Blogs

As many of you may or may not know, my wife and I had our third baby, Joshua William Kollas on Aug. 25. Since I am still out of the office Sean Wirt has graciously agreed to guest blog for me today--thanks Sean.

For some time now, we have been stressing the importance of user engagement in e-mail delivery. ISPs have been looking at user engagement to determine what mail they think their users want to see in their in-box and what they do not. If they suspect that mail might be spam, they will put it in the spam folder and look for user reaction. Does the user report that the message is not spam? Do they open it? Do they just delete it? Even when it is in the in-box, is it read, is it replied to or is it just deleted?

Google has now taken the importance of user engagement to the next level with what they are calling “Priority In-Box” in Gmail. This new feature flags mail that it feels its users will want to see. It makes this determination based on the level engagement it has seen from the user with certain types of e-mails. They look at the mail you have read and the mail you have replied to and elevate those messages in priority. When you login to your priority in-box for the first time, you get a pop-up showing how a sampling of your messages has been prioritized. You then have the ability to change the prioritization. For the record, I was presented six sample messages and each was correctly prioritized. There is a clever intro video at http://mail.google.com/mail/help/priority-inbox.html.

So, what does this mean for e-mail marketers? It means that user engagement is even more important now than ever. Take a look at your campaigns and see how you can make your e-mail programs more engaging. Make them want to read your e-mail and, if possible, provide a reason for them to reply to your messages.

Earlier today I was talking with a co-worker (Sean Wirt) and we were discussing how he was changing a large number of emails from one account to another. In doing so he realized that very few marketers give their users an easy way to change their preferences. While preference centers have become more and more popular, they are not always easy to access directly from an email campaign.

As we continued to talk more and more we started to wonder, why is it that we make it so easy for someone to unsubscribe from email messages, but we make it difficult for our users that want to stay but simply change something as easy as their email address? For most of the email campaigns that I am subscribed to I either have to click on something in the email that will take me to the offer, locate the sign in link, sign in to my account and make the changes. The other option I have is that I could simply unsubscribe and then go back to the website and subscribe again with the new email address.

So why don’t we make things easier on our customers? By now just about everyone knows to look at the bottom of every message for the unsubscribe link, why not put another link to change personal settings or something along those lines?

I would be interested to hear if any companies have tried this in the past and know what the results were.

I was reading an article this morning about how some metrics in the interactive industry can cause more harm then good. For those of you that know me, you know that I am a big believer in utilizing as much information as possible. I believe testing is an essential piece to successful marketing campaigns. I also believe that if you don't have the right metrics you will never be able to know if your marketing efforts were worthwhile.
I know many people in the past have said that Open Rates can no longer be considered a valid metric and marketers shouldn't waste their time looking at this any more. So my question is, are there metrics that you believe are not worth tracking?

I recently read an article by George Bilbrey from Return Path titled Understanding Delivery Problems: A Diagnostic Checklist. I realized after reading it that many of the items on the list I must take for granted. I know I have been in the email deliverability space for many years but to think about not having the ability to be able to dig into logs to help understand why a client is having issues. Your delivery logs are the key to starting any investigation, and if you don't start there you could end up on a wild goose chase.

Over the years I have seen the role of deliverability experts change and grow. When I first started it was mostly around getting customers to set up authentication, setting up whitelists and feedback loops, understanding bounce codes and making sure clients knew what they need to do in order to get into the inbox. Recently I have noticed an interesting trend in the deliverability space. More and more of the deliverability experts are also becoming privacy experts as well. In fact some of my peers have moved into a strictly privacy focused role, with very little time spent on email deliverability. While I understand that these two fields have a good amount of overlap, I am just wondering if these folks are unique by crossing over or if this is a trend that the industry should plan for.

I have my own opinions on this matter but for all the email marketers out there, my question is easy—do you expect your ESPs deliverability team to also consult with you on privacy related issues?

I look forward to hearing as much feedback on this as possible.

To learn all about it click here

As one of the largest webmail providers in the world, Microsoft has apparently decided that they will not sit back and watch others innovate. Instead, they have decided to re-invent themselves with the new Windows Live Hotmail.

I have spent a lot of time talking with users of Hotmail and other email clients, and based on those conversations, it looks like the new features they are introducing should be interesting for both users and marketers alike.

At the recent Email Insider Summit, it was discussed that there are three types of email users, and I believe understanding these types of users helped Microsoft build their new features.

1. Piler—These are people that let their inbox grow and grow while only opening certain emails. They may have thousands, if not tens of thousands, of emails in their inbox that have never been opened
2. Filer—These people keep most of their emails but make sure to put it in a certain file for future reference. There are less emails in the physical inbox, but all of the messages are easily accessible for the user when they need them.
3. Dumper—Think of the Piler, but every so often (say weekly) they simply delete all of their email that they feel are not important enough to respond to or keep.
   

So why is understanding these three types of email end-users important with regards to the Re-Invention of Windows Live Hotmail? One of the major changes that will potentially affect marketers is the new Sweep function. This function will allow the users to keep their inbox clean while filing or deleting messages from certain mailers or types of messages such as social networking messages.

According to the Microsoft blog, after a lot of research, they decided to focus on 4 key areas to help their end users:

1. Take back your inbox. We help you quickly get to the important messages and get rid of the mail you don’t want.
2. Get more done with the mail you receive. Do more without leaving your inbox, so that you don’t have to open a bunch of browser windows just to get simple things done.
3. Share over email. Stop hassling with attachment size limits – whether you’re sending hundreds of large photos or massive documents. View, edit, and share Microsoft Office documents even if you or the people you’re sharing with don’t have Office installed on their computers – PC or Mac.
4. Connect from your phone. Sync your email, calendar, and contacts on your mobile devices – whether you’re using a smart phone like the forthcoming Windows Phone 7, or the iPhone, or a phone that just has a simple browser.

Another important item for marketers to understand is the new Windows Live Hotmail is also integrated with the Office Web Apps, which means you can edit documents directly from your inbox. There is also the new SkyDrive which allows you to store documents in a cloud so there is less concern around file size. I am still unsure how this will work with marketing emails, but it is something that we will need to keep our eye on.

You can find out more about the entire new feature set on the Windows Live Blog.

Update--All StrongMail customers should now have all mobile views turned on in their StrongDelivery Tools Account.

Dear Client,
We're pleased to announce that we have released four new mobile rendering views in Campaign Preview: iPhone, Nokia (Symbian), Blackberry Curve and Window Mobile 6.5. With these additional views, Return Path Campaign Preview will now offer views for the most popular operating systems worldwide.

Not only did we add these popular views, but we also improved our existing mobile rendering to give you better insight into how your content will actually look within those mobile devices, allowing you to scroll through to see how your entire email message will render.

And, we're giving these new mobile views to you free of charge! If you have one or more mobile views currently turned on, you should already see them in Campaign Preview. If you don't have mobile views on and would like these new views, simply ask your Account Manager.


We love improving our products for you! If you ever have any feedback or new product ideas, let us know!
Best,
The Return Path Team

For those StrongMail customers interested in adding these views to your current StrongDelivery Tools account please contact your Account Manager

My latest article from iMedia Connection

A number of my friends own their own businesses, and it is always interesting to me that, when we start talking about my job, they usually say the same thing: "Oh, email and social media marketing -- that is just for big companies. I don't have time for that stuff." Or, "No one can explain to me how it will help grow my business, so why would I spend my time tweeting?"

I always get a kick out of these types of responses. Sure, it takes time to do any kind of social or email marketing, but does that mean that it isn't worth it for smaller businesses? The short answer? No.

Let me explain how spending just 10 minutes a day on social marketing can enable a small business owner to generate true ROI. This example is actually a very personal one, as it has to do with my wife. See, my wife owns her own business through which she trains and consults companies on legal and human resource matters. My wife was one of those small business owners who told me she didn't have time to spend on Twitter -- let alone Facebook or any other social network -- to promote her business. Being that I believe in email and social marketing so much, I have been working with my wife to get her services more visible by using these services.

Over the past several months, she has made it a goal to spend at least 30 minutes a week on Twitter. As a result, and seemingly out of the blue, a company that follows her tweets reached out to her with a direct message on Twitter and requested a conference call to determine if their respective businesses complemented each other. After exchanging more detailed information on the services that each provides, they discussed ways in which they could market each other's services to their existing clients to offer a more "full-service" menu. After their second conference, which included marketing departments, both businesses realized that a mutual referral agreement would be a win-win for both companies. Both companies can make additional revenue by simply understanding the other's business and suggesting it to their clients. As a result of Twitter, the companies are now entering into a reciprocal referral contract.

So what can you, the small and medium business owner, learn from this example? Consider the following:

Marketing ROI doesn't always mean a direct sale. By engaging with others through various marketing platforms, your name and brand will be more recognizable, which will turn into more business and more sales.
By spending just a small amount of time each week, you can grow your network and grow your business.
Just because something is the new "it" thing for larger companies doesn't mean it can't work well for smaller companies as well.
Is social media just the latest craze in the marketing world? Or will your business actually suffer if you don't embrace it? To determine current trends, I always think it's wise to peek in the rearview mirror.

Let's talk baby boomers. This generation is famous for coining the phrase, "It's not what you know, it's who you know." When there are six equally qualified people for one job opening, your network is invaluable. As businesses became members of the global marketplace, this concept held true -- not just for people on an individual level, but for business-to-business networking.

Historically, how did one grow their network of people and increase their marketing reach? We have gone from a water cooler, country club, and neighborhood society to a global marketplace. No longer is it feasible to rely solely on historical marketing concepts. I have seen some reports that say that word of mouth is the primary factor behind 20 to 50 percent of all purchasing decisions. This word-of-mouth marketing momentum directly correlates to the rise of social networking sites and how people make decisions on what to buy and what businesses to work with.

Building partnerships with other similar businesses through social networking sites can lead to additional revenue for your business. It is these types of possibilities that many businesses are seeing right now, and why I truly believe that social marketing is more than a passing craze. It's important for all marketers to start developing a strategy, even if it means spending less than one hour a week in the beginning.

So if you are one of those people who doesn't believe that they have time to devote to social marketing, I suggest taking an inventory of your marketing efforts and ensuring that, at a minimum, a portion of your efforts are devoted to expanding your network and utilizing the social media avenues that are available to you.

Good luck and good sending.

For all StrongMail customers please be aware that Live Updates 35 is now available for download.