Walk a Mile in Your Subscriber’s Shoes

You know the saying about walking a mile in someone else’s shoes? It’s meant to help you develop empathy for another person. You will understand where they are coming from if you walk a mile in their shoes, or “climb into his skin and walk around in it” to quote To Kill a Mockingbird.

Developing empathy for your subscribers might go much farther than a mile.

As I write this, I have just had a visit from a neighbor with cerebral palsy. It was a typical day for me, busy and crammed full. Suddenly I was forced to slow down, put off my to-do list, and pay attention.

It would be easy to avoid this neighbor rather than struggle to understand his speech and actions, communicating with him the best I can despite the hurdles. But instead it was hot cocoa and toast and me reading through his scrapbook and looking at his pictures. I put the neighbor first today, not the to-do list. My tasks still wait, but I was able to bring at least a little pleasure to someone by having some empathy for his need for company, his need to share and feel appreciated and welcomed.

Can you see your subscribers in this same way? Your to-do list consists of metrics you must meet and stuff you must sell. That can get in the way of having empathy for subscribers who might be tired or busy, or feeling unappreciated even.

Consider the single mom who works all day, parents into the evening, then tackles laundry after the kids are in bed. Can your email campaign show some empathy for her?

Or how about the busy executive with the weight of the world on his shoulders, with employees to watch over and a bottom line to maintain in a tough economy? How can your email marketing program take into account his plight and show him you care, understand and relate?

Showing empathy for subscribers might be as basic as offering a preference center to give them some control, or doing a survey to find out what topics they want to hear about. It could be testing to see if greater or lesser frequency of email is well received.

Empathy. It’s stopping to make hot cocoa and toast, taking time to look at some photos, so your subscribers feel appreciated. So they can feel like they mean more to you than a number that might convert to a dollar.

How do those shoes fit?

In business, shortcuts are often shorthand for “bad idea.”

Let’s consider our cross-channel marketing for a moment, for example. If you’re marketing to your customers via email, direct mail, Facebook/LinkedIn, Twitter and blogging, you might be tempted to copy and paste information from one place to another to save time. And why not, right? Who’s to say the Facebook fan is also an email subscriber?

Well, they might be, but that’s not really the point.

The point is, you’re more engaging when your communications are fresh and appropriate to the channel you’re using. If I get the same content from you via email as I do via Facebook, chances are I’ll stop paying attention to one or the other. And what’s appropriate in an email format is not usually appropriate in a Facebook format. An email will be a little longer and have a little more staying power. An email can sit in an inbox for a few days before a customer chooses to interact with it, even. A Facebook post will be much shorter and will have a lifespan of as little as 15 minutes.

Writing once, reusing everywhere is probably tempting because it reduces workload. But if it also reduces interest, is it really worth the time savings?

Be engaging, not repetitive. Be careful of the copy/paste.

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.

What Happens in Vegas…Will Stick With You in a Very Good Way!

This is one time when what happens in Vegas need not stay in Vegas: MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit 2012. This time, we hope what happens in Vegas sticks with you in a very good way.

Taking place February 7^th through 10^th, the summit promises to be overflowing with email marketing expertise, experience and education…all designed to head back to your office with you, to be implemented in the coming months as you improve your email marketing program…and your email marketing ROI.

And if MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit 2012 doesn’t already promise enough new knowledge to tempt you, consider these three reasons, from ClickMail, your email marketing agency:

1. Get One-on-One Coaching!

Three of the email marketing industry’s best and brightest—ClickMail’s own Cameron Kane, Michael Kelly and Grant Johnson—will be on hand offering coaching and one-on-one consultation. That’s right. During this Las Vegas event, the real show stoppers will be the 12 different topics you can choose from when you want an expert’s undivided attention and advice. (Get the details and sign up for your private session.)

2. Get a Discount!

Register with our special email marketing agency promotion code, and you’ll save $700! To get your discount, enter priority code 185-ST-1003 at check out when you register for the Email Summit.

3. Get Connected!

Most important of all during this email event is meeting up with the folks from our email marketing agency. Be sure to stop by booth #39 during the Email Summit. While at the booth, plug your email marketing needs into our ESPinator to see which ESP gets recommended for you…and to be entered to win free prizes.

What’s not to love about three days in Vegas, especially when it all goes home with you?

Email: The Foundation of all Online Marketing

Although we’re an email marketing agency, we’ll be glad to see this month—and all of the 2012 predictions that came with it—come to an end. We must stay on top of the changes in the email marketing industry and the predictions help us to do so, but we are ready to get down to the business of email marketing ROI once again.

Why? Because one constant remains throughout all those predictions: Email is the foundation upon which your online marketing program is built, no matter if you’re switching from an ESP to marketing automation provider or putting extra resources into your social media campaigns. Email is the enabler to it all.

And that’s something we can all bank on by keeping our focus where our focus should be: constantly optimizing our email marketing best practices and programs, and further integrating our email with our web analytics and social media marketing.

Email is the starting point, the foundation, the enabler and even the glue. It’s also the preferred medium of your customers. According to ExactTarget, “56% of US Internet users interact with brands only via marketing emails, compared to 1.3% who interact only via Twitter and 0.7% by Facebook.” [ExactTarget, "Subscribers, Fans, and Followers: The Social Profile" (2010), emphasis added]

Emails not going away, and it needs your attention to make sure it’s doing all it can for you. The other stuff might be shiny and new but without the solidity of a well-functioning, optimized email marketing program, your other online and social media marketing efforts will fall short.

You’re already taking action to keep your email optimized: You’re reading this blog! For other resources that will educate you and strengthen your email marketing foundation, subscribe to our email marketing newsletter and definitely be sure to visit our booth at MarketingSherpa’s Email Summit 2012 next week.

Or just reach out to this friendly email marketing agency for some one-on-one email marketing consultation. We’ll help you lay that foundation brick by brick.

Email Marketing Best Practices: Pull the Trigger and Stop the Sends

Not only was Trigger the name of Roy Roger’s trusty steed, a horse with a lot of tricks up his sleeve. It’s a key word for email marketers in 2012 as well…and it might be a trick you want to keep up your sleeve for improving ROI in the year ahead.

We all know about overcrowded inboxes, email-weary consumers, and overzealous marketing that sends emails far too often. The answer is to send fewer emails by using triggered emails instead.

Does that sound counter intuitive? Probably. But then our emphasis on building quality in-house email lists over quantity lists does too, yet it’s email marketing best practices to do so.

In reality, sending less by triggering more might not mean fewer emails sent. But it will mean more targeted emails because each one sent will be triggered by the consumer based on an action or an event. In comparison, plain old sending can look like old fashioned batch-and-blast because those messages are going out to a group based on the marketer’s needs or schedule, not the user’s actions.

By their very nature, event-based emails are extremely targeted and relevant. Whether the email is sent as a confirmation of a purchase, a welcome after a subscribe, a reminder about a renewal or a follow-up after abandoning a shopping cart, these email messages speak directly to the recipient in a way a general “send” can not.

If the relevancy argument doesn’t sway you, consider the potential ROI. These kinds of targeted triggered emails have a higher open rate which usually translates to higher ROI: The more emails opened, the more potential for action on the part of the recipient.

Your sends will never cease. Emails such as newsletters or promotions still have their place in your email marketing program. But cutting back on the big batches and focusing resources on the triggered type will definitely benefit your email marketing bottom line…and your customers too.

The Power of an Apology: Four Tips for Making Things Right Again

Driving through town the other day, I saw the following on the sign outside a church:

“If you have to have the last word, make it ’sorry’.”

That simple word little five-letter word might seem overly humble at times and might even be hard to say when you’re feeling you’re right, but that same simple word packs a lot of punch. It smoothes over hard feelings, heals hurts and makes things okay again.

It’s a word you want to use with your spouse, your family, your boss…and even your email marketing customers. Because chances are you’ve made some mistakes in all those areas. After all, you’re human!

We won’t dish out marital advice here, or ways to navigate the interpersonal relationships of the workplace. But we can as an email marketing agency that has seen a lot of email in our 10 plus years advise you on one of the most important emails you might ever send during your career: the apology email.

Mistakes will happen. Apologies will have to be made. Be ready to eat crow and please people when you follow this four tips:

1) Be real. Send your apology email from a real person. Depending on the severity of the mistake, choose appropriately. A huge mistake warrants an apology from the tog dog. Someone lower down the totem pole could send the “I’m sorry” for a lesser error.

2) Make things right. Maybe you can’t sell that product for the super low price you accidentally offered. But can you offer a partial discount? Or some other special? Think of the husband that shows up with flowers as he makes up with his wife. What can you show up with?

3) Manage the other communication channels too. It could your email made the mistake, but the repercussions show up on your Facebook page or all over Twitter. Keep the lines of communication open every way you can. Respond to email replies to your apology, be an active participant in the social media dialog.

4) Do not blame. Just admit to the mistake regardless of how it happened or who—or what—messed up. Your customers don’t care how the mistake happened. They only care that you’re making things right.

We’d like to tell you the apology email could be avoided altogether, but all we can promise is you can minimize the chance of errors through email best practices. So be prepared for the inevitable mistake and the necessary “I’m sorry” to make things right again as fast as you can.

Three Easy Ways to Prevent Being Flagged as Spam

Consumers are in a hurry and think nothing of flagging your legitimate email as spam, hurting your sending reputation despite your adherence to email marketing best practices. What’s an email marketer to do?

Everything in your power to minimize the use of that Spam button, that’s what!

The latest ClickMail Marketer has three easy tips for making spam reports fewer in number and keeping your email delivery rate high as can be:

1) Manage expectations from the start

2) Get through the first three hurdles

3) Make the Unsubscribe easy to find and do

Learn more about each, how it protects you, and how to implement it by giving the newsletter a quick read.

As an email marketing agency, we predict the Spam button will remain a threat to legitimate email marketers, and maybe even become more of a threat as inboxes get ever more cluttered. Follow these three tips, and protect yourself and your sending reputation by diminishing the use of the Spam button.

Read our latest email marketing newsletter here.

When a Dirty In-House Email List Costs the ISPs Money, It’s Time to Clean Up!

If your in-house email list hasn’t had a good scrubbing lately, it’s time to clean house. A clean list has always ranked high among email marketing best practices, but now even more so as ISPs crack down on email marketers who waste their time…and their money.

As an email marketing agency focused on numbers and deliverability, we understand that it’s hard to see the size of your list shrink when bad or dormant email addresses get removed. It’s worth it though. Remember, your goal is a quality list, not a quantity one. You’re far better off with 5,000 names that respond to your content than 15,000 that don’t.

Scrubbing your in-house email list might mean fewer names, but it also means higher ROI from your email marketing because you’re marketing to a more responsive audience. In addition, you’re improving your email delivery rate by improving your sending reputation. And you’re pleasing the ISPs, who are the ultimate gatekeepers between you and your prospects.

ISPs still see emailing to bad and inactive addresses as sloppy and careless on the part of the marketer, and they will be more likely to flag your emails as spam if you continue to do so. But now we’re seeing the major ISPs thinking of these unnecessary emails as an expense too. If you’re already annoying an ISP because you’re carelessly sending to people who haven’t responded to your emails in over a year—showing an obvious lack of interest in your content—imagine how annoyed they’ll be when they think of those wasted emails as costing them money to boot?

The answer was and still is good list hygiene. Start with email marketing best practices that require an opt-in. Use a Preference Center to give subscribers control. Then keep your list squeaky clean with regular scrubbings.

Your list will be clean, your subscribers responsive and the ISPs pleased. What more could you ask for?

Get tips for scrubbing your in-house email list.

That’s right. In addition to the sessions and speakers–plus networking with your email marketing peers—you’ll be able to delve deep into your organization’s own individual email marketing challenges by sitting down with an expert to discuss one of 12 different topics:

1. Email Design and Creative

2. Email Deliverability

3. Measurement

4. B2B Email Marketing

5. Mobile Marketing

6. Social Media and Email Marketing

7. Landing Page Optimization

8. Advanced Email Marketing Strategy

9. B2B Lead Optimization

10.  Search Engine Optimization

11. Email Content Creation

12. Email Marketing Value Propositions

Best of all, three of our email marketing agency team will be among the email marketing experts doing the coaching: Cameron Kane, Michael Kelly and Grant Johnson. These are three of the smartest guys in the industry, with decades of hands-on, in-the-field experience.

Learn more about the topics above and the experts doing the coaching. You’ll see bios and photos for Cameron, Michael and Grant, so you’ll know what kind of insight they’ll offer.

Then get your email marketing consulting scheduled. To book your one-on-one coaching time, click the link to schedule an appointment online. You will be able to schedule online at the registration desk during the Summit as well, but we recommend scheduling ahead of time because appointments are taken on a first-come, first-served basis.

Now for the close, if you’re still on the fence about the MarketingSherpa Email Summit 2012: What if you could save $700 on the registration fee?

If the sessions don’t hook you, the experts don’t sway you, and the personal coaching can’t convince you, then maybe a $700 discount will. Yes, $700, courtesy of email marketing agency ClickMail. To get your discount, register for the Email Summit and enter priority code 185-ST-1003 at check out. That’s it.

Oh, and get your coaching scheduled. A.S.A.P. Before all the slots are filled and all the expert advice goes to your competitors instead.