The Four Rights

As someone who does a lot of public speaking on behalf of ExactTarget, I'm often asked what I like about working at the company.  Inevitably, one of the first answers out of my mouth is "the people."  Whether at HQ in Indianapolis, one of our field events in the US or even across the globe in London, Sydney or Sao Paolo, I am always greeted by friendly faces, great conversation, and a spirit of camaraderie that we've dubbed "being orange." 

Occasionally, in my travels, I come across someone who exudes that spirit, and I think to myself, "We have got to get him/her on our team!" A couple of...Read More »

Blame Moon Unit Zappa.

Before Moon and her father, Frank Zappa, unleashed their unlikely hit, "Valley Girl," on the American public in 1982, the word "like" had a specific meaning.  If you "liked" something, it was agreeable, enjoyable or satisfactory.  Post-Valley Girl, however, "like" was increasingly used as meaningless filler--usually by those classified as "vocabulary-challenged, simile-abusers" by English teachers around the world.

Today, however, "like" has reclaimed headlines because of it's Facebook-fueled ubiquity.  The "Llike" button has become the de facto way that netizens signify...Read More »

For those who follow me on Twitter (@jkrohrs), you may have noticed that I’ve fallen rather silent the past month or so.  That’s because I’ve been in the pre-Connections 2011 vortex, working with our amazing team to finalize our main stage speaker line-up, nail down our Day 2 breakouts (60 sessions!), and put the finishing touches on some of the videos that you’ll see if you’re in attendance September 13th-15th.
 
If you haven’t registered for Connections yet, here are a few of the personal highlights that I’m looking forward to this year:

1. KEYNOTES FROM SCOTT DORSEY & SCOTT MCCORKLE... Read More »

With back-to-school season in full swing, the attention of students, parents, and many marketers has turned to the classroom. According to a BIGresearch  study conducted in July and commissioned by the National Retail Federation, families with students in K through 12th grade plan to spend an average of about $603.63 on apparel and supplies. More impressively, total college and K-12 back-to-school spending will eclipse $68.8 billion dollars—making it the second biggest retail event next to the winter holidays. As we all know, however, the power of education doesn’t boil down sales figures....Read More »

If you needed another reason to register for Connections 2011 before early bird pricing expires on August 10th, here’s one—Jon McLaughlin.  The Oscar-nominated singer/songwriter will be performing his new single, “What I Want,” live on the Connections Day 1 main stage.
 
As a singer/songwriter, Jon embodies our theme this year—“The Power of One.”  Thanks to his work with our good partners and Connections sponsors, RareBird, Inc., he also happens to be an ExactTarget client.  To learn more about RareBird’s work with Jon, visit http://www.rarebirdinc.com/connect.  Right now, however, check out...Read More »

This is going to be a rather audacious post.  The reason?  I hope to introduce a new term into the marketing lexicon and prompt some discussion about our app-driven future.  Here goes:


If you're currently a smartphone user, I suspect that this new term will be met with some head-nodding and smiles.  Loading up your first smartphone with tons of useful (Shazam), social (Facebook),...Read More »

In 1962, Neil Sedaka released a song that one critic called "two minutes and sixteen seconds of pure pop magic." Nearly 50 years later, "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" isn't just a memorable pop ditty, it's a catch phrase that captures the difficulty of ending most any relationship.

Most any, that is, other than online marketing relationships.

As detailed in THE SOCIAL BREAK-UP, the 8th in our SUBSCRIBERS, FANS & FOLLOWERS research series, consumers are increasingly willing to exercise their right to unsubscribe, "unfan," and "unfollow" your emails, Facebook updates, and tweets if they don't serve...Read More »

If you're a retail marketer, chances are that as soon as December 26th rolled around, your thoughts turned to Cupid and the fiscal--I mean, romantic--promise of Valentine's Day.  Before you get too hopped up on conversation hearts, however, you may want to reflect back on Christmas 2010 with help from the folks at ForSee Results.

For the sixth year running, the good folks at ForeSee Results have released their Holiday Edition E-Retail Satisfaction Index.  While the lion's share of the report details which online retailers most impressed consumers (with Amazon & Netflix topping the rankings),...Read More »

When is the best time and day to send to maximize open rates?

Ahh, yes…the most asked question in all of email marketing—the best time & day to send.

Here’s the answer:

There is no universal best day/time to send. However, senders may discover—by analyzing their own performance data—certain windows that perform better than others. The only way to know what the best date and time for you to send an email is to test your email campaigns.

At ExactTarget we test send time and day for our own marketing emails. We know what works for our campaigns. However, just because a certain time works well for...Read More »

Believe it or not, there was a time in the industry when no one knew who Seth Godin was. On May 6, 1999, Simon & Shuster published a book by Godin, who was simply described as an “internet guy.” In his book, Permission Marketing: Turning Strangers into Friends and Friends into Customers, Godin challenged the supremacy of interruption marketing (TV, radio & print advertisements) and instead made the case that the internet would inspire a new era of permission-based, email marketing—one where consumers, not marketers, dictated the terms by which companies could market to them.To say that Permiss... Read More »

Nearly every week, there's one piece of snail mail I can almost bank (pun intended) on receiving--a letter from one of my financial institutions (banks, credit card issuers, investment brokers, etc.) enticing me to "go green" by opting-out of print statements in favor of email statements.

As a marketer, I appreciate the altrustic call-to-action since a large percentage of the population these days is moved to reduce their negative environmental impact wherever possible (and convenient).

My marketing genes, however, also allow me to understand the true motivation for the green financial services...Read More »

For those email marketers who didn't make it to SXSW 2010, you didn't miss much in the way of email marketing insights (parties...well, that's another topic altogether).  In fact, for the hundreds of sessions at SXSW Interactive (a.k.a. SXSWi), there was only one session--yes, only one--that focused on email in any fashion.

That one panel session, "Email - The Next Frontier," dealt primarily with how the email inbox is evolving into more of a social inbox that blends the best of email, Facebook, Twitter, and other services into a single, consumer-controled destination.  Having previously...Read More »

Remember the good ‘ol college days? The days where you’d sign up for anything free because you never quite had enough money for food or books. Credit card companies would roam around campus flaunting their free t-shirts with a tempting, “All you have to do is sign up for your very own credit card and this t-shirt can be yours.” And of course, many freshmen fell for it. It was a free t-shirt, after all.

Probably not the brightest idea to ruin your credit over a free t-shirt. But, let me tell you about a really cool promotion involving, yes, free stuff and college students. Except this one...Read More »

That’s right!  You heard it here first.  I am giving out FREE HUGS in 2010.  To claim yours, simply approach me on sight and tell me that you want your free hug and I will oblige with all due speed and decorum.  
 
Now what in the wide, wide world of sports does this have to do with email marketing?  Simply stated, everything.  But before I explain, I must first digress.
 
You see, in 2004, an Australian man who goes by the moniker “Juan Mann” Battling depression & loneliness, he wandered into a party and received the gift of his life from a stranger.  The gift?  It was a simple hug—a hug that...Read More »

According to my calendar, there are only 75 days until Connections '09, the biggest & best email marketing conference in this or any other hemisphere.  If you haven't checked out the line-up yet, do so--and then register before it sells out!

How do I know that Connections will sell out?  History.  Little birds with insider information.  James Earl Jones-sounding voices inside my head.

Oh, and the fact that it is the only conference where the likes of Malcolm Gladwell, Kelly Mooney, Marlee Matlin & others will share their wisdom from a single stage.  Connections '09 also the only conference with...Read More »

I know that it's a bit early to be thinking about January & February 2010, but that's not the case if you have a great email marketing case study or presentation to share.  Both MarketingSherpa's Em@il Summit and the eec's Email Evolution Conference are looking for speakers, and their submission deadlines are FAST approaching. 

Here's the details

MarketingSherpa Em@il Summit & Expo 2010
January 20-22, 2010
Miami, Florida



SPEAKER SUBMISSION DEADLINE: Monday, August 3rd
Submit Your Email Summit Speaker Proposal Here

EVENT NOTES: Joseph Jaffe will be keynoting this year's 5th annual Em@il Summit....Read More »

It is my great honor to announce that we have just added legendary alt-rock pioneers, They Might Be Giants, to the Wednesday entertainment line-up at this year's Connections '09 ExactTarget User Conference!  They round out a bill that will also feature The Second City and should make for a memorable night for all. 

For those not familiar with They Might Be Giants, here's a rundown of their accomplishments courtesy of Wikipedia:

Read More »

One of our great FoETs (Friend of ExactTarget), Dan Heimbrock of Hyperdrive Interactive, addressed the troops today at MarketingSherpa's Email Summit '09 on the topic of "Email and Word of Mouth Marketing." Dan shared a case study of how Dreamfield's used email and WOM to promote it's low carb pasta that appeals to diabetics, low carb dieters, and people seeking higher fiber in their diet (and no, I wasn't paid for that plug--but I should have been!). 

To tap into the buzz about the product, recruit happy customers to spread the word, and translate it into tangible sales, Dan's team undertook...Read More »