eMail Marketing Tips from MediaPost

Lawsuit Accuses Facebook Of Scanning Private Messages

Cnet

Facebook is facing a class-action lawsuit from users who claim that the company is profiting off of data gleaned from private messages. “On Monday, Matthew Campbell and Michael Hurley filed suit against Facebook with the Northern District Court of California,” CNet reports. “The men accuse Facebook of scanning private messages with URLs in them ‘for purposes including but not limited to data mining and user profiling.’” ...Read the whole story

Calendars.com is Now Integrating Email, Search & Purchase Data

Direct Marketing News

Calendars.com has implemented eCommera's Big Data solution DynamicAction to help make its marketing more targeted. The retailer, who is still in the middle of its busiest period, is using the tool to gather, and analyze third-party search and email data, as well as its own first-party purchase data. For instance, the company is now able to look at which products had high conversion rates, but low page-entry rates in order to redirect consumers to landing pages with high conversion rates. ...Read the whole story

Security Experts Warn of Spam Campaign Pretending to be From Discover Card

SPAMFighter

Security experts are warning about a spam email campaign that appears to be coming from Discover. Discover card holders should beware emails that look like they are coming from the bank asking them to renew their account information. The emails are coming from addresses such as mailer@discover.com orsender@discover.com with the subject line "Please update your Discover Account". The links connect to phishing websites which are being used to steal customer data. ...Read the whole story

MailDeck iPad App Supports Multiple Users

CBS News

MailDeck is a new app that has entered the crowded iPad email client arena. The free app is designed specifically for multiple users, knowing that sometimes people share iPads. It supports multiple profiles and lets users passcode protect their accounts, so that only the intended user can access the email. The tool lets users view their inboxes in varying ways and lets users turn emails into tasks. It also helps users manage attachments. The app currently supports Gmail and IMAP, but not POP or Microsoft Exchange. ...Read the whole story

Spam Virus Going Around Tells Recipients They Are Due in Court

New York Daily News

There is a spam virus going around the country today that tells recipients that they are due in a local court. Court officials warned about the virus after getting more than 100 complaints from citizens around the country. The emails claim to be from a clerk, informing the recipient that they are required to appear in court and use the names of legitimate law firms to make them seem real. ...Read the whole story

Alternatives to GIving Out Your Email Address on Your Company Website

Mashable

Displaying your email address publicly is a surefire way to get yourself onto the email lists of unsolicited senders. To help address the problem, Mashable has created a list of tips for releasing your email address publicly without having to give out the actual address. The tech blog suggests using phone numbers, Twitter accounts and form submissions among other ideas to give out your contact on your company's website without risking your email address ending up on a spam list. ...Read the whole story

Your Email To-Do List For 2012

It's that time of year for articles predicting marketing trends for 2012. For this column, however, I'm taking a different approach and outlining several tactics that should be on your 2012 to-do list.

Some of these are tactics that will help you keep up with your competitors, while others could move you ahead of the pack. All are designed to help you deliver a more effective email program -- and, ultimately, achieve your business goals.

List Growth/Data Capture 

• Investigate new options and channels that help you acquire more new subscribers and associated data you can use to fine-tune your messages, such as the following:

o      Location-based opt-ins using social programs like Foursquare, in-store tablets or kiosks and QR codes on store signage.

o      Opting in via SMS text message.

o      Social sign-in (subscribers opt in quickly via a social network without filling out innumerable data fields).

o      Progressive forms that gather data gradually over a series of prompting emails.

o      Optimized preference centers that enable more sophisticated targeting based on demographics and interests.

Read More Here

Posted via email from SGB Media Group

Internet Marketing 101: Email trends for 2010 - Email Marketing - BizReport

Blaine Mathieu, chief marketing officer with email hub Lyris, insists that email will continue to be a strong force in marketing through the New Year. Here are Mathieu's top five trends for 2010.

1) "Email will continue to be an anchor for multimedia and online marketing," said Mathieu. "All indications are that email will continue to grow into 2010. Email is recognized as the highest ROI form of online marketing and it's measurable. Even though email is the 'grandfather', it really is the cornerstone and will remain.

2) Mathieu also expects to see more integration between email and social ad platforms. "As part of the social mix, online marketers will continue to integrate social media with email marketing to ensure that brands, projects and products are cross-marketed and connecting with consumers.

3) More than just social integration, though, Mathieu expects to see integration of most other online ad formats and email through 2010. "It's always the promise on the horizon," said Mathieu. "But in 2010 you're going to see more progress toward truly achieving integrated marketing. Any marketer not using integrated tool sets is doing a disservice to the brand. Entire organizations will be working with social applications to connect with the consumer base."

4) And forget about online analytics. In 2010 the trend will be to move away from when or where consumers are clicking ads and move toward optimizing programs to keep consumers engaged for longer periods of time. "[Marketers] will begin to know marketing analytics and not just web/online analytics. They will know what happens after the click, how the consumer becomes engaged/disengaged and how they interact with the website as a whole."

5) "Finally, mobile will be a big trend," said Mathieu. "It's been 'the year of mobile' for several years but in 2009 we finally saw a mindshift begin. That shift in mindset that mobile was the away-from-office computer will help marketers connect with consumers in a new and different way. [This will] drive mobile campaigns and push mobile-accessible websites."

Overall, Mathieu expects 2010 to be slightly simpler for marketers as integrated tool suites launch and become more familiar. These suites will make it simpler for a singular campaign message to be heard from email through social and into video and mobile. As for what Mathieu is looking forward to?

"As I said, you have mobile driven by newer devices and you've got the tools ready to be used. You have social marketing coming into its own and the analytics tools that are simpler to understand," he said. "So I'm looking forward to taking advantage of the convergence of all these trends in 2010."

Tags: 2010 forecast, Lyris, email forecast, email marketing, email trends

via bizreport.com

Posted via web from SGB Media Group, LLC

Top Five Reasons To Communicate With Your Customers

by David Baker, Monday, October 1, 2007


I DON'T THINK WE have enough fun with email these days, so let's take a break from all the issues with the channel and get inventive. Considering we are coming up to the busy holiday season, I figured a look at the top five functional reasons to communicate with your customers would be an appropriate theme.

5. To fulfill or confirm an order. Can you add some creativity to standard emails? This can be as easy as modifying your template with a holiday theme, or having fun with the messaging. For example: "Santa thanks you for your order; it's less for him to carry down the chimney." People appreciate humor and creativity, and your team can have a lot of fun with this.

4. Promote your site, product, or service. When you promote your company, do you tie your USP to a theme? A creative voice gets the most attention in the inbox. Try a few options with your promotional strategy. Tactics like countdowns to Christmas got a lot of traction last year in the retail space, but think outside of that and come up with some witty metaphors to wrap your product/service around. Imagine a product promotion that's a surprise only to be opened on the site or tied to an instant win, or sweeps with pick-a-present under the tree. Check your calendar. There are over 20 events from October to January to which you can tie a theme, each unique and with different audiences.

3. Deepen the loyalty to your site or brand. Think about the considerations involved in making your consumers enthusiastic supporters and evangelists of your brand. They need a "container" to carry your message and build on it in their own social mechanisms. Is it a refer-a-friend / share component or an incentive to share? Think outside the box and bring a creative metaphor to the table. It could be putting their face on "Sexiest Man Alive" on the cover of People magazine, or a comical photo-sharing contest -- anything to create additional value that can travel. Instead of thinking solely about your communication goal, think about enabling the community of customers. Remember, Halloween is the most prolific photo-sharing event of the year; how many ways could you take advantage of this community event with your product or service?

2. Introduce your brand or acquire a customer. It's tough to brand amidst the noise of the holiday season. This puts more pressure on you to create great acquisition messaging and programs that are fun, engaging, and have the ability to be shared and syndicated. Whether it's a list rental, partner email, sponsored email or your own prospect list, this is the time to be creative with themes. Remember, though, they may not know your brand well enough to understand an off-the-wall metaphor, but that doesn't mean they won't appreciate a bit of fun and humor in your messaging. Remember the first time you traveled on Southwest Airlines and you got a sarcastic response from the flight attendant? You were a little shocked at the candor, but worked yourself into enjoying the experience.

1. Thank them for their patronage. Did you know that the type of email that gets the highest open rate is an apology letter? The personal touch is widely appreciated, yet we reserve it for mistakes only. We all want to be recognized, so personalized notes thanking customers for their patronage to your brand is a worthwhile effort. A brand can't live on direct promotion alone - there needs to be a little massaging of your messaging to show you aren't a robot marketing arm sending to the masses. This is ideal for a New Year's e-mail, thanking them for a year of loyal patronage to your brand. It's also very easy to tie a reward to this message.

The most successful opt-out page I've ever seen was for Milwaukee Best Beer. It had a super-attractive female asking if you were sure you wanted to opt out. For men, that was a reaffirmation of why they were on the site in the first place. An opt-out page doesn't have to be a lost cause. You could have Santa ask them if they are sure they want to be taken off his list. Satire and humor give color to your brand. Play with it and you'll be amazed at the feedback you get.

I look forward to seeing some great creative samples this holiday season. Please feel free to share with me if you have one or two you are particularly proud of.

Cheers!




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David Baker is vice president of email solutions at Avenue A/Razorfish. Visit his blog at http://whitenoiseinc.com