This just in: 18-24 year olds think of email as a “formal” medium of communication. This is ironic, maybe even laughable or disturbing to some. I remember when email was first coming into broader adoption in the mid-90’s I read editorials discussing the demise of manners due to the loss of the personal, handwritten letter.

College students just think differently than us older (ahem, established career) folks. We recently hosted a panel of students from Ball State’s Center for Media Design (CMD) who hit this point home. For them, social media and SMS round out the top forms of personal messaging, and email is the realm of the formal, the land of the adults, parents, professors, and even grandmas. One student on the panel even said: “An email is like getting a letter. It’s just above a Facebook wall post of “sweet things.” Awesome.

This perception of greater importance, gravity, and formality of email could actually serve marketers well. For businesses that know how to respect the rights of their subscribers, and send relevant, permission-based and personalized content there is simply no evidence to support the pundits predicting the demise of the email. Email is still incredibly viable for all age audiences for messaging and permission-based marketing.

The 18-24 demographic is very savvy with technology, however. Growing up with email, they are masters of “making it work” for themselves so it fits with their lives and preferences. At our panel discussion the students commonly reported having multiple email addresses – each address with a distinct purpose. For example, one student said, “I have my college email address for emails from my administration and professors, then a Gmail account for the signing up for ‘stuff I want,’ to get about products, etc…and I have a Yahoo address for spam, which I use when I’m on a gamer site and I just want to play, not get their crap. It’s kind of a throwaway address.”

Everyone likes a handwritten letter. Why? I think there are two main reasons. First, letters are a symbol of caring due to the time investment required to create one. Second, the personal nature of seeing a friend or relative’s handwriting is simply compelling, flattering, and human. Letters are formal and show that the sender “cared” enough to take the time to write, etc. Direct Marketers figured this out in the 80’s and companies like Intelligent Ink sprouted up to add a new type of personal, human touch to direct mail. They employed an army of minimum wage workers with good penmanship to personalize envelopes. Though this technique may seem trite today, when these first hit mailboxes a few decades back the concept was new and differentiated, and the response increase was through the roof!

Think how you can improve your program by adding personalization and a bit of care to your next campaign. Start by thinking of your subscribers as individuals and you’re on the right track.

The future for email, however, is much brighter than it is for direct mail. Even in this down economy, a new study from eConsultancy says that 59% of companies plan to increase their spend on email marketing in the coming 12 months. Now if I could only get a fancy wax seal on my email...

JamBase Monetizes its Email Program

Last week, DMNews carried a great article describing how live music promoter, JamBase, is monetizing its email program by running ads inside the emails that alert fans when and where their favorite artists are performing. I think my friend, Andy Gadiel, and his gang may be on to something big here.
For brands that have been smart about building a quality email subscriber database, they now have a great way to capitalize on their efforts by offering advertisers a unique opportunity to reach a very qualified – and loyal – audience.
In case you got an early start on the Thanksgiving holiday, and missed it, here’s an excerpt:

“For online music site JamBase, monetizing e-mails just got easier. Since its ad network partner, Google Ad Manager, and its e-mail service provider (ESP), ExactTarget, integrated into one platform last week, JamBase is now running ads inside of its e-mails.

The new ExactTarget offering, deemed Live Ads, an integration with Google Ad Manager and Dart for Publishers, is helpful for a brand which usually finances its e-mails through sponsorships. The e-commerce site is a destination for music fans to learn all about upcoming concerts and music events. Fans who opt in to receive e-mails get updates about concerts coming to their area and information about bands they like.

Normally, the e-mails are paid for by the concert promoter, but this has caused a challenge when the promoter of a customer's favorite band did not sponsor an e-mail. To address this issue, last year the brand launched New Show Alerts, so that customers could always get an e-mail alert about a show for their favorite band no matter if the promoter was paying for the spot or not. But now, thanks to the new ExactTarget offering, JamBase is able to keep the consumer happy and finance their promotions.

“Because of [ExactTarget's] integration with Google Ad Manager, we can include ads in those e-mails so it solves the problem of who will pay for the e-mail,” said Andy Gadiel, founder/president of JamBase. “It helps us keep providing the service to help customers keep up to date with the music that they love.”

Hope to See You at NCDM
If you’re looking for an “executive primer” on email marketing, I highly recommend you sign up for the special pre-conference workshop that my friend and colleague Jeanne Jennings of JeanneJennings.com will lead at the upcoming National Center for Database Marketing Conference (NCDM) in Orlando. Our seminar, “Insider Tips for Making Your Email Marketing Efforts More Effective – and More Profitable” will be held on Monday, December 8th from 9:10 AM to 11:50 AM.

If you have not yet registered for NCDM, there’s still time and there are plenty of registration options to fit your needs. To register, just go to the NCDM registration page on the NCDM 2008 website where you can also download the complete NCDM 2008 Conference Brochure.

Israel has a new anti-spam law that takes affect today, December 1^st, 2008. Ultimately, it seems to boil down to: Opt-in is king. Companies who don’t already live up to the opt-in standard (with appropriate tracking of opt-in permission) seem to be rushing to reconfirm their email lists. ExactTarget’s contract requirements already require opt-in, so that’s a great start. But, if you send mail into Israel and/or have a presence there, I’d strongly recommend contacting an attorney for guidance. My (very limited) Hebrew skills make decoding the Israel Internet Association’s anti-spam website a bit difficult, but it does suggest to me that getting permission in writing is a requirement, as is labeling the message as an advertisement.

There’s definitely some confusion out there regarding what’s allowed and what’s not allowed under the law, and it’s unclear to me what ability there would be to take action against senders located outside of Israel, but it’s not the kind of thing that I recommend you find out for yourself. Our recommendation is always to comply with the legal requirements of every jurisdiction you’re knowingly serving mail to.

Warm wishes to you and your family for a happy and healthy Thanksgiving weekend. I am so grateful for our incredibly talented employees, dedicated clients, and many friends across the industry. You power our success day in, day out. But as I reflect on 2008 in particular, I can’t help but be reminded of two particularly wonderful blessings we’ve enjoyed this Fall at ExactTarget.

Steady Growth in Unsteady Economic Times

During a time when many companies have had to cut spending, layoff employees, and lower public expectations, ExactTarget continues to be blessed with strong financial, employee, and client growth. In October, we were fortunate enough to be joined at the Gibson building—the site of our brand new technology center—by Indianapolis Governor Mitch Daniels and Mayor Greg Ballard to help announce ExactTarget’s bold new growth initiatives.

A few highlights from the press conference include:

• 125 new jobs in 2008
• 300 additional jobs by 2013
• A state-of-the-art technology center to complement our downtown headquarters
• An estimated $25 million dollar investment in the Indianapolis economy

Not too shabby for these economic times, right? If you’re as excited about our growth as I am, I’d encourage you to check out our open positions and become part of the ExactTarget team!

SOLD OUT Connections ’08 User Conference

Over 1,200 digital marketers attended this year’s Connections ’08 User Conference in Indianapolis. Featuring some of the best speakers in the business like Joseph Jaffe, Papa John’s CEO Nigel Travis, entrepreneur Christopher Gardner, and Colts Head Coach Tony Dungy – not to mention over 50 customer, partner, and industry expert speakers – the event was a huge success.

Three of my favorite Connections ’08 moments included:

• The introduction of a bold new approach to one-to-one communications – Subscribers Rule! 3 Simple tenets. One rockin’ website.
• The launch of ExactTarget 3sixty, a new online social networking community helping clients connect clients and clients connect with ExactTarget. Check it out!
• The unveiling of Extensions Network, an online showcase of integrations with the ExactTarget platform. See it for yourself!

Thanks to all who helped make Connections ’08 a success. We’re grateful to those of you who spent your time learning and exploring with us, and we hope to see you again next year.

Wow. Talk about blessings! If the past year is any indicator of our future success, I have every reason to be very excited, indeed. 2008 has been a wonderful adventure, and I can’t wait to see what 2009 has in store.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Scott

Last week, I had the pleasure of participating on a panel at the inaugural Internet Summit ’08 conference in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The event attracted more than 600 marketing and technology professionals to the Friday Center on the UNC campus. It was a first class event all the way around. My compliments to Eric Gregg, Scott Hedrick and the TechJournal South team who produced this conference.

Our panel tackled the topic, “Next Generation Email Marketing” and not surprisingly, many of the questions focused on how businesses are using email to stay engaged with customers and prospects in today’s challenging economy.

One thing is clear. Those companies that have invested in the development of their email subscriber base are now reaping the rewards for their efforts. Companies that have the ability to use email to nurture leads, convert prospects to buyers, drive repeat purchase, and generate referrals from satisfied customers have a huge competitive advantage over those that don’t. 

At a time when advertising and marketing expenses are being slashed and marketers need to do more with less, it’s no mystery why we are seeing budgets shifting to email. With an average ROI of $45 for every dollar spent (Source: The DMA), email has become the “linchpin solution” for customer retention and growth.

Where to Get Your Email Marketing “Executive MBA”

If you want to know about the top trends and best practices of email marketing, I highly recommend you sign up for the special pre-conference workshop that my friend and colleague Jeanne Jennings of JeanneJennings.com will lead at the upcoming National Center for Database Marketing Conference (NCDM) in Orlando. Our seminar, “Insider Tips for Making Your Email Marketing Efforts More Effective – and More Profitable” will be held on Monday, December 8th from 9:10 AM to 11:50 AM.

Whether you’re managing email, direct marketing, or the web, figuring out the best combination of customer touch points to increase response rates and drive sales shouldn’t be a guessing game. At NCDM, you’ll learn about the latest online and offline analytical approaches, multichannel marketing strategies and technology solutions that you need to make your database marketing program effective.

Get Registered for NCDM!
If you have not yet registered for NCDM, there’s still time and there are plenty of registration options to fit your needs. To register, just go to the NCDM registration page on the NCDM 2008 website where you can also download the complete NCDM 2008 Conference Brochure.

Our 2008 Channel Preference Survey showed how college students are experiencing a tipping point of sorts with their personal communications. In fact, 34% of 18-24 year-olds said they use email and 34% said they use text messaging (SMS) when asked the medium they use “most often” to send written messages with their friends. However, just 19% prefer instant messaging (IM) and 9% prefer sending messages via a social networking site.

Will the entrance of today’s college students into the workforce change the way businesses communicate in the future? Will Facebook be the way young employees communicate with one another in 2011?

I think that most of the difference in personal communication preferences can be attributed to life-stage (unique needs, communication types, acceptable norms) than a generational difference that will be carried with to the adult stage. Using the “When in Rome, do as they do in Rome” concept, I think the platform, or forum for the communication is what primarily drives the messaging media selected. So, as today’s college students enter the workforce they will most likely be forced (or strongly coerced) to adapt to the email culture of their employers.

New platforms like social networks will prove difficult for marketers to penetrate, because most will approach it a bit too brazenly. Our survey data showed that 18-24 year olds report being nearly immune to the ploys of marketers. However, a new survey from Synovate shows some aren’t being entirely truthful. Or perhaps, is it just that when they interact with brands it is in a much more social manner? For example, 62% of 18-24 year-olds in the Synovate survey reported passing along comedy clips. Perhaps the best way for marketers to have their brand talked about is to encourage this kind of friend-to-friend pass-along. Maybe our ads just need to be funnier?!

Stay tuned for blog updates with additional takeaways from a recent panel we conducted as we hosted a number of faculty and students from the Ball State Center for Media Design. We’ve got lots of nuggets to share and insights for marketers on how to pick the right medium for the job.

Q:  Are there email design considerations I should make in the midst of a tough economy?

A: Since email design is the artful visualization of a business plan, marketers need to first ensure their communications strategy is solid. The focus should be on the subscriber and the financial challenges he or she is facing. Economy-induced challenges create strong emotional subscriber responses that need to be acknowledged and addressed in marketing communications.

Here are some tips:

1. Show appreciation. Customers should feel appreciated for their loyalty, so include a thank you note or email. Send holiday well wishes and request their feedback on how to better serve them in the new year. This shouldn’t be a check box survey that asks for their satisfaction level on a five point scale, but a sincere open-ended question that allows them to express their needs, concerns, and suggestions. Demonstrate that it is about them, not about you.
2. Be Patient. Your subscriber is a person facing financial challenges, not number 5,241 on your data list. Be careful to avoid damaging your one-to-one relationship by increasing the quantity – and promotional force – of your messages. Subscribers’ disposable income may be stretched, so be sensitive to your level of purchasing insistence. Remember to provide extra relevance during these times to keep brand engagement high – even if purchases wane.
3. Be empathetic. Acknowledge tough times by offering valuable product-related solutions. Think creatively about emotional solutions that may encourage a purchase when budgetary restrictions are loosened. Share stories, solutions or resourceful ideas from other subscribers who are feeling the same economic pain. Consider creating an online community for subscribers to connect with each other. Listen.

Sales are down. You’re having a slow quarter. You need to squeeze every last email address you can find for every last dime you can get. Let’s grab ‘em all – even the ones we haven’t touched in years – and send them a big email blast. Good idea? Bad idea?

BAD IDEA.

Why? Because it’ll harm your email deliverability. Batch and blast – grabbing up a bunch of old email lists and sending everyone a 20% coupon code – is going to get you blocked. Tailoring your message to the economy isn’t a bad idea. Throwing permission practices out the window because you feel you need to email more people – well, that is most definitely a bad idea.

ISPs care about reputation, and you build a reputation by staying true to permission. Old lists, bought lists, opt-out lists – mailing to any of these will spike your bounce and spam complaint rates. The result? You’ve just been identified as a spammer.

You might be hoping for that last minute revenue boost, but you could actually see a revenue decline because your mail is no longer getting to the inbox at AOL and Yahoo.

What’s the impact to your bottom line if you lose access to 30% of your list?

I Just Called…To Say….That Voice + Email is Powerful Punch

With all the buzz around channels like Voice and SMS, it can be tempting to implement new programs just for the sake of doing what’s hot.  And let’s face it, that’s not so hot for your subscribers.  So if you’ve been searching for a meaningful way to incorporate Voice into your own marketing campaigns, bravo! 

Truth is, we’ve been looking, too.  Sure, ExactTarget offers the integrated one-to-one platform to make sending Email, SMS and Voice from a single user interface a snap.  But we’ve been known as a leading email company for years, and our B2B environment often lacks the promotional and urgent nature that’s so conducive for some emerging media.

So when R.J. Talyor, one of our Product Marketing Managers and Voice Expert Extraordinaire, approached us about conducting a Voice test for the Email Marketing Intelligence Webinar Series we’re hosting with MarketingSherpa, I was a little apprehensive.  Would it add value for our webinar registrants?  Would they be receptive to new channels of communication from ExactTarget?  Can Voice make a measurable impact on the event attendance?

In short, all findings point to YES.  I’m pleased to report that the Voice testing results from the first webinar were extremely positive.  I hope you find the following information both useful and encouraging when considering how (and when) to add Voice into your own marketing mix.

Webinar Reminder Testing Goal:  To find the ideal messaging mix to drive webinar attendance via reminders

Testing Approach
Registrant list split into three random groups to receive reminders the day of the event.

• Email-Only Reminder Group
• Voice-Only Reminder Group
• Email + Voice Reminder Group

Test Findings

• Email + Voice reminders drove the highest webinar attendance (43%)
• Email-only reminder came in second (36.3%)
• Voice-only reminder drove fewest attendees (29.6%)

 We’ll be continuing to test Voice for the next few webinars, so sign up to see them in action and stay tuned for further results!

Cheers,
Ashley Sales
Manager, Marketing Communications

In a team meeting the other day, we started kicking around acronyms on various topics, relating to specific processes. One of the funniest I heard was put forth by deliverability consultant Ted Meade: D.E.A.T.H.: Don’t Email Ads To Hardbounces.

And, oddly enough, it makes a lot of sense! ISPs look at what percentage of your mail bounces. They use this as one of their many measures to determine whether or not to block or filter your mail. If you have high bounces, you’re likely to have delivery issues.

To avoid high bounces, make sure you’re not knowingly importing old or invalid addresses. Also, let our Bounce Mail Management (BMM) system do it’s job. It will automatically weed out invalid, bouncing addresses after a certain number of tries. It’s possible to override this as needed, but it’s best not to do that unless you’re sure you know what you’re doing.

We have a handout that guides clients on how to quickly suppress bouncing addresses, if you don’t want to wait until the Bounce Mail Management system declares them dead. Feel free to contact us here in the Deliverability Services team if you’d like more info.

And don't forget, avoid deliverability D.E.A.T.H.!

1) Merchant places a display in telling people to text their email address to a shortcode in order to receive a coupon.

2) In response, you send a link to a landing page containing a customized coupon.

3) Customer takes their mobile device to the checkout counter and uses  the coupon.

“We want to build our list FAST! We want to put a notice on our high-traffic website that says, the first 1000 people to give us the email addresses of ten of their friends will each receive a $15 coupon code to use on our online store. Is this legal?”

Sure, it’s legal. But that’s the wrong question. Marketing success takes quite a bit more than just making sure what you want to do is legal. The right question would be something like: Is it wise? What kind of problems are you going to have as a result?

From a deliverability perspective, viral marketing campaigns + incentives = disaster.

Why?

The perception of spam is a big problem here. The “friends” are going to get this mail, not recognize that they signed up for it, and they’ll report it as spam. In a normal “forward to a friend” scenario, the volume is low enough, and the friend has enough control of the message, to minimize the associated risk. When you open it up broader, by way of asking for X email addresses, or by offering an incentive, you’re going to end up with a lot more addresses – bad addresses. Even if you don’t assume that people will try to game the system by giving you garbage addresses, the volume increase is the kind of thing that’ll hurt you, as there’ll be a greater number of spam complaints as a result.

Also – as I’ve blogged about before – any viral marketing program that utilizes incentives must comply with CAN-SPAM. That means that you have to make sure you do not send email to any “friend” who may already have unsubscribed emails from you. If you fail to scrub the submitted addresses against your internal unsubscribe records means you are failing to comply with the law. And the affirmative consent standard applies here. Meaning, if you don’t have affirmative consent from the person you’re emailing (and you won’t), then you have to label those messages as an advertisement. That’s bad news. That means you are pretty much labeling your mail as spam, and inviting ISPs to block it.

Forward-to-a-friend isn’t inherently bad, but it is risky from both the perspectives of legal compliance and deliverability success. Our recommendation is that you never offer any sort of incentive for viral marketing or similar programs, and that you never, ever have a webform that allows people to submit multiple email addresses. 

“Our terms of use specifically require that all members abide by all local, state and federal laws, including CAN-SPAM and we make sure to educate our customers accordingly,” says an email I received today.

That’s a red flag. When you brag to me about CAN-SPAM compliance, it tells me that you need something to brag about other than permission, other than clear and direct consent.

Sure, there’s spam out there that is far from legally compliant. But there’s such a thing as legally compliant spam, and it’s just as unwanted. What governs your ability to get your mail delivered? Permission, not just legal compliance. And legal compliance isn’t a substitute for permission.

Bragging about legal compliance is a bit like bragging about how fabulously shiny your subject line is. It makes for great marketing filler, but it means absolutely nothing.

If you’re bragging about CAN-SPAM compliance, it tells me that you either don’t understand how email reputation works, or you’re attempting to deceive, because you know you don’t have a solid level of permission involved.

I’m not sure which is worse, but either way, it means something doesn’t smell right. And in this case, the rest of the email message did nothing to allay my concerns. There was absolutely nothing about permission. No mention of clear consent. Just a lot of talk about legal compliance, and how anybody can opt-out, and we suppress X million addresses, and how they’re leaders on the lead generation and prospecting front.

Really? Leaders? Without permission? I don’t think so.

On May 12, 2008, when the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) approved four new rule provisions under the US Federal anti-spam law, CAN-SPAM, they also included some very important clarifying information in the related Statement of Basis and Purpose (SBP), which was published shortly thereafter in the Federal Register. The most important bit of that clarifying information relates to forward-to-a-friend messaging and how that messaging is covered under CAN-SPAM.

In a scenario in which someone either receives a commercial e-mail message and forwards the e-mail to another person, or uses a Web-based mechanism to forward a link to or copy of a Web page to another person, the FTC explains that, generally speaking, if the sender offers something of value in exchange for forwarding a commercial message, then that company must comply with CAN-SPAM.

Meaning, if you offer an incentive to people to forward your message to a friend, you have to ensure that they do not forward your message to somebody on your unsubscribe list, else you are liable for a CAN-SPAM violation.

Let’s break it down even further. Imagine this scenario:

• You have a Forward-to-a-friend, invite-a-friend, or any type of viral marketing mechanism where a recipient has the ability to submit an email address, and you then send that person an email.
• You offer an incentive to people to submit their friends’ email addresses.
• You then send an email message to those friends.
• If any of those friends were on your unsubscribe list, if they had previously opted-out from your messages, then you’ve just broken the law.

Not good!

Our recommendation is that you don’t offer an incentive to subscribers to forward your email unless you have ability to honor existing and future opt-out requests. This isn’t typical, standard functionality. If it’s something you plan to do via ExactTarget, make sure you talk to your account manager and the deliverability services team, to better understand the legal liabilities and technical requirements relating to any sort of forward-to-a-friend process.

In closing, here’s one additional thing to keep in mind: If that message you send purports to be from the friend, the friend must have control of content. In the past, the FTC levied record fines against a company who sent messages as the friend, but didn’t give the friend control over the content. This is the kind of thing where they’re likely to actively prosecute bad actors. As always, make sure you don’t implement this in a way that makes you look like a bad actor.

Jason Baer understands the game-changing value of adding digital marketing expertise to an agency’s service offering. Before he founded Convince&Convert, a social media and email consulting firm that helps agencies beef up their digital marketing capabilities, Baer headed the interactive division of Off Madison Avenue in Tempe, Arizona. Recently, I sat down with Jason to get his take on why agencies must get serious about developing digital marketing capabilities.

Joel: Why is it critical for agencies to develop digital marketing capabilities?

Jason: 500% more people in the U.S. have a MySpace account than watch American Idol, which is far and away the #1 TV show. More dollars will be spent on Internet advertising this year than on radio advertising. We're at the point in the development of the Web that digital marketing capabilities are no longer optional, they are required. To be any sort of marketing consultancy today and not having digital expertise is akin to not having the expertise to write a press release or design a logo.

Further, the inherent tracking and testing opportunities that digital provides can dramatically enhance ROI of offline marketing, when those techniques and philosophies are applied universally. For example, using banner ad rotations to test creative messaging that is then rolled out in print, radio, TV etc.

Lastly, in this uncertain (at best) economy, clients will be gravitating even more toward digital because it is definable and measurable and the production costs are minimal in comparison to other tactics.

Joel: What “land mines” agencies should avoid in developing digital expertise?

Jason: I find three primary problems when traditional agencies try to enhance their digital capabilities.

First is the guru syndrome. I've written about this on my blog. Many agencies want to find a Web genius who can handle everything, and that will make the pain go away. Unfortunately, digital marketing is so broad and so nuanced now that one person cannot possibly stay on top of all of it. Also, if you accept the proposition that eventually digital will be baked in to essentially EVERY marketing program, having that digital knowledge siloed creates huge operational challenges for the agency. The guru ends up doing nothing but going to meetings, and does little actual digital marketing.

Second is the notion that digital marketing begins and ends. The reason digital marketing works is that it's a process, not a project. The ability to tweak and improve based on a careful study of analytics and other feedback mechanisms is a concept that is outside the historical world view of many agencies that specialize in "making stuff" like TV commercials, radio ads, outdoor boards, etc. The idea that once it's made, that's just the beginning of the marketing program, not the end is a big change for many agencies.

Lastly is the belief that digital marketing is a young man's game. So many small and medium-sized agencies make the junior staff handle all the digital work because it's familiar to them. That's a huge mistake. The potential for digital to transform a client's business - both positively and negatively - is real (especially in email and social media). Consequently, senior staff not being in the digital trenches creates missed opportunities, both for agencies and the brands they represent.

Check back on Wednesday for Part 2 of my interview with Jason as we talk about what agencies must do to master digital marketing.