• Authentication And Online Trust Summit
    I thought this update from Pivotal Veracity from the Authentication and Online Trust Summit (AOTS) was quite valuable to share with the MediaPost audience. As background, Microsoft started AOTS in 2004 to foster adoption of Sender ID and promote email authentication through the industry....
  • The Use of Video In Retail Emails: Part 2
    In last week's column I talked about all the uses retailers have found for videos in their emails -- everything from commercials and product demonstrations to trade show and fashion show coverage. This week I'm going to talk about how retailers integrate video links into their email messages.
  • Email Blogs
    When I started writing this column in 2003 (hard to believe), I was one of only a few people writing about email. Today it seems there more people writing about email than are on a Russian spammers's mailing list. And it is about to get even worse -- or better, depending on your point of view.
  • Improve Opens With Search Terms!
    One of the Email Diva's pet peeves is the use of superfluous exclamation points. If your copy doesn't express enthusiasm and energy on its own, punctuation will not help you. Rather, it does the opposite and makes you look like a huckster. But this idea, courtesy of Geene Rees at Acxiom Digital, is so good that it deserves an exclamation point -- maybe two!!
  • Top Reads For The Email Marketer
    After spending the last three weeks at a client summit, on vacation and recovering from both, I found I had a lot of reading time and experienced a general "deafening" to what's been happening in our space. This is a nice change, since normally I am so deeply entrenched in my beloved world of email and eCRM that I have difficulty getting an outside perspective to help freshen my thoughts and approach.
  • The Use of Video in Retail Emails: Part 1
    Google's acquisition of YouTube for $1.65 billion last year should have been a wake-up call to all marketers that online videos are ready for prime time. Many retailers wisely took note and have been increasing their use of online videos, integrating them into their email marketing campaigns.
  • The Deliverability Problem In Reverse
    There actually was an interesting report that came out this week that I wish I had thought of, put out by a group called Hornstein Associates. Hornstein sent out a one-line email to the customer service departments of 49 highly respected companies such as Apple, Microsoft, and Wal-Mart to see how long it would take them to respond. The email they sent simply said: "What is your corporate policy regarding the turnaround time for e-mails addressed to customer service?" And the results? Only half responded at all, and only 33% responded within the designated 24-hour period.
  • More Newsletter Metrics For Advertisers
    Dear Email Diva: You recently highlighted the need for newsletter publishers to provide better audience metrics to advertisers, in light of the increasing difficulty to register traditional open rates. Metrics that go beyond the traditional open rate can help newsletter publishers better represent value to their advertisers, particularly when conveying the message or increasing branding is the primary goal.
  • The Stacking Effect: Email And The Overall Marketing Mix
    Have you ever baked a cake from scratch? If you have, you know that in order for the cake to rise and be edible you have to follow the recipe to a T. Baking is a science that demands a precise combination of ingredients working together to make an end product you'd be proud to serve to your guests. The same is true with analyzing your online marketing campaigns, and email campaigns in particular. If you only analyze your email program using opens, clicks and conversions, you may be leaving key ingredients out of your analysis -- key ingredients that …
  • Retailers Embrace Email 2.0
    While they are definitely savvy marketers, retailers have a reputation for being skittish when it comes to adopting new technologies. That said, major retailers are increasingly making use of Web 2.0 tools like video, blogs, RSS, social content sites and wireless delivery for its email campaigns.
« Previous Entries