodology, PreferenceCentral, a consumer ad preference management solution, has discovered that Internet users are more likely to prefer targeted online ads when they are asked to make real-world, value-for-value trade-offs, such as free access to Internet content. The study also shows that attitudes and preferences significantly shift when consumers are provided with education about behavioral targeting or when they can control targeted ad exposure.
70% OF INTERNET USERS ARE INTERESTED IN USING A CONSUMER CONTROL SOLUTION, 33% STATING THAT THEY ARE VERY OR EXTREMELY INTERESTED
Certain factors do play a material role in consumers’ comfort level with online advertising. When educated about behavioral targeting, 29 percent of respondents became less comfortable with the trade-off of free content for targeted ads. However, when subsequently informed that behavioral targeting information is anonymous, non-personally identifiable, 35 percent of these Internet users became more comfortable, indicating a need for consumer education on this topic. The high-level results are very interesting and can be found on the PreferenceCentral Web site.
It is smart research like this that is going to help our industry grow and thrive. Together, we need to educate consumers and continue to listen to what they have to say.
Jul 06
One could argue the email marketing subject line is the most important part of an email marketing campaign. That being said, it’s pretty amazing how little time most senders spend creating and testing them. The subject line is one of only two things (along with from name) a recipient will see that help them determine if they want to interact with a message or not. So how do we construct the perfect subject line? Let’s give it a shot.
- Who Are You? – First and foremost, you should identify yourself. A recipient should at a single glance know who the message is from.
- What’s the Purpose of the Message? – A great subject line should tell me what the email is about before I open it up.
- Anticipation – A subject line should truthfully tease the recipient.
- Keywords – Not unlike blogging, the subject line should contain relevant keywords just like a title.
- Length – I like to see subject lines under 60 characters. There’s no reason to go longer and risk losing an important part of your message.
The reward for a great subject line is increased open and click rates. Increased open and click rates mean increased engagement. Increased engagement means better deliverability. Better deliverability means more revenue. The best thing is that you can very confidently test the results.
Jul 01
What is email marketing strategy all about? It’s sometimes a challenge to explain to friends and family exactly what it is that I do. Honestly, the question sometimes goes beyond friends and family, and is asked by email marketers. Over the years, I’ve worked out a bit of an “elevator pitch” to answer that question.
“I work with companies to help them design and send out email that their customers enjoy reading.”
That’s my passion in 17 wonderfully descriptive words. If you can execute on that short sentence, you will be a successful email marketer. It’s so much fun to work in an industry that has a clearly defined and executable goal. I love working with a client and watching the light bulb come on when they understand that this business is as the core very simple. My experience allows me to help senders cut through the noise and get to the business of success, but it can be transferred and learned. Teaching is what I do.
What is email strategy? Strategy is assessing the current program and opportunities. Strategy is working to build a plan of action for the short-term and the long-term. Strategy is working with senders to craft just the right message to arrive at just the right time. Strategy is making sure that you are optimized for deliverability. Strategy is testing the right way. Strategy is analyzing numbers and working together to make them better. Strategy is also having someone to bounce ideas off of and come up with the next killer concept.
Let’s talk strategy!
Jun 30
Last week, both Amazon and Barnes and Noble announced plans to slash the price of their e-readers in response to the threat posed by Apple’s iPad. Apple fans like me are hoping to see similar price cuts for their iPad, but we are not holding our breaths.
The e-reader war is clearly underway and this is great news for consumers and publishers alike. The more people using the device, the more content is going to be produced and consumed, because it is a cheaper, faster way to digest the written word than ever before. And for publishers clearly struggling, this is good news.
While traditional print publications have been hurt by the recession, online has not been as hard hit. According to the annual global entertainment and media outlook from PricewaterhouseCoopers, U.S. consumer magazines will continue to earn increasing digital ad revenue over the next few years, but not enough to erase their troubles selling print advertising. U.S. consumer magazines’ digital ad revenue never declined in the recession – just grew at a far slower rate: 1.6% last year compared with 114.5% in 2008. Their digital ad revenue will grow 8.5% in 2010 and post double-digit percentage increases after that, according to the outlook. U.S. consumer magazines can expect digital ad revenue of $1.6 billion in 2014, up from $902 million in 2009 and $414 million in 2007.
This research, coupled with the increase of e-readers in the market, should have publishers planning digital versions of their publications for these devices.
The biggest hurdle to the rapid adoption of the e-reader is nostalgia. According to a stat reported at DPAC last week by The Harrison Group, nearly 70 percent of respondents in the top two spending brackets said “they just prefer holding print editions of books, magazines and newspapers.” This is certainly an understandable argument. But how soon before these numbers change dramatically? Just ten years ago if you asked consumers if they would prefer digital music versus physical albums, I bet no one would be willing to forgo that incredible feeling you get when you tear open up a new album from your favorite band. Yet, today, digital music is clearly on the way to outpacing physical album sales.
It’s time to face the fact; companies like Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Apple are the newsstands of the 21st century. This is where the next generation of readers will look to consume their content.
