Every afternoon, I receive a message with links to press releases and industry articles from our PR firm.  It's a great way to stay on top of what's happening with ExactTarget and in the email marketing industry.  All from the comfort of my uncomfortable office chair.

As I perused through today's issue, I noticed yet another article about mobile email marketing.  While reading the article, I realized that something was amiss: it's just not that simple.  There are too many factors (i.e. phone type, operating system, email client) and too many scenarios (i.e. checking on the run, reading in full, saving for later) to provide any type of blanket statements (i.e. design like this, segment like that) about mobile email marketing.

We know people use it.  And we know that as marketers we should pay attention to that.  But beyond that, we should proceed with caution. 

Last month, Morgan Stewart, our Director of Research & Strategy, wrote a great article about the complications of mobile email marketing -- and how there is no easy fix.  And last summer, our strategic services team conducted the most extensive consumer study to date on mobile email marketing.  The results may surprise you.

For example, our research shows that some recipients are actually thrown off by mobile-specific text on the messages.  And designing for "mobile-only reading" assumes that your recipient isn't going to open the message again on their computer (which many recipients report they do!)

That research is still available in ExactTarget's Email Marketing for the Third Screen Whitepaper.  Yes, I know it's a whitepaper (ugh!) and that it's lengthy (yuk!).  But if you're serious about mobile email marketing, it's well worth the time to read. 

To date, I have yet to find another resource that provides so much data to back up so many recommendations about mobile email marketing.  And no, Morgan didn't bribe me to say that.*  This article from February, also on the DMNews blog, provides some good general (and cautionary!) recommendations. 

Cheers,
Ashley
Manager, Marketing Communications

P.S. We're working hard with our strategists to finalize a brand new whitepaper this month on consumer messaging preferences.  If you liked Email Marketing for the Third Screen, you'll definitely want to keep an eye out for it!

* I accept bribe payment in the forms of celebrity gossip magazine subscriptions and gift certificates for my local spa.

Not too long ago, I was a marketer who was a slave to a to-do list and a "get the thing out" mentality, rather than a slave to my client base.  I was trapped in a continuous loop of - "this is a great idea but how can I ever find the time or budget space to do a full-on marketing campaign?" As I listened to marketing expert after marketing expert discuss how to optimize your eMarketing program at the first stop on ExactTarget's Route1to1 City tour in Atlanta this past Tuesday, it became clear that the answer to my question was to a change my mindset and finally put off the to-do list and put on a truly integrated, engaging campaign.

Here were my wake-up call email marketing moments that made me say - "Wow, I was doing it wrong for so long."

• "Your website can no longer be a digital brochure, it has to be an engaging place where you can drive conversion," said Joel Book, ExactTarget's Director of eMarketing Education.
  
• "It's time to stop reacting and start taking a pro-active approach to your marketing campaigns," said Jeff Rohrs, ExactTarget's Vice President of Agency and Search Marketing.
  
• "If I receive an email and I don't know who it is, I immediately delete it, so why would we expect our customers to be any different?  I received an email from Continental on my phone that was mobile friendly and I was able to check-in just by replying to a text message - now that's engagement," said Jeanniey Mullen Founder of the Email Experience Council (eec) and Global Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for Zinio Systems and VIV Magazine.

The highlight of the day for me was listening to Nick Godfrey, from Customer Portfolios (an email marketing agency partner with ExactTarget) discuss how his company utilized ExactTarget's email marketing software to build Dunkin' Donuts' loyalty program from the ground up.  He talked about the unique challenges of creating a 1 to 1 marketing customer loyalty program. 

A Dunkin' Donuts customer can receive rewards depending on how many times they visit a specific Dunkin' Donuts store each week.  As an example, if I go in Mondays and Wednesdays, the system is smart enough to trigger an email to that patron offering them a $1.00 credit towards the loyalty account, encouraging a third visit  This type of email marketing tool removes the time and budget burden most marketers are facing.

Shrinking budgets have led many marketers to search around for the best way to drive customers to their web site, but after attending this seminar, I realized that your marketing campaign must be engaging, and compelling, giving users a reason to come and stay on your site.  There is too much information out there for your message to get lost. 

My top four takeaways from Route 1 to 1:

• No more digital brochures - they don't work
• Give them a good reason to engage with your brand
• Truly powerful marketing will treat each customer as a unique individual, who has unique need
• Discussing Dunkin' Donuts leads to binge eating on my part

If you are a marketer like me, who knew what they wanted to do, but weren't sure how to do it, you really should think about coming to the ExactTarget Route 1 to 1: The new eMarketing essentials event.  Coming up next are Chicago and Cincinnati...its time to stop being a slave to our to-do lists. 

Gotta run, Dunkin' Donuts just opened here in Indianapolis and I want my free dollar. 

Todd McCall, PR Manager

ExactTarget’s marketing department is a very busy place to be these days.  Not only did we kick off the ExactTarget Route 1-to-1 Seminar Series in Atlanta on April 22nd, we also launched a brand new ExactTarget website! 

The ExactTarget website includes new functionality including the ability to research information about one-to-one technologies that are relevant to a particular industry, business challenge, or technology requirement.  The “by business challenge” section is my personal favorite.  We all have a list of “if I could only figure out how to use email marketing to do xyz” questions and this area of the website provides information and solutions pertinent to your challenge! 

With the development of the new website, we empowered our marketing department to manage content and calls to action with robust technology.  The deployment of Ektron as our content management system enables our team to proactively add new pages, new content and edit existing content without requiring the assistance of a technical resource.  Ryan Oldfather, our Internet Marketing Manager, is particularly excited about the Ektron implementation and also the deployment of Omniture Site Catalyst for our web analytics.  With Omniture, Ryan will have the data to make changes to the website based on user behavior and website traffic. 

There are many folks to thank within ExactTarget for their assistance with the new website including our Marketing Communications team, Marketing Operations team, our System Administrators and the Solutions Consulting team.  We would also like to thank Optiem for their assistance with the technical development of the website!

What are you waiting for – check out the new ExactTarget website!!

Erin Howe
Director, Marketing Programs

So I just had a rather troubling realization: I'm officially a blog hog. When I hopped onto our blog today to read Ashley's new post about triggered email, I scrolled down and saw about the last 17 posts in a row...were mine.

Well, friends, here's #18. Take that.

As our InSight readers know, this month we're focusing on triggered email. Though many people assume triggered email only applies to marketing (like eNewsletters or sales reminders), that's just the tip of the iceberg. Triggered email can encompass everything from eBills and account notifications to shipping confirmations and abandoned cart remarketing messages.

But how many of you marketers out there are using the same email system as your operations or account services teams?...*crickets*...

Well you're in luck -- we're hosting a webinar May 1st that'll help you (and anyone else using email at your organization) understand how triggered email fits into your overall business strategy. A combined effort from our own thought leaders and client Danskin, this webinar will give you a new outlook on triggered email.

So register for The New Breed of Triggered Email Marketing Webinar and see what all the fuss is about. And bring that developer from upstairs -- and your favorite customer support rep -- and maybe even your account services director too, just for good measure. Plus, I'm working on a cool new deliverable for attendees -- so you'll hurt my feelings if you don't come!

...*crickets*...

Yeah, I'm needy like that.

Nicole
Marketing Communications Associate

Question: What are tips for designing a triggered welcome email?

Answer: Welcome emails are a great example of a triggered marketing message. When a subscriber signs up for your communications, sending them a welcome email shortly after signup can be very beneficial.

Welcome emails often have higher open rates than your typical campaigns (due to being highly anticipated by new subscribers) so it is important to take advantage of the increased “face time” you have with your audience.

As such, you want your welcome email to make a good first impression and effectively set expectations for the future communications a subscriber will receive. Here are a few tips to get you pointed in the right direction:

Include your brand name in your subject line.
Aside from the “from name,” the subject line is the second most important factor in getting your subscriber to open your email. Seeing your brand name will help them recognize that this as a communication they’ve asked to receive.

Be honest and upfront about mailing frequency.
If you’re going to send a weekly email, make sure new subscribers know this (and that they aren’t expecting to only hear from you once a month!).  Sending to your subscribers more than they expect may cause them to unsubscribe or mark your email as spam.

Re-emphasize the benefits of being a subscriber.
Communicate your value proposition with a short paragraph of text or a bulleted list. This should be the focus of your message placed in the upper left portion of your email to optimize for preview pane viewing.

Keep it short and simple.
Your welcome email should include concise and relevant copy. Don’t include elements that detract from the primary message and make your email unnecessarily long.

Use images wisely.
Since the majority of email clients block images by default, it is important to use HTML text for your welcome email copy. You want this information to be seen by as many people as possible, so only use images for your company logo and supplemental imagery.

Tell them what to look for in the future.
New subscribers should be reminded to add your email address to their address book or safe senders list. This will help to ensure inbox delivery for future communications and in many cases by-pass image blocking.

Tim Siukola
Senior Email Marketing Designer

There, I said it.  And I’ll say it again: triggered email is only as good as your data.  I know, I know…now I have to back that claim up.

If you’re sending triggered emails in response to one-time events (for example, welcome emails, website confirmation downloads, etc.) then chances are your data is pretty good.  Someone does “something” (subscribes, purchases, downloads, etc.) and you trigger an email in response to whatever that something may be.   

These are often the most easy-to-implement triggered messages, which is why so many marketers have started to not only use, but optimize them.  Like many of you, we here at ExactTarget have made leaps and bounds in our triggered emails over the past year, including:

• Defining what the “somethings” that result in a trigger are
• Capture those “somethings” and feeding the data into our CRM database of records
• Triggering an email out of ExactTarget using our triggered email interactions
• Tracking the holistic performance of the triggered emails
• Making adjustments on the fly (without involving our web developer, which makes him very happy) for maximum performance.

Typing the list above makes it seem easy.  Get the data, then trigger an email.  We’d like for all our email messages to be sent using the process above.  But what about the following, more complicated, scenarios? 

• The “something” event is comprised of multiple data points
• The data lives in multiple systems
• Your data isn’t clean

Not so easy.  At least, not for us (and I’m guessing that means not for you, either).  Take, for example, a satisfaction survey we’d like to send 90 days before a customer is due to renew their contract with us, followed by a reminder email if they haven’t yet completed it, or a thank you email if they have.

In theory, this would be an easy series to trigger:  Send #1 = Renewal date – 90 days.  Send #2 = Triggered thank you upon completion OR reminder email 7 days after survey invite sent. But…

• We have multiple (sometimes hundreds) subscribers stored per account in our CRM system.  Not all contacts should receive the message.
• The data about what is due to renew / when it is due to renew is stored in a separate area of our CRM system, with no easy way to tie a subscriber to the renewal opportunity.
• Because we don’t delete data from our CRM system, the subscriber may no longer work at the company.  This information is often manually typed in to a data field (i.e. “Patricia NO LONGER THERE.”)  Look familiar?
• The extensive survey is hosted by a third-part vendor, which means there is no real-time visibility into whether someone has completed the survey within our own system.

The list goes on, but suffice it to say that there is a lot of manual data cleaning that goes into pulling a satisfaction survey list and sending the series.  So while this seems like an ideal campaign to trigger, it’s just not easy.  And I’m guessing that we’re not alone in this challenge.

While I don’t have a solution to the overall data issues that impede implementing more triggered / automated emails, I can tell you this – understanding what data is needed, where it lives, and what obstacles stand in the way of easily getting that is a huge first step in the right direction.  As the old saying goes, not knowing is half the battle.  So if you’re looking to automate or optimize your triggered email marketing and have found yourself in a similar situation, understanding your data is a good place to start.

Cheers,

Ashley Sales
Manager, Marketing Communications

It's not often I bask in the glories of admiration for the US Postal Service, but yesterday was an exception.

As previously mentioned, I'm in the process of moving. And it's kind of a pain, considering the 192 change-of-address notification I need to make in the next two weeks. Last night, I decided to start with the US Postal Service because they offer a simple online form (with a $1 credit card charge).

After inputting the standard info, I had the chance to get special "new mover" discounts from national retails like Lowe's and JC Penney. Surprised, I happily ticked a couple boxes and submitted my form. Their system automatically triggered an email confirmation, so I popped into my Gmail expecting a half-baked, text-heavy, government-esque email.

Oh contraire.

A professional-looking HTML email awaited me instead with the necessary confirmation details. As I browsed the rest of the message, however, I realized they'd prepopulated the special offers I selected for Lowe's and JC Penney. I clicked through on the Lowe's offer and arrived at a nice landing page offering me a "new mover discount of 10% on my next purchase."

And here -- I'm proud to say -- I converted.

Yup, I filled in my info and landed on a Lowe's confirmation page which included an optional survey asking which areas of my home (*cough) I was interested in improving. My guess is, if I'd actually ticked any boxes -- my offer email would have included some specialized info for those rooms. Regardless, they had decided to use confirmation page real estate to learn more about their new subscribers.

By this point, I was pretty impressed with the entire experience.

So I went back to explore the rest of my US Postal Service email. At the bottom, they thought to include links to other places I needed to change my address -- like the IRS, car registration (which was automatically redirected to the appropriate state based on my new address), and voter registration. It was a welcome helping hand for someone trying to make sure she's thought of everything!

Well, enough swooning over the US Postal Service. Let me just finish with two observations: 1) I think about email WAY too much, and 2) It's possible to really impress your subscribers by offering a clean, cohesive, simple email experience.

Kudos, USPS, kudos.

Nicole
Marketing Communications Associate

Melinda Baxter, Director of Marketing Services

We talk about email design as the seamless merging of design and technology to deliver powerful business results.  A few of the Designers at ExactTarget sat down to answer some questions about the “day in the life” of an email marketing designer that loves the challenge to deliver business success through design.

What is the background of an Email Marketing Designer?

I have always been a “visual” person, graduating from I.U.’s Herron School of Art and Design with a degree in Visual Communications. I am a designer of brands, print ads, logos, and all types of marketing communications.  My inner geek loves to bring my design skills to pixel perfection.
- Justine
__________________________________________________________________________

I have been designing since I was a kid – illustrations, characters, computer graphics, and animation.  I studied Animation at Purdue’s school of Technology bringing my love of design to computerized mediums. Since then I have been addicted to moving innovative design into powerful interactive media.
- Tim
__________________________________________________________________________

I have designed since birth – never without a sketch pad, moving from crayons to oils to Adobe Creative Suite. I have a fine arts background that enables me to design convincingly and artfully to deliver business results.
- Lacey
____________________________________________________________________________

My background is in graphic design - print, web, motion graphics, video editing.  I have a good aptitude to learn new media and skills and love the challenge each new media offers. I have always been customer-facing in my career, so understand how to focus on the business opportunity the design needs to solve.
- Chris
____________________________________________________________________________

So, why did you choose to become a designer for email marketing?

I love to solve customer business challenges through visual communications.  Taking my love and appreciation of design to build an intelligent, highly motivating communication is a blend of my passions.
- Justine
____________________________________________________________________________

I am a problem-solver.  The opportunity to master the ever-changing email marketing landscape through a combination of design and html coding nuances is a great daily job for me.  I have the tenacity to keep trying until the email is the best it can be.
- Tim
_____________________________________________________________________________

Email is the most pervasive and impactful communication medium today.  For a designer the palette is rich with creative opportunity to explore and test its potential.  It is an entrepreneurial dream that continues to expand as the environment changes constantly.
- Chris
____________________________________________________________________________

As an artist, I thrive on exploring new ways to express ideas in design that create a response.  I have the opportunity to design for numerous small and large companies, across a wide range of industries to keep my talent fresh and evolving.
- Lacey
_____________________________________________________________________________

What skills do you think serve you best as an Email Marketing Designer?

Definitely design skills.  Working for top companies across the world, they expect great design interpretation of their brand.  It is really important that my designs are synergistic with their web site and offline communications to build trust in email.  Yet, email is its own unique medium with a very different design strategy to be successful.
- Lacey
___________________________________________________________________________

Agreed. Design skill is really the starting point.  Every medium has a unique environment to take into consideration, and email is certainly challenging due to the lack of standards around how the email will display from one email client to another (AOL, Hotmail, Gmail, Outlook, etc...).  Understanding how HTML renders – and taking this into consideration as you design - is a necessity.
- Justine
_____________________________________________________________________________

Hunger and persistence to find solutions to design and build emails in this standards-free environment is really important.  It isn’t an afterthought, but an integrated part of the design process.  Testing is an on-going process, for each and every email design.
- Tim
_____________________________________________________________________________

There is on-going need for retention of cumulative knowledge to stay best-in-class in this constantly changing environment.  Knowledge from testing results, changes in the industry, consumer trends and design trends need to be incorporated into all designs.  It’s about results, not just attractive designs.
- Chris

The CRM 4.0 Launch Tour event in Atlanta was a packed house.  Approximately 200 people filled the seats to see and hear the latest on CRM and Microsoft.

The programming was similar to the Tampa event, but with new client studies.  The client study was hosted by Paul Kalella from Customer Effective and their client, Jamestown Properties, represented by Chuck Niswonger.  Changing the way data is collected and stored across Jamestown Properties was a phenomenal undertaking for Chuck.  The installation and leveraging of MSCRM allows for a stronger and different type of acquisition pipeline at Jamestown Properties.   The new way of leveraging data and the new process have brought tears to people’s eyes (literally) at Jamestown Properties.

Based on the large percentage of attendees with marketing roles, the demonstration and overview portion of the day went deeper into Marketing and Support tools in MSCRM.   The showcasing of the workflow ability inside of CRM definitely drew a positive response.

Well, Exact Target and I are off to MS Convergence (booth #206) to discuss how leveraging MSCRM workflows and ExactTarget email makes it a very powerful combination. 

Hope to see you at Convergence!!  More to come……

Craig Herman
Director, Global Partner Development – Microsoft

Greetings from ExactTarget at the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 Launch Tour.  The US kickoff started today in Tampa, FL and Nashville, TN.  I am writing from the Tampa event where approximately 60 people showed up to hear the latest on CRM best practices and Microsoft’s greater play in the space.  ExactTarget was situated between Cisco and Smart Catalog.  The mix of attendees is pretty evenly broken out across sales personnel, marketing and IT.

Don Peppers, of Peppers and Rodgers fame – www.1to1.com, kicked off the event and drove home some points from their new book, “Rules to Break and Laws to Follow”.  The most important piece in a customer’s choice is trust in the vendor or seller.  Mr. Peppers went on to say that “earning trust often costs money in the short term.”  However, before you can earn your customers’ trust….you must first earn your employees’ trust.”  He showed examples of exemplary companies in this area like Ritz Carlton, Enterprise Rent-a-Car and others.  The ability to enable your employees to engage in their mission should be every company’s priority.  CRM is critical to enabling your employees to serve their customers/clients better and be engaged in their work.  The ExactTarget folks in the audience were fist pumping throughout (not really…..more on the inside).  Leveraging Don’s guidance, MSCRM and email through ExactTarget makes Don’s words very achievable.

Shawn Tabor, of Raymond James Financial, also spoke as a client study and gave a walk thru of how they chose and rolled out MSCRM across their enterprise.  The day wound up w/ Julie Herman from Microsoft walking thru several use cases and demo scenarios of using MSCRM 4.0 across Marketing, Sales and Support. 

All in all a lot of information in 4 hours!!  Now it’s off to Orlando, Jacksonville and Atlanta…..more to come!

Craig Herman
Director, Global Partner Development – Microsoft

If you didn't see it already, ExactTarget and Email Data Source announced a partnership in November.  Check out the press release.

Since then, I have been getting questions about how to use competitive intelligence to improve your email program.  Here are just a few of the ways we use competitive intelligence.

1. In strategic planning, use competitive intelligence to monitor what appears to be working for your competitors.  Email Analyst allows us to look at the email messages that competitors are sending and it provides insight on the traffic that those emails may be driving through an overlay of site traffic data from Alexa. This provides incredible insight into what appears to be working for competitors. Thus, it provides good insight into messaging components that the client may want to consider.
2. Look for positive trends in subject lines. Wondering if terms like "Free shipping" are overused? Are they really taboo? Competitive intelligence can help you assess different terms and phrases you are considering using in your subject lines. With Email Analyst's view into site traffic data, you can also get a feel for whether or not these "taboo" phrases really are taboo! (Hint: they probably aren't if your sender reputation is good)
3. Track the frequency and cadence of competitors email programs. 
4. Evaluate the in-house vs. 3rd party email mix of your competitors. Many companies drive traffic to their site through links in 3rd party emails. A competitive intelligence tool allows you to see which emails are driving traffic to your competitors sites... and it allows you to look at the links (content links, text ads, banner ads, etc) that are driving the traffic. Moreover, it allows you to figure out who your competitors are partnering with early on, and allows you to develop a counter-strategy.
5. Track where your brand is showing up. This is especially important when working with affiliates. Bill McClosky, founder of EDS, told me about meeting a prospect who asserted that their affiliates were not, absolutely not, sending email on their behalf. A quick search in Email Analyst proved that wrong... something like 30 emails had been sent in the prior month that drove traffic to the prospects website... all affiliates.
6. Identify new partners. By searching for key phrases and terms that are used in emails, you can identify like minded companies that are leveraging similar phrases and, thus, may be targeting similar audiences. Sure, some of these will be direct competitors... but some may be future partners!

The difference between doing email appends right and doing them wrong involves changing one significant step… the outbound message.  Instead of the outbound message containing a link to opt-out, the outbound email marketing message should have registration as the primary call to action. This approach to email appends is called "opt-in" email append.

ExactTarget was one of the early proponents of this approach and we have now real life experience with this approach under our belts.  Opt-in email appends have been very successful in delivering highly responsive subscribers without the headaches and pitfalls associated with opt-out appends.  However, the challenge is in getting a significant number of people to convert on these outbound email invitations.

Success in converting opt-in email appends involves defining your value proposition. It involves having a compelling reason for subscribers to register--selling your program to the prospective subscriber. All of which is based in the bedrock of marketing success... a good strategy combined with strong campaign execution.

Once you have your strategy for enticing prospective registrants, follow the steps outlined in my previous post about opt-in email campaigns.

The thing that clients like about this approach is that they only pay for emails that are likely to perform. It can take a while to get past the reality that this is not going to add a million email addresses to your list, but that shouldn’t be the point. There are only two business models that can drive revenue from an unresponsive email address—list brokers and email append vendors. By working with these providers on opt-in programs, you eliminate waste and ensure that you will get email addresses of real, live people that are likely to respond.

Yes, this puts a premium on the associated costs and makes pricing more complicated.  Don't expect to pay $0.50 per email address acquired through an opt-in append.  Things like the loyalty of people on your house file, the strength of the call to action, the size of the input file, and anticipated conversion rates may be considered in determining costs. But at the end of the day, this is in the best interest of the client as it avoids the issues typically associated with opt-out email appends and the overall quality is much, much higher.

The Silver Bullet?

Companies looking at email appends are typically looking for a fast and efficient way to grow their lists.  Don’t buy into the promises of a quick and easy solution to grow your list. To be completely cliché “If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.”

Done right, email appends can be effective—but they still take time, careful planning, good execution, and financial resources.  It is not the silver bullet that most people imagine when they latch on to email append as the solution to their list growth woes.

• Done wrong, as is the case with opt-out email appends, we have found that these initiatives are more time and cost intensive as other list growth tactics.
• Done right, in the case of opt-in email appends, we have found these initiatives to be at least as time and cost intensive as any other list growth tactics.

Given this reality, 9 out of 10 times, I prefer to invest the same time and resources into other proven list growth methods.  A couple consistent winners are:

1. Make sure that there are compelling opportunities to register for email throughout your website. This is basic, basic stuff… START HERE.
2. Integrate search campaigns with email registration. Search campaigns should be integrated with email registration efforts. Capturing email addresses on landing pages is the first step. Aligning the call to action on your landing pages with specific search campaigns is the second step. For example, visitors from brand keywords should get a different call to action than visitors from direct in-category keywords or competitive keywords.
3. Integrate with offline efforts. Provide an incentive as part of your existing direct mail or print advertising efforts to register with your company online.
4. Partner co-registration. Find like minded companies that you can cross promote. You include a signup space on their page and vice versa.
5. Tradeshows are huge for B2B marketers. This is no secret, but there is often a significant effort involved in collecting all those business cards and then getting those contacts to opt-in to your program. Do the due diligence and get these systems in place.

If you were looking for some advice from someone who talks to companies sending email, and ISPs receiving email, all day long every day – today's your lucky day! I'm in the mood to share.

Today's advice is on what NOT to do; what NOT to say when talking to an ISP or other site that receives mail from you or your clients.

Don't say: My emails are CAN-SPAM compliant.

If you do say it: You will be scorned. You'll attract derision. At the very least, you're going to make an ISP or spam filterer roll their eyes at you.

Why? Because everybody sending any form of legitimate (or sometimes even illegitimate) mail is CAN-SPAM compliant. Citing this as a reason that an ISP should accept your emails is a lot like bragging that your email has a subject line.

“So?” The ISP employee will ask themselves. “Do they expect a gold star for doing what everybody else does?” From the ISP perspective, only bad guys (and misinformed good guys) tout their CAN-SPAM compliance.

CAN-SPAM allows you to send spam, if you follow certain rules. Right away, your announcement makes them wonder, are you a spammer? Bad guys tell them all the time, “I don't spam, because my mail is CAN-SPAM compliant.” That's practically a non-sequitur. It just doesn't make any sense. CAN-SPAM makes little reference to permission best practices. It practically allows spam. Telling the world that you shouldn't be considered a spammer because you comply is telling the world, “I am not a spammer because I comply with a law that allows me to send spam!” It's not a great message to send. It does not set you apart, and it doesn't convey the true adherence to opt-in best practices that ISPs require to ensure they'll accept your mail.

CAN-SPAM compliance is such a bare minimum as to be useless for describing your email practices. Your send practices have to be CAN-SPAM compliant, sure. But that's far from enough. It takes a lot more than just CAN-SPAM compliance to get an ISP to accept your mail.

ISPs block millions of CAN-SPAM compliant messages daily. They do not care that your messages are compliant with CAN-SPAM. They care only if your mail is desired by their customers, your recipients. That means opt-in; clear opt-in, with details. That means up front signup disclosure regarding who you are, what you'll be sending, and how often. It means proper management of bounces and unsubscribes. It means keeping your list engaged.

Even worse, when you mention CAN-SPAM to an anti-spam group, they usually stop responding to you, or refuse to remove you from a blacklist, or at the very least, they're going to laugh at you. They've heard it all before. After all, the vast majority of people who proudly announce their CAN-SPAM compliance are ... spammers! Don't sound like a spammer, and don't be a spammer.

People who aren't spammers instead say other, better things: My mail is opt-in. People sign up for my mailings directly here at this website (and include a link). I don't buy or sell lists. I don't bury the opt-in notice in a privacy policy. I clearly tell people what they're signing up for and how often I'm going to send it to them.

That's what you need to say, and that's what you need to do.

You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you.  ~John Wooden

I love that quote.  Philanthropy is so important−and I am continually impressed and inspired by leaders who have built the mindset of corporate philanthropy directly into their culture.  Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, has authored a couple books on the subject.  His book titled “The Business of Changing the World” is a great read and describes how Salesforce.com donates 1% of employee’s time, 1% of company equity, and 1% of sales via no-cost product for non-profits. 

At ExactTarget, we also strive to make a difference in our local community and communities around the world.  One of the ways we give back is through providing substantial discounts on our software and services to qualifying non-profit organizations.  In addition, we have a steering committee of dedicated and compassionate individuals who lead our local community and philanthropic efforts.  Around here, they’re commonly known as ExactImpact (Involving Members Passionate About Community Ties).

I had the pleasure of announcing the efforts of our ExactImpact group in 2006. This year, the summary list of accomplishments has grown substantially. Here are some of our 2007 highlights:

• January
-- Employees challenged each other to raise money for the Riley Change Angels event.

• February
-- 430 pounds of food were collected and donated to Gleaners Food Bank.

• March
-- 30 pints of blood were donated during an ExactTarget blood drive. (That’s enough blood to save 90 lives!)

• April
-- The “ExactBark-It” team raised money for Indianapolis animals in need during the Humane Society Mutt-Strut.

• July
-- An additional 30 pints of blood were donated by ExactTarget employees.
-- Approximately two boxes of school supplies per floor were collected for the Backpack Attack.

• August
-- Employees raised money to benefit the Gleaners Food Bank.

• October
-- Employees participated in the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

• December
-- Five families (19 people, including 13 children) were sponsored by ExactTarget employees through the Christamore House. Gifts were purchased by ExactTarget employees, and a company raffle was held to raise additional money for the families.
-- A Wal-Mart gift card was also given to a local family devastated by a house fire.

Thank you to the many ExactTarget employees who have made a difference─both through personal contributions and countless hours of time.  We look forward to making an even bigger impact in 2008.

If you have suggestions on how ExactTarget can make a difference, please send an email to exactimpact@exacttarget.com.

There is a trend in the software industry to expose one’s core infrastructure via APIs to allow other businesses to leverage that infrastructure to build new applications.  Who is moving in this direction?  Amazon, Google and Salesforce.com all offer APIs that allow ISVs to leverage their infrastructure to develop applications on their platforms. 

ExactTarget Embedded is ExactTarget’s new product offering for developers and ISVs.  The ExactTarget Embedded web service APIs to allow ISVs to leverage our messaging and deliverability infrastructure to develop applications within or on top of their applications.  One can quickly get to market with less up front capital investment by building applications on ExactTarget’s suite of web services.  More importantly, letting ExactTarget manage the deliverability and back end process of sending email takes the burden off of development resources, freeing them up to work on other tasks.

Here is a summary of ExactTarget Embedded:
http://email.exacttarget.com/ETWeb/partners_embedded_detail.aspx

ISVs both big and small are finding value in leveraging large capital investments made by ExactTarget and other software companies.  Here are some similar examples from Amazon, Salesforce.com, and Google:

Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html?node=3435361

Salesforce.com
http://www.salesforce.com/platform/

Google
http://code.google.com/more/#label=APIs&product=gdata

With four young children, a couple of working parents, two dogs, a guinea pig, a fish named John, and a hamster who’s been MIA for about a month, my life sometimes spirals out of control. Breakfast dishes are left on the counter for more than twelve hours, dirty socks are rescued and reused from the depths of the laundry abyss, and small pets sometimes go unfed (but only occasionally—usually the kids alert me when they find Bob, the guinea pig, crawling listlessly toward a water mirage in his basement cage).

The most recent faux pas, however, involved my soon-to-be 9-year-old son and his upcoming birthday. The problem? I forgot his birthday was upcoming. Let’s just say that was definitely not my proudest parenting moment.

Rewind to approximately three years ago when I first discovered the joys of online shopping. With an eight, six, four, and two-year-old in my house, eToys quickly rose to the top of my Favorite Sites list. At some point during one of my shopping experiences, I completed an online questionnaire about my kids’ birthdates, genders, and general interests to help guide and narrow my toy purchases.

Who knew I could be so proactive?

Fast-forward back to 2008. While cleaning out my daily email this week, I noticed a message in my inbox that read, “Son #2 (they actually used his real name) is about to turn 9!” With a sharp intake of breath, I checked my online calendar to make sure I still had time to redeem myself--or better yet, pretend I’d been on top of the birthday thing all along. One week to go. Whew!

So, I clicked on the recommended toys for boys ages 9-12, was directed to the eToys website, and thus met with over 300 items any young boy would be thrilled to own.  With a remote control dragonfly, a distance-measuring football, several books about komodo dragons, and a Nintendo DS game on the way, I sat back and breathed a sigh of relief.

Occasionally, we all need a little nudge to stay on track. I'll be forever loyal to eToys for taking the information I gave them three years ago and feeding it back to me at a time when I was very desperate and very likely to make a purchase. It was a win-win for eToys and for the Willis family.

Thanks for having my back, eToys.

Happy Birthday, Son #2!

Warmest Regards,
Katrina Willis
Copywriter

If you’re like me, maybe your resolution this year was to not have a resolution.  I swore off resolutions a few years ago – the year after I resolved to run a marathon (accomplished!) but realized in doing so that my resolutions were in fact things that should be an integral part of my life:  Keep active.  Keep learning.  Maintain a work / life balance.  Together, those things comprise the big picture “life foundation.” And I’ve found that if I focus on living it, all the little things fall into place – sometimes effortlessly, and sometimes with a lot of work.

Email marketing is no different.  Last year, when I started working with our email program, I set out resolutions like “get a 15% click-through rate” and “implement a testing schedule” and “lower our unsubscribe rate.”  Sound familiar?  While we were able to achieve them, we were missing the big picture.  The why we needed to accomplish those goals is just as important as the goals themselves.  Our own email program “big picture” is:

• Customer Retention
• Lead Conversion
• Brand Awareness

From here, it’s easy to identify the areas we can improve on (and relate them back to our broader vision).  For 2008, our goals are:

• Analytics and Metrics
• Building Better Lists
• Automation

These may seem basic – but that’s exactly the point.  By boiling it down into the key areas to improve, we can prioritize where to put our efforts.  The critical part is knowing what we’re working for, and then establishing actionable milestones that will be steps in the right direction.

You might notice something missing from the goals above.  Specifics.  Yep, I know they’re gone, too.  But things like “run reports on email performance” and “implement web analytics tracking” and “add 20% more subscribers to our list” aren’t goals – they’re actions.  They should be recorded and executed on appropriately…but to me, they set the bar too low.  If we know one of our goals is building a better list, for example, then adding more subscribers becomes just one piece of a bigger puzzle. 

So this year, you’ll notice a renewed focus on the foundations of email marketing – planning, design, deliverability, list quality, etc.  To help you strengthen each area of your own program, we’re adding a new section to your InSight Newsletter called “Back to Basics.”  Each month, we’ll focus on one area for you to improve – and deliver a brand new type of resource to help you take action. 

It’s no coincidence that next month’s focus is “Building a Better List,” so stay tuned!  In the meantime, I’d encourage you to register for a new webinar offered by our extremely talented Account Management team, and to sound off on what your 2008 email marketing “big picture” is.

Cheers,
Ashley Sales
Manager, Marketing Communications

It was the 1990s, and a young Angel Morales had just created an integrated email strategy for one of the nation’s largest direct-to-consumer enterprise solutions (Sigma).  I was so proud of it: my solution included integrated merchandising, automated remarketing, graphical transactional emails, etc.  It was an outstanding set of features…but little did I realize that it wasn’t a “solution.”  That was a lesson I learned the hard way during my first pitch…
 
Terrifying doesn’t begin to describe sitting across from a hardened CMO with two decades of direct marketing experience, who at the conclusion of my “super cool flash presentation” said “Yeah, all that technology is great but tell me how…”

• I can drive my highest value catalog customers to the website instead of the call center
• I can extend the lifecycle of my customers by 10%
• I can bolster my average order value and engineer my high value customer into brand champions
• I can recognize my at risk customers and retain them
• I can extend the value of my loyalty program into email
• I can leverage data appends to prospect new segment within my existing house file

THAT was the day I realized the value of email wasn’t in the technology, but in applying the technology to traditional DM principles.  While working at Sigma over the next seven years, I learned from the best… companies like Sears, Eastbay, specialty merchants like Zip Products, Chaparral Racing, Nancy’s Notions, Woodcraft Supply Corporation, and countless other merchants.  These companies – whose direct business was far more substantial than anything “online” – made me adjust my thinking and my approach to email.  And it was, quite frankly, a humbling experience. 
 
So fair readers, before we dive into ExactTarget’s new transactional eMail, mobile messaging, and other valuable (and cool) technology, let’s take a step back to basics and MAKE SURE we are using our rich customer data (such as RFML) to its fullest extent. We all have this data, but whether or not we use it is another matter…

• Are you deploying dynamic content/promos to reduce costs of retention?  Remember that not every customer needs / deserves our best offers!
• Are you using segments to target and send to disengaged customers?
• Are you using previous purchase activity to align successful historic promotions to new promotional emails (I respond better to free shipping than 5% off)
• Are you using dynamic subject lines in conjunction with dynamic content to align the message to the micro-masses?

Not only is this the foundation of direct marketing, it’s also the foundation for next-generation web analytics strategies. In other words, we all have to build from the basics.
 
Remember, yesterday’s challenges are today’s excuses – and that’s largely all they are.  With ExactTarget’s Fall 2007 Release, we made it easier than ever to integrate.  WE host the data store, WE manage the import process, WE can automate data updates…all you need to do it to throw a file out onto an FTP directory (something a good “geek” can accomplish in a few hours!)
 
Executing on direct marketing basics will result in sizable program impact.  Interested?  LET’S TALK!  Send me an email and I can quantify program impact using the metrics you already have in house.  So let’s see how “going back to basics” bolsters your bottom line.

The hoopla has started to calm down, but the impact of the iPhone is becoming crystal clear now. The battle between Apple and RIM is shaping up. B2B marketers hoping that business users are only using Blackberries need to take note. Optimizing your email for mobile rendering on the Blackberry is not going to be the long term answer.

Furthermore, other smartphone manufacturers continue to release phones that seem to be a direct response to the iPhone. Samsung's F700 and the LG Voyager are just a couple of the more notable recent releases.

It seems that iPhone’s full support of HTML on the web and email has fundamentally changed the definition of “mobile internet.”  Where users had grown accustomed to having limited functionality on their mobile devices, the iPhone responds with a clear message, “you don’t need to settle.” iPhone delivered a user-friendly experience that makes huge strides (however imperfect) toward providing a web and email experience that mimics a traditional computer.

Whether or not Apple caught the other manufacturers off-guard or not is a moot point now.  Fact is, that many of the leading mobile manufactures, such as Nokia, Samsung, and Ericsson had joined the dotMobi bandwagon prior to the iPhone release. The folks at Apple recognized error of the dotMobi approach, which essentially creates two distinct online worlds--simultaneously creating both a fractured marketing experience and administrative nightmares associated with running parallel sites. Instead, Apple developers facilitated access of the traditional web and email on a mobile device... and by doing so, set a new standard.

In bypassing the dotMobi movement, Apple has done a service to all online and email marketers by creating demand for mobile devices that have full internet functionality, and by showing that it is possible. Email marketing professionals should praise this accomplishment. I believe it is a critical first step toward a solution to the current challenges associated with mobile email rendering.

Many of you met Joel Book at our Connections ‘07 User Conference. As ExactTarget’s beloved “email evangelist,” Joel exudes class and professionalism. He loves sailing and expensive seafood. He’s a world traveler and email marketing aficionado.

But he’s not a 13-year-old girl.

Why the clarification? Well, somehow Joel made it onto a direct mail prospecting list for a silver charm company (who will remain nameless) geared – it would seem – towards adolescent girls. Talk about missing your target audience. By a LOT.

As Joel showed me the direct mail package he received (size: department store shirt box), we both knew this company had severely missed their mark – and wasted their money.

The box was bright green and blue (think bad 80s eye shadow) with swirling flower patterns. I was initially struck by its sheer weight, instinctively supporting the underside of the box with my second hand. But nothing could have prepared me for the wonders within.

Maybe it was the Barbie pendant or the “My Buddy” two-piece necklace made for “BFFs” (“Best Friends Forever,” for you non-seventh-graders) that caught my eye. Or, perhaps, it was the bright pink catalog pages (my eyes are still bleeding) featuring the company’s complete set of princess charms and necklaces. Approximately 35 different trinkets and catalogs erupted from the box.

As I stared at the promotional carnage strewn across my desk, I couldn’t help but shed a figurative tear at the hundred of dollars they’d wasted on the wrong prospect. They clearly didn’t know Joel at all.

Whether you’re sending a direct mail piece, email, SMS, or voice message, your efforts are wasted if you target the wrong people. After all, can you really afford to waste $100 per head on a generic direct mail piece that ends up lining the hamster cage…? Or to waste your email marketing budget sending mass-messages to the wrong audience? Probably not.

Nicole
Marketing Communications Associate

Ps – if anyone wants a free “4 Best Friend” necklace, let me know…Joel won’t be using it.