Things do keep getting better here @ The eMail Guide! We’ve been seeing phenomenal growth with more visitors, more Tweeple following us and more bloggers joining our team! Jeff and I want to thank you all for your fantastic support!

The eMail Guide is a giveback project and it’s very rewarding to know that our efforts are making a positive difference for so many!

On Tuesday August 10th at 1 PM EST + 5 GMT, we will launch one of our most ambitious projects to date: eMail Radio!

eMail Radio will be a live weekly call in show tackling all aspects of marketing. You can get more details here!

Have you signed up for The eMail Guide newsletter yet? Sign up here!

Enjoy this week’s top takeaways of email marketing wisdom!

Takeaway: Here are 9 hot takeaways from OMS Dallas!

Takeaway: The landing page is there to take the order and that should be its primary purpose.

Takeaway: Keep it simple. Have a business plan. Plan the work and work the plan.

Takeaway: Consumers are using communities, social networks and micro blogs to start and carry on conversations with organizations, and brands need to be prepared to manage these conversations.

Takeaway: Co-registration can help build your list, but if you don’t do it exactly right you could do major damage to your brand and sender reputation.

Takeaway: The daily email marketing buzz is a collection of the best email marketing posts every day. Each post in the buzz has a takeaway, making this a buffet of brilliance all on it’s own.

Get more top takeaways here!

A tip of the hat today to our friends @ ClickZ! You’ve seen us feature them here in the buzz often and today they launched their new site! They’ve also done a nice job with adding more interactivity to the site. Get the skinny on the new Clickz website design here!

On a completely different note, we continue to see more and more bloggers and ESPs sign up for EMAPP to take a stand against email list selling! We are blown away by the response and thank everyone for their rabid support of this initiative! It’s free to join here!

Enjoy the buzz!

HubSpot

Study: Two-thirds of marketers integrate social media and email marketing
Just because social media may be a new addition to your marketing mix doesn’t mean email marketing should be eliminated.  In fact, social media can help to enhance your email marketing efforts.

Takeaway: When you incorporate social media into your emails, you’re essentially expanding the potential reach of your email campaigns beyond that list.  By adding social media, you’re enabling email recipients to share and spread your content to people who aren’t on your email list.  How great is that?

TechCrunch

Groupon launches deal personalization, opens door to (More) explosive growth
Before now, Groupon has always offered one or two deals per city per day to its users. That’s still going to be true, but with a twist: the site will be sending different deals to users based on criteria like their gender, buying history, and their interests. The change may sound fairly minor, but it will likely have a big impact on Groupon’s bottom line.

Takeaway: And all of this has one other nice side effect: the deals landing in your inbox should be more relevant to what you’re actually interested in.

eMarketer

Using email marketing to boost social presence
A majority of email marketers are now making efforts to integrate social media into their campaigns. An April 2010 survey by interactive and email marketing agency eROI found that two-thirds of US marketers were doing so, and June 2010 research from StrongMail, a provider of email and social media marketing solutions, put the number who had integrated social and email, or planned to this year, at 71% worldwide.

Takeaway: More than nine in 10 marketers who combined social and email used Facebook in their campaigns; nearly as many used Twitter. Fewer than half of marketers integrated LinkedIn with their email programs.

EmailInsider

Your email program: Time for a tune-up — or a blow-up?
You never know where inspiration is going to strike and make you change the way you do things. For me, it was this quote, tweeted (and retweeted extensively) by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh: “As you grow older, you’ll find that the only things you regret are the things you didn’t do.”

Catch more of the Daily Buzz here!

The buzz is brought to you by our Ninja sponsor:

Old unca Jimmy has been a bit lax in welcoming all the new bloggers to The eMail Guide team! We’ve had a bunch of new blogging stars join up and I just simply let it slip. I’d like to apologize for this to all the great bloggers who I haven’t yet welcomed. Today, I’m starting to catch up by welcoming one of my favourite Tweeple: Amy Garland from Blue Sky Factory!

Amy Garland is the marketing manager at Blue Sky Factory, a Baltimore-based email service provider. With 6+ years experience in the marketing industry, Amy’s favorite part of her job is writing, whether it’s for emails, blogs, or any and everything else having to do with online marketing. Be alert! She tries to fit a pop culture or music reference into almost every post!

Amy has an easy reading style and her bright and sunny personality shines through in every post! We are extremely pleased to have yet another member of the email and social marketing brain trust @ Blue Sky Factory, on our team!

A belated, but very enthusiastic welcome Amy!

Check out this great article from Amy!

Great email today from the good folks over at LinkedIn.

How to fight SPAM with these new features.

Take control on the assault of junk email in your inbox.

Click here to go to your LinkedIn Group now to adjust your setting

Click on the image to read the email.

What is Co-registration?
Co-registration is the process of subscribing to two or more email newsletters at once that are offered to you, usually in a promotion/contest or e-commerce setting.  In some cases the Co-Reg option is pre-checked which is a practice I find to be sleazy at best.

Co-registration takes place when two websites partner to build their respective email lists. For example, when a visitor to your website registers for your newsletter, you can offer him/her a chance to sign up for newsletters from the partnering website.

I don’t believe in co-registration
I’ve never believed in the benefits of co-Reg.  For me, the bad far out ways the good.  Especially now when people have less time and their memory of “opting-in” to some additional newsletter during a purchase or promotion just doesn’t leave a lasting impression.

With Co-Reg lists, unsubscribes tend to be very high and they also generate a large percentage of spam complaints.  Open-rates are usually dismal as well.  This is especially true when the subscriber uses AOL, Hotmail or other “free” email accounts.  The mark as spam button becomes their only measurable action.

Here are a few quotes about Co-Reg from some other email minds:
“In all seriousness, Co-Reg can be a dangerous practice in regards to reputation & deliverability. Tread very carefully indeed.” – @AndrewBonar, Email Deliverability Consultant

If Omaha Steaks did a Co-Reg subscription contest to win an iPad, vegans would subscribe. Each vegan that didn’t win would report the “winner announcement” email as spam. – @JaCaldwell, Red Pill Email Blog
(Okay before the vegans start hating on John, the same would happen if meat-eaters subscribed to win an iPad at Tofu.com.  I’m just sayin’)

And I would be remiss if I didn’t include something from the Pro Co-Reg side.  Here’s a good article from Morgan Stewart at ExactTarget that covers some of the benefits when Co-Reg is done right.

The days of the shotgun approach are over.  You should build your list from people who are interested in your company, products and/or services.  They subscribe because they perceive value. Not because of a contest Co-Reg deal with another website.

If you are looking for ideas to build your email list, there are much better options to consider.  Take a look at this post: “15 innovative ways to get more subscribers“.  Some really good ideas and examples to help you build your subscriber list.

Wait, there’s more!
As a late addition to this post I went to subscribe to the Ben & Jerry’s newsletter when I saw this at the bottom of the subscribe form. “By providing this information, you acknowledge that Ben & Jerry’s may send you information, samples or special offers we feel may be of interest to you about Ben & Jerry’s, or other carefully-selected companies. If you would like more information, please read our Privacy Policy.”

Other carefully-selected companies? REALLY! How can they possibly know what other companies I would be interested in without even asking what my interests are?  Maybe that is their problem with their email marketing.

Please take a moment to leave your comments about Co-Reg.  These are my views and while I know I’m not alone, I understand many out there have a much different view on the subject.

Cheers, Chris

Takeaway: Co-registration can help build your list, but if you don’t do it exactly right you could do major damage to your brand and sender reputation.

Other great posts by Chris!

About the Author:

Christopher Donald is currently a Partner and VP of Sales and Marketing at Inbox Group, LLC based in Dallas, where he oversees U.S. and International sales of the Inbox Group email marketing service (SaaS). Chris has worked on the front lines of internet sales and marketing since 1995 and directly in email marketing since 2000.

Website: http://www.inboxgroup.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/inboxgroup
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/inboxgroup

I don’t think it’s any secret that we are big fans of Anne Holland’s Which Test Won. Today she has a subject line test up. Multiple subjects vs. one subject — which one won? Make your pick and find out for yourself. I love these, reminds me of the old Cosmo self tests that I used to fill out in the dentist office.

Enjoy the buzz!

Which Test Won

Email newsletter subject line A/B test: Multiple topics vs. single topic – which boosted opens & clicks?
The newsletters in both cases were completely identical and sent at the same time — the only change tested was the subject line.

Takeaway: In this age of fractured attention spans, we suspect tests like this may have similar results for other marketers who publish newsletters containing multiple articles. Like a classic print newspaper headline, the best way for an email newsletter to catch attention may be by picking just one topic to spotlight in its subject line.

Email Marketing Tips

Can social media replace email marketing?
The recent Ben & Jerry’s announcement made me revisit something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Under what circumstances could social media replace email? Do you think it could? I think it has – at least in part.

Takeaway: Social sites need to improve their communication options to allow for the needs of companies, brands and consumers.

ClickZ

3 steps to grow your B2B email list more effectively
B2B marketers say that their internal email lists are seven times more effective at generating quality sales leads than third-party lists. However, most also say that their e-mail lists aren’t large enough to drive the volume of leads their sales organization needs.

Takeaway: Remember, generating high-quality leads must be the goal and result of good B2B email list growth. Make sure you track the opt-in source and continually analyze which sources bring the best leads. Continuous tracking will allow you to optimize your list growth efforts and learn which sources to avoid.

Return Path

A new and improved Sender Score
Today we are pleased to announce that we are launching some exciting enhancements to our Sender Score.

Catch more of the Daily Buzz here!

The buzz is brought to you by our Ninja sponsor:

Guest post by Ryan Deutsch, VP Emerging Channels, ThreadMarketing, a StrongMail Company

These are exciting times in interactive marketing and in particular; for email marketers.  From the social web to group buying (Groupon) to flash sales (Hautelook and Rue LA LA) online businesses are engaging the consumer in new and compelling ways.  In response to these and other trends, StrongMail has announced the acquisition of two New York-based interactive agencies, which we are combining with our existing strategic services arm to form a new email marketing and Social CRM agency called ThreadMarketing.   Why is this significant to our customers and the industry as a whole?  Here are a few key points:

It’s about conversations not messages. ..

Like it or not, the social web has changed the game.  There are now more ways for consumers to engage with a brand (and each other) than ever before.  While email sits at the center of the social web, it is not alone.  Consumers are using communities, social networks and micro blogs to start and carry on conversations with organizations, and brands need to be prepared to manage these conversations.  ThreadMarketing is not just an email agency, with deep expertise in email, social marketing, website development, community management, it will help break down silos between these channels and streamline the customer experience.

It’s about data, old and new…

StrongMail has a long history of integrating email marketing solutions with customer databases and systems.  The social web is making new data and customer insight available at a rapid pace and many of our customers have requested support in integrating this insight into the communication strategy and making it actionable.  ThreadMarketing will leverage StrongMail’s unique database integration capabilities and make social insights actionable, a key objective for interactive marketers today.

It’s about a broader communication framework…

While the traditional approach to email communication strategy has not changed, the opportunities to understand our subscribers and engage them have.  Today consumers have more than one “subscription” option.  Not only can they subscribe to email communications, but they can “Like” a brand, “Follow” a brand, “join” a community and so on and so on.  This means that a new framework is required to support relevant conversations with consumers.  ThreadMarketing has developed  such a framework: Listen, Learn, Engage and Influence.  This is not a social or email framework, it’s a framework required to drive meaningful conversations across channels.  While many companies “listen” and “learn” few leverage the data they capture to “engage” and “influence.”  ThreadMarketing will help bridge that gap.

Takeaway: Consumers are using communities, social networks and micro blogs to start and carry on conversations with organizations, and brands need to be prepared to manage these conversations.

Questions, feel free to post comments and we will respond as soon as possible.

About the Author:

Ryan Deutsch
Vice President of Emerging Media, ThreadMarketing, a StrongMail Company

An online marketing veteran and industry thought leader, Deutsch has more than 12 years of direct marketing experience across the catalog, retail and publishing industries. An addition to a bi-weekly MediaPost column, Deutsch is a regular contributor to multiple industry publications, including DM News, BtoB Magazine, and Chief Marketer.  Deutsch has been and remains a frequent speaker at industry events, including the DMA Annual, eTail, ad:tech and the MediaPost Email Insider Summit.

For a little more info on what StrongMail is all about, check out this video from Kristen Hersant, Director of Marketing for StrongMail.

Mark this in your calendar!
Tuesday August 10th @ 1 PM

Here @ The eMail Guide we are always looking for new ways to help marketers do marketing right! After a lot of thinking and planning we are now ready to launch our latest channel for The eMail Guide: eMail Radio!

What is eMail Radio?
eMail radio is about email marketing and where it intersects social, mobile, online and offline. It will cover all the mediums that touch us and we will always try to help you close the loop to build a stronger relationship with your subscribers.

Each week we’ll welcome one or more experts in email marketing to talk about the industry and take your questions live!

Email Radio debut
eMail Radio goes live on the air starting Tuesday August 10, 2010 @ 1 PM EST!
Then catch the live show every Tuesday @ 1 PM EST after that!

Each hour long show of eMail Radio features:
- Online marketing news & trends
- Online marketing expert guests
- Your calls live!

Call or Skype in with your questions and be a part of the show!
You can call in with your questions or comments and join in the conversation! We’ll have a toll free number for you to dial in on in North America and world wide access for callers via Skype for free!

Listen live or catch up with the show anytime!
The eMail Radio show archives will allow you to listen to shows at your convenience! Every live show will be available for download in the archive here @ The eMail Guide as an MP3!

More details coming!
Next week we’ll be announcing more details about the show!

Want to be on eMail Radio or have a suggestion for a topic? Leave a comment below!

In the latest installment of our video coverage from the Canadian Marketing Associations National Convention, Chief eMail Officer, Jeff Ginsberg talks with Aldo Cundari about the state and the future of marketing.

Watch more videos from the Canadian Marketing Association National Convention here.

Aldo Cundari is Chairman and CEO of  the Cundari Group Ltd. and Chair, National Advertising Benevolent Society. In this interview with The eMail Guide’s Chief eMail Officer, Jeff Ginsberg, Aldo first answers the question: How many marketers does it take to change a light bulb? Mr. Cundari has an interesting answer for that question. According to Mr. Cundari the answer depends on whether you are talking about agency side marketers or client side. He also responds to one of our favourite sayings: You don’t know what you don’t know.

What is the future of marketing? Right now, no one really knows because it’s changing so dramatically and so quickly. If we don’t step in quickly and make the right changes, some agencies will die. What are the changes to make? What kind of training do we need to give our people? How do we move them forward to understand that?

The changes we are seeing today are completely different from the past. It’s not the same game as ten or twenty years ago. According to Mr. Cundari, analytics are a good example of how much marketing has changed. Analytics today are real time and immediate. You have to be on it constantly and have staff who live it and breath it. Just getting staff trained on the new technology is a huge effort for agencies.

Dramatic changes have occurred and will continue at a dramatic pace. Those agencies which cannot adapt quickly will die.

Takeaway: Keep it simple. Have a business plan. Plan the work and work the plan.

Subject line: Massive ‘Weiner’ Action

Redwood City, Calif., July 28, 2010 – StrongMail today announced that it has acquired Conversa Marketing and Magnetik, two New York-based interactive marketing agencies with services ranging from email and social media marketing to web design and customer relationship management. The firms will be combined with StrongMail’s existing strategic services team to form a new email and Social CRM agency called ThreadMarketing, a StrongMail Company. As part of the acquisition, StrongMail is opening a New York office to better serve its East Coast customers.

A recent report from Forrester Research finds that “given the increasing complexity of the email marketing channels – including the need to integrate email with social and mobile channel – the call for strategic guidance will only continue to grow in importance.” (“The Forrester Wave™: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q4 2009,” Forrester Research, Inc., December, 2009.) By launching Thread Marketing, StrongMail is expanding its services toolset to provide leading brands with the full breadth of expertise required to help them connect, communicate and cultivate key relationships across both email and social media in a cost-effective manner.

ThreadMarketing is a new kind of agency that offers CMOs and marketing decision makers a comprehensive suite of strategic marketing services and tools that allow them to listen, learn, engage and influence key customers and prospects. Services include strategic consulting and persona development; listening and monitoring services; proprietary database marketing solutions; web site development; lifecycle communications frameworks; email and social media campaign tools and execution services; community management services; analytics; and innovative loyalty marketing programs that encourage and reward participation across the social web.

“As consumers embrace social media, mobile and other emerging channels, email remains the critical foundation for nurturing each customer relationship, but for marketers to be truly effective in each channel they need the right tools and expertise – and that’s exactly what ThreadMarketing provides,” said Sam Cece, CEO of StrongMail. “StrongMail now has two lines of attack for empowering marketers to get the most out of their online marketing programs – proven solutions from StrongMail and unparalleled expertise and services from ThreadMarketing. With StrongMail, forward-thinking companies can reach a new level of engagement with their customers by mastering the various digital marketing channels available today.”

ThreadMarketing will operate as an agency within StrongMail and will be led by Michael Della Penna, a respected industry thought leader and the former CEO of Conversa Marketing. In addition, Magnetik founders Will Kunkel and Doug Steinberg will serve as creative directors at the new agency.

Della Penna has joined StrongMail as executive vice president of StrongMail. Prior to founding Conversa Marketing, Michael Della Penna also founded the Participatory Marketing Network (PMN), an industry association dedicated to helping marketers form mutually rewarding customer relationships. Previously, Della Penna served as CMO of database and loyalty marketing provider Epsilon, where he led all strategic marketing, branding, market positioning, lead generation and communication efforts.

“When looking at how the online marketing world has evolved over the past two years, the importance of having a single view of the customer has never been more important,” said Della Penna. “StrongMail’s in-house enterprise email solutions and innovative social media tools have firmly positioned the company as a leader in helping brands build lasting conversations and connections with key Influencers. With the addition of Conversa Marketing and Magnetik’s services and expertise, we can now provide Fortune 2000 brands with a suite of solutions and insights that are actionable, measurable and impactful.”

Conversa Marketing and Magnetik’s client roster includes more than a dozen leading brands including Castrol, People.com, Alliance for Affordable Services and more.

“We’ve worked with Conversa Marketing over the past year to reinvent the way we connect and engage with automotive and racing enthusiasts,” said Rob Krin, Digital Marketing and Loyalty Manager, Castrol USA. “With Conversa Marketing’s help, we’ve been able to create a better customer experience across the social Internet as well as a destination where our best customers can connect and communicate with each other as well as the Castrol brand in a richer and more meaningful way. The results have been impressive, and we look forward to building upon our efforts and results with ThreadMarketing.”

For more information about ThreadMarketing, visit www.threadmarketing.com.

About StrongMail Systems, Inc.
StrongMail’s online marketing solutions for email and social media enable businesses to reach, engage and influence their target audience using the most powerful channels available to marketers today. StrongMail gives email marketers the control and support they need to improve campaign performance, boost deliverability and lower costs, while also leveraging the power of social media to extend the reach of their campaigns and brand to new audiences. Combining an easy-to-use email marketing application, high-performance delivery system, viral-marketing tool, social media integration, and a wide range of deliverability, strategic and supporting services, StrongMail makes it possible for companies with all levels of resources and expertise to take advantage of its proven solutions. Headquartered in Redwood City, CA, StrongMail’s clients include global leaders across virtually every industry. To learn more about StrongMail, please visit www.strongmail.com or follow us online at www.twitter.com/StrongMail or www.facebook.com/StrongMail.

The email marketing buzz starts off with a post from Econsultancy relating to a conundrum which has fascinated me for some time. I often call it the “Utopian myth” — the idea that everything on the web should be free and commercialization is wrong. It’s an odd POV from web denizens considering that every other media on the planet generates revenue via some kind of advertising.

Even so, there is a strong sense among many social media (it’s not new just look at online forums) fans that advertising is evil and intrusive. Whether or not this perception is just plain silly doesn’t matter. That simply is the reality of the web. It’s up to marketers to work with what they have and find innovative ways to engage people via social media and the web. It seems to be a human trait to fight the latest war with the tactics from the last one and the results are never pretty.

Enjoy the buzz!

Econsultancy

You won’t pay for Twitter. So why should advertisers?
It’s no secret that social media and a subscription business model doesn’t exactly go hand and hand. There’s a reason that the world’s most popular social media websites are free to use.

Takeaway: If users won’t even express a willingness to pay for some of the most popular services on the web, perhaps it’s time for advertisers to ask themselves why they’re so eager to.

SEOmoz

The 12-step landing page rehab program [Infographic]
“My name is Earl. My conversion rate sucks, and I can’t stop sending expensive PPC traffic to my homepage.”

Takeaway: Good luck with your rehab, and remember, your landing page can always be better.

Email Karma

8 Email List Rental Do’s and Don’ts
This is always a hot topic for a number of EmailSnobs and recently there have been a number of heated discussions around the terms Email List Rental, Email Buy and Email Purchase with arguments from both sides ranging from “Don’t buy Ever!”, to “Buying works when it’s done right and well managed”… I’m on the side of the former “buying = spam”.

Takeaway: The terms list rental and list selling often get mixed up. The two are vastly different and the latter can get you in some real trouble.

AWeber

Segmenting: The #1 sales technique
Segmentation can help your email marketing campaign in a big way. Read on to find out how to use this tool to maximize profit and keep existing customers happy.

Catch more of the Daily Buzz here!

The buzz is brought to you by our Ninja sponsor:

Once upon another time in a world before Graphic User Interface (GUI) I used to sell things.  I won’t bore you with my progress from nightclub DJ to retail high-end home HiFi, to car stereos (sold enough to buy a house), to outside sales, but let’s just say that for all intents and purposes, sales is sales….

One of the key things that separates a good sales person from a not-so-good sales person is that the good sales person is never afraid to ask for the order – and the money!

So what does that have to do with email marketing?  I’m glad you asked….

First we need to get on the same page on a couple of things.

1. Marketing is everything that you do to that brings qualified customers to your door
2. Sales is collecting the money in exchange for a product or service

Next we need to understand some basic functions of an email marketing message.

1. After sender recognition, the Subject Line causes a message to be opened (Note: sender recognition alone is not enough to cause a message to be opened)
2. A Value Proposition gives the recipient a reason to want to purchase
3. The Call To Action drives clicks
4. Conversions happen at the landing page

Now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s move on….

One of the more common situations that I hear is, “We get great open rates and lots of clicks, but not very many conversions…. Why?”

It’s gotten to the point that I hardly have to look anymore to diagnose the problem - they’re still selling on the landing page!

Selling at the landing page works for things like search or ad placements, but for email it’s different.  Why?  Because you’ve already “sold” in the email message.  The landing page is there to take the order and that should be its primary purpose.

This is email marketing, people, not Direct Response TV with “But wait, there’s more!“  Asking for the order is Sales 101!

You’ve given the recipient a reason to open your message with your subject line.  You’ve captured their attention and explained what’s in it for them with your value proposition.  They’ve got their credit card in their hand while clicking on your call to action, and you want to keep selling them something that they’re already ready to buy?  And you wonder why people don’t convert….

This ain’t rocket science.  I know this because my step-father is a rocket scientist and he tells me that if he has his money in his hand and is ready to buy he’s done being sold.  He doesn’t need any more speeches, pitches, or convincing.  If he did he wouldn’t have pulled his money out, and if the sales person would rather keep pitching the sale rather than taking the order, he’ll leave.  Plain and simple; and I’d bet many of you would do the same.

Take a look at your landing pages.

Is the landing page a copy of your email message with an order form?

Is it lit up like the Vegas strip on a Saturday night having more distractions than a teenage boy at an all girls school?

Are you giving a bevy of options that lead away from the desired action – like giving you money?

Are you more concerned with making your landing page SEO/SEM friendly than you are taking the order?

Seriously, what is the core purpose of your landing pages?

So here’s my challenge to those of you that have good open and click rates, but fall down on conversions using the types of landing pages I’ve just described:  Strip out all of the crap and focus on taking the order and see what happens.

If your conversions increase, let me know.  And if they don’t, well, I’ll give you your money back….

Takeaway: The landing page is there to take the order and that should be its primary purpose.

I’d like to hear your thoughts on this! Leave a comment and let’s talk!

Related articles:

About the Author

Active in the industry since 1996, John Caldwell is an innovative marketing executive experienced in integrated and tactical email marketing and operations. As an independent consultant John has brought his utilization of best practices, including customer segmentation and profiling, and operational analysis, to a number of major clients including Teleflora, eHarmony, Experian Consumer Direct (FreeCreditReport.com), and more. While at Experian, prior to becoming a consultant, John created and implemented the company’s strategic email marketing plans. He designed the company’s guidelines and developed comprehensive reporting matrices to measure the operational statistics of programs and campaigns providing actionable intelligence to Business. John has spoken at Industry events on deliverability and other topics, and is a Member of the Email Experience Council of the Direct marketing Association, where he is actively involved on the Measurement Accuracy Roundtable as 2009 & 2010 Co-Chair.

Website: http://redpillemail.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jacaldwell
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jacaldwell

The email marketing buzz leads off today with a post from Chris Donald @ The Inbox Group blog about what he learned from a week @ Boston Red Sox fantasy camp and specifically from Red Sox great, Luis Tiant. Chris relates a very funny story from Luis about how communication can go wrong and the consequences which result.

In order to communicate effectively, you need to know who your audience is. To do that, you must take the time to learn all you can about them. When I was in radio I would go through the rating demographics to figure out who was listening to me, then I would research what topics those demographics were interested in. If I needed or wanted to take my listeners in a new direction, I would make sure I kept their frame of reference in mind.

Just like in radio, never talk down to your subscribers or worse, over their heads — never assume they have the same frame of reference you do. If you want to be relevant to your readers, make sure they are relevant to you. In other words, be a part of the community you are trying to reach.

Enjoy the buzz!

The Inbox Group

What Luis Tiant taught me about email marketing communications
Even at baseball fantasy camp there is email marketing wisdom to be learned!

Takeaway: Communications to your audience should be segmented to fit what they need as well as what they will understand.  Talking to your subscribers with technical jargon that may be over their head could lead to a misunderstanding or worse, they take that information and make a bad decision.  Be clear and concise with your messaging.

Copyblogger

Make your readers love you: 5 lessons from Pixar
How does Pixar do it, again and again and again? Yes, there is some magic, but it’s the kind that comes from plenty of commitment and hard work. Follow these five steps and eliminate the limits on what you or your business can achieve.

Takeaway: Do what Pixar did. Be consistent, take your time, put out a superb product, build an excellent team, and know exactly who you are.

iMedia

Hot topics in email deliverability
As I sit here thinking about what to write, I get the feeling that I have already written about most everything in the world of deliverability. So for this article, I will pose a question to all the readers: Are deliverability experts just saying the same thing over and over again in different ways? And if they are, do you want to see them discussed in a different way, or are there new topics that you want to see addressed?

Takeaway: We all want the same thing — to have customers continue to use the email channel, find value in the offers we are sending, and purchase our products. So make sure you are still following the same best practices that we deliverability folks have been talking about for years and you will reach your customers. And if there is something we are not talking about enough or at all, please let me know in the comments.

EmailInsider

Five ways not to squander the subject line
As noted in recent Email Insider posts, emails are most likely to get opened not only when they are personalized, but also relevant to the recipient. This is especially true for the subject line.

Catch more of the Daily Buzz here!

The buzz is brought to you by our Ninja sponsor:

We’ve had a flood of great bloggers join our team lately and to be honest, I’ve fallen behind in welcoming them all. That’s a situation I intend to address starting here and now!

We’ll be giving some love to those other new team members we’ve neglected lately too.

Our newest team member is John “call em as I seem em” Caldwell from Red Pill Email Marketing! John doesn’t pull punches, actually not only doesn’t he pull punches, but he wears brass knuckles! I can honestly say that John is one of the smartest, best read people I’ve met in the industry and Jeff and I are certainly looking forward to some great posts from him!

We’re thrilled to have John on the team and we know you’ll find his insight, analysis and style a great addition to our thriving community here @ The eMail Guide!

Here’s a little bit of detail about John:
Active in the industry since 1996, John Caldwell is an innovative marketing executive experienced in integrated and tactical email marketing and operations. As an independent consultant John has brought his utilization of best practices, including customer segmentation and profiling, and operational analysis, to a number of major clients including Teleflora, eHarmony, Experian Consumer Direct (FreeCreditReport.com), and more. While at Experian, prior to becoming a consultant, John created and implemented the company’s strategic email marketing plans. He designed the company’s guidelines and developed comprehensive reporting matrices to measure the operational statistics of programs and campaigns providing actionable intelligence to Business. John has spoken at Industry events on deliverability and other topics, and is a Member of the Email Experience Council of the Direct marketing Association, where he is actively involved on the Measurement Accuracy Roundtable as 2009 & 2010 Co-Chair.

Website: http://redpillemail.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/jacaldwell
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jacaldwell