by editor , David Baker on Oct 29, 1:45 PM
This is a common sales lifecycle for most marketers from a business perspective. A closer look at today's definitions of these categories shows that some have changed from past seasons.
by Loren McDonald on Oct 25, 2:00 AM
If you have trouble snaring a big-enough share of your company's marketing budget and mindshare for your email program, your problem may be that you are arguing your case with the wrong numbers. Your CEO, for example, will likely not be blown away if you brag that your email campaigns or newsletters are beating the industry averages in open, click and delivery rates. So what if you have a 10% click-through rate on your last message? Big deal. Did that 10% help you meet your quarterly sales goal? OK, now we're talking!
by Bill McCloskey on Oct 24, 2:01 AM
There is a lot of talk lately about social networks and, of course, whether they will replace email as the primary form of Internet communication. If this sounds familiar, it is. Last year, RSS was going to replace email. The year before that blogs where going to replace email. And yet, according to research group Radicati, there will be 1.4 billion active email accounts at the end of this year.
by daniel.c , Melinda Krueger on Oct 23, 2:00 AM
The Email Diva is fascinated by the sociological/anthropological aspects of social networks, and eager to understand the impact of the new communication medium on the practice of marketing. And yet she feels a little slimy saying that. Do I wish to exploit these networks for my clients' gain? Well, yes... sort of. But the key is to be an authentic participant, transparent in your motives and respectful of the channel.
by editor , David Baker on Oct 22, 6:00 PM
The theme of this week's column focuses on what makes email creative an effective art. Let's first think about how great creative is measured. Is it measured by open rate, click-through rate, or conversion rate? Is it measured by combined response over time, or can it be measured independently by each discrete campaign?
by Chad White on Oct 18, 5:00 PM
The importance of having landing pages match email creative enough that subscribers are instantly assured that they've landed in the right place is an undisputed best practice. Similarly, it's important for emails to mimic their associated Web sites in look and feel, not only for branding purposes but for navigation as well.
by Bill McCloskey on Oct 17, 2:00 AM
Today's article is about changing the way you do business. It all starts with the salesman at the Toyota dealership, who did a really, really bad job.
by daniel.c , Melinda Krueger on Oct 15, 5:15 PM
Dear Email Diva: I've been challenged in meetings to state how well our list composition compares with benchmarks. I've never found any benchmarks or standards, and our email marketing group isn't aware of any for this kind of email marketing program in our industry or overall. Do other marketers care about this statistic? Is there truly no quantitative research on the topic?
by editor , David Baker on Oct 15, 2:45 PM
While each organization is unique in its needs, cultures, budgets and focus on the email channel, I've seen so many types of email teams put together -- from cobbled-together teams infused into marketing groups, fully functional email departments and then the "one person show." The exact organization isn't as important as the chemistry and responsibilities within each role. Let's think for a minute about all the roles needed to properly manage an email program, and talk about them in terms of personas rather than ambiguous titles.
by Loren McDonald on Oct 11, 10:30 AM
Okay, I don't actually love them. But I have learned to appreciate them for what they are: instruments in the democratization of modern marketing and perhaps the most authentic measurement of customer dissatisfaction we have.