The Whitelist

Reinforce Trust With These Email Deliverability Best Practices

Recently I’ve been having a very frustrating experience. My emails haven’t been getting through. As someone that constantly writes about email deliverability and the importance of adhering to email marketing best practices, the irony of this recent development hasn’t escaped me. Granted, the emails I’m referring to are personal emails, from my personal gmail account, to someone who is expecting my emails, but this whole thing got me thinking: If I’m not assured my emails are getting through to one recipient who has written back and forth with me, and who, I assume, has added me to their “safe sender” list, how can you, as an email marketer, be sure that your emails are getting delivered to all of the subscribers on your recipient list?

Email deliverability remains one of the greatest email marketing challenges for a reason. The better your email deliverability, the more trusted your email sender reputation becomes, which equals more opened emails, and increased number of click throughs and conversions. All of this results in one meaningful effect to your bottom line: your ROI will climb.

The major obstacles to email deliverability are lack of consumer trust in email, and ISP blocking.

Consumer trust in email is under fire in two ways:

1) Trustworthiness: Recipients are increasingly more wary of unknown or unrecognized senders. They are on high “spam”-alert and scan each email asking, “Can I trust that this email is coming from whom it claims to be coming from?”

2) Reliability: Is email a reliable source of communication? How do I know that what I’ve signed up for is what’s going to actually come to my inbox?

So how does an email marketer reinforce trust in the messages they send?

Content. Content is king when it comes to restoring trust in email, and increasing email deliverability. Make sure that the content of your emails and subject lines don’t contain words that tend to set off spam filters (a few high-trigger words include: millions, easy income, cash, money, and others you’re probably unwittingly aware of. Look no further than your spam folder for a laundry list!). In addition to eliminating spam triggers from your email marketing messages, it’s crucial that you keep your messages relevant and specific to your subscribers. Using advanced email marketing features such as dynamic (personalized) content and triggered messaging, which automatically sends messages based on time and/or actions or inactions that your subscribers perform, means that each message will be tailored for each subscriber’s needs.

Trust = Sender Accountability. You should ensure that your ESP has adopted authentication standards. If the top ISPs in the world block your email because it doesn’t comply with their authentication systems, then you might as well have burned your email marketing budget in a beach bonfire.

Don’t worry, though: as daunting as email deliverability can seem, you should be working with an ESP that will help you. ESPs have been addressing these problems for years and are the experts on email compliance and deliverability. You’re not alone! If you need help selecting an ESP, reach out to ClickMail today.

Email Marketing Remains ROI King

A recent article by Ken Magill confirms what we at ClickMail Marketing have been preaching (ah, sweet confirmation): that is, that email marketing is “returning vastly more for every dollar spent on it this year than every other marketing channel,” according to the Direct Marketing Association’s just-released Power of Direct economic impact study.

Specifically, email marketing is bringing in $40.56 for every dollar spent on it this year, according to the DMA. When compared to other marketing channels, the ROI of email marketing is unsurpassed. Direct mail catalogs have a ROI of just $7.30, while internet channels see quite a bit more, but not as much as email: internet search has a return of $22.24, Internet display advertising sees a return of $19.72 and mobile returns just a bit more than direct mail: $10.51.

For those of us in email marketing, it’s not a surprise to read the DMA’s report that internet marketing will greatly surpass direct mail in 2016, by over $250 billion of conversions. It’s predicted that internet marketing will result in $970.3 billion of sales in 2016 compared to direct mail’s $724.1 billion.

Even though some portend the downfall of email, largely due to a decrease from its ROI high in 2006, an estimated $52.23 for every dollar, it’s still a very viable marketing channel, especially when email’s reach is expanded to include mobile.  As more users convert to smartphones and tablets, and utilize corresponding mobile applications to check email and perform transactions, mobile ROI is only going to climb.

As we see the rise in mobile marketing, it’s important to get a jump on the trend and ensure that your emails are optimized for the mobile landscape. For even more information on how to “mobilize” your emails, see our recent blog post on making your emails mobile.

Register Today For ExactTarget's Conference Connections 2011!

We are excited to be attending the ExactTarget conference, Connections 2011: Power of One, in Indianapolis, IN from Sept. 13-15. This conference is all about using the power of connection to affect positive change. As email marketers, we all know how one idea can spread through effective email marketing best practices and possibly even grow into a world-changing phenomenon.

This concept is even more accessible today with the “viral” and immediate nature of social network connectivity; including engagement tools like Twitter, Facebook integration, and personalized marketing. As email marketers, you have a significant amount of power through the technology at your fingertips!  Getting your message out effectively, increasing your ROI, and increasing your conversion rates are all a function of successfully connecting to your subscribers, which can only be achieved through implementation of the email marketing best practices we love talking about so much!

We are looking forward to connecting with 3,000 of the world’s top marketing minds to learn, teach, and grow together as we talk about harnessing the power of technology and one-to-one communications to generate truly personalized and relevant messages.

You can also tap into this amazing resource: registration for the conference is still open, and if you come, you’ll have the opportunity to attend the powerful talks by keynote speakers including Aron Ralston (the climber who inspired the Oscar-nominated film based on his real-life story of astounding bravery and determination, 127 Hours), CNN anchor Soledad O’Brian, and the founder of Wikipedia. We’re also looking forward to participating in a session about how to create automated messages that keep your customers coming back.

The Connections 2011 conference promises to be a fantastic resource for all marketers, with ongoing conversations and forums about the tools required to make your messages more powerful, and networking opportunities that will undoubtedly help you grow your business.  For more information, and to register, check out Connections 2011. We look forward to seeing you there!

If Facebook Means More Click Throughs, Email Still Means More ROI

Trying to figure out your 2011 email marketing budget? Wondering if your email marketing ROI would stand if you moved some money to social media instead? Then read this…

As an interesting follow up to a recent eMarketer article that claimed email still trumped Facebook for sharing content, a newer eMarketer article sheds more light on the subject…light we need considering that content shared via a social networking site gets almost twice the click through of content shared via email (60% to 31%).

If email marketing ROI is a priority, don’t go cutting that email marketing budget yet! As eMarketer explains, the numbers can be misleading for two reasons:

• An email might contain the full content shared, meaning no click through is required. A social networking site like Facebook or Twitter can only share a portion of the content. That has two consequences: One, a lower click through rate, but two, you get the full impact of the shared content without the recipient having to click through. With a social networking site, if they don’t click through, you gain little.

• Although emails have a lower click through rate, they lead to more pages viewed, more engagement, and more conversions. And conversions are the goal.

As D.J. Waldow just pointed out, sometimes email marketing best practices are more a matter of what’s best for you (which might in turn mean, what’s best for your prospects and customers). So as with all things ClickMail, we encourage you to consider and digest this information, then test, test, test it to find out which combination of email marketing and social network sharing will give you the highest engagement, click throughs and—the ultimate goal—email marketing ROI.

Ask Email Marketing ROI Questions of ClickMail CEO at Focus.com

CEO of ClickMail Marketing, one of the fastest growing email marketing vendors, has already answered a flurry of email marketing questions since becoming a Focus expert at www.focus.com.

Among the questions Marco has so far tackled are:

• What does “confirmed opt-in” mean?
• What’s the difference between an email marketing strategy and an email deliverability strategy?
• Where can I find a good list of email marketing products?
• What call-to-action phrases work best for your campaigns?
• Email tracking and reporting- how can you be sure what worked and what didn’t?
• How do I create an email newsletter?

The one that caught my eye is the one on deliverability, as that’s an issue we tackle a lot as an email deliverability consultant. Marco’s concise answer summed it up well:

“Technical requirements aside (SPF records, etc), I would say that email marketing encompasses deliverability because of one word: relevance. Your email marketing strategy and tactics should boil down to sending relevant content to your audience. Deliverability is more and more being determined on how the user interacts with your email and the best way to increase integration is by sending relevant content.”

Do you have a pressing email marketing ROI, deliverability or best practices question? You can send it to us for answer directly or via this blog by emailing blog@clickmailmarketing.com. Or you can reach out to Marco and the other Focus experts by going to http://www.focus.com/profiles/marco-marini/public/.

Either way, we’ll help you get “focused” on email marketing ROI!

People Prefer Sharing Via Email Over Facebook: Long Live Email Marketing ROI!

A couple of years ago at a social media conference, I heard someone explain social media vs. email like this: “My boss emails me. My friends contact me through Facebook.”

That statement has stuck with me ever since, but I have wondered if that was a widespread attitude. I prefer email, still, and not just because I work for an email marketing vendor. Most of my friends and family still seem to prefer email over Facebook for communicating as well. They are all on Facebook. But they still use email for communicating more than they use Facebook for communicating.

So, are my friends and family an anomaly? Not according to eMarketer’s article titled “Email Still Tops Facebook for Keeping in Touch.”

The eMarketer article says three-quarters of web users are likely to share content with friends and family, but most people still prefer to use email to do so, not social networking sites like Facebook.

Now, this is age specific. Not everyone prefers email to Facebook. But eMarketer says, “Only 18- to 24-year-olds use the social networking site more than email for passing items on.” Even that difference is small, with 76% using Facebook to share and 70% email. And my friends and family are older than that. Much.

This matters for email marketing ROI for two reasons. First off, it’s one more argument for compelling content. Almost three quarters (72%) said they shared content because they thought it was “interesting or amusing.” One more reason for timely, relevant content served up to segmented and targeted audiences! What we as the marketers think is interesting is far less important than what our recipients think!

Second, when someone does share your relevant, targeted content, those who do so via email are more likely to be targeted too:

“Sharing via social networks like Facebook, by contrast, typically involves feeding items to an entire friends list. The youngest users, who care the least about whether the recipients of their content actually want to see it, are also most likely to disseminate the information to the widest group. And the seniors and older boomers who find the recipients’ needs more important dramatically favor email for sharing, suggesting they are sending relevant items to only those who will want them.”

That means you get less quantity but more quality: Your email content is shared with fewer people, but those people are more likely to be interested in the content, which can only help your email marketing ROI.

Maybe all those claiming the end of email, and the “email is dead” journalists fall into that under 25 age group. In their world, Facebook is the communication vehicle of choice.

But for another 10 or 20 years, at least, their world is not ours. In our world, email is alive and well and thriving…for sharing among friends and family, for marketing to customers, and for assignments from the boss.

Long live email…and email marketing ROI!

Targeted Triggered Emails Increase Email Marketing ROI

In his latest blog written for the Email Experience Council, CEO Marco Marini gives you tips and trick for increasing your email marketing ROI via triggered targeted emails.

As he points out, however, you’re not limited to only one kind of triggered email, like happy birthday greetings:

“You’re not limited to birthday emails…nor are triggered emails only appropriate for B2C marketing. Triggered emails come in three types—recurring, transactional and threshold—and can be used in a variety of circumstances…”

Whether triggered, targeted and drip type emails, one-to-one emails have a much higher email marketing ROI. You might send fewer emails, but make more money off those you do send.

As Marco explains, this kind of targeted email marketing is relatively easy these days because of technological developments. Not only is it easy to do, but your email program can be as sophisticated as you want it to be as well.

Why go to all this trouble? It’s not just for the email marketing ROI. Targeted, relevant messages lead to more engagement, which in turn leads to a better standing with the ISPs. And that will get more of your help your email deliverability…which is the first step to improving your email marketing ROI.

Learn more about pulling the trigger on targeted emails.

Track Email Marketing ROI With This ROI Worksheet From MarketingSherpa

As an email marketing vendor and deliverability consultant constantly encouraging our clients to learn and use best practices for email marketing, we at ClickMail consider actionable worksheets like the latest from MarketingSherpa absolute gems. Anything that takes email marketing best practices from theoretical to actionable is a great tool.

The latest great tool from MarketingSherpa is the email marketing ROI worksheet for automated emails.

This ROI worksheet was designed to help you measure the real value and return of your transactional and automated email messages. This becomes useful information for you as you see the strengths and weaknesses of the different components of your program, so you can make improvements…or do more of what’s working. And it’s useful when you need to report numbers to the higher ups.

Download this email marketing best practices worksheet today, because it’s only available to nonmembers until August 22^nd.

It’s so nice when someone agrees with us…

I had to smile when I read David Fowler’s article in Email Insider, titled “Inherent Links Among Reputation, Email Deliverability And ROI.” In this article David is saying what we’ve been saying for ages: Your deliverability impacts your email marketing ROI. And take that one step further, to your reputation, which affects your deliverability. Therefore, your online sending reputation impacts your email marketing ROI! (Yes, that was a little bit of math, but it works. Remember, if a=b and b=c, then a=c.)
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We can’t seem to keep Michael Kelly in the ClickMail Marketing office! His charisma and email marketing expertise now have him speaking before tourism executives: The Strategic Marketing Group’s Tourism, Technology + Marketing Workshop has Michael on the agenda next week to speak on “Essentials of Email Marketing – Driving ROI.”

This workshop is designed to help those in the tourism industry to stay informed and understand how technology affects their marketing strategies and ultimately their bottom lines. With sessions for beginners and advanced, the workshop will cover a variety of online marketing topics including social media, SEO and, thanks to Michael, email marketing. See Michael at the Embassy Suites, South Lake Tahoe, CA, on Wednesday, March 17.
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