Updates, new posts at SendLabs

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here and with good reason – I’m now working again with SendLabs, providing clients with assistance and guidance on their email marketing campaigns. It’s a good group and the current arrangement allows me to pursue other related interests as well.

The majority of my blog posts will be there, but I’ll continue to let you know when I do. And as always, don’t hesitate to reach out to me at josh [at] emailmarketingguy [dot-com] for thoughts, feedback and guidance. I’m here for you and have been glad to help out some of you with questions and answers.

Posted on 1/12 – A look at Redbox’s transactional emails

Posted on 1/7 – A free idea for email marketers and retailers

Even though it’s a few days past the holidays, I’m still in a giving mood. Here’s a free idea for anyone in the retail business that prints out receipts. (In other words, almost all of them.)

SendLabs co-owner Brett and I were at breakfast last year and talking email marketing ideas and concepts. We agreed that any business could use email marketing, but challenged ourselves with concepting how a diner like the one we were sitting in could effectively collect emails. We came up with this…

See you around,
Josh The Email Marketing Guy

New post at SendLabs: Looking back at ‘08 and ahead to ‘09 in email marketing

It’s that time of year when people reflect on the past 12 months and get optimistic about what could happen over the next 12 months. The email marketing industry really isn’t that much different, even though our business isn’t one that can put together sexy Top Ten lists or a Year in Review column.

Some thoughts about ‘08 and hopes for ‘09 is posted at SendLabs right now!

On SendLabs: Moving Emailboxes, Improving Sender Score

First, have a great and healthy holiday season! It’s been a tough ‘08 for a lot of us, but if you have good friends and family, food to eat and a warm place to sleep, things are a lot better than you think. Here’s to a great ‘09!

Two posts at SendLabs this past week:

- Is your email marketing worth moving email boxes for?: I’m moving over from Hotmail to Gmail, so I am making some choices on what subscriptions to move over. A lot of what email marketers have done over the past years in providing value will make the decision easy or hard. Read more here.

- Comcast reveals what Sender Score means to getting emails through: Found this one on fellow email marketer Dylan Boyd’s Twitter feed today. Sender Score is a rating on what you’re like as an email marketer. The higher the score, the cleaner your lists are, the smaller amount of spam complaints you’ve got and overall, you’re likely following some great email marketing best practices. Comcast – a major ISP – showed exactly how that correlates to getting emails through per hour, an important stat if you have a big campaign going through. Read more here.

Now On SendLabs: The 11-Day Email Marketing Binge

Yesterday’s post on SendLabs was focused on the WWE’s holiday marketing and their promise to deliver 11 straight days of offers…is it worth it?

Also, a few notes for email marketers that are still thinking about doing some campaigns. A bit behind the 8-ball? Yep, but not all is lost.

And video blogs are coming. The experiment begins next week.

Waiting by the e-mailbox

Remember the days before email when getting the mail was actually a big deal? Especially for kids (who didn’t have to worry about the bills their parents hated to get), seeing your name on an envelope meant something…especially when it was eagerly expected.

VH1 attempted to recreate that emotion last week with a contest they ran. The idea? Data collection, of course. They drove to sign up people for their VH1 Classic list by offering the chance to win either a Genesis or Led Zeppelin box set.

After signing up, the user was prompted to check their email on Friday at 1 pm EST for details on how they could win. It wasn’t enough to get me intrigued to sign up (VH1 has nine different newsletters), but VH1 did take a different route as opposed to the normal sign up/prizes drawn at random approach many take.

Having said that, a few logistical thoughts came up:

-Why? I guess I don’t understand why they would drive to have users check their email at a certain time and not the actual website.

-As any ESP will tell you, guaranteeing emails to all arrive at a certain time can be difficult. If an ISP throws a curveball or there are traditional issues with email transit, some people may not get it exactly at 1 pm. As a result, the reasoning behind having people check their inbox is moot.

-I understand that people can access email everywhere, but would you remember to check your inbox at a certain time for something like this? Yeah, I probably wouldn’t either and it’s doubtful I’d set a calendar reminder. Again, VH1 was simply providing how you could win the set, not if you actually won.

I appreciate what they were trying to do, but I’d remind the network that building a separate list of opt-in users from their other lists was the key. The best way to do that? Show value*. Provide an easy incentive to sign up. Make it truly different than the eight other newsletters you churn out.

*The word ‘value’ is the most undeveloped point of importance with marketers today, in my opinion. I think we need to ask ourselves in everything we do if it provides value to the end user. Whether it’s a blog post or a brochure or a phone call, are we providing value or are we carelessly running through the motions?