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A Lesson in Email Marketing Driving Social Media…from Britney Spears?

Alex Williams — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:07:30 +0000

Yes, you read that right.

Britney wants more followers in her quest to the be the most followed person on Twitter. So instead of buying billboards or doing a PR blitz a la Asthon Kucher, she used her most effective…

Email Marketing Campaign Tips and Ideas for April

Alex Williams — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 16:00:43 +0000

Here it is, your April Email Marketing Calendar. April is an interesting month. From April Fools to Tax Day to Earth Day, the emotions run the gamut.

Below is a list of real holidays, wacky holidays, and pop culture events…

March Email Marketing Calendar: Holidays, Events, and Ideas for March 2010

Alex Williams — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 17:58:02 +0000

Here it is, your March Email Marketing Calendar.

Below is a list of real holidays, wacky holidays, and pop culture events in March and ideas you can utilize to develop timely and relevant email marketing campaigns.

Tuesday, March 2nd: Read

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February Email Marketing Calendar: Campaign Ideas, Tips and Strategies

Alex Williams — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:10:42 +0000

In email marketing, if you aren’t planning a week or two ahead, you’re too late. If you really want to plan a successful campaign, and avoid “blasting”, you need to give your self some time to create content, creative, landing pages…

How New Gmail Updates Affect Your Email Marketing Program

Alex Williams — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:38:57 +0000

I have been a loyal Gmail user for along time. Lately though I have been frustrated with Gmail, mainly due to the images in my HTML emails not displaying correctly. Well they have announced some changes that shed…

Email Marketing Programs Must Allow a Change of Email Address

Alex Williams — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 23:28:44 +0000

I am surprised every email marketing program doesn’t allow subscribers the ability to change the email address they receive campaigns at. According to Pew, ”More than half of working adults (53%) have both personal and work accounts.” (You don’t…

Just Let Them Unsubscribe

Alex Williams — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 23:15:23 +0000

If someone wants to unsubscribe, just let them unsubscribe. Making the unsubscribe process difficult or confusing will just aggravate your (former) subscribers and cause real damage to their perception of your business or brand. Don't make them log-in or make the text confusing. Your not only delaying the inevitable, your making it worse. And why? If they can't figure out how to unsubscribe, they might stay and turn into a more engaged subscriber? Doubtful. The next time your name comes up, that bad experience will be their first memory. Just let them go, it will actually improve your program...

Ruby Tuesday – You’re so much cooler when you aren’t a customer

Jeff Mills — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:14:35 +0000

I unsubscribed from Ruby Tuesday email list today after a number of clearly untargeted messages. After checking the unsubscribe box and clicking on “submit” I was greeted with the page below.

Apparently Ruby Tuesday thinks you are part of…

How to Ruin a Relationship via Email Marketing

Alex Williams — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:47:22 +0000

One of the bread & butter stats of Email Marketing, the "Open", is really only the beginning of the story. The company Quantivo, who sent me the email that inspired this post, could never know the damage this "Open" did to my perception of their brand. All they know is that there is a good chance I saw this email and possibly read/scanned it. But why did I open it? Because they played a trick on me.

They used a personal email address and an "Re:" to make me think I was the one who initially sent the email. I get hundreds of emails a day, so replies are a huge urgency prioritazation for me. You can see the email below in all it's glory (click to enlarge).

I only do "Name & Shame" posts when I think there is a valuable lesson to be learned. This is definitely one of those moments. While this was a clever trick to get me to open the email, the ramifications of this action are much worse.

Are you using Coupons in your Email Marketing?

Alex Williams — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 15:58:27 +0000

The economy is bringing the timeless art of coupons back to the forefront.

A few recent statistics:

34% of female consumers are using coupons more frequently today than they were six months ago, & nearly 70% of the 4,500 respondents

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