The Whitelist

Five Signs It’s Time for a New ESP

Business relationships differ from personal ones in a very big way: Sometimes it’s just time to move on.

Case in point: Your marriage might be for life and your kids are around for good, but your ESP could be a temporary relationship. As much as you might like your ESP, as long as you’ve been doing business with them, there still might come a time when staying with the ESP you know so well could mean a lower email marketing ROI.

If you’ve been with the same email service provider for more than a year, consider these five signs that it’s time for a new ESP:

1. Your in-house email list has grown.

With over 100 ESPs to choose from, you’re going to find that capabilities differ among them. This includes scaling to meet your needs as your volume of email grows.

2. Your email deliverability has shrunk.

As strange as it sounds, the email deliverability rate you’ll get with one ESP is not the same as you’ll get with another. As an email marketing agency, we test different ESPs with the same list and we get markedly varied results. When even half a percentage point in improvement means more email ROI, having the highest possible email delivery rate is imperative. It could be your ESP isn’t keeping up with your needs, and that’s affecting your bottom line.

3. You’re ready to automate.

Triggered, event-based email marketing is the way to achieve the most targeted, relevant messages possible. If you’re ready to go that route and your ESP isn’t, it’s time to move on…not get left behind.

4. You’re ready to integrate.

Web analytics, CRM systems, social media, SMS…there are so many sources of customer insight and possible contact points that all need to be working in tandem for maximum results. Email marketing best practices alone will only get you so far. Integrating with other marketing channels is imperative. If your ESP is limited in integration capabilities, it might be time to shop for a new one.

5. You need some strategy.

In today’s economy especially, marketing budgets can be tight and staffs small. If you’re resources are enough to get the job done but not enough to add a strategic element to your email marketing program, you might need an ESP with consulting services available.

If you’re thinking maybe it’s time to move on to a new ESP, here are three ways to jumpstart your search:

• Plug your requirements into the online ESP selection tool, the ESPinator
• Download the 2011 guide to choosing a new ESP
• Head to booth #39 at MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit in Las Vegas this week to visit with email marketing agency ClickMail

Whether you do one, two or all three, you’ll be well on the way to moving on to the right ESP for your newly evolved needs.

Three Common Email Marketing Challenges and How to Tackle Them

In our last blog post we wrote about the upcoming can’t-miss Email Marketing Summit 2012 from Marketing Sherpa. If you attended last year’s summit, you know how valuable it is, and this year’s is shaping up to be the best yet.  One of the most important insights from last year’s summit was a roundup of the most common email marketing challenges to plague email marketers, and how to handle them. These are just a few of the challenges that were discussed, and the solutions that came out in the email marketing summit last year:

1. How do you increase engagement if you have a limited list?

Even though you may have a small email list, there are a number of ways in which email marketers can increase engagement, and ultimately, ROI. For example, you could start by expanding your company’s web presence and visibility. One great way to do this is by guest blogging for online industry publications. By getting your name out there as an expert in your industry, you’ll attract more followers and grow your list while increasing conversation and engagement. Also consider integrating social media into your email marketing program: a strong social media program will not only help grow your reach, but also show your followers that you are posting great updates (and thus encourage them to sign up for an email newsletter). Finally, consider offering incentives to your email subscribers to share your offers with others, which could be another way to integrate sharing, engagement, and social networking.

2. How can effective results be achieved through an email marketing program without being repetitive?

As we always say at ClickMail Marketing, the best way to address this challenge is to be consistently creating excellent, specific, and relevant content. You don’t need to reinvent the wheel every time; you simply need to get creative about repurposing your key messages in ways that draw prospects in and keeps current customers engaged. If you’re feeling stale or need inspiration, you can always develop creative content and new ideas based on customer surveys, industry trends and other insights. Be open to feedback and take suggestions from your audience. Often, your customers ask the same questions your prospects are silently wondering.
3. How are maximum results attained through optimal frequency and timing of email marketing messages?

If you’re struggling with this question, don’t worry: you’re not alone. Most email marketers wonder about the best timing and frequency to send out email marketing messages, and we’ve written about this question recently ourselves. Even though HubSpot’s social media scientist, Dan Zarrella, discovered that Tuesday at 11am is one of the worst possible times to send out email campaigns, this day and time may not apply to your audience and their behavior patterns. The best way to find out the most optimal frequency and timing for YOUR specific email campaigns is to engage in testing, another email marketing best practice we regularly espouse. In order to determine your ideal email frequency, the best thing to measure is your total open and click rates under different email frequency conditions. Consider running an A/B split test with different email frequencies and comparing the results.

For even more takeaways from the 2011 Email Marketing Summit, see Marketing Sherpa’s roundup!

What are some of the email marketing challenges you’ve encountered as an email marketer? Share them with us and we’ll try to address them in future blog posts!

Tips for Successful Email Campaigns During the Holidays and Year-Round

It’s that time of year again…when the stores sparkle with holiday lights, people start making a list (and checking it twice), and email inboxes become even more flooded with email marketing messages. As an email marketer, you’re probably wondering how to maximize your email marketing ROI during this busy time of year, and how to ensure your email marketing messages stand out from the rest.

In the latest issue of the ClickMail Marketer we summarize five easy-to-implement tips to ensure that your holiday email marketing campaign is, much like Santa’s sleigh, a flying success. And the beauty of these tips is that each one of these can (and should) become part of your email marketing toolbox the entire year round.

Even though spending is down a bit in the current economy, following typical annual trends, total holiday sales are estimated to pick up through December. Different this year is the increase in online purchasing: nearly half (46.7%) of the polled respondents said they will buy online, up from 43.9% last year. These internet shoppers will also spend about 22% more than in-store shoppers. In addition, the rise of mobile shopping is increasing dramatically in 2011. About half of those who own a smartphone said they will use their device to research and purchase holiday gifts and items.

As an email marketer, you can probably guess where we’re going with these numbers. The first tip on our list is Optimize your email marketing campaigns for mobile viewing! 2011 has seen a massive rise in smartphone and tablet use, and the numbers are only going to increase. This is the year of mobile email marketing and the time to capitalize on it is now. We also talk about the importance of Analyzing your subscribers’ behavior, Testing, and more.

If you’d like more details on these and other effective and easy-to-use email marketing best practices, check out the December issue of the ClickMail Marketer. And if you need more information about any of these tips, give ClickMail a call. Taking some time around the holidays to implement these email marketing best practices for a great start to your 2012 email marketing program. Find out how to get started in the December ClickMail Marketer.

ClickMail Marketing Ranks On Yet Another List!

Email services provider ClickMail Marketing, offering the nation’s largest selection of email service providers (ESPs), has made yet another list! As recognition for our rapid growth over recent years, we’ve been ranked as being one of the fastest growing private companies in the United States. In September of this year, Inc. Magazine announced that ClickMail made its estimable annual list of 5,000 fastest growing companies, joining ranks with other notable companies like Intuit, Microsoft, Timberland, Patagonia, and Oracle. Our most recent recognition comes from the San Francisco Business Times as ClickMail Marketing achieved a high ranking on their list of the 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area.

The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal has also ranked ClickMail Marketing as one of the top 50 fastest growing private companies in Silicon Valley, and CilckMail has achieved the additional honor of being recognized as one of America’s 13 Fastest Growing Email Marketing Companies.

Email solutions provider ClickMail’s rapid growth is reflected on the following 2011 business lists:

• The Inc. 5000 List of the fastest-growing companies in America.
• The Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal’s Top 50 Fastest Growing Private Companies in Silicon Valley
• The San Francisco Business Times’ ‘Fast 100′ list of the 100 Fastest Growing Private Companies in the Bay Area

Serving clients as an email marketing vendor and email marketing consultants, ClickMail Marketing has achieved its rapid growth organically, with a unique position in the market place as a vendor-neutral email solutions provider. With over a dozen ESP systems in our portfolio, we offer the nation’s largest selection of ESPs so that we can ensure the best match is made for every client. We also pride ourselves on our excellent support team that works with our clients on fulfilling their specific email marketing needs, from increasing email deliverability to achieving maximum ROI.

5 Holiday Best Practices for Increased Email Deliverability

‘Tis the season… for email marketing campaigns to ramp up! Which means increased promotions, increased email volume, and, unfortunately, increased subscriber fatigue. How do you ensure that your emails stay on your email subscribers’ “Nice” list, keeping your email deliverability rates high, and don’t migrate onto the “Naughty” list – resulting in unsubscribes or worse? Here are five simple but powerful holiday-themed email marketing best practices to keep in mind:

1) Fulfill email frequency wishes: This is the most important thing you can do as an email marketer to honor and respect your subscribers’ wishes. And yet it’s one of the most flagrantly abused by many email marketers, especially around the holiday season. If your subscriber requested once/weekly emails from your business, store, or organization, just because ’tis the shopping season, does not also equate to ’tis the time to flood email inboxes. At this time of year, email subscribers are already inundated with more than the normal volume of catalogs, circulars, newsletters, and donation requests in both direct mail and email. The last thing you want to do is annoy your email subscribers with too many emails, especially if they specifically requested the frequency with which they want to hear from you. Honor their wishes and your email deliverability will benefit.

2) Surprise your subscribers: Holiday shoppers are looking for great deals and special savings at this time of year: it’s your opportunity to think of fun and creative ways to offer it to them. Another boring 10% off promotion won’t cut it… this yawn of a sales email results in a “delete” without a second thought! But today I just had an interesting offer hit my inbox that taps into the joy of unwrapping presents because everyone likes a surprise: “unwrap your secret offer to save over 50%!” The code is valid only upon checkout, but I’m already guaranteed a 50% savings, making the offer highly attractive. The added surprise of an additional discount of who knows how much more off just makes it irresistible.

3) Spread holiday cheer: Take this special time of year to be fun, whimsical, and make your subscribers smile. A crowded email inbox means there’s less patience on your subscribers’ part for clicking through and reading. Are your subject lines informative while also inspiring positive feelings or a nostalgic memory? Think of ways to make your email marketing campaign stand out from the rest, and you’ll increase your email deliverability and, ultimately, your email ROI this holiday season.

4) Make a list and check it twice: Email deliverability relies upon sender reputation. Check yours now and take note of where you can improve. Can you improve your email content relevance? Have you segmented your list for increased specificity?  Are you developing targeted email campaigns for different subscriber populations?

5) Inspire with merry and bright designs: Make sure your designs are eye-catching, clean, and fun. Do your emails render well on mobile and tablet, as well as desktop clients? Are they holiday-themed but are any pictures or image files streamlined for quick loading? Keep it simple and be sure to test your designs for effective rendering. What do your emails look like in the preview pane? Always keep in mind your subscribers’ behavior path and design to lead them all the way through to conversion: Preview, Open, Scan/Read, Engage, Convert.

Keeping these five holiday-themed email marketing best practices in mind this season will ensure you’ll sail through the holidays with high email deliverability rates and increased conversions!

ClickMail named one of America’s 13 Fastest Growing Email Marketing Companies

After reaching #2,109 on the esteemed Inc. Magazine’s list of 5,000 fastest growing companies, ClickMail Marketing has been further honored as one of the top 13 fastest growing email marketing companies in America, as noted by EmailExpert.org.

As Shar VanBoskirk, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research, Inc., wrote in a April 2011 report entitled The Future Of Interactive Marketing: “Interactive marketing has come a long way in a short time… and now represents 15% of all advertising spend…” it’s no surprise to find a number of marketing automation companies and ESP’s climbing the Inc. 5000 list.

ClickMail strives to stay abreast of the rapidly changing world of email marketing and brings the latest in new services and email technology to our clients. From building an online tool for selecting a new ESP to acquiring the Bay Area’s Strategic Design Group, ClickMail has been creating new tools and offering new services that help our clients keep pace in the ever-evolving email marketing industry.

With over a dozen ESP systems in our portfolio, we offer the nation’s largest selection of ESPs while staying vendor neutral and flexible so we can recommend the right one for specific client needs. In addition, ClickMail always offers flexible contract terms on all ESPs so our clients can be assured they have the right system in place. From increasing email deliverability to achieving maximum ROI with your email marketing program campaigns, let ClickMail Marketing help you with all of your email marketing needs! Contact us today!

Time to Give Thanks via Well-Timed Thank You Emails

What better time to think about all of the things we’re thankful for than Thanksgiving? And as an email marketer, now is the time to give thanks – and consider the ways you express your gratitude – for your subscribers and the actions they take. Remember, with the increasing interactivity between social media and email, never has connecting with the consumer been more important. And adding thank you emails to your email marketing best practices is a surefire way to showcase the human side of your brand.

Just as in real life, there are some easy-to-follow rules for the well-timed thank you note in email marketing. First, make sure you always thank promptly, such as a triggered thank you response following a transaction. Second, express thanks when it’s expected. Thanksgiving is a perfect time to send a thank-you email to your list, as are brand and customer anniversary dates. Third, unexpected thank yous sprinkled throughout your email marketing mix can be a welcome surprise.  Last, personalize your thank you messages. The generic thank you message is as deletable and unremarkable as any poorly crafted, irrelevant email.

When considering how thankful you are for your subscribers (and you should be!), think about utilizing the three following thank-you email types into your email marketing best practices:

1. The Seasonal Thanks

Thanksgiving is typically a time for an email marketing blitz of special offers, holiday deals, and invocations to buy, buy, buy. Which is great: there’s a reason Black Friday and Cyber Monday got their nicknames. People are primed and ready to spend during the holiday season; however, it’s also a really good time to thank your subscribers, without asking anything in return. Alternatively, you could offer a special incentive or discount to express your gratitude for their loyalty. Sending out a special acknowledgment of gratitude will humanize your brand, and set you apart from the rest of the email marketing crowd. Also consider other special times of the year during which thanks are appropriate: how about your anniversary, the anniversary of their relationship with you, their first purchase anniversary, or other holidays honoring special people (like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Veterans Day) and our country (Fourth of July, Martin Luther King Day)?

2. The Immediate Thanks

An immediately triggered thank-you message should be sent upon whatever action your subscriber took, whether it be to answer a survey or purchase a product. Look at this as another email marketing opportunity to reinforce your brand image and message: make it consistent in tone, design, and style with the marketing message that prompted the purchase or action.

Also, consider matching the magnitude of your thanks to the action. For example, if the action is simply to enter an online sweepstakes, a thank you page might be enough. But if someone purchased a high dollar value amount from your company, perhaps their loyalty and high spend could be acknowledged with a significant savings coupon off of their next purchase.

3. The Surprise Thanks

Think about how nice it feels to get an unexpected thank you card from someone. Then think about how often it happens. Not very. Which makes these unexpected thank yous such a delight. Consider integrating a timed thank you email campaign into your email marketing program to reward repeat business and customer loyalty. You could time it to the seasons, creating seasonally appropriate specials offered during each season. Or, to keep the element of surprise even higher, send out thank you emails randomly, or in response to behaviors or actions that may not necessarily warrant a thank you.

When you integrate thank you email messages into your email marketing programs, you won’t be yet another faceless corporation or organization. Instead, you’ll be appreciated for being human!

Reaching Your Subscriber Through Social Media Integration

It’s here to stay, and it’s growing by the day. You know what’s coming, don’t you? Of course you do: It’s social media! But even as social media continues to grow in popularity and effectiveness, email marketing can play along! In fact, as the social sphere expands, so too should your email marketing best practices. There are many ways to expand your email marketing best practices to incorporate social media within your email marketing campaigns, and we’ve written about five of them.

But today, I was revisiting a MarketingSherpa article on ways to leverage the influence of social reinforcement within email marketing, as I am still not seeing it used very much in the email marketing messages that populate my inbox. I have to wonder why, since there are so many interesting and even exciting ways to integrate social into email marketing.

But by enhancing your email marketing messages using interactive technology, your email campaigns can become a new addition to the social media landscape, not to mention a stand out from the rest of the email marketing messages out there.

The MarketingSherpa article discusses several new and innovative tactics for leveraging social media within email. Three of these that especially resonate with us, when considering how to best integrate social media into an effective email marketing campaign, are the following:

1) Choose an appropriate goal: While social reinforcement doesn’t make sense for every campaign or product, it can be quite powerful for the right goal, for example: you want to complement and grow your social media efforts.

2) Become a participant in the conversation: As an email marketer, you’re undoubtedly used to controlling the conversation. But when you’ve decided to include social reinforcement to your email marketing mix, you’ve also chosen to become more transparent. And, as MarketingSherpa says, “with transparency comes risk.” It’s time to shift the focus from control to participation. As a participant, you want to understand what’s being said about your brand or product.  And that can only lead to better email marketing campaigns, and ultimately, better email ROI. Because you’re essentially gathering data when you increase transparency and encourage conversation from your subscribers.

3) Choose the method of social reinforcement: Interactivity lets you dynamically update emails with responses from your audience, or those who influence them. Whether you integrate Facebook contacts, incorporate live feeds from Twitter or blogs, or dynamically update emails with responses, you’re increasing the interactivity and dynamic nature of your email marketing messages significantly. Integrating Facebook contacts is a truly innovative way to leverage the power of social influence into your email marketing campaigns. As MarketingSherpa puts it, “You can include code that allows recipients to see which of their Facebook friends have purchased the deal. Each time recipients open the email, they can view the latest updates.” And we are all learning the power of social influence: the more our friends “like” something and share about it, the more inclined we are to also “like” or purchase the same thing.

For more on how to integrate social into your email marketing campaign, or otherwise design dynamic messages, call on ClickMail!

A significant path to high email optimization is ensuring that you’ve adhered to your email marketing best practices. But a major stumbling block to email optimization, even after you’ve crossed every “t” and dotted every “i,” is how your email renders in preview panes. How does your email looks with images on vs. images off? Where is your email is getting cut off, horizontally and vertically? Is there enough imagery and/or text to compel someone to open it?

Even in today’s world, where preview panes are a factor in just about every email client and on every device, there are too many examples of email preview pane best practices being ignored. Too many email marketers seem to ignore the significance of image blocking, especially on the preview pane.  And that simple little factor can destroy an entire email campaign even if the message is relevant, highly engaging, well-crafted, and full of beautiful and interesting text and images. How? In one version with the images on versus one version with the images blocked, the following glitches resulted:

• The newsletter name disappeared.
• The headline disappeared.
• The navigation bar disappeared.
• The photo disappeared.

And after all of this content disappeared from the preview pane, what you’re left with is a frustratingly boring or blocked preview pane that does nothing to get the recipient to open and engage with the email. And to adhere to all the email best practices that get you into the inbox, but to ignore the next step to get that email opened and acted upon is a huge waste of effort.

The majority of readers are now using both the preview pane and the default blocked-images functions to decide whether to open emails and block unwanted downloads. In fact, more than half of email readers rarely or never download images within their preview pane, and an increasing number of email subscribers will simply delete the message due to insufficient information displayed in the preview pane, due to blocked images, advertisements or poor design.

So what does all of this mean to you? Think of the preview pane as a teaser area used to grab the readers’ attention and compel them to further action: the preview pane will determine whether the reader will open the email, scroll or click through to stories or just delete without further review. When designing your email marketing campaigns, ensure that your email messages are making the most of the valuable preview pane: just the top left 2-4 inches, the only area visible in both horizontal and vertical panes.

Lastly, blocked images affect the tracking of open rates, which affects your overall email performance rates . By placing more emphasis on how your emails render in preview panes, you will be able to up your click-through and conversion rates.

Does Your Email Marketing Campaign Have the Right BITS?

When it comes to a successful email marketing campaign, it will pay off in the long run if you adhere to the right BITS in your email marketing best practices. And yes, you’ve probably guessed it: BITS is an acronym to help you remember four key factors that will ensure the success of your email marketing strategy:

Brevity
Interactivity
Trackability
Subscriber Preferences

Brevity: If email marketing isn’t a format that is made for “short and sweet” I’m not sure what is. In fact, in the world of email marketing, a better expression might be, “short IS sweet.” People want to get through their email quickly and are increasingly using preview panes and subject-line scans  to decide whether or not to read further, open the email, or simply delete without another thought. So as an email marketer, this means meeting an additional challenge in order to get your emails opened to achieve maximum ROI from your email marketing campaign. It’s essential that your email messages get straight to the point AND create intrigue and interest, which will lead to higher email open and click-through rates! Short and snappy subject lines are the first way to make your emails stand out and ensure ease of preview pane readability. Well-written and relevant subject lines also illustrate the main point of your email message. See our post on how to create compelling subject lines for more.

Interactivity: The number one goal of your email marketing campaign is engagement. Because engagement leads to increased subscriber interest, loyalty, and ultimately, for you, increased ROI. And nothing engages the recipient like the opportunity to do something. Give them clickable links that lead to your website or product offering. Tease your subscribers with a little info to start (which satisfies BITS rule #1 – BREVITY), and then provide a link to the full story for increased click-through rates. Provide one-question polls or surveys that they can answer and participate in. Engage your subscribers and lead them into taking an action. If there’s interaction at the inbox level, you’re off to a great start. Inbox interaction tells the ISP your email was welcomed by the recipient, and you’ll continue to be allowed into that inbox. And there’s a ripple effect: If enough people don’t engage, that can reflect universally on the entire domain, and can lead to decreased email deliverability.

Trackability: One of the increasingly important features of email marketing is the ability to track and mine the data that you receive from your subscribers. Who are your subscribers? Where do they live? What are their buying habits? What devices do they use to read their email? What browsers are most popular? When do they open and click through your emails? Gathering, and most importantly, using this data in segmenting your lists and specifically targeting email marketing campaigns to different groups of users will increase the overall relevance and interest in your messages.

Subscriber Preferences: Here at ClickMail Marketing, we talk often about the importance of using preference centers to allow the subscriber to set the guidelines of your communication with them via email. When you allow subscribers to self select, segmenting themselves and giving them control over how often they hear from you and with what content, they are more receptive to your emails because your emails are more relevant. Relevance, and therefore engagement, has always been important for email marketing effectiveness. And overall, this will affect your email deliverability too.

Keep it simple – all you have to do is remember the four BITS of a successful email marketing campaign going forward for increased relevance, increased email deliverability, and ultimately, increased ROI.