Early Html email was quite a basic proposition, but senders soon discovered rendering incompatibilities between browser types. Code disintegration, blocked images etc made a good chunk of volume unreadable.
The solution, which was quickly adopted as standard, was to offer a link to a web version at the very top of the email.
As inbox competition intensifies, and preview pane decisions are commonplace, perhaps this valuable piece of real estate can be put to better use.
Most marketing emails and email newsletters have a principal headline – either an attention grabbing news story, or a tag line designed to entice the recipient to read on and complete whatever transaction the email requires.
Try putting it at the very top, in bold, and in a standout colour, with a line separating it from the subsequent, standard text.
The impact this has, being the very first thing seen, may cause a marginal increment in readers.
It should complement, rather than replicate, the subject line. The two can work together.
I predict that before every long, this will become a new standard.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Time for email marketers to challenge conventional wisdom?
In the increasingly crowded and noisy place that is our inbox, it is getting ever harder to gain entry and get heard.
Smart email marketers will recognise that if they are not going forward, they will be going backwards in terms of email impact. There can be no standing still.
Like websites, marketing emails, as part of their evolution, have, to a degree, become standardised in format. Conventional wisdom exists.
Perhaps, in order to stand out from the crowd, it is time to challenge those standards. To look at what is considered acceptable and necessary and wonder if there might be a better way of doing it. Such is the process of evolution.
Over the next few weeks I plan to examine those standards one by one and see if I can think of any changes or developments which will benefit the goals of the sender, whilst at the same time remembering the needs and requirements of the reader.
I’ll share my thoughts with you, and look forward to your comments.
Smart email marketers will recognise that if they are not going forward, they will be going backwards in terms of email impact. There can be no standing still.
Like websites, marketing emails, as part of their evolution, have, to a degree, become standardised in format. Conventional wisdom exists.
Perhaps, in order to stand out from the crowd, it is time to challenge those standards. To look at what is considered acceptable and necessary and wonder if there might be a better way of doing it. Such is the process of evolution.
Over the next few weeks I plan to examine those standards one by one and see if I can think of any changes or developments which will benefit the goals of the sender, whilst at the same time remembering the needs and requirements of the reader.
I’ll share my thoughts with you, and look forward to your comments.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
No.8 Wire not suitable for email
NZ is rightly proud of its ability to produce cheap, innovative solutions. But sometimes it is just not appropriate.
To kick off 2008, I want to quote 2 key points in the new year message from Al DiGuido, one of America's foremost email thinkers:
Outsource smartly. Some people still believe effective e-mail deployment and execution can be accomplished with internal IT staff and deploying on your own servers. Not a chance. The last thing you want to worry about these days are the technical underpinnings of the infrastructure that deploys interactive messaging.Instead, use that time to leverage the capabilities available to you to increase customer acquisition and retention and to upsell. Stop listening to IT folks who claim they're the only ones on Earth who can build what you need. Great technology is in the market. Establish a demanding list of features and functionality, then find a vendor that can serve your needs.
Demand great customer service. In the old days, e-mail provider customer service was measured by the speed and flawless nature of message delivery. We all remember how painful it was when mistakes were made, campaign delivery lagged, or IP addresses were blocked. We took partners to task for lack of service. We created huge service level agreements with all types of penalty grids for violations.Customer service must to be much more these days. If your provider isn't proactively offering tangible insight into your campaigns and how to improve effectiveness, it's time to start asking why not. Stop thinking about e-mail as print production or direct mail blasts. Your provider and the people who work for the company must provide value-added insight as part of their agreement to serve you.
To kick off 2008, I want to quote 2 key points in the new year message from Al DiGuido, one of America's foremost email thinkers:
Outsource smartly. Some people still believe effective e-mail deployment and execution can be accomplished with internal IT staff and deploying on your own servers. Not a chance. The last thing you want to worry about these days are the technical underpinnings of the infrastructure that deploys interactive messaging.Instead, use that time to leverage the capabilities available to you to increase customer acquisition and retention and to upsell. Stop listening to IT folks who claim they're the only ones on Earth who can build what you need. Great technology is in the market. Establish a demanding list of features and functionality, then find a vendor that can serve your needs.
Demand great customer service. In the old days, e-mail provider customer service was measured by the speed and flawless nature of message delivery. We all remember how painful it was when mistakes were made, campaign delivery lagged, or IP addresses were blocked. We took partners to task for lack of service. We created huge service level agreements with all types of penalty grids for violations.Customer service must to be much more these days. If your provider isn't proactively offering tangible insight into your campaigns and how to improve effectiveness, it's time to start asking why not. Stop thinking about e-mail as print production or direct mail blasts. Your provider and the people who work for the company must provide value-added insight as part of their agreement to serve you.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
It's Christmas - make the effort
This year I will be sending my Christmas cards by email. Most of the recipients live overseas. So yea, there will be a considerable saving on cost. No purchasing, no envelopes, no stamps, and no mad rush to beat the Christmas post.
Doubtless some of my nearest and dearest will scoff at what they suspect is a lack off effort. But, for the first time, all of them are on email - even the older ones. A sign of the times?
They will not understand the effort, and knowledge required to put together their cards in such a way that they reach the inbox and render properly - public (and business) ignorance of such matters is still high.
They might however appreciate the fact their card is a personal thing, rather than a bland image of snow and trees, containing some generic message from the card manufacturing industry.
So even though it might actually take longer than simply writing a few cards, I am going with it. Even if no-one understands the effort.
Doubtless some of my nearest and dearest will scoff at what they suspect is a lack off effort. But, for the first time, all of them are on email - even the older ones. A sign of the times?
They will not understand the effort, and knowledge required to put together their cards in such a way that they reach the inbox and render properly - public (and business) ignorance of such matters is still high.
They might however appreciate the fact their card is a personal thing, rather than a bland image of snow and trees, containing some generic message from the card manufacturing industry.
So even though it might actually take longer than simply writing a few cards, I am going with it. Even if no-one understands the effort.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
I want to complain
Last week I received 2 pieces of blatant spam - both sent from NZ, and both emenating from companies who were large enough to know better.
As much out of curiosity as anything else I decided to complain about these.
After a fair bit of searching, I finally found a web page where I could submit my complaint. I had to register - that took 20 minutes, and when I was finally able to submit, the site broke down!
4 tries later and it finally worked. I was told that my complaint might or might not be investigated.
I have not heard anything since.
It's good to see NZ is serious about stopping spam!
If you want to try, the page is: http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Anti-Spam-Business-Info?OpenDocument
As much out of curiosity as anything else I decided to complain about these.
After a fair bit of searching, I finally found a web page where I could submit my complaint. I had to register - that took 20 minutes, and when I was finally able to submit, the site broke down!
4 tries later and it finally worked. I was told that my complaint might or might not be investigated.
I have not heard anything since.
It's good to see NZ is serious about stopping spam!
If you want to try, the page is: http://www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/wpg_URL/Services-Anti-Spam-Business-Info?OpenDocument
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Christmas is coming, my Inbox is getting fat
I am subscribed to email newsletters from all over the world. It goes with the territory. So late November is always an interesting time, as marketers who have ignored my requests for their email newsletters all year wake up and flood me with special offers, solutions to my Christmas conundrums etc.
What fascinates me is the absolute lack of planning in this - nothing for ten months then three in a week. Did I sign up to receive it? Often, I can't remember. This year I bought my presents early, so they have missed my custom. Shame in some cases, as a few have some good ideas.
If they had spent the year teeing up their seasonal bonanza, I might have factored them in to my reckonings - spent a few dollars with them.
Most of these marketers are suffering from a syndrome that seems unique to email - the "that's what I do" syndrome. It does not exist in other media where campaigns are planned. Email marketers seem to assume that their behaviour is typical, and structure their actions around this assumption, in the process making the proverbial ass out of me and themselves.
Christmas gets earlier each year. If someone bothered to tell me in September that they would have some fantastic Christmas specials, and to watch out for them in November, then I might do so.
It is the besetting curse of email marketing that the immediacy of email, seems to have been assimilated into its planning. "Lets do this...now". A planned and structured campaign will always work better.
More on these Christmas emails shortly.
What fascinates me is the absolute lack of planning in this - nothing for ten months then three in a week. Did I sign up to receive it? Often, I can't remember. This year I bought my presents early, so they have missed my custom. Shame in some cases, as a few have some good ideas.
If they had spent the year teeing up their seasonal bonanza, I might have factored them in to my reckonings - spent a few dollars with them.
Most of these marketers are suffering from a syndrome that seems unique to email - the "that's what I do" syndrome. It does not exist in other media where campaigns are planned. Email marketers seem to assume that their behaviour is typical, and structure their actions around this assumption, in the process making the proverbial ass out of me and themselves.
Christmas gets earlier each year. If someone bothered to tell me in September that they would have some fantastic Christmas specials, and to watch out for them in November, then I might do so.
It is the besetting curse of email marketing that the immediacy of email, seems to have been assimilated into its planning. "Lets do this...now". A planned and structured campaign will always work better.
More on these Christmas emails shortly.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
A cautionary tale
I heard a very sad story this week. We used to have a client - a small event, and we worked with them for 4 years. During that time we helped them build a database of interested parties – all properly opted in – of just over 10,000 people. It became a significant factor in their marketing and ticket sales, and the event went from strength to strength. We built them a professional website, and advised them on content, and driving traffic to it.
All in all it worked really well for all concerned. The organisers were not necessarily that expert in digital dialogue, but they were smart enough to appreciate what we were doing.
Then there was a change in the senior event management. We were not sure about working with the new chairman and decided to withdraw. We did however offer our advice for free to enable them to continue using email successfully – we also offered to guide them through the new legislation – but we never heard back from them.
It transpires they handed over the email side of things to their new web designers – similar field, so they were of course well qualified to manage it (not).
The new people changed everything – look, name etc and sent out a long and boring email under the new brand. Right at the bottom they asked the recipients to resubscribe – unnecessarily as all recipients were properly opted in, as well as having an exisiting business relationship with the event and its organisers.
They broke 2 major rules (and lots of minor ones):
1. You never use an email to deliver a major branding change – you might instead use an email under the existing brand to warn of the upcoming changes.
2. You never hide an important call to action – you make it the focal point of the email.
And this is where the story gets really sad. The database shrank from over 10,000 to around 300 – 4 years of work destroyed in one moment of autocratic management and professional incompetence – there’s no other way to describe it.
Shortly afterwards, the event was cancelled.
The moral of this story is simple. Email is too important to be handled by amateurs. Cost cutting in email will come back to bite you. If you are going to do it, do it properly.
All in all it worked really well for all concerned. The organisers were not necessarily that expert in digital dialogue, but they were smart enough to appreciate what we were doing.
Then there was a change in the senior event management. We were not sure about working with the new chairman and decided to withdraw. We did however offer our advice for free to enable them to continue using email successfully – we also offered to guide them through the new legislation – but we never heard back from them.
It transpires they handed over the email side of things to their new web designers – similar field, so they were of course well qualified to manage it (not).
The new people changed everything – look, name etc and sent out a long and boring email under the new brand. Right at the bottom they asked the recipients to resubscribe – unnecessarily as all recipients were properly opted in, as well as having an exisiting business relationship with the event and its organisers.
They broke 2 major rules (and lots of minor ones):
1. You never use an email to deliver a major branding change – you might instead use an email under the existing brand to warn of the upcoming changes.
2. You never hide an important call to action – you make it the focal point of the email.
And this is where the story gets really sad. The database shrank from over 10,000 to around 300 – 4 years of work destroyed in one moment of autocratic management and professional incompetence – there’s no other way to describe it.
Shortly afterwards, the event was cancelled.
The moral of this story is simple. Email is too important to be handled by amateurs. Cost cutting in email will come back to bite you. If you are going to do it, do it properly.
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