This morning CNET had an article on how Spam now accounts for 90.4% of all email sent. The report from Symantec is clearly reputable and I'm sure based on very scientific data. That being said, I was surprised by how... More

This morning CNET had an article on how Spam now accounts for 90.4% of all email sent. The report from Symantec is clearly reputable and I'm sure based on very scientific data. That being said, I was surprised by how 'un-surprised' and really un-phased I was by the percentage. Perhaps it is because I like most individuals have become numb to the daily exercise of upon login selecting the 'spam' that I see and deleting it. I've actually felt that my own percentage of spam has decreased over the past few months. Perhaps that is due to our corporate spam filters or simply due to my ability to delete the messages faster - thus paying less attention to them.

The overall point being that as individuals continue to become numb to spam -- real spam -- the spam that you know you did not subscribe to and that is unintelligible in its design and offer -- we as marketers need to heighten our own efforts to ensure that our email campaigns do not suffer the same fate; that of numbness to respond.

What are you doing to ensure your subscribers do not become numb?
- Have you re-designed the creative for your campaigns?
- Have you adjusted your overall strategy (targeting, content, subject lines, delivery times)?

Or are you in a rut of send on x day - same day, same time, same content, same subscribers, same generic offer, etc...

Beware the rut of numbness! If you need help getting out of the trap, let me know.

To see the full article from CNET, see below:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10249172-83.html  Less

Sometimes we hit the 'send' button before we intend to do so. One would assume that was the feeling generated at the Academy Awards today when they sent the email below with the subject line:"TEST HTML Email for Membership Mailing"To... More

Sometimes we hit the 'send' button before we intend to do so. One would assume that was the feeling generated at the Academy Awards today when they sent the email below with the subject line:

"TEST HTML Email for Membership Mailing"

To be quickly followed by a "Correction" email - sent very quickly, as in 24 minutes after the original send...

Below are both emails for posterity:

First email - note the broken images and incorrect subject line - don't forget to TEST!

Second email - "The Correction"

Of course there was a third email which featured the appropriate subject line and images that functioned; however, we'll leave that one out.




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CircuitCity.com sent a "re-launch" email today announcing the re-launch of their website under new ownership. The email campaign does a nice job of accomplishing several items facing a company coming out of bankruptcy under new ownership; including:Branding: Consistent use of... More

CircuitCity.com sent a "re-launch" email today announcing the re-launch of their website under new ownership. The email campaign does a nice job of accomplishing several items facing a company coming out of bankruptcy under new ownership; including:

• Branding: Consistent use of the Circuit City brand and a nice introduction of the new brand - Systemax. I also like the treatment of the "Re-launch Announcement" - it is descriptive and clear.
  

• Letter of Introduction: Nicely embedded letter explaining to the subscribers why they are receiving the message, what happened, and what to expect moving forward.
  

• Subscription Info: Clear language depicting why the new brand is mailing the subscriber and what they can do if they'd like to be taken off of the list.
  

• Promotions: As a part of the announcement, they included a few promotions encouraging the subscriber to give the new company a chance.
  
  

Overall - a great a message and great learning for other brands to follow if they are in a similar situation.

Below is the message:


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I really love the Kodak Gallery email creative. Kodak Gallery is promoting their 'Mini Photo Book' and the design does an amazing job of highlighting the photo book in use. Additionally the four call-out boxes do a great job of... More

I really love the Kodak Gallery email creative.

Kodak Gallery is promoting their 'Mini Photo Book' and the design does an amazing job of highlighting the photo book in use. Additionally the four call-out boxes do a great job of jumping off the page and highlighting the critical value points tied to the book.

In respect to the creative itself, note that you too can utilize these best practices:

• Call-out boxes/bullets that break the linear structure of the design
• Sharpness of images contrasted against fuzzy images - the contrast is key
• Clear, consistent action buttons (e.g. "Start Your Book" & "Order Prints")

Great, great design!

See for yourself:


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The Susan G. Komen for the Cure has a great email today promoting their fundraising application within Facebook. It is essentially a nice way for users to extend their fundraising efforts through their network of friends. As many marketers start... More

The Susan G. Komen for the Cure has a great email today promoting their fundraising application within Facebook. It is essentially a nice way for users to extend their fundraising efforts through their network of friends.

As many marketers start to adopt additional integration points with the leading social media sites (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, etc), they will also start to utilize email as a way of driving channel adoption. From adoption, marketers will turn to utilizing email for promotion usage and analyzing performance to fine-tune and improve their program through segmentation, personalization, and sophistication.

Today many marketers are simply focused on presence and adoption; however, it will serve them well to be thinking broader in terms of ultimately how to monetize these social media applications. This example by Susan G. Komen for the Cure is a testament to a marketer thinking several steps ahead.

See for yourself:



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I love the email from Kodak that comes out monthly. The email campaign selects a customer submitted picture as the "Kodak Moment of the Month". In this example, a photo from Kodak customer Ellen S. Whittle shows a high school... More

I love the email from Kodak that comes out monthly. The email campaign selects a customer submitted picture as the "Kodak Moment of the Month". In this example, a photo from Kodak customer Ellen S. Whittle shows a high school JV football game tackle in the rain. The picture captures the essence of high school football and has an amazing splash of water from the field.

Many marketers have been using customer reviews - another form of customer generated content on their web site and more recently in emails. Not too many marketers though have created a way for customers to submit content that can be re-purposed and used for their marketing needs.

Kudos to Kodak for taking it a step further! And be on the look-out for next month's "moment" featuring a 'spectacular travel photo'.

Here's the campaign:


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Another good reminder to test your email campaigns prior to sending them out... As an example, Old Navy recently sent an email that had two prominently displayed broken images near the top. I would highly recommend a "QA Checklist" for... More

Another good reminder to test your email campaigns prior to sending them out... As an example, Old Navy recently sent an email that had two prominently displayed broken images near the top.

I would highly recommend a "QA Checklist" for any email marketer to ensure the email campaigns they are sending have the highest quality.

A quick starting point:

• Ensure all links are clickable and arrive at the intended destination
• Ensure all images render
• Ensure overall message format appears appropriate in different email clients and browsers
• Ensure overall rendering speed for the message is good for high-bandwidth and low-bandwidth subscribers
• Ensure appropriate footer including CAN-Spam language is included

Below is a screen shot of the broken images:


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Love the creative from Finish Line!What makes the creative jump out is the use of a hand-written font and the leg drawings. Further, the shoe laces appearing tied together creates a nice visual separation that draws the eye. Love it!... More

Love the creative from Finish Line!

What makes the creative jump out is the use of a hand-written font and the leg drawings. Further, the shoe laces appearing tied together creates a nice visual separation that draws the eye.

Love it!


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Many marketers have a standard 'welcome' message that is sent shortly after a subscriber signs-up. adidas has a nice twist on the classic welcome that I wanted to share with everyone.Two great twists:Utilizing 'Personalities' - from the images of today's... More

Many marketers have a standard 'welcome' message that is sent shortly after a subscriber signs-up. adidas has a nice twist on the classic welcome that I wanted to share with everyone.

Two great twists:

1. Utilizing 'Personalities' - from the images of today's leading athletes to the call-out in the text to "Follow football star Reggie Bush, to NBA All-Star Dwight Howard", adidas has it down with leveraging the star personalities at their disposal to create a stronger connection with their subscribers.
2. The "Insider" Club - a great call-out to join 'adidas Insiders'. The special community allows subscribers to:

"Share your ideas and thoughts with key people at adidas and see it play a direct role in new adidas products and marketing."
"Get a sneak peek into what adidas is going to do next."
"Get to know other like-minded members and network with them."
"Have an impact on the future of adidas."

When you click-through on the link you are prompted to take a quick survey which indicates whether you are qualified to be an 'Insider'. Unfortunately I was not, however, I love the concept.






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