Each quarter our Professional Services team creates an Industry Benchmark report for our clients who use Yesmail Enterprise. The report is an opportunity for our teams to understand how a particular client is performing when compared to others in their... More

Each quarter our Professional Services team creates an Industry Benchmark report for our clients who use Yesmail Enterprise. The report is an opportunity for our teams to understand how a particular client is performing when compared to others in their respective industry.

A few interesting factoids:

Open Rates: CPG, Entertainment, Finance & Healthcare, and Consumer Services are trending up. Whereas, Auto, Retail, and Travel were slightly trending down.

Click Rates: CPG, Entertainment, Finance & Healthcare, and Retail are trending up. Whereas, Auto, Consumer Services, and Travel were slightly trending down.

If you are a Yesmail client, contact your Account Team for more in-depth insight into this quarter's Industry Benchmark Report. Less

You know the political season is in full swing when my local gelato restaurant (Shameless plug for Staccato Gelato) offers up scoops of "Baracky Road"...Taking things a bit further Ben & Jerry's announced yesterday a great promotion for a "Free... More

You know the political season is in full swing when my local gelato restaurant (Shameless plug for Staccato Gelato) offers up scoops of "Baracky Road"...

Taking things a bit further Ben & Jerry's announced yesterday a great promotion for a "Free Scoop for Voters!". They will be offering a free scoop of ice cream on election day during the hours of 5-8PM IF and only IF you...

* Have an "I voted" sticker
* Have a photo of yourself in front of the polling station
* Do the "I voted" dance
* Or... just tell them you voted

As my feet tend to not agree with each other and I live in a state that supports 100% mail-in ballots, I think I'll choose the latter option.

Check out Ben & Jerry's email:


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There has been a lot of information published over the past few weeks regarding the economic uncertainty we find ourselves in.A few items every marketer should be thinking through:* Dashboard: What are the key metrics that you need to have... More

There has been a lot of information published over the past few weeks regarding the economic uncertainty we find ourselves in.

A few items every marketer should be thinking through:

* Dashboard: What are the key metrics that you need to have your 'finger on the pulse on' every day, every week, every month? And the key question, "Do you"? Without identifying and monitoring these key metrics you may find yourself in a place where you cannot adjust quickly enough to the ups and downs of today's economy. Most marketers I've worked with have an understanding of these metrics, but often do not have the discipline in place to watch the metrics frequently enough to be able to adjust in real-time to the opportunities and challenges a program may face.

* Relevance: All email has the opportunity to be personally relevant (i.e. dynamic content); however, there is an even greater need to ensure your communications are "relevant to the times". For example, most consumers may reconsider some of the excess purchases they've made in the past. As such, marketers need to consider how their message is being communicated in light of world events.

See my blog on Restoration Hardware for a specific idea.

Also, check out this recent article on CNN regarding the "rise to coupon cutting" and think through the online applications of coupons.

* New Channels: Despite everything you hear the Internet is still the fastest growing marketing channel. As such while your first thought might be to hold investment, be cautious that you don't hold too much and miss the opportunity to invest in new channels. Many marketers are starting to explore the benefits of new marketing opportunities in social media. This is an area of great focus for us, which we'll have more to share on soon.

As marketers, we are in unfamiliar waters; however, the opportunity to succeed still exists.

Be focused
Be consistent
Be true to your value

If you do you will make it through this time stronger than you are now.  Less

Kudos to Restoration Hardware for coming out with one of the first 'bailout' connected marketing campaign that I've seen. Today Restoration Hardware sent the following email message:The email campaign highlights the following benefits:* $100 Gift Voucher toward any order of... More

Kudos to Restoration Hardware for coming out with one of the first 'bailout' connected marketing campaign that I've seen.

Today Restoration Hardware sent the following email message:



The email campaign highlights the following benefits:
* $100 Gift Voucher toward any order of $400 or more
* 1 day only sale (expires October 6th!)
* Available in store, online, or via catalog

Personally the copy grabbed me: "Restoration Hardware Unanimously Approves Bailout Bill". And yes, the American flag was a nice touch as well. As 1-day sale campaigns in email create a tremendous amount of urgency, this campaign will probably do okay for them.

Further, I imagine we'll see more marketing campaigns that leverage the realities of the economic climate we are in. Be careful with this approach though, as it can either come across well-intended or purely opportunistic. For those subscribers feeling the affects of the economy more than others, this campaign could have easily been seen as insensitive. Less