• Overcoming Email Reporting Blind Spots
    Email is a mature channel with a fairly good set of measurements, right? Yes and no. On one hand, it's good to have a set of measurements that appear to be somewhat consistent across our industry. It makes it possible to create industry benchmarks and for email marketers to quickly understand the state an email program when transitioning to a new role or working with a new client. On the flip side, relying on standard metrics has created blind spots. These gaps are causing email marketers to overlook important points that are great opportunities to modify strategy and approach.
  • The New Litmus Test For A Great Email Marketing Program
    I used to say the hallmark of a great email marketing program was a robust A/B testing program. It's not just because I consider A/B testing a key optimization tool and a vital part of "listening" to subscribers, but because if a brand is taking the time to follow a rigorous A/B testing calendar and methodically building on lessons learned, then chances are very high it's doing lots of other things right. While I still believe in the power of testing and what it signifies about an email program, I now have a new litmus test for email marketing greatness …
  • Email Marketers Are Disrupting Fraud With DMARC
    Cybercriminals are being forced to rapidly evolve their approaches to email fraud thanks to marketers' increasingly sophisticated response to phishing and spoofing. Most notably, the growing adoption of the DMARC standard (domain-based messaging authentication, reporting, and conformance), launched three years ago this month, is making a real difference.
  • Infants Stop Using Email! And 3 Other Amazing 2015 Predictions
    An amazing thing happened recently as I drank my coffee. The grounds began to form words in the bottom of my cup! Not just any words, either, but predictions about email trends for 2015. It was a miracle! Or was it? Here's what I saw using the ancient tasseography method of divining the future by reading patterns of grounds left in a coffee cup:
  • The Exaggerated Help-Wanted Ad
    In 2008, I wrote a column entitled "Help Wanted: Email Marketing Manager," a look at key industry challenges through a tongue-in-cheek help-wanted ad. Here's how I'd rewrite the ad today.
  • What Apple's Holiday Home Run Means For Email Marketers
    Santa was very, very kind to Apple, according to a new report from Flurry Analytics. The iPhone manufacturer accounted for 51% of new device activations worldwide between Dec. 19 and 25th, with Samsung coming in a distant second at 18%. What does this mean for email marketers? Apple's move toward bigger screens and higher resolutions - along with the default Apple iPhone app's stronghold as the number-one email client - will ultimately influence change in email marketing's evolving best practices.
  • Email Tips Filtered Through The Lens Of Advice To My Daughter
    The kids are officially back at school after an extended winter break due to the sub-zero weather we were having here in “The Region”  (that’s what residents affectionately call Northwest Indiana). But the extra time with my daughter proved to be invaluable.  At nine years old, she is growing up quickly and formulating her approach to dealing with challenges. And she actually came to me for some advice! I was doing a little dance inside, but remained cool, calm and collected on the outside. When I reflected back on what we discussed, it dawned on me that the advice I …
  • Your 2015 'To Do' List Has 10 Entries -- Pick Five
    What are you doing this year to improve your email-marketing program? If you need some direction, check my list below, which provides 10 suggestions.
  • Putting Four Common New Year's Resolutions To Work For Your Email Program
    The beginning of another year is always a time for reflection, thinking ahead about the improvements we want to make. Here are four common resolutions that can be applied to email marketing programs to make the new year successful.
  • 10 Reasons To Be Optimistic About 2015
    Let me begin the new year by saying that 2015 will be the year that new means old, optimized. I don't see dramatic changes in consumer patterns, but there were some 2014 trends that should make all of us optimistic about this year, starting with the following:
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