Sep 01

Gmail Releases Priority Inbox

By Todd Coffey Email Delivery, Email Marketing No Comments »

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.

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Jul 29

How We Communicate

By Kevin Senne Email Marketing, Online Marketing No Comments »

I am writing this from about 33,000 feet over West Virginia.  I am on my way back to Dallas from a great week visiting customers in New York City.  As always seems to be the case these days, my flight was delayed.  We sat on the runway for around 2 hours and 15 minutes before we were finally given the green light to take-off.  I don’t normally get hooked up to the wi-fi on flights.  The times when I am on airplanes are the last times in my life that I am actually disconnected from the world.  I enjoy getting lost in a book or a crossword puzzle and thinking about nothing at all.  Events on this flight inspired me to get connected and get writing.

We’ve become information junkies whether we like it on not.  Television, radio, cell phones, text messages, smart phones, ticker crawls on every channel, and we haven’t even mentioned the internet.  We have email, Facebook, Twitter, ICQ, Foursquare, and about a million other ways to communicate and receive information.  What happens when we’re cut off from that information?  I’ll tell you what happens.  People freak out when they don’t feel like they know what’s happening.

We taxied out from the terminal and took our position.  The pilot was more than forthcoming telling us everything he knew about our situation.  Weather west of NYC was stacking up traffic and causing delays.  He told us the tower would let us know when things cleared up.  He also told us when they released the traffic to the south, we were 3rd in line.  Good enough if you are listening.  Here is the problem, most of us don’t listen anymore because we don’t have to, we have information.

A man in the row behind us started to panic.  He called his buddies on another flight.  He kept looking out the window watching other flights (certainly going another direction) take off and loudly complaining that WE were 3rd in line.  This went on for about an hour and he was counting down the time until the 3 hour rule kicked in and we returned to the terminal.  I’m sure he was disappointed that we took off.

What’s the point of all this?  We expect information at all times today and we’re lost without it.  Our listening skills continue to deteriorate becuase we’ve grown accustomed to not using them.  We need to keep this in mind as we attempt to communicate through whatever channel we might be using.  Clear and concise bits of information are what people like to digest.

Think about the new “attention span” as you are building out a communication plan.  Are there points where your customers will need information and feel left out?  Remember Mr. Impatient on my flight and how freaked out he was.  Kill us with information.  We crave it and need it in today’s world.

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Jul 06

The Perfect Email Marketing Subject Line

By Kevin Senne Email Marketing No Comments »

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.

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Jul 01

What Is Email Marketing Strategy?

By Kevin Senne Email Marketing No Comments »

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!

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Jun 28

Is Permission Enough?

By Todd Coffey Email Delivery, Email Marketing No Comments »

As we all know, deliverability is a critical component for email marketing success.  If your subscribers never see your message because it’s blocked or sent to the spam folder, they are unable to take an action.  A 2009 benchmark study conducted by Return Path found that nearly 20% of permission-based email messages never reach the intended recipient.  They are bounced back, delivered to the spam folder, or even worse, accepted by the ISP and not delivered to the inbox or spam folder (silent filtering).  I’m sure this statistic gets a lot of marketers pretty steamed, and after speaking to some of my clients about this study, I started to wonder:  Is permission to send someone an email really enough?

The Definition of Spam Is Changing

Over the past year, email professionals have witnessed a fundamental shift in the way ISPs and email providers accept and filter incoming mail.  Today, the focus is on delivering email that subscribers want, rather than just blocking unsolicited or malicious messages as evident by the upcoming changes to Hotmail.  To accommodate this new model of filtering, ISPs are utilizing more data about subscriber response when determining inbox eligibility.  In addition to the traditional metrics of spam complaints and unknown users, ISPs incorporate open and click data, time spent viewing an email, and deleting without opening when calculating sender reputation.

With this increase in filtering intelligence, the definition of spam has now changed.  From an ISP perspective, spam has become any email message determined to be unwanted by the end user, regardless of whether or not the email sender obtained opt-in consent.  Even if your list is double opt-in, if the majority of your subscribers are not positively engaged with your brand, you run the risk of being filtered by the ISPs.

Focus On Customer Value

So as a permission-based marketer, how do you avoid having your mail misclassified by the ISPs?  First, it is important to develop a program that provides ongoing value to your subscribers.  Leverage customer data and history to send relevant messages at the right time and stay away from the batch and blast mentality where one email fits all.  In addition, a welcome series, original content newsletters, and ongoing transactional messages are a great way to reinforce your brand and increase positive engagement from subscribers.

Bottom line, if you focus on what your subscribers want out of your email program, then deliverability and revenue usually take care of themselves.

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Jun 16

What’s Your Favorite Email Message?

By Kevin Senne Email Marketing No Comments »

What’s your favorite email message to receive?  I know that you’ve got one.  There’s one special subject line or from name that brightens your day.  The instant gratification that an email can bring is just about unmatched in advertising.  Helping customers create those special messages is one of the best things about my job.

My current favorite email is one that I receive (but not enough) from American Airlines.  The email letting me know that I have been upgraded to a first class seat is fantastic.  I get excited thinking about the big leather seat, hot towel, snacks, and meal I will be chomping down on during the flight.  It all starts with an email.

My wife loves shipping confirmation emails.  A status update letting you know that special gift, great online bargain, or Ebay auction win is on the way is always fun.  People will watch their inbox like a hawk waiting to know that package is on a truck or airplane somewhere.

Some other email people love:

  • Email from kids and grandchildren
  • Auction victories
  • Sales notifications – The best for someone in business
  • Payroll notifications
  • Travel Notifications – (With the exception of your plane is delayed messages – those are the pits)

What’s you favorite message?  What email makes you click the “check mail” over and over again?

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Jun 09

Timing Is Everything

By Kevin Senne Email Marketing No Comments »

As the old saying goes, timing is everything.  I can’t think of many areas that this is more true than in email marketing.  Great email marketing is all about timing.  Prompt welcome messages, great educational messages, instant confirmation messages, and relevant and timely offers are the basis for good programs.  It’s a good idea to do a periodic “timing tune-up” to make sure things are flowing smoothly.

I believe there are a few key times when you can get your message out and establish a strong relationship with your customers.

  • The Welcome Message – A quick thank you message is crucial.  Acknowledge that you have my information.
  • Education Messaging – I love the series of messages after sign-up that do nothing but tell the customer about your site, where to get help, what to expect from the email program, and other great things you offer.  Customers are open to this type of dialogue after they sign-up and appreciate the fact that you aren’t hard selling them right away.
  • Confirmation Messages – These are so critical from a timing perspective.  When we make a purchase, we’re conditioned to look for a confirmation email right away.  If we don’t see it, we start to panic.  Panic leads to a call to customer service, which leads profit right down the drain.
  • Relevant Messaging – Nothing better than a company anticipating what we want before we want it.  It’s impressive to the consumer and keeps you top of mind.
  • Cadence – Do you send too many messages?  Do you not send enough messages?  A thorough statistical analysis of your numbers can help you determine cadence.  Sometimes less is more, and sometimes more is better.

I encourage you to put yourself in the shoes of one of your customers.  Walk through the sign-up process and make a purchase as if you were a new customer.  What do you think?  Do you pass the timing challenge?

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May 26

Hotmail Changes and Email Marketing

By Kevin Senne Email Delivery, Email Marketing No Comments »

Hotmail is in the process of revamping their service.  The past year or so, Microsoft had been attempting to move users to the Windows Live brand.  It looks like that course has changed, and Hotmail is back in vogue.  There are some pretty important changes and features that you should know about if you send email marketing messages.  Most senders have a substantial portion of Hotmail addresses in our lists, so when Hotmail does something like this, you should be prepared.

I’ll hit some of the highlights (or lowlights) for you today.

My top concern is the “Sweep” feature.  Sweep allows you to get rid of groups of messages from a sender in one swoop.  Microsoft defines these messages like this.

We also know you still get a lot of other mail in your inbox that you don’t want. We call this “graymail” – legitimate mail that you signed up to receive or agreed to receive at one point, but you no longer want. The new Hotmail gives you the first and only virtual broom in any inbox out there, letting you sweep the mail you don’t want right out of your inbox – all in just a couple of clicks.

That’s not good news for email marketers.  This only highlights the push to send engaging messages.  Now more than ever, as a sender you must deliver content that recipients actually want to open and click on.  FYI, the “sweep” will also continue to sweep away these messages until the user says stop, and that’s probably never.  Lose the customer once, and you may never see them again.

The second addition is the possibility to manage your Gmail, Yahoo!, and AOL email boxes in the same interface.  We’re looking at the real possibility of the addresses that make up 75% of most lists being managed and swept away in the Hotmail interface.

There are also enhancements to sharing, photos, and documents that may make the service attractive again.  You can also sync up the email from social networking sites.  There’s a lot here to take in.  I encourage you to read the blog and watch the video.  There’s an opportunity here for senders with great messaging to stand out.  There’s also an opportunity for a large portion of your messages to be swept away.

Hotmail Changes Video

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May 20

Keys To Writing Killer Email Subject Lines

By Kevin Senne Email Marketing No Comments »

Writing effective subject lines is one of the most critical pieces of the Email Marketing process.  Visualize your Inbox.  What do you see?  You see a from name and a subject line, that’s all that you’ve got.  Talk about making a first impression, the subject line is basically it.  You want to improve your open rate?  It’s all about the subject line.

Here are some tips for writing great subject lines.

  • I like to Identify Yourself – It shouldn’t overwhelm the recipient, but I believe familiarity is good.
  • Keep it short – 50-60 characters is about right for the subject line.
  • Strong Call-to-Action – Open rates are almost entirely based on the subject line, tell me why I should open your email.
  • Choose Your Words Carefully – Stay away from “spammy” words like FREE, LIMITED TIME, CALL NOW, CREDIT, AMAZING, and other similar words.
  • Tell the Truth – Don’t even think about writing a misleading subject line.
  • Test – This is one of the easiest variables to test, try different things.
  • Adapt – Don’t remain stale.  Familiarity is different from burn-out.

I encourage you to take a new look at your subject lines.  Think about the subject line in the context of a brand-new customer.  Do you recognize the sender?  Are you interested in finding out more?  Do you trust the content?

Happy subjecting!

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