Email Marketing Solution

The Latest One to One Marketing Solutions With iLab - Omniture Test and Target

Thursday, August 27, 2009 by Jeff Cunning

iLab at ExactTarget is always rolling out new products, solutions, features, and functionalities for your benefit. Recent innovations include Impression Tracking for Dynamic Content or AMPscript, Outbound Text Messaging with a Shared Short Code, and International Text Messaging. Some spaces still remain so don't wait any longer to become our newest partner in innovation.

This week, we are excited to release Omniture Test & Target. And in iLab, it's not just another affordable email marketing solution--it's free! This new feature is a conversion product that allows marketers to test subscriber interaction with website design, content, navigation, and campaigns. Test results can be accessed in real time and used to target marketing offers, products, and content to different segments or individuals in order to create the most effective campaigns.

Whether it's B2B or B2C, access iLab today to sign up for Omniture Test & Target and take the next step in delivering the most relevant information to your subscribers!

2009 Marketer's Dilemma: Doing More with Less...Again

Thursday, August 20, 2009 by Amanda Berkey

39% of Marketers think their budget will be cut in 2009

As a marketer, I've always focused on balancing driving the most results from a limited budget. Then the global recession took effect last year and to remain competitive, companies began their prudent cost-cutting measures across all areas of the business. All marketers know that their budgets are some of the first to be reduced during trying economic times. This challenge helps us flex our virtual marketing muscles to affect our target audience with strategic marketing campaigns, with less budget than before.

The good news is that you're not alone! MediaPost shared results from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) recent survey of marketers, concluding that while marketing spend is slightly increasing in some companies, the amount of new projects is surging. What a balancing act!

MediaPost's Jack Loechner writes, "today, 87% of the respondents indicate they are identifying cost savings and reductions, the same as one year ago, and only slightly improved from 93% six months ago." The survey shows that marketing spending is still tight often leading to sending fewer people on the road, reducing the media advertising, and lowering overall production costs.

This recent survey validates that the pressure is on to continue to improve marketing strategies that drive business results, all while spending less budget. At ExactTarget we know more than ever that our customers come to us for One to One Marketing and Email Marketing Strategies that help set them apart from their competitors.

This Tuesday, Myron Corporation, announced that they renewed their contract with ExactTarget because they were able to reduce their marketing costs while more than doubling their email-related sales using our on-demand marketing solutions. So what's "in" for 2009, you ask? Saving on costs, while driving business is always in style.

Partner Network Builds Strategic Email Marketing Relationships

Thursday, August 20, 2009 by Kyle Schroeder

ExactTarget has a highly-talented team of people working with one objective in mind: developing strategic partnerships with referral, consulting, embedded, integrated, and reseller partners.

Why?

These partnership strengthen the abilities of the companies we work with and allow more people to utilize the power of ExactTarget’s one-to-one marketing software through email, SMS, and voice. ExactTarget is the perfect email marketing solution for many businesses looking to send direct email marketing campaigns.

Our partner page lists who we are currently aligned with and our program guide gives you detailed description of what it means to be a partner with ExactTarget, an industry leader in 1 to 1 Email Marketing Solutions that can develop effective email marketing campaigns across industries.

Interested in learning more? Download the ET Partner Program Guide PDF.

Kyle Schroeder
Slingshot Summer Intern

Best Practices for Successful B-to-B Email Marketing

Friday, July 17, 2009 by Joel Book

Sallie Anthony is one of the smartest email marketers I know. As Field Communication Manager for the Retirement & Protection division of Genworth Financial, Sallie’s job is to use email to keep Genworth connected to – and top of mind with – Insurance Brokers, General Agents, and Independent Financial Advisors.

In her recent presentation at the Annual Conference of the Business Marketing Association in Chicago, Sallie discussed the value of personalizing email content to the needs of individual subscribers. Two statistics stand out:

Email personalized with photo and contact information for the Genworth sales person produced a 7-10% higher open rate compared to non-personalized email
Sales were 39% higher for Genworth customers who received personalized e-newsletters compared to those who did not

You can view and listen to the entire presentation at the BMA website.

3 Guidelines for Effective Email Personalization

Having observed how email has become the backbone of successful one-to-one marketing solutions, I have 3 guidelines that will help you use personalization for more effective B-to-B email.

1. Remember that People buy from People.

With all due respect to brand marketers, creative directors, and copywriters, it’s important to remember that nothing is more important in selling than the customer’s relationship with the person with whom she is doing business. That person may be a dealer, an agent, or a field sales representative.

When you send email, send it on behalf of the “relationship owner” and include that person’s photo and contact information so it’s easy for the customer to contact him. This type of personalization dramatically improves email marketing campaign performance.

2. Serve. Don’t Sell.

Customers don’t want to be sold. But they do want to be helped in making their buying decision. That’s why using email to deliver information and offers that aid the customer’s decision-making process is the best way to support – and accelerate – the buying process.

Once a person has been attracted to your web site, use email to engage with and move the prospect through the consideration and evaluation stages . . . all the way to purchase. Serve your subscribers well, and the will reward you with their business. In fact, Forrester Research reports that “those who buy products marketed through email spend 138% more than non-readers of email.”

3. Put the Customer in Control.

One of the smartest things you can do to maximize email marketing performance is to personalize email content to the subscriber’s needs. When a new subscriber opts in to receive email from you, invite her to go to your preference center where she can check off her needs and topics of interest relevant to the products or services you offer. Then, use the Dynamic Content feature in your email campaign application to deliver content that’s relevant and timely. This is the essence of the Subscribers Rule mantra.

The Future of Email Marketing

Wednesday, July 8, 2009 by Kevin Nuest

For my inaugural blog post, I thought I would give an overview of the type of content you will see from me. I will explore the future of marketing, including everything from Facebook and Twitter to LinkedIn and Skype. I will also go beyond these household names and look at what is next on the bleeding edge and how people will want to be marketed to in the future.

Remember that episode of Futurama where advertisements are zapped into everyone's heads while they slept? That would be the perfect 1 to 1 Marketing solution, right? Send each potential customer a personalized advertisement that they cannot ignore.

Of course we all know that most, if not everyone would consider this a huge invasion of privacy. 15 years ago we would have considered Facebook and MySpace massive invasions of privacy. Now, with a few quiet objections, it is considered the norm.

Until the proverbial zapping of advertisements into customers' heads commences, the best marketing strategies with still center around Permission-Based Email Marketing. While integrating social media efforts is very important, the ROI of email still remains King.

Email Marketing Solution - Retailers Need a Live Offers Bailout!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009 by Angela Khan

I recently made a post suggesting retailers leverage the consumer's desperate cry for more socially responsible marketing (aka - build some trust back up when consumers have none left). But don't stop there. Why not jump on the "bailout" bandwagon as well.

One company put a creative spin on a promotion to give away free pizza for a year. The only problem? They started giving away pizza this week by accident before ever selecting a winner. Opps. This isn't necessarily all bad. They did learn just how quickly their campaign was catching on in the websphere. But I'm betting they didn't have time to do a cost analysis before giving away 11,000+ pizzas. What they could have leveraged is a dynamically generated coupon offer.

Here are just a few quick benefits had this promotion been driven by a dynamic offer:
1.) Identify the geo-graphic areas of the country that are generating the most traffic. Now you've got another re-marketing attribute to leverage for the next campaign.
2.) Identify the time of day the offer was used and now you've got yet another re-marketing attribute for the next campaign.
3.) When the demand for the offer is higher than the expected traffic, you can always switch the consumers who haven't opened the email yet to a different offer. Never too late to switch.
4.) Dynamically generated codes means no one can guess the code and then mass distribute it.
5.) Generate future business by requiring those who received the forwarded offer to sign up first in order to receive a promo code.

And before you know it, that coupon code bailed out your customers and your job!

Email Marketing Term of the Day: API

Friday, March 13, 2009 by Amanda Cross

An Application Programming Interface (API) is a set of programming tools that you use to create an application.

People could use the ExactTarget APIs to:

Do some processes programmatically. For example, you can send an email without ever logging in to your account by using the API.
Integrate ExactTarget functionality into their own application. These mashups allow you to get the benefits of ExactTarget tools from within the context of a different program.
Create their own email marketing solution powered by ExactTarget tools.

ExactTarget offers two flavors of API: an XML API and a web service API. The XML API is simple enough for non-programmers to use, but not very powerful. The web service API offers a lot more flexibility and much better error reporting, but requires programming skills to use.

You must have your ExactTarget account specially enabled to use the API. Contact ExactTarget if you're interested in this feature.

Leading the Change with Omniture and ExactTarget

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 by Scott Thomas

Josh James, CEO of Omniture, spent a majority of his time during his opening keynote at Summit 09 underscoring that in these times of economic uncertainity that marketers must...Lead the Change.

The explosion of online digital mediums such as mobile web, social media, and online video provide plenty of opportunities for marketers to continue to be the thought leaders and the ones who drive the conversation for businesses.

ExactTarget's industry leading one-to-one marketing solutions with a focus on email marketing coupled with Omniture's industry leading suite of online optimization tools such as SiteCatalyst, Genesis, and Test & Target make it easy for marketers to lead the change.

I encourage you to checkout the material and announcements we are making at this show by going here in order to help you lead the change.

ExactTarget and Omniture are ready...are you?

ExactTarget at Microsoft Convergence

Monday, February 9, 2009 by Stephanie Rhoads

Save the Date! ExactTarget will be showcasing our best-of-breed email marketing solution as a Silver Sponsor at Microsoft's Convergence in New Orleans March 10-13th.

If you have an interest in integrating your email marketing program with your CRM data, check us out in the Big Easy. Learn more about ExactTarget for Microsoft Dynamics CRM here. Or email the partner team for all the information you need on our relationship with Microsoft and our CRM integration.

Save the Date!
Who: ExactTarget
What: Microsoft Convergence
When: March 10-13, 2009
Where: Booth 809, Morial Convention Center, New Orleans

Register for Microsoft Convergence Now!

We look forward to seeing you in New Orleans!

Using UX Design for Email Solutions

Saturday, January 24, 2009 by Ryan Warren

I don't pay much attention to the expert exchanges nor have I memorized the latest Marketing Sherpa Trends. Most email marketing consultants I know, talk very eloquently about statistical trends and how best practices dictate the proper gospel for the space. And, although these trends are great for an initial point of view, I believe they have fallen short in a number of ways. Most notably, emailer marketers rarely address the user experience.

Here's the thing. The days of uploading a list, creating an email and then sending it were over almost before we began as an industry. Today's successful email programs are part of a much bigger picture. They are kind of like cartilage. Without it you are crippled and slow to move. But if email is no more than connective tissue, then we need to begin thinking about how customers experience the brand from a UX (user experience) point of view.

So here is my advice. When designing your next integrated email campaign don't just think of how the data is going to move but also how the customer will move. Map it visually so that you can truly understand your customer's path and the actions required to produce results for your business.

Included in this post is a link to an excerpt from what we call a Solutions Recipe within the Solutions Consulting group. The illustration shows an email solution both from the customer prospective as well as the user of ExactTarget. The solution is a very simple welcome email.

Download the PDF here.

There are many incredible resources out there if you are new to such efforts. Even if you are not, the list of resources below are great to help sharpen your skills.

http://boxesandarrows.com/
http://www.adaptivepath.com/
http://www.edwardtufte.com
http://developer.yahoo.com/ypatterns/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience

2008 Email Chart of the Year: MarketingSherpa's Marketing Tactics in the Economic Downturn

Monday, January 12, 2009 by Morgan Stewart

The chart below from MarketingSherpa was featured as their "chart of the week" just before Thanksgiving. As I have reflected on the year ahead in recent weeks, I have come to believe this is one of the most improtant charts for those of us in email marketing to consider this year. For that reason, I am calling it my "Chart of the Year". Take a look at the chart and keep reading for my take on why this information is so important.

MarketingSherpa's article focuses on insights about traditional offline marketing tactics contained in this data. More marketers plan to decrease vs. increase direct mail, event marketing, radio, TV, and print advertising budgets. Contrarily, the only two areas where more marketers plan to increase vs. decrease budgets are social media and email to house lists.

Yeah email!!! Right?

Yes and no... at least IMHO.

The good news contained in this chart related to email marketing is twofold:

1) Email to house lists works; email to rented lists stinks: Finally! The permission message about email marketing is settling in. I attribute this in part to a long list of industry leaders who have become more vocal about the value of permission only, respect, and subscribers rule (please excuse the shameless promotion) philosphies. The other thing I suspect is influencing this trend is that email marketers are experiencing first hand the reality that email to rented lists simply does not work very well. Taken together, there is too little upside in email rental world for the headaches it creates.

2) More investment in permission-based email will lead to innovation in 2009: If 48% of marketers plan to invest more in email in 2009, then we can definitely expect to see a lot of innovation this year. For example, some companies have picked up on the trends in social media and started to include features in their email programs such as this 'rate our newsletter' example from Betty Crocker:

Andrew Kordek took this and raised the bar with this dare--ask for feedback and have the guts to post the results. Expect best practices to emerge on this and other new tactics in 2009.

There are downsides as well to the data contained in the chart from MarketingSherpa, which really comes down to one thing:

Increased interest in email to house lists means more competition: If you read the 2009 Marketing Almanac we recently published, you already know I expect competition to increase this year. This is not a year to sit back and let your email program run on autopilot--if you do, then expect your response rates to decline.

In college, many of my classes were graded on a true curve--meaning that about half the class got C's. There were as many A's given out as there were F's. Welcome to Inbox Competition! Average means you get a C. If you fall behind, you risk getting an F (declining list, lower conversion, etc.). Only those who stand out in the crowd will earn an A in email marketing. What does it look like to earn an A? Being you your subscribers Fab 5 list.

Fab 5 lists to check out:

1) Our very own Jeff Rohrs.

2) David Baker, vice president of email solutions at Razorfish.

3) Lisa Harmon, principal and founding partner of Smith-Harmon.

BTW... notice there are no repeats here. There is room to be your subscribers favorite! :)

Offers, Discounts, Sales! Oh, where do I find them?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008 by ExactTarget Marketing

As the holidays approach, closing in on the last 3 months, it's amazing how quickly retailers begin to gear up on selling Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decorations. But where are those deals, that door buster that is going to make me block out my calendar the day after Thanksgiving to hit the sale? And where are the deals relevant to what I want to buy? Sure, I could buy the Glow in the Dark 14 foot Mummy for 10% off but why on earth would I want that when I don't even have a front yard to put it in?

I introduce to you in a very exciting way, LIVE OFFERS! I can't begin to tell you what a privilege it is to have our very astonishing Product Development Team create this "offering", no pun intended. This e-mail marketing solution is very powerful for not just the marketer but the consumer. We'll start from the consumer's point of view since I am just so excited about this. I can't wait to receive relevant offers!!

Let's start with my demographic stats (hint, hint, please send me something relevant):
•   Gen Y (29-42)
•   Married
•   No Children
•   College Educated
•   Enjoys shopping, eating out, running and reading
•   Business Professional who works 50+ hours a week
•   Brand Advocate for Jupiter Vapors shoes

So, did I mention I enjoy high end shoes that I simply can't afford? Yes, I do receive my yearly $25 birthday gift card in the mail from some Apparel & Accessory Retailers. But my husband swiftly throws any additional solicitation (I like to call them DEALS) in the trash before I even begin to sort through the pile. But, what if I were to receive an exclusive offer via e-mail that only the very savvy and efficient shoppers could cash in on? What if I were to receive an offer for a pair of limited addition shoes that only I and 300 others would have the opportunity to purchase? Now that's excitement!

So, how could a retailer create such an offering? Well, the answer is pretty simple. Live Offers allows retailers to target, predict and re-market offers. What does that mean? Let me explain.

1.) You know that I am in my late 20's or 30's. I am a business professional who enjoys shopping. Therefore, it is likely I check e-mail often, have little time to hunt for discounts and enjoy very fashionable shoes. With a targeted inventory based live offer, I can enjoy the convenience of an exclusive, relevant offer sent via e-mail that I can check from my Blackberry at any moment.

2.) Using Live Offer Redemption Reports, you can view when I opened the offer, printed it and redeemed it in the store. You even know what store location I redeemed the offer in. This enables you with the data you need to predict which offers I'll enjoy in the future.

3.) Re-market offers to new segments when existing offers didn't catch on with the initial segment. Inventory based offers allow retailers to target the entire list with an offer but only provide the offer to the first x amount of people who open the offer. If the offer was never redeemed, re-assign the offer for a more effective e-mail campaign.

Now that retailers have the opportunity to leverage truly 1-to-1 personalized offers, I'm hoping I'll get one very soon. Nothing would brighten my day better than a deal on a great pair of gold pumps for the holidays. Oh, Jupiter Vapors, please e-mail me an exclusive offer. I promise, you'll have me at open!

Angela Khan
Product Marketing Manager

Retail Marketing Gets a Boost from Email

Tuesday, January 29, 2008 by Joel Book

Hats off to ExactTarget agency partner, Customer Portfolios for the terrific work they are doing to help Dunkin’ Donuts roll out its new Dunkin’ Perks™ customer loyalty program.

As reported by Amy Johannes in the January 23rd online

As reported by Amy Johannes in the January 23rd online edition of PROMO P&I, Dunkin’ Donuts will use permission-based email to keep customers enthused, engaged, and most importantly . . . coming back to its stores and its website to take advantage of special offers.

In the article, Joahannes notes that customers who opt-in for the Dunkin’ Perks program will receive e-mails twice a month with product news, store locations and special in-store and online offers. Members get offers throughout the year specific to their local market.

David Tryder, Dunkin’ Donuts manager of interactive and relationship marketing said, “We want to continue building relationships with our customers by sending them targeted communications and offers.”

Localized Promotion

One of the things I like about this program is that many of the promotions Dunkin’ Donuts sends will be specific to the Dunkin’ Perks™ member’s geographic location. I think franchise owners will love this! As I am reminded when I click on the “Perks FAQs” menu item (See My Perks Profile page below), “It's the easiest way for Dunkin' Lovers to keep up to date with everything happening at Dunkin'.”

And just in case a consumer needs help finding a Dunkin’ Donuts store where they can get their DD fix, a handy store locator makes it easy for me to find one.

The Dunkin’ Perks™ program was piloted in Albany, NY last year and went very well according to Nick Godfrey of Customer Portfolios.

As to how the one-to-one marketing program works, Godfrey said, “As customers use their Perks card, all transaction data is captured so we know what they are spending per visit, how often they are visiting their Dunkin’ Donuts store, and at what time of day they are visiting. This enables us to target customers with relevant, just out of reach offers. When customers change their behavior, they are rewarded. Everyone is happy. To that end, we consistently see over a 50% open rate for Perks’ emails!”

Godfrey added, “To ensure customers become accustomed to receiving and recognizing their regularly scheduled Perks email, all emails carry the same subject line: Dunkin' Perks Alert.”

The Agency Behind the Dunkin’ Perks™ Program

Customer Portfolios is the agency behind successful database marketing programs for many brands including Johnston & Murphy, Hat World/Lids, Unicef, World Travel Holdings, and Baskin-Robbins. The firm’s “Lights-Out Marketing” solution enables organizations to execute highly targeted and triggered email marketing programs that are based on such specifics as the customer's segment, life cycle stage, and purchasing behavior.

The revolution will not televised - it will be triggered.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007 by Integration Team

You saw it here first. The email revolution will be triggered. ExactTarget's Fall Release will be the trigger that starts the next revolution in one-to-one marketing. The ability to build programs within your email marketing system that run by themselves. Are you kidding me? Relevant Relational Data driving content in a single email marketing solution. It get's better, we have added the ability to send voice mail and text messsaging.

In one release? ExactTarget will need to hire someone to consult with customers on how to re-think database marketing given ExactTarget's latest toolset. Wait a minute. That's my job. Sorry readers I have to get ready for the revolution. No time to chat. One-to-one marketing is limited only by your imagination. Power to the Marketer.

If They say it can't be done - They haven't seen ExactTarget's Fall Release.

Bill Hammer
Senior Integration Consultant

The ExactTarget Blog

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