The Email Wars

Great New Tool for Campaign Frequency

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Tue, 13 May 2008 13:00:33 -0500

This new tool called Xobni is a great plugin for Outlook users. It is one of the best tools we have seen for Outlook for some time now. You might ask "What does this do to help with frequency measurement and planning?", well here is the hook. You can use this tool to take a look at your own campaigns as well as those of comp that are in your inbox. Using it you can see times of day, days of week and frequency that they are using to market to you and you to your consumers/prospects. It is a simple way to get a clear grasp on what is going on in the inbox for yours and others in your space that you might subscribe to.

We have found it useful in taking a deeper look at email marketing frequency and planning. You can see when the prime times might be to message and interact with people. What if we could tie this into emailROI on a one to one basis and send out a campaign over a period of time for everyone in a campaign when they typically read emails from us? Something to consider for the next build? I think it is worth looking into.

Now not only is it good for your email marketing campaign planning, but is it also a slick application for managing your own email search and communications. It does cool things like show you how long it takes you to respond to emails and even shows this down to individuals you communicate with. I loved seeing it on one of our employees screens as to how long it takes them to respond to me... Little fodder for the next review..

Breaking News: Can Spam Final Regulations

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Tue, 13 May 2008 11:25:10 -0500

Final Can-Spam Regs Define 'Sender,' Preserve 10-Day Opt-Outs
Mediapost by Wendy Davis, Tuesday, May 13, 2008 8:00 AM ET

After mulling new rules for e-mail marketers for three years, the Federal Trade Commission Monday issued final Can-Spam regulations that spell out how to determine which marketer is the "sender" when more than one advertises in the same message.

The new rules provide that marketers advertising in one joint e-mail can designate which company will be considered the sender and will be responsible for Can-Spam compliance. That designated company will have to make sure that the e-mail gives recipients a way to opt-out of future ads, and also will have to put its name in the "from" line and have a valid postal address in the e-mail. The multi-sender scenario often occurs with travel marketing, where airlines, hotels and car rental companies send one combined message to e-mail recipients.

Janis Kestenbaum, an FTC lawyer in the Bureau of Consumer Protection, said the new rule aims to allow marketers who want to use joint e-mails to easily to do so, while also providing crucial information to recipients. "We were looking to help consumers to readily identify who the quote-unquote 'sender' is within the meaning of the Can-Spam act," she said.

The final rule marks a change from the FTC's 2005 proposal, which said that any company that controlled the content of an email would be considered a "sender." But the commission decided that standard wasn't workable because all marketers typically have some input into the ad copy, Kestenbaum said.

The FTC also will continue giving marketers up to 10 days to stop sending messages to consumers who opt-out. The 2005 proposals would have curtailed the time to three days, but the agency decided that change wasn't necessary.

"There wasn't any evidence that people were using that 10-day period to mail bomb people, so it wouldn't help consumers to shorten it," Kestenbaum said.

The new guidelines also clarify that marketers may not require recipients to pay a fee or complete a survey, or provide other extraneous information when opting out of future ads.

When the FTC proposed the rules three years ago, more than 150 organizations, companies and advocates weighed in with comments, including the Online Publishers Association, Time Warner and the Electronic Privacy Information Center. The new regulations will become effective 45 days after they are published in the Federal Register, which is expected to occur later this month.

Sweet so is Google a Spammer Now?

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Tue, 13 May 2008 07:01:33 -0500

Security flaw turns Gmail into open-relay server... so does this mean that they should be blacklisted? How does an issue like this when it comes from an ISP deserve to be treated by other ISPs? Do they give a courtesy to one another when this happens? I know that if it happens to a corporate mail server it gets slammed and blocked faster than me accepting and Irish Car Bomb drink on St. Pats. AND that is fast.

Security flaw turns Gmail into open-relay server A newfound flaw in Google's Gmail allows would-be spammers to treat the service as an open-relay server. Compounding the issue is the fact that services such as Hotmail and Yahoo "trust" Gmail. This may facilitate e-mail delivery, but it also makes it easier for spammers to reach their intended targets.

Read the Full Story

eec Does Good

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Mon, 12 May 2008 12:00:02 -0500

I wanted to share this great one year wrap up of the latest project the eec has been working on. This is the second year of helping a non profit get an email marketing program together. Countless volunteer hours were put in by some great people in the email marketing industry to make this not only a success, but also a system that the Women's Bean Project can continue to leverage and use to help grow their donor base support.

This is just one of the great things that the eec is doing for the not only the non profits out there, but the email industry as a whole. Way to go guys.

How E-mail Impacts Society
This week I wanted to share something inspirational happening in the e-mail industry -- and some best practices! It's a recap of the Email Experience Council's (EEC's) Eality project. The Eality project originated as a way to enable peers and competitors in the e-mail marketing industry to put business aside and work as a team to create the best e-mail efforts for a good cause.

In 2007, the EEC selected the Women's Bean Project (WBP) as its Eality focus. Stephanie Miller from Return Path volunteered countless hours to lead this initiative and its team on behalf of the EEC. I spoke with Miller to get the inside scoop on the project.

Read the whole story

Your Receipt is in the email

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:01:07 -0500

Shoppers who want to save some trees soon will find a new option for rejecting receipts at the checkout counters of major retailers.

A service that will enable consumers to receive digital receipts through big box stores, such as Best Buy and Target, is set to launch May 16.

I have always loved how Apple stores do this for me and it is about time others do as well. I don't need any more paper receipts crammed in my wallet or pocket. They get lost or thrown away. In the inbox is a great solution. Not sure the "green" factor as some studies I have been reading actually put data use in higher carbon/greenhouse gas levels than commercial airlines by 2010, but it makes sense none the less.

http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9937567-54.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5

My question is have they thought about making this a transaction email marketing opportunity instead of JUST a receipt. If they follow best practices of a 20% use of the email for cross marketing/promotion, they might just drive online or even back to store sales with an offer....

eROI Annual Party - U On The List?

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Mon, 05 May 2008 07:00:41 -0500

So it is official and the first emails went out to save the date. Our annual throw down, drag out, party till the break of dawn event is going to be at the new eROI HDQs at 5th and Couch in Old Town Portland. We are going to christen the new offices with a very untraditional party. Not to leak to many of the details upfront, as the emails over the next 6 weeks will reveal more of what is going to happen.

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The team is hard at work procuring music, entertainment, booze and maybe the return of the now iconic ice luge. This year it is going to be a little more locked down as we can only hold 700 quests we assume and the fact that we are in Old Town, we need to have some security with all the bars and fun neighbors around.

So IF you did not get the email, you need to get on the list. And not just you, unless you are attending solo, but anyone you want to bring with you. It is going to be a blast and we are really excited to have you over from near and far. So email those that you might know at eROI and get on the list.

Here was the hold the date email that went out, with a little easter egg hidden in the FIVE logo that drives you to a peak of what may occur.

Happy Birthday Spam, Now Die

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Fri, 02 May 2008 07:00:40 -0500

Really it is 30 years today that the first documented spam email was sent. And look where we are today, still fighting the battle that Gary Thuerk started. Interesting history on Wikipedia, but would be even more interesting if we could mark this the year that we killed it off.

Mashable has a good article around it as well.

What can we do this year as email marketers to make it die a painful death?

1. Stop sending to people that don't want your email. Sure they opted in in 2002, but they have not read it for the past 3 years and you keep them on your active email list. Time to purge them. They are of no value to you and you are of no value to them no matter what you think.

2. Start segmenting your lists and send relevant campaigns based on their profile, what they tell you, and past behaviors.

3. ESPs need to be more vigilante on the lists that their clients load into their systems. Although sometimes tricky when you are bringing a client onto your email platform that you have no history with, you need to set some guidelines, educate them, and keep your eyes on the feedback loops and bounce reports from an account by account level.

Help us all help each other. No one no matter who they are want spam emails. Really.

Designing Emails for Ecommerce

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:42:47 -0500

So many examples to show you, but this one really hits on the simplicity of ecommerce email marketing. What is so special about this? Well not special, but it just clearly communicates the levels of interaction and what you can get by clicking the links. Not over the top, not too much copy, and the value proposition is right there in every call to action bucket.

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Often times I see emails with so many things to do, too much copy, and not laid out in a format that is going to display right in the inbox. This layout rocks.

Now to have full disclosure this designer used to work for eROI. So he earned his chops at the school of hard knocks. And it just doesn't hurt as well that this designer is also my younger brother. Nice work Bryan, you make me proud that you stayed awake at eROI U.

Best part about this is his using Twitter as another communication vehicle in the footer. Not over the top, but right in link with his audience of young urban hipsters. Guess the tech addictive measures run in the family as well.

Still time to get your own shirt or limited run hoodie from his new line.

Maybe Not So Stupid... Just the Agency

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:26:40 -0500

So after a few weeks of letting this stew with legal and PostNet Canada, seems that they are good guys. We got word back that they had NO idea that there was a product named emailROI that had been in existence and use by some of our Canadian customers since 2002.

But what is amazing is that the agency they hired to create the brand mark never took the steps to look before presenting it to the client. I really want to know who this agency is and if they will ever get hired again.

Here is the response from our law firm:

"Here's a win for the good guys! I just got off of the phone with Rob Anderson, President of PostNet Canada. He got our letter and wanted to apologize for their use of the "Email ROI" mark. Apparently, their marketing company didn't complete any diligence at all to make sure that no one was already utilizing that name in this space. He said that they will immediately cease all use of the mark."

Thanks Rob for realizing this mistake and taking the high road on this. I know that it is going to be painful to pull all the collateral and other elements that are out in all of your stores already, but hey good news... you guys are in the printing business. I bet you can make more.

Off the Email Grid

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:52:17 -0500

Well hypothetically I am in Mexico this week drinking up the sun and time away from the internetZ. This is IF I can stay off the wifi there. I anticipate that there will be bets at the office. We will see.

So I have made sure not to let you down and set up some posts to keep you engaged during my absence. Hope you enjoy them and I will be back next week in the flesh, although I hope it is tanned and not crispy.

Happy 3rd Anniversary Email Wars Blog

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 15:35:55 -0500

Just realized tonight as I was putting together posts for this week that I have been diligently writing and posting to this blog for 3 years this month. Wow if I added up the hours spent on this I might actually had time for a few more vacations.

Overall we have been actively blogging since July 1, 2003 which makes it 5 years almost. Long time. We mothballed the two first blogs out there, and moved to this one, EmailDays, and ReturnOnSubscriber. In tribute to this work we are adding 2 more blogs this summer. One from our NYC office and the other from the Creative team at eROI. Should be fun.

We have new designs that are in production for the 3 current blogs and I know you will like them. They are well designed of course and I think will allow you to get more information from our collective noggins.

Thank you for your steady readership as over 1000 of you are reading it almost every day and 1000s of others are jumping in a few times a week. Makes me feel like the time is worth it if I am a good resource for you.

Lost In Translation?

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 12:52:34 -0500

Really???

You want to create a product called emailROI and roll out as a new product at the FedEx/Kinkos of Canada (PostNet) called emailROI? Guys, ever thought about doing a Google search let alone trademark search before naming a product that purports to be EXACTLY the same thing? OMG these are some dumb SOBs. Sorry if I am offending the smart Canadians out there but this is insane.

Wait, if you type it with a space (email ROI) instead of as one word (emailROI) it must be completely different... right? I have been sitting on this for a few weeks but still cannot wrap my head around this. Guess sending it over to the lawyers is all we can do now.

Tip: Go to Google, enter desired word or name, see what comes back. Revise product names.

Apr 08, 2008 08:29 ET
Email ROI (Return on Investment)
PostNet (Canada Post's Authorized Business Centre) Launches New Business Product
TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - April 8, 2008) -

http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=841224
ATTENTION: Business, Technology/Printing, and Marketing Editors

PostNet locations are set to launch Canada's only in-store business support centre email marketing service Email ROI, allowing its clients quick and easy email marketing solutions.

Email marketing in 2006 had the highest return within the communication medium, an averaged $51.45 return on investment (ROI) dollars for each $1 spent (Canadian Marketing Association).

"PostNet has seen a significant increase in small to medium businesses choosing cost effect online marketing in conjunction with traditional direct mail approaches. The demand for PostNet to implement e-marketing was too strong for us not to move forward," says Rob Anderson, President of PostNet Canada.

Email ROI promises to offer small to medium sized business owners a wide variety of cutting edge full & self-serve online marketing solutions that will help entrepreneurs take charge of their email marketing and communication efforts from start to finish.

Email ROI changes the way e-business is done.

Email ROI is unparalleled in its appeal to consumers by literally cutting costs of printed materials, postage and time. Through Email ROI, business owners can directly maximize their online marketing initiatives - from organizing, managing and growing your lists; to customizing messaging and deployment (98 per cent delivery rate); to measuring recipient response through unique Email ROI open rate statistics and click analysis; to studying audience reaction and fine-tuning positioning to better suit their needs.

The addition of Email ROI not only provides PostNet customers with tailored e-marketing campaigns but also re-affirms PostNet as Canada's boutique business solution centre.

About PostNet
PostNet is the ultimate business support centre. The company has grown to more than 900 franchises throughout North America and abroad and is working towards a goal of 1,500 global franchises within three to five years.

For more information, visit www.postnet.ca.

Moving from Transaction to Interaction

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 09:00:31 -0500

As a creative interactive agency, we buy images from online sources for web design and email campaign projects. But we don't always opt in for the email newsletter from the check out. I am sure that this is also the case for you and even for your own customers. So you can message them around transactional emails, product updates of products they bought and even ones like this that ASK them if they want to get on the newsletter list. If you do it right you can have a good lift into your house list. But automatically placing them on an email newsletter list is not the right thing to do and you will end up losing them or at the worse end of the spectrum, offending them.

So here is a good example of what Corbis did to reach out to me. Does not hurt that it is pretty to boot.

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Yahoo Mail Blows Up

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:01:30 -0500

Over on the Yahoo Mail Blog they stated they have been doing work on Yahoo Mail classic, and of course, anytime they do work, there are bugs.

http://www.ymailblog.com/blog/2008/04/24/update-to-yahoo-mail-classic-has-resumed/

The postmaster and development teams at Yahoo have been using the blog to communicate changes, and actively read comments from users. If you are experiencing problems, it is a good place to post or read comments from other users to see if they are already aware of the issues.

Comments from the WEB on this:

Someone was asking about problems with Yahoo yesterday. I use Yahoo Classic for my personal emails and I noticed yesterday and today that it's making emails that I haven't opened as read. If I mark those as unread, it then marks other unread emails as read. So perhaps there's not a deliverability issue but one with open and click rates because subscribers are not reading messages because Yahoo is telling them that they've already looked at the emails. Anyone else seeing this?
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I'm seeing similar problems in the new version of Yahoo Mail. Over the past week, in my personal account:

Previously read & deleted emails have returned to my inbox as unread
The inbox has failed to load & generated JavaScript errors
Individual messages have been failing to load, generating internal Yahoo error messages to try again

It seems as if they may be doing some behind-the-scenes work that's negatively impacting the user experience--and, in some cases, making select messages unreadable for a period of time.

Using RSS with Email Marketing

dylan@eroi.com (eROI) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:02:19 -0500

I wanted to share with you another client that is doing a good job of using our RSS to emailROI system to help them get timely content out in an automated manner. Sure they could use RSS, but their audience really does not grasp RSS as a whole. So the solution was to create a blog that could feed by RSS categories into an emailROI template without duplicating efforts.

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Why is this important? Well you have 10,000 things you are doing this week. Blogging could be one of them. Most likely adding content to your site is the primary task in most cases as static web sites do not bring your customers and prospects back to you. So instead of copying and pasting to create another email that would be using content you have already spent time placing on your site or blog, we give you our system that automatically grabs the content, builds the HTML and Text versions, and then lets you know when it is ready to go at the pre-defined time you set. Simple? You bet it is. And effective. Instead of rushing to put together a campaign, you can sit back and let the campaign build itself from your content fed by RSS.

I can tell you that it is a time saver for many organizations that are eROI clients.

And take a look at how nice it comes out. On brand, relevant, timely, and we throw in an RSS feed from that campaign to boot if you have folks that subscribe to newsletters by RSS.