The Whitelist

eMarketer’s article on lack of the email best practice of testing, based on an eROI study, is interesting as an indicator of how we far we are from paying attention to high standards in email marketing. But beyond the numbers in the report are some scary possibilities…

“…37.1% of US e-mail marketers did not test their e-mail campaigns at all.”

That’s more than a third. That’s a scary thought. Is that because email is just so easy to do, and to do poorly, that email marketers tend to ignore email best practices? At their peril!
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Need to review how well you’re serving your permission-based email marketing list? See the new report from Merkle: “View from the Inbox™ 2009: Actionable Information for Marketers From the Annual Consumer Email Attitudes and Usage Study.”

The report reiterates that inboxes get more and more crowded and we must be aware of consumers’ attitudes about email to keep making the most of our email marketing ROI. But lest we get complacent and think we’re doing all right in the inbox—or choose ignorance and just hope for the best—this email marketing whitepaper is worth a read.
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As further follow up to ExactTarget’s email deliverability webinar last week, ‘Getting to the Inbox: Why “Send” Is Not the End and Reputation Is King,’ let’s talk opt in.

As the webinar pointed out and we covered in our last email marketing blog post, email delivery is a huge concern among email marketers, and reputation is the key to deliverability.
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Here’s an email marketing challenge for you: Today, think of three ways to grow your in-house email list that are unusual, but still fall under the realm of permission-based email marketing . You know to use Forward to a Friend, you ask people for email addresses at trade shows, you have a prominent email signup link on your web site…but there are so many other ways to promote your email program and get people signed up.
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Google “email marketing mistakes” and you’ll get a lot of the same old advice: use permission-based email marketing, be relevant, don’t over email, etc. All good advice! But not that helpful if you’ve been in the email marketing industry for a while and you’ve got the basics down.

That’s why it was a treat to stumble on a Grokdotcom newsletter article    crammed full of 12 more advanced email marketing mistakes, like creating individual emails instead of email marketing campaigns, and confusing response with results.
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Just like your exercise regimen, your email marketing program needs the occasional recommitment to make sure you’re keeping it as fit as it can be…and your email marketing ROI as high as it can be. The start of a new year is a great time to review your email marketing ROI goals, then implement and stick with some email marketing best practices to increase it.
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In direct mail, they say success depends on three things: your offer, your creative and your list. The same is true of email marketing. And the best email list is your in-house one. That’s because it’s permission-based email marketing. Those people have some kind of relationship with you already and are more receptive to your emails as a result.

But building that in-house list takes time! It’s tempting to go out and rent a list of 50,000 rather than slowly build a quality list of 500!

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Even permission-based email marketing can go awry if you deploy an incorrect email marketing campaign. Yes, those folks opted in to get your email promotions and email newsletter. But they won’t stay opted in if you send them an email with broken links, typos in the subject line, or irrelevant content.
As an email marketing vendor, we’ve put together a quick checklist for just before you send that email:

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Email marketers know email marketing is better for customer retention than customer acquisition.  Email marketers also know that permission-based email marketing is a great marketing tool for strengthening relationships with your existing customers.

Email marketing can help you turn someone into a lead in the first place, and then help you take them from lead to customer. Email is the great nurturing marketing tool, in particular email newsletters.
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Email policies are important.  Not just the email governance policy that protects a company’s corporate interests, but a policy that protects your subscribers from potential email marketing abuse; and your relationship with them as a result.

It’s permission-based email marketing – meaning you got their permission, and your subscribers trusted you enough to hand over their email addresses in the first place. And you as the email marketer must guard that relationship when others in your company want to take advantage of the fast and cheap nature of email marketing for a quick financial fix.

To differentiate it from the Privacy Policy that reassures your subscribers you won’t share their email address, this policy is one that ensures you’ll treat your subscribers with respect. That means:

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