So, like many of you, I recently attended the DMA Annual Conference. And while I felt that the much of the content was accurate and relevant there was one presentation on Deliverability that I started to get red in the face during - - I literally had to bite my tongue - - which is tough for me to do. The comment was made that [I paraphrase]:
Content will not effect deliverability in the not too distant future. Deliverability will be determined by your email reputation only.
In addition to my day (and sometimes night) job as an all-around Email Deliverability and Production guru, I also have another more important job. I am the father of two beautiful children. My daughter is almost five, and my son is two. As any of you who have kids know, you quickly become an expert on lots of new things, some you probably never even knew existed. I am pretty sure I am one of the world’s foremost experts on Dora and Diego. I know the entire Laurie Berkner musical catalog. I can always get a cheap laugh out of the kids by singing “Mommy’s got a pig on her head”. I know Maisy Mouse and her entire posse. The great thing is I have learned all this in less than an hour a day. I’ve been trying to learn French for 15 years with no luck. I am afraid to ask what that says about how my brain works.
A lot of companies out there claim to be “green” or eco-friendly. But few companies walk the walk.
For example, guess which major automobile manufacturer brags about their ”ongoing commitment to improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions” on thier website? The same one that makes the Hummer which get a whopping 11 mpg. Or how about when one of the largest oil companies in the world proclaims to have “taken action to meet the challenge of climate change since publically acknowledging the issue first”? I suppose they’re what we call “early adopters” - they were also one of the first to exploit crude oil in the Prudhoe Bay area of Alaska.
One of the most powerful features the Premiere Global Fax2mail web interface gives you is the ability to check the status of your faxes on line. To do this go to http://www.premiereglobal.com/desktop-fax-online/ and logon to your fax2mail account. Once logged in click “sent faxes”. From this screen you can select your search criteria, the first option is the status of the fax, all, successful only or unsuccessful only and then select how far back you would like to go. Premiere Global retains the history for 30 days. Once your query is returned you can sort the data by Date/Time, Recipient, Status, Pages, subject or Reference. In addition, the web interface also allows you to resend a fax, whether successful or unsuccessful. Just click the resend icon and you will be prompted to accept the original number or allowed to change it to an alternative number. Once you enter the fax number, you are asked “Are you sure you want to resend this fax?” just click “Yes” to send or “No” to go back to the sent fax page.
“It’s the end of the world as we know it”. That’s what Michael Stipe said back in 1987. I’ve been inspired today by the boys from Georgia, who knew a little something about Email Deliverability even back then. So, they were about 20 years ahead of the curve, but that’s what happens when you are a visionary. You all remember this song, or maybe you were 7 years old, and in that case you’ve heard it somewhere before. Please don’t tell me you were 7, that’s too depressing, just go with me! This is one of those songs that everybody can sing the lyrics for about the first 10 seconds of every crazy rift. You then start to drift off, and just start making up words. The song is best heard on a Saturday night with 5 or 6 friends packed into a car. There is lots of muttering and screaming, and then on cue “IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT”.
When considering how most people interact with email, they think of sitting down at a computer, loggin in to their ISP (AOL, Yahoo, Gmail, Outlook, etc.) and checking their inbox. But it’s no secret a fast-growing segment is viewing email on their mobile device.
This segment is typically comprised of frequent travelers and business types. So if you are sending B2B communications, listen up.
There are many best practices to consider when optimizing email for a handheld device. Here are a few thoughts in no particular order (it is a blog, people):
I tend to be pretty passionate about the email marketing space, the best practices and the advice that experts publish. I find that the email marketers are hungry for information and it is our responsibility as experts to provide the best and most sound guidance and recommendations we can. So when I get a call from a client today about an article that ran in Email Marketing Reports yesterday questioning the purpose of subject lines I was intrigued. I am about 3 days behind in my newsletter reading, so I sifted through and found it. The actual article itself is short and sweet - stating that subject lines don’t matter as much as they used to.
So far - so good.
The subject line used to be the key to getting your message opened. Now - if your message makes the inbox, it is more likely that the from name coupled with the subject line are responsible for the open. However, this article links to an interesting blog post by a competitor stating that, “…in fact, the only thing that materially affected open rates was the sender: the name of the company or person in the “from” line.” It went on to say that the finding was based on, “an initial review of the [client] data. It’s quite possible that the full study might have uncovered some additional drivers of open rates. However, the initial review was so clear that we didn’t think it was worth completing the study.”
So follow me if you will, down the path of logic. This is stating that a fundamental component of email marketing is no longer relevant in the space based on an incomplete study? Hmmm…this is an opportune time for me to remind you to read between the lines. Not every statistic is validated or reliable.
Back to the topic at hand; I had to respond to my client’s questions and concerns as we have spent substantial time working through the subject line conundrum. And while we have found that the subject line length, the inclusion of specific words or personalization doesn’t necessarily drive a significant or reliable lift in conversion - the subject line itself is definitely a contributing factor.
If your recipients hate you or your brand - which they can determine by the from name, they are not likely going to open your message. But I can tell you, I get plenty of email from companies I do business with all the time and brands that I LOVE and just because Crate and Barrel landed in my inbox, does not mean I am going to open it up. But if the subject line indicates something that is relevant and timely to me - then open here I come!
What is the take away here? Yes, subject line has taken a hit as the major contributor to an open. But the message that has been over looked in that entire blog is that it isn’t the length of the subject line, or the inclusion of the word “Free” that drives the open - and it isn’t even the from name. It is getting the right message, to the right person at just the right time.
I close with a quote I once heard from a well respected expert in the industry, “You could write your offer on a cocktail napkin, in lipstick and still have an 80% chance of conversion - as long as it was handed to the right person at the right time.” I carry that with me every day and you should too.
The 121st edition of the State Fair of Texas is in full swing. This weekend marked another edition of Texas-OU weekend. The game has been played during the State Fair every year since 1929. The State Fair is one of the best times of the year here in Dallas. It signals an end to the long hot summer weather, and the start of fall. I’ve been going to the fair since I was 4 years old. I have great memories of those times, and even my first State Fair in back in 1976. I remember how big everything seemed. I can remember the Midway games, riding in boats, and a scary ride called “The Polar Bear”. So how does this stroll down Memory Lane relate to delivering email? It does, and the thing that started me thinking about it this weekend is a fantastic bit of human achievement; the Corny Dog.
Hello and welcome to the exciting and challenging world of Email Deliverability. My name is Kevin Senne and I am the Director of Global Deliverability and Email Production Services for Premiere Global. I have worked in the Email Marketing world for the past eight years. I’ve been responsible for the construction and delivery of about 8 billion email messages over that time. I am a lifelong resident of the Dallas/Fort Worth area, so the Big D name has a special meaning for me. I don’t wear a cowboy hat or own a pair of boots, but I am proud to admit that I do say ya’ll with regularity. I’ll be bringing a Texas flavor to our discussions on the state of and the future of Email Deliverability.
In interactive marketing, form follows function. The best designs are not only aesthetically pleasing, but work within usability guidelines and best practices for maximum optimization in that channel. This is no more apparent than in email, where designers must work within a very strict set of rules and limited technologies.
Couple that fact with the changing landscape of deliverability and you’re left with quite a challenge: deliver your brand promise consistently in email in the face of stricter and often vague Spam filters and ISP variances. It’s scary to think that less than half of your audience is seeing your message render as intended – if it’s delivered to the inbox – but ignoring these issues now will most certainly doom your future.
