I didn't expect the Star Trek reference, but a nice overall story.A snippet:"When online retailers sit down to craft an e-mail and marketing communications strategy, it may help to consider StarTrek's Captain Kirk and the origination of his request to... More

I didn't expect the Star Trek reference, but a nice overall story.

A snippet:

"When online retailers sit down to craft an e-mail and marketing communications strategy, it may help to consider StarTrek's Captain Kirk and the origination of his request to be beamed up, says Mike Hilts president and general manager of e-mail marketing services firm Yesmail.

Yes, Captain Kirk.

"When Captain Kirk called Scotty and said 'Beam me up' it was Captain Kirk initiating the call, not Scotty," Hilts says. "Scotty didn't ask him every hour if he wanted to be beamed up."

Today's most effective e-mail campaigns, in a sense, work in a similar way, Hilts says, by filling a need or request initiated by a consumer rather than simply blasting out messages en masse, hoping a few lead to sales."

Check out the full article:

http://emailactivity.ecn5.com/engines/publicPreview.aspx?blastID=148060&emailID=24853504 Less

As we enter 2009, it is a great time to reflect on successful strategies implemented in 2008 and prioritize how to spend precious budget dollars in the New Year. If I had my own email marketing budget to manage, here... More

As we enter 2009, it is a great time to reflect on successful strategies implemented in 2008 and prioritize how to spend precious budget dollars in the New Year. If I had my own email marketing budget to manage, here are some of the top new opportunities I would pursue: Predictive Modeling, Social Networking, Integrating Mobile Messaging into Email, and Triggered Messaging.

Learn more here.
Less

One of our ace developers, Chris Jones, is an expert panelist this evening in Portland, Oregon at a "How Do You Do It?" Agile Development event hosted by the Software Association of Oregon. Go to SAO Events Calendar for more... More

One of our ace developers, Chris Jones, is an expert panelist this evening in Portland, Oregon at a "How Do You Do It?" Agile Development event hosted by the Software Association of Oregon. Go to SAO Events Calendar for more info on "Life Inside an Iteration." Less

Yesterday Forrester announced their acquisition of Jupiter Research. Big news for the email marketing space!! Over the past several years both companies have become the heavyweights of 'email outside expert opinion'. A fact companies have grown to love and fear.... More

Yesterday Forrester announced their acquisition of Jupiter Research.

Big news for the email marketing space!! Over the past several years both companies have become the heavyweights of 'email outside expert opinion'. A fact companies have grown to love and fear.

In one corner, JupiterResearch offers David Daniels an 8+ year industry veteran who has analyzed the email space longer than most people knew of its existence. David has written an annual Buyers Guide on the Email Marketing channel for several years. The report is quite unique in that it has provided information on email vendors across the Enterprise, Mid-Market and Small Market channels. Yesmail has been ranked a leader by David for three consecutive years.

In the other corner, Forrester offers a lineage of great analysts covering the space. The original Forrester analyst Jim Nail provided a solid foundation of great insight and knowledge. Shar VanBoskirk picked up the reigns from Jim and created a buzz in the industry with her direct opinions and ever present appearances on the speaker tour. Following up on Shar, Forrester's newest analyst, Julie Katz has brought a grounded, highly thoughtful approach and intellect to the position. Julie's most recent Wave report listed Yesmail as a market leader - awarding us a perfect score in 15 subcategories.

Suffice it to say it will be quite interesting to see how these organizations and these analysts mesh. Will they both remain focused on email or will we lose an analyst voice? After talking with people within both organizations the word is that it is "business as usual", which I'm sure that it is... for now...

Don't be surprised to see some interesting shifts and changes in the next 30-90 days. Less

We are entering a world where every for profit and non-profit entity could conceivably and justifiably have an email marketing program. Gone are the days where only the big brands are present in email marketing. Today Enterprise, Mid-Market, and Small... More

We are entering a world where every for profit and non-profit entity could conceivably and justifiably have an email marketing program. Gone are the days where only the big brands are present in email marketing. Today Enterprise, Mid-Market, and Small Business entities are present. What is also interesting is that not only are smaller companies having a presence in the email channel, but they are also starting to use some of the same best practices that larger entities have utilized for years.

 

A great example of a small business doing it right is Kitchen Kaboodle. They are a locally owned retailer of cookware, kitchenware, dinnerware, furniture and accessories for the home. They have a small website that allows purchasing online and five neighborhood stores. As a subscriber to their email program, I've received an every week promotional campaign for several years.

 

This week things changed.

 

I received a great email with the subject line: "We hate to say goodbye..." The email was intended to grab my attention - which it did - but more importantly, they were introducing a new "Insider" program for all subscribers; especially those that have been inactive like me. Yes, I admit to being over-whelmed by email and not opening or clicking on their emails regularly. Thus, I'm sure, the reason I received the "Dear John" email.

 

Suffice it to say, I clicked through and am now happily a part of the "Kaboodle Insider" group; even yesterday I received my first "Insider-only savings" (10% off). Now granted, this offer would have likely been extended to everyone -- Insider or not -- prior to the program being re-branded; however, Kitchen Kaboodle was able to reinvigorate a somewhat stale program with this straightforward and *smart* marketing tactic.

 

To recap, Kitchen Kaboodle successfully:

* Re-branded their email program to play up its exclusivity ('Insider')

* Re-activated a dormant population (me!) and removed assumingly many non-responders

What's your favorite small business email marketing program?

Less