Emerging Messaging

Since the launch of the Interactive Marketing Hub at Connections 10, we’ve had tons of questions sent in from customers who want to start using it to manage the real-time web. We’re thrilled with the interest, and your questions. To get some of them answered now, the Product Marketing team here at ExactTarget will be posting some “Get Real” blogs and tweets during the Beta program. . .if you have any others, just send them to hub@exacttarget.com and we’ll get them answered as well. 

During some of the product demos, I’ve received some good questions about Enterprise functionality. Here are a...

Every marketer has the list. You know—it’s that list you keep of “things I would think about. . .if I just had time to think!” The list probably comprises some of the harder challenges about your job—challenges you’d be able to solve with just a little more time, incremental budget, or an extra intern. Coincidentally, the list also contains the challenges that, if solved, could result in a promotion, or a raise. I have one, too. I call the list my “High Five.” 

Here are the “High Five” that should be on every marketer’s list right now: 

I just received a "welcome" email from a site where I signed up to receive their email newsletter.  I was excited about signing up for this newsletter because this organization is leading up an effort in Indianapolis to improve public transportation.  Despite my affinity for the organization, I was disappointed by their first impression. . .a text-only email in my inbox that said simply "thanks for signing up for our mailining list!" 

The good news:  they're following best practices, and sending a welcome email. 

The bad news:  the welcome email felt like a prank call.  Or maybe this is the...

My greatest frustration with my bank right now is that I can't set-up custom alerts.  I want to know when my balance is low, when a large check clears, when I'm about to go into overdraft-fee-land.  All I have right now is a daily balance email.  Sure:  that works;  but not the way I want it to. 

You're probably going to recommend that I switch banks.  But it's not that easy, is it?  With auto-billpay and direct deposits, I feel locked into my current bank. . .else deal with a bunch of new forms and paperwork that surround the financial industry.  For now, I'll have to stick with my...

This past week, I spoke at the DMA Atlanta's monthly luncheon on the topic of Text Messaging.  The crowd was a great mix of  offline direct marketers and interactive marketers who asked a number of great questions about texting as it relates to email, voice, web and offline efforts.

During the course of the Q&A, I said something like "if you want to do a text campaign for Black Friday, you should start planning now."  And I wanted to reiterate it here on my blog--now is the time!  Maybe you don't have to work out all the specific details for Black Friday, but any marketer looking to use...

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. . .right?  Well, this old adage is no longer welcome around the marketers in these parts.  Or if you’ve recently seen the movie Australia, then you’re familiar with Hugh Jackman’s character, Drover, who learns:  “Just because it is, doesn't mean it should be.”
 
Done well, email is a trusty companion in almost any marketing effort.  But the addition of text, voice and landing page programs can make email work better and smarter. In lean times, it’s important to stay one step ahead, and to recognize opportunities for campaigns that should be using other mediums...

I just returned from the eec Email Evolution Conference in Scottsdale.  Despite the 'email' tag, there were other types of marketers in the crowd, including the Compendium team and the group of marketers who attended the "160 Characters to Say You Love Them" panel where I co-presented on how email marketers can use permission-based SMS as a part of their one-to-one marketing strategies. 

After the presentation, I headed to lunch and was stopped by a marketer who had some follow-up questions for me.  After just 30 seconds into the conversation, I knew that I was talking to a text spammer.   

Mark...

Last month, I forgot to pay my gas bill.  Dumb, I know. 

Last week, I got a call from an unrecognized number to my cell phone.  I'm not one of those "I don't pick up unrecognized numbers" people, because I like to know who's on the other line--even if it's someone named Marshall asking for someone named Donna because she owes him money.  Picking up one of those calls provides a cheap thrill.

To note, if I miss your call and don't recognize your number, you bet I'm going to be doing a reverse lookup on your number.  I'm sneaky like that.

So, last week, I received a call from the kind folks at...

Not only does ExactTarget enable organizations with innovative solutions for their one-to-one marketing efforts, we also use them in our own business-to-business marketing.  Yes, I sound like the guy on Hair Club for Men commercials. 

But if you're headed to the mPlanet in Orlando next week, make sure you stop past Booth 63/64.  We're going to be showing off some cool stuff including our Text Capture and Text-to-Voice functionality.  Trust me:  you're going to want to see it.  

Text Capture: works like this: subscribers can opt-in to an email list via text message.  No more writing on...

According to ForeSee data published in this Media Post Article, cell phones will help influence purchase behavior for shoppers in 2009.  As more subscribers' phone plans grow to include mobile messaging (including SMS/text messaging and MMS) as a part of their subscription cost, we might see a large spike in the amount of influence an SMS has in the marketplace. 

In the meantime, there are a number of ways retail operations can incorporate SMS in your one-to-one marketing strategy now to get ahead of this trend.  Here are just a few ideas: 

In Stock Inquiry:  subscribers in-store can text in a...

When you think about ExactTarget, you may think about email.  But for the past year and a half, we've expanded out to other channels, including SMS, Voice and Landing Pages.  The results below will hopefully have you thinking about additional messaging mediums. . .

As the Product Marketing Manager for SMS, Voice, and Landing Pages, I'm excited to be working with the ExactTarget Marketing Team to implement multi-channel programs that leverage our newest messaging mediums.  Here's one example of how we used email and voice offerings to optimize webinar attendance for the Email Intel webinar...

Earlier this week, a "significant number" of the 75 million AT&T customers received a text message encouraging them to watch Tuesday night's Idol premiere.  Not everyone on AT&T received the message (i.e. our own Jeff Rohrs double checked his AT&T-powered iPhone and confirmed that he didn't receive one), but enough subscribers did receive the message to warrant the attention of the New York Times (see full article here) and many folks complaining on Twitter. 

Some cell phone providers, such as Verizon and Cingular, send out transactional messages (i.e. an alert that a bill is due).  I don't...