• Planning For 2016? Here's Some Direction
    This is the time of year when every industry pundit reviews the past year or predicts what will happen in the next 12 months. Although I've written my share of both, I've always wondered how useful these columns really are. So I'd like to change the usual year-end focus and talk about the three questions I asked myself when I was down in the email-marketing trenches. Today, they form the basis for the work I do, whether in one-on-ones with clients, as I write my Email Insider columns or when speaking at industry conferences:
  • Think Like A Publisher, Act Like A Retailer
    What I like about publishers is they are primarily focused on monetizing the reader. In order to do that, they must have a solid content strategy, they must syndicate content frequently, they have to think about the reader and what device and medium to use. If someone doesn't read, click or engage with their content, they will not make money. I believe retailers are simply publishers in sheep's clothing. While the objectives are different - engagement vs. purchase - all major retailers are moving in the direction of original content.. This is the day and age of online reviews, virtual …
  • Does A Click Really Represent Engagement?
    The awesome part of being in the digital age is that every interaction leaves a trail of data exhaust. This can be a double-edged sword, though. For example, there's currently an ongoing debate happening in the field of journalism that applies to our efforts in marketing. The question is whether clicks prove the value and acceptance of content. The issue is that clicks don't necessarily mean the content is hitting the mark. Are the clickers actually reading the content? I can't help but wonder if we as marketers are sometimes falling into the same trap of not reading the metrics …
  • Shopping Trends From Black Friday/Cyber Monday -- And How They Affect Email
    The annual Black Friday/Cyber Mondayshopping extravaganza marked a big shift in shopping habits this year. Here are my takeaways and ways you can use this information in your 2016 email-marketing programs.
  • Live From Email Insider Summit: Air Thin, Discussions Rich
    Up on the mountain (Deer Valley, Utah) with 150-200 marketers, technologists and agencies discussing the state of the industry for three days. We've come a long way from justifying email as a channel or talking generically about big data. It will be interesting to see how far we've come in our thinking this week.
  • 'Tis The Season To Capitalize On The Success Of Email And Mobile
    Both email and mobile delivered a staggering number of sales on Black Friday. According to Custora, email drove the most online conversions out of all possible marketing channels, with a whopping 25.1% of online orders. And mobile shopping drove 36.1% of all e-commerce conversions.
  • How Personal Is Your Personalized Email Messaging?
    How many marketing technology vendors say they help you personalize your email messaging to your customers? Um, hundreds perhaps? Maybe all of them? The problem is, most of them do not really personalize your email marketing.
To read more articles use the ARCHIVE function on this page.