In the "Email Top Chefs" session - artfully organized and presented by Lisa Harmon and Aaron Smith of Smith-Harmon, now part of Responsys included four smart marketers sharing testing results. Great session with Orbitz, REI, General Mills and ESPN.com each generously sharing test structure and results. Yet, every one of them expressed frustration that even well produced tests generate results that are difficult to read and measure. For example, Arti Parikh of Orbitz had to add in a second measure in order to break a tie. Christine Scott of General Mills found that the version that had the higher …

REI Email Marketing Manager Meg Reynolds says she's been at REI for "a really long time." I think it's been 11 years, which is not trivial, certainly. Yet there is a benefit! This tenure gave Meg the stature to come forward a few years ago and suggest that the KPI the company was using was neither attributing the right contribution to the email channel, nor providing appropriate guidance to the email marketing team on revenue optimization. Meg was able to run a few tests and use that data to convince her management team to shift from a clicks/subscriber-level engagement KPI …

Do you test your email creative? Do you change your email campaigns based on results? Orbitz, REI, ESPN, and General Mills certainly do. This morning's panel, Email Top Chefs Master the Art of Testing, hosted by Lisa Harmon, Principal, Smith-Harmon (a Responsys company) featured 4 "chefs" who tested their email creatives and shared their results with those in attendance at the Email Insider Summit. First up was Arti Parikh, Relationship Marketing Manager, Orbitz Worldwide. The Plan: Refresh "Deals Campaign" (top 10 deals of the week) The Goal: Increase net contribution margin by 10% The Test: 3 …

A group of top digital marketers are playing the roles of email “Top Chefs” -- a play on the Bravo show. On a panel, they are wearing aprons, courtesy of Christine Scott, senior interactive marketing planner-email at General Mills.

Welcome to the second day of the Email Insider Summit! It's stopped snowing and still very cold, but we enjoy a gorgeous morning on top of the mountain. Everyone had such a great time at the dinner last night that we are all planning how to get the budget to come again next year! This is certainly an event that builds a loyal following. Speaking of loyalty, to kick us off, David Rosen, SVP, Strategy and Channel Development of Loyalty Lab, challenges us to think about loyalty in a new way. The social nature of the Internet, plus the …

Mike Rogers, a top executive at Goodmail Systems, began Tuesday speaking about the company’s new product that allows video to be embedded in emails. Due to technical issues with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), marketers have been unable to send emails, where video is automatically streaming once opened. Goodmail's CertifiedVideo launched in April, and the company has run a test with Turner Sports with a recent PGA event. Turner sent emails alerting people that the tournament had started, and when recipients opened the message, they saw a live feed. While video is streaming when the email is opened, audio …

The would-be killer app in mobile marketing is coming. But when? For several years, marketers in Japan have been placing barcodes on billboards and magazine pages and using them to blitz ads right to mobile phones. The barcodes act as sort of a nerve center, storing a wealth of material a marketer can send right to a handset once a consumer scans it with a camera phone. Want more info on a Disney vacation advertised in Us Weekly? Scan the page and a code to claim a free day pass could be sent or perhaps …

Some interesting stuff here from Blaine Mathieu, CEO of Lyris in a YouTube video about the year ahead. (Lyris is an Email Insider Summit sponsor.)

The NBA has banned players and coaches from sending out tweets from the locker room during games. Not so in college hoops, apparently. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Texas A&M’s coach blasted his players for lackluster play during halftime last Friday -- then decided to inform fans about his feelings. Before taking the court for the second half, Mark Turgeon offered this Twitter post: “We need to keep guarding and limit them to 1 shot. More movement on offense. Let’s go.” The post didn’t give away much in the way of strategy. But it raises at …

Looking for more from Eric Kirby's well-received keynote address Monday morning at the Summit? Early on, he brushed aside suggestions that email marketing may be losing steam, while urging marketers to carpe diem and capitalize on social media networks. Email has been a “workhorse” for a decade and that’s unlikely to subside, Kirby said. His endorsement comes as the industry has dealt with suggestions in 2009 that its long-held, top-tier role is fading. “I’ve never seen a year where a company said: We’re pulling back on marketing spend, the economy’s not great, time to stop doing email,” …