To setup a Sender ID record in GoDaddy.com:
1. Go to Domains and Select the domain,
2. Click on TotalDNS and click on "Add New TXT Record"
3. In the TXT Name field enter a "@" character.
4. In the TXT Value field, enter the Sender ID record supplied, be sure to NOT include the quotes
5. Click OK.
You will need to get your sending IP or IP ranges from your IT team or ESP. If you are an eROI client, email me and we can ensure your SenderID is setup.
]]>I wonder, have any of you out there see this issue? I wonder if this is part of Yahoo!'s scorched earth tactic - stop caring about your business and customers all together. Will withdrawing the MS buyout bid devalue Yahoo! so they can buy it for even less? I hope so because Yahoo! is broken.
]]>It has been a long time since I have seen a unique email come out from a major brand. Is it the direction from the client, trying to be so mass audience that they don't want to offend anyone? Or is it the agency trying to speak to everyone through one ad? It is probably a little bit of both, but either way something needs to change. Major brand emails need to stop playing it safe and start doing something edgy with their email programs. The most interesting emails I see these days are those brands trying to stand out - t-shirt sites, video games, even text emails from new Web 2.0 companies can be intriguing.
Stop showing the same recycled content over and over. You lose reader interest and soon don't stand out from the noise, but are the noise.
Brands, ask for your agency to do something more cutting edge, push the proverbial envelope. You pay them for a reason beyond being a production shop, you pay them for ideas. The agency is your partner, stand up for them internally if you like the idea or think they have a good point.
Agencies, show your best work, not always what the client wants. You will be amazed at what they like sometimes. What is the worst that could happen, they say they don't like it? Actually, no, they fire you but you get the point.
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What you are seing in this image is the rollover Mail preview on the AOL homepage. Look at how much "trailblzaers" sticks out in that list. If you read this blog you know I hate webmaster@ in email marketing. This validates that point. This view is very similar to the view on a mobile device as well.
Brand before the @ in your from address and you will see improved open rates, guaranteed.
]]>"Click here for the Wireless Version: URL"
Brilliant idea by the AAAA. I personally would change it to "Mobile Friendly", wireless is kind of confusing.
Most HTML email is worthless on a Blackberry, so daily news briefs, professional newsletters, etc... would be smart to add this feature.
How you do that, either through your ESP tools, or creating that mobile browser friendly version in HTML, you can figure that out through testing.
Click on the image to enlarge
All survey participants will be automatically entered to win one of a handful of iPod Shuffle mp3 players!
]]>I watched the panelists skirt around a non-answer as no one could tell me how you determine which emails are most relevant to the subscriber. If the 7th email might be the one that makes me purchase, you missed the boat.
Limiting the frequency by subscriber, in my opinion, is a bad idea. I welcome the conversation about why it is good, any lift in ROI you have seen etc., but I see the practice more harmful that good.
I always found that setting subscriber expectations is much more appropriate than a predetermined number. Tell subscribers that you send your newsletter once a month, promotions weekly, and event announcement every other week. Let them determine what is too much. It would be interesting to see if anyone has seen a lift in overall subscriber activity, as well as revenue and ROI that has implemented a predetermined frequency limit.
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We have set up a Twitter feed for eROI to keep you posted on news, blog posts, cool things to check out, new project launches, and resourceful tidbits you can use to become awesome.
If you are not on the Twitter bandwagon yet, now is the time to jump on. Twitter is the new micro-blogging service that a lot of us at eROI love, especially Dylan.
We don't have much up yet, but head over to our Twitter page and follow us. We'll do the same to you.
Thanks to our friend Tamara Gielen, who posted this great video description of Twitter on the blog from the folks over at Common Craft.
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Actually, it's "Gold Consumer: Best Promotional Blast-Direct Sale or Lead Gen Offer" - Wacom & eROI's 2008 Email Marketing Award from Marketing Sherpa.
Marketing Sherpa has posted all of the winners, with creative and details. You can get a lot of great ideas from these, I know I did.
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I swear that video looked familiar to theYouTube hit - The Machine is Us/ing Us. Now the question to you is, is this crafty marketing riding the wave of a popular video or is this just a lazy marketing manager/agency that couldn't come up with a better idea?
Here's their example...
Cosmo Headline, "The 22 Best Relationship Tips Ever", becomes "My 22 Best Design Tips Ever".
Get the picture?
Anyway, they just released the results of the Details Magazine Headline Remix.
A fun read and a great blog. Kudos.
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Plus, most people think a webmaster is like that SNL skit "Nick Burns, your Company's Computer Guy." This is who you want your readers thinking is running the email marketing program?
Here are 2 reasons to change this:
1. Branding
In email clients like AOL, that don't show the masked "From" name, this is the first thing a subscriber sees.
Volvo does a good job with this: volvo@volvocars._.com.
2. Calling out Content
If you have a specific segment, you can use this space to call out "specials" or "events". This can help get an open just as much as a subject line. Some I see in my inbox today are: dailydeals@, specials@, events@,
Little things like this matter.
]]>Deliverability relies on a number of factors and one of them is volume. Low volume and/or sporadic volume hampers your deliverability dramatically. Since many ISPs base their blocks and temporary deferrals on complaint rate, your low volume and inconsistency of sending, albeit, dedicated could be one of the worst things you could do. All of those other senders might actually help your deliverability as long as your ESP employs best practices. So before you "insist" on a dedicated IP like MarketingSherpa says, ask your ESP if it would benefit you. Our job is to provide you with the best solution to get your email to the inbox.
]]>Also, eROI's Dylan Boyd will be sitting on a panel with fellow email marketing bloggers Tamara Gielen of BeRelevant, Chad White of The Retail Email Blog/EEC Blog and Maddy Hubbard of Blue Hornet. They'll be talking about all aspects of blogging.
For those of you who won't be there, I will be blogging about the panel session from the show. Visit www.theemailwars.com on Feb. 13 in the morning to see the play-by-play.
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