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Year End Top 10 Lists, now the '08 Resolutions. Ugh.

December 27, 2007

Is it me, or are you over the same old top 10 lists before x-mas, then the resolution lists before NYE. Maybe I am a jaded 31 year old, but this has been going on for years and I am officially over it. If it is a notable columnist, blogger, or critic - ok. But every blog and every company too? "Top 10 2008" had 81,800,000 results in Google.

Here is a new years resolution idea:

Be original in 2008.

Comments (0) | Posted by alex at 4:49 PM | Permalink

Were we friends? A Facebook rant....

December 20, 2007

Social networking is such a strange mistress.

I read an article that said, basically, that you know it's time for a new social network when random people from your past or people you don't want to find you, request to be your friend.

The person above was from my high school and on my freshman year basketball team. NIce enough guy, but I don't remember a time, ever, when I would consider us "friends." Also, when you say "Remember me?",
that might be a sign that we don't know each other that well.

So, now comes the big decision. Do I approve or ignore.

I thought I would send the following email:

"Hey _______, I do remember you, high school right?

Were we ever friends?"

I won't do that, of course. But why do these Websites require us to make these tough decisions?

Anyway, if you want to be my "professional" friend, using the new Friend grouping feature, let's be friends

Comments (0) | Posted by alex at 2:59 PM | Permalink

Holiday Email Tip #10

December 20, 2007

Holidays extend way into the New Year

Your customers are likely to get gift cards. Those customers need to spend gift cards, show long term value and offers. If you can have them spend above that gift card, you win twice - the original purchase and the added revenue at purchase.

Comments (0) | Posted by Jeff at 7:38 AM | Permalink

Holiday Email Tip #9

December 18, 2007

Partners can help

Find a few good partners, leverage lists, interests and goals. Co-market an entire theme. For example. if you sell TVs, partner with an audio equipment manufacturer, furniture company, and a video rental company. You can help sell the entire experience. Get your product in front of more customers that you could have on your own.

Comments (0) | Posted by Jeff at 8:34 PM | Permalink

Holiday Email Tip #8

December 14, 2007

Make the common unique

Everyone wants something interesting, but not strange. Try a new spin on an proven idea. Help make the gift giver look like a rock star.

Comments (0) | Posted by Jeff at 7:31 AM | Permalink

Holiday Email Tip #7

December 12, 2007

Add Emotion

The holiday season is full of emotion, use that to your advantage. People will spend more or will be more willing to buy if you can meet their emotional needs as well as their financial ones. Nostalgia, joy, guilt, whatever your angle, use it.

Comments (0) | Posted by Jeff at 6:28 AM | Permalink

Your "From" email address is very important in AOL mail.

December 11, 2007

Most all email clients do a great job displaying the masked "From" name in your inbox display. The new AOL email client is not so kind. As you see below, this is very important to address. There are 4 examples below, the better choice of email address is quite obvious.

Enlarge Image

I only check my AOL email maybe once every couple days. So when you get a crowded inbox, the email address is very important in the quick scan on what to open.

Some of these follow the biggest no-no's of email marketing: "do not reply" and "NBMediaEmarketing" which is a parent company of a guitar magazine, a company that I have to struggle to remember what the actual company I opted into was each time. As for the MLB, I hate when they start with feedback, very generic. Also, why do I want to give feedback? Is this feedback? You get my drift.

Musician's Friend does it right. Brand recognition before and after the @ symbol.

How does your from email address look in AOL?

Comments (0) | Posted by alex at 7:49 PM | Permalink

Holiday Email Tip #6

December 10, 2007

Add value, don't annoy

The easiest "strategy" in holiday email marketing is send more email. The philosophy that it is a numbers game is a poor one at best. If I don't buy on your first email, what makes you think I will buy on the 14th email?

Comments (0) | Posted by Jeff at 8:24 PM | Permalink

eROI Q3 2007 Study released

December 7, 2007

Wednesday was the best day to send email in Q3.

With our new Resources Center Launch, we have built a way for you to return and take studies and materials that will help you with your email marketing efforts. This new center will smartly remember what assets you have downloaded to keep you from mistakenly taking guides and studies that you have already read. Trust us this occurs all the time. With a few simple registration fields, you can easily access the Center at your leisure again and again.

As we look at Q3 2007 email statistics, we present three sets of information, day of the week, hour of the day and consumer-focused industries (perfect for the holiday season). Monday and Wednesday lead the way for users to open email. The weekends, for the first time in over a year, are the low point. Clicks on the other hand see spikes on Wednesday, Thursday and, the highest day of the week, Saturday (however, Saturday volume is so low it is incomparable to the rest of the week).

We have reported for more than three years that opens and clicks do not always go hand in hand, which is consistent with our findings from this study. Volumes drop of significantly on the weekend, but if you are focusing on consumer email, you can see that building up to the weekend comes to a head on Saturday.

Wednesday is the clear leader of the week, look at Wednesday as your target day to send email and
give it a test, see how it works for you.

Get the Full Study in our NEW Resources Center>>

Comments (0) | Posted by Jeff at 7:52 AM | Permalink

Holiday Email Tip #5

December 6, 2007

Landing Pages, use them

Make landing pages for each offer, be dynamic, make them fun. You spent a lot of time on your email, don't drop them off on the home page or a poorly designed ecommerce product page. The entire user experience is the key.

Comments (0) | Posted by Jeff at 8:21 PM | Permalink

ISP's: The New Sheriff in Town

December 6, 2007

The good folks at MediaPost are a great resource for email marketers.

This post today illustrates something that is becoming more and more serious to email marketers - ISP rule is king. Each ISP is creating their own rules for email marketers. You need to know these and follow them if you want to stay on thier good side.

When 'Best' Practices Become ISP Law

Comments (0) | Posted by alex at 1:33 PM | Permalink

Holiday Email Tip #4

December 4, 2007

Rednering. I mean Rendering, I knew that did not look right didn't it.

If it does not look right or does not look attractive, you are wasting your time. Run some rendering tests, e.g., Return Path. The best offer and most compelling copy is wasted on an email I cant interact with easily.

Comments (0) | Posted by Jeff at 8:17 AM | Permalink