One of my favorite aspects of email marketing is that we have a distinct advantage in getting performance metrics immediately when we send a campaign. I jokingly refer to it as "design by the numbers." We get the instant gratification along with the long-time lessons associated with weeks and weeks of metrics reviews.

I think most of you have been a part of an Email Service Provider RFP or RFI process at some point. For years, the RFP trend was a two- to three-year virtuous cycle, a long draw-out process with a lot of people chiming in who didn't really know much about email or technology. The frequency of switching was mostly attributed to either the need to compress costs or the advent of new people (email professionals had a two- to three-year tenure in roles). If you've been on one side of the other of these processes, it's painful for all involved. …

In my previous Email Insider column, I urged you to think big in 2012: to identify the most critical aspect of your email program and focus on ways to improve it so that you can drive greater success and take your program to a higher level. This, of course, raises the perennial frustration among marketers: "How can I work on this big, important project when I'm already stretched thin on the work my boss expects me to do every day?" Below are several approaches to help you win over management, not just to get them to see things your way, …

I was working at the Interactive Advertising Bureau a decade ago when I first heard the term "Chuck Fruit Moment." Chuck Fruit was the head of marketing for Anheuser-Busch in 1979 when he agreed to a meeting with a group of entrepreneurs set to launch the first all-sports television network: ESPN. Where others would have seen risk, Chuck Fruit saw a huge opportunity -- for his brand to own all of sports. He signed a $15 million deal to be the exclusive beer sponsor with the fledgling network, a move that is credited with not only launching the venerated cable …

I know a thing or two about screwing up. With almost 10 years working in email marketing I, or the people who work for me, are bound to make mistakes once in awhile. I have nightmares about it. I have anxiety about hitting "send." Inevitably mistakes happen. As the legendary physicist Nils Bohr said, "An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." If that's what it takes, call me an expert. Let me share with you some of those mistakes and, in my expert opinion, the best way …

Instead of filling your inbox with more predictions for the year to come, I thought it would be much more useful for me to highlight some of the companies that I will be watching in 2012. Several of these companies shared their solutions on panels at Mediapost Email Insider Summits in 2011 and piqued my interest. Others are companies I have been introduced to by clients or trusted colleagues. Still others we already use on a regular basis. I've studied or used them all and consider all worthy of a quick look to see if they might be able to …

There are so many ways one can "optimize" an email program. Depending on the maturity of your email program, your product or even your company can drive the needs of this optimization effort. But one thing is sure: no matter where you sit in maturity, you can benefit by more effectively integrating social into your program this year.

For a long time, customers have made it clear that if brands want to capture their attention in the inbox, those brands should have something valuable to say. Not just valuable information, but information that is valued by the individual recipient. In other words, a brand's messages should be individually relevant. This is a high standard for any brand. Most cannot live up to these expectations.These new tools are going to create a new sub-industry known as Social CRM. Social CRM is going to help us listen to our customers and give them the relevant messages they want. It is …

The email marketing holiday season was a wild ride -- one that looked considerably different from past years and will surely set the tone for the 2012 holiday season. Here are some of the highlights that made this holiday season remarkable: