For my lists, I operated under the assumption that permission is not optional – You must ask. It’s considered a best practice approach.

However, despite my advice, the lure of short term incentives proved too enticing for one of the other company’s. The company manager told me about his brilliant idea to take the CC’d email addresses in messages received from customers, and partners and add these to the house list. Since their messages include opt-out links, and comply with other Can Spam rules they’re not breaking any law.

Naturally, they get opt outs with each send. They haven’t been blacklisted. And they do get leads. I’ve made them aware of the risks involved with their actions, and they’ve made an informed choice. If you plan plan on skirting email best practices, here’s something you should be aware of…

You can comply with Can Spam, but still be perceived as a spammer by recipients.

While you can inflate a list with email addresses, you can’t buy or steal subscriber engagement. What problems will arise from communications that are not opt in?

● Depressed response rates. People will ignore your messages leading to low open rates, click-throughs, and a high opt-out rate leading to shrinking list syndrome.

● Decreased deliverability. People will become trigger happy with the spam button, leading to your emails being blacklisted by ISP’s. If this happens, you’ll be more likely to get an even number of socks from the wash than your emails into in boxes.

● Loss of trust & damaged brand credibility. Being accused of spam will damage your reputation beyond deliverability. People are more likely to point out spamming on blogs, and online reviews which could show up in search engine results.

What do you think it will take for companies to realize that an opt-in, engaged subscriber list is more profitable than email addresses obtained through questionable means?

Photo credit Cobalt123

With email competition increasing, it’s time to rethink your tactics. Those marketers who optimize their email strategies to create an engaged audience, and relevant communications can increase their net profits on average 18 times more than broadcast mailings.

The Evolution Of Email Marketing

1) Batch & Blast

This is email marketing in it’s infancy. Everyone gets the same message about your new beach ball, including Sally, who lives in the Nevada desert, and has a phobia of water. As your list grows it’ll get harder to keep messages relevant, which will likely be reflected in a higher than average unsubscribe rate.

2) Profile Driven

In this stage messages are segmented based on information subscribers provided when they signed up, or by demographic information in your customer relationship software. An example might include sorting your business customers by sic code, and sending off a Valentines themed email offer just for Jewelers.

3) Persona Driven

It’s time to kick relevancy up a notch. In this phase persona’s are developed for your customer segments, describing who they are, and answering questions about their behavior. For instance, what keeps these Jewelers awake at night? Finding new customers to grow their businesses. If that’s the case, that Valentines day email might include tips for marketing their business on the holiday along with one of your products that will help.

4) Behavior Driven

Customers actions are the best predictors of future behavior. In these scenario it’s important to document normal customer behavior, and set set up trip wires for customers who deviate from the norm. For example, your data may show that the Jewelers segment on average, repeat purchasing your product every 60 days. So at 60 days you mail out a discount offer to customers who haven’t purchased again by this point. Now you’re beginning to manage customer defection.

5) Predictive Messages

Predictive messaging also relies on behavior while also combining other inputs like personas and demographic information to further segment customers. Instead of blanketing all Jewelers at 60 days with a discount message, you might find accounts with higher order sizes tend to space their orders out over longer periods. So instead you send a discount offer to these different customers at 60 and 90 days. At this point you’re not just managing, but maximizing your email program for maximum profit.

How Evolved In Your Email Program?

Companies fall all across the email marketing evolutionary spectrum. Level of sophistication depends on a lot of factors, like technological aptitude, industry, etc. This post illustrates the power of one-to-one messages, and that the potential for exponentially increasing profits are worth the time and financial commitment to improving your email marketing.

There’s a high probability this is happening with your Yahoo Mail recipients. For some time Yahoo has been inserting Shortcuts into email with links to maps, Wikipedia and other contextually relevant sites. This is great for users, but hell for marketers. If you include a product title in the message there’s a good chance Yahoo will link it to an ecommerce site like Amazon.

Is There A Solution To This Problem?

The only way around this is to test your email in Yahoo Mail to find the shortcut links, and make those direct links back to your site to prevent the shortcuts from being added to the campaign.

1) Subject Line: Hi Jesse, message from Tom Oddi at PL Marketing.

Well at least you got my first name right. But hell, I don’t know a Tom Oddi at PL Marketing. Stop wasting space and grab my attention. Choose a short, benefit oriented statement. You hopefully know I’m an inhouse marketer, go for a relevant headline. How about, “Swag for your charity golf outing” or  “Discounted product for your tradeshow.”

Give me some incentive to open your message. Bonus points if you include the name of the actual golf outing, or tradeshow. Knowing the event name shouldn’t be too hard, we post the information in the news section of our company website.

2) Don’t comprise your email design entirely of block images.

You know what this looks like in AOL, and a couple other email clients? Nothing. Images are blocked by default in some programs, so for those users you can be sure this email is going straight to the trash bin. For email stick to HTML and inline CSS for formatting. If you don’t know HTML, Mailchimp offers some basic email templates that you can fool around with in Dreamweaver.

Inevitably you will add a photo, either for a header, logo or product. When that happens be sure to add ALT text, so when the picture does not display, at least the viewer will have a description of what should be there. Heck when readers know what to expect, they may even decide to view your email in its full chromatic glory.

3) Killing a sale with too many offers.

You just convinced me to open your email out of the countless messages that are suffocating my inbox. And now you offer me more choices. By my count there are 8 offers in this one email. Can you see me pulling out clumps of hair in frustration?

Do me and yourself a favor, choose one product to highlight. But which product? Easy, the one most relevant to my potential customers. If you read the company website, you know my customers are plumbers and HVAC technicians. Offer me the 5 in 1 Tool in Pouch. I bet my customers would love a swiss army style gadget. Presto, I’m sold.

If you are going to promote a product or service via email, keep it short and focus on one topic. In case you’re still tempted to blast out as many offerings as possible, check out the proof in this email offerings article by iMedia Connection. If you’re still not a believer test the concept for yourself.

To be considered for your dream job you need to cut through the clutter. Recently I used the following direct marketing techniques to get an interview with Catalyst Direct Inc., a direct marketing agency in Rochester, NY. Three hours after sending the application I had Catalyst Direct calling to set up an interview, that is when you know you have sold the sizzle and not the steak.

• Personalization

  This involves more than changing the company name in your resume and cover letter. It requires diligent research. What is the business known for, what sets them apart, mention something specific. Notice how I reference in my cover letter (sales letter) a singular campaign undertaken by Catalyst Direct, and how I align my resume objective with what the company accomplishes for it’s clients.

• Constrained creativity

  I applied for a Jr. Marketing Analyst position in support of Catalyst Direct Inc.’s Email and Analytics groups. To spruce up my cover letter I sent it as an HTML email message using a service called Campaign Monitor. Pretty straight forward to use, and free if you are sending 5 or less email messages in each campaign. And in my case it demonstrated my technical proficiency for the position.

• Call to action
  You do not send out a $10,000 direct mail campaign without requesting that people call a specific phone number, fill out a form on your website, etc. The same goes for your job application. Ask for the interview.
• Follow Up
  If you hit the nail on the head, you will reveal yourself as the solution to a deep seated need and the hiring manager will call you. However, this is not always the case therefore it is best to let them know in the cover letter you will follow up at a specific time.

  Do not forget to follow up with a thank-you after your interview.

• Measure – learn from your results and improve your future efforts.

  A great feature of Campaign Monitor is that you get reports of who opened the email and the links which they clicked, and if they forwarded the message on to someone else in the company. This definitely helps in gaging the interest level of the recipient.

Following these techniques will definitely set you above the pack, increasing your chances of landing the coveted job interview.

For those of you wondering, did he get hired for the Jr. Marketing Analyst position at Catalyst Direct Inc.? Unfortunately the answer is no, however it did prove to be a learning experience.

You don’t need nasty wrappers, phplist-bridge or Joomclub to integrate nice looking newsletter sign-up forms into your Joomla pages. However, I should preface if you’re looking for your Joomla subscribers to be automatically subscribed to phplist then you’ll want to consider one of the aforementioned integrations.

What you need:

Steps

1) Install the ChronoForms component. I’m assuming you’re familiar with Joomla and know how to install a component. While you’re at it install the ChronoForms mambot which will allow you to place forms inside content pages.

2) Create a new form for your subscribe page. In my example its listed as Phplist. Leave Email The Results field set to no.[Image 1] [Image 2]

3) Click the Form Code tab. Now view the page source of the subscribe page you created in Phplist.

<table style="text-align: left; width: 100%;" border="0">
cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="required">Email*</div></td>
<td class="attributeinput"><input name="email" size="40" type="text" /> <script type="text/javascript"><!--
addFieldToCheck("email","Email");
// --></script></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="required">Confirm your email address*</div></td>
<td class="attributeinput"><input name="emailconfirm" size="40" type="text" /> <script type="text/javascript"><!--
addFieldToCheck("emailconfirm","");
// --></script></td>
</tr>
<input name="htmlemail" type="hidden" value="1" />
<tr>
<td>
<div class="required">First Name*</div></td>
<td class="attributeinput"><input class="attributeinput" name="attribute1" size="40" type="text" /><script type="text/javascript"><!--
addFieldToCheck("attribute1","First Name");
// --></script></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="required">Last Name*</div></td>
<td class="attributeinput"><input class="attributeinput" name="attribute2" size="40" type="text" /><script type="text/javascript"><!--
addFieldToCheck("attribute2","Last Name");
// --></script></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="attributename">Company</div></td>
<td class="attributeinput"><input class="attributeinput" name="attribute5" size="40" type="text" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<div class="attributename">Title</div></td>
<td class="attributeinput"><input class="attributeinput" name="attribute3" size="40" type="text" /></td>
</tr>
<strong>
</strong>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">
<div class="attributename">Does your company market to B2B, B2C or both?</div>
B2B
<input class="attributeinput" name="attribute6" type="radio" value="1" /> B2C
<input class="attributeinput" name="attribute6" type="radio" value="2" /> Both
<input class="attributeinput" name="attribute6" type="radio" value="3" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<strong><input name="list[7]" type="hidden" value="signup" /> <input name="listname[7]" type="hidden" value="Turn On The Light Newsletter" /> </strong>
<div style="display:none"><strong><input name="VerificationCodeX" size="20" type="text" /></strong></div>
<strong><input onclick="return checkform();" name="subscribe" type="submit" value="Subscribe" /> </strong>

<strong>

</strong>

<strong><a href=”http://www.jessekanclerz.com/newsletter-unsubscribe.html”>Unsubscribe</a></strong>

<strong>

function checkform() {
for (i=0;i
if (eval("document.ChronoContact_Phplist['"+fieldstocheck[i]+"'].type") == "checkbox") {
if (document.ChronoContact_Phplist[fieldstocheck[i]].checked) {
} else {
alert("Please enter your "+fieldnames[i]);
eval("document.ChronoContact_Phplist['"+fieldstocheck[i]+"'].focus()");
return false;
}
}
else {
if (eval("document.ChronoContact_Phplist['"+fieldstocheck[i]+"'].value") == "") {
alert("Please enter your "+fieldnames[i]);
eval("document.ChronoContact_Phplist['"+fieldstocheck[i]+"'].focus()");
return false;
}
}
}
for (i=0;i
if (!checkGroup(groupstocheck[i],groupnames[i])) {
return false;
}
}</strong></strong></strong></strong>

<strong><strong><strong><strong> if(! compareEmail())
{
alert("Email Addresses you entered do not match");
return false;
}
return true;
}</strong></strong></strong></strong>

<strong><strong><strong><strong>var fieldstocheck = new Array();
var fieldnames = new Array();
function addFieldToCheck(value,name) {
fieldstocheck[fieldstocheck.length] = value;
fieldnames[fieldnames.length] = name;
}
var groupstocheck = new Array();
var groupnames = new Array();
function addGroupToCheck(value,name) {
groupstocheck[groupstocheck.length] = value;
groupnames[groupnames.length] = name;
}</strong></strong></strong></strong>

<strong><strong><strong><strong>function compareEmail()
{
return (document.ChronoContact_Phplist["email"].value == document.ChronoContact_Phplist["emailconfirm"].value);
}
function checkGroup(name,value) {
option = -1;
for (i=0;i
if (document.ChronoContact_Phplist[name][i].checked) {
option = i;
}
}
if (option == -1) {
alert ("Please enter your "+value);
return false;
}
return true;
}

4) Click the Form URL's tab. In the Submit URL field enter your action URL, in my case it is http://www.jessekanclerz.com/lists/?p=subscribe. This is important otherwise the data entered into your sign-up form will not post back to the Phplist database tables.

You'll also notice in this section a Redirect URL. Note that leaving this blank or putting a redirect to a page on your website will have no effect – Phplist will redirect to a public confirmation page upon submittal of the form. However, you'll find an excellent post over at Spamcollect which details how to hack the phplist code to redirect back to pages on your CMS.

5) Go back to the Forms Manager of ChronoForms and click on the Link for your phplist subscribe page. If it shows up - awesome! Now just create newsletter-subscribe page in one of your Joomla content items and embed the Chrono mambot within that page for a pretty, search engine friendly URL.

Take my functioning subscribe page for a spin. Since switching to Joomla 1.5X I haven't had time to update the subscribe form for Joomla+Phplist. However, these instructions should still work.

To customize your unsubscribe and preferences pages requires following the steps outlined in this post.

Much thanks to Bob Janes for helping me figure this out.

With the 2007 travel incentive program winding down – trip departure in two weeks – it’s necessary to gather feedback from the 60 accounts going on the cruise to improve on the new year’s program. With Google Forms I can create a form whose fields correspond to the columns in a Google spreadsheet. You can link to a web page of the form, however for my list of cruise guests I’m going to use an I-frame to embed the spreadsheet into an email message sent with Aweber. What’s great about the form feature is the person filling it out does not have to have a Google account, and the information posts directly to the spreadsheet – making administration a snap!

Just brainstorming what information I might want to glean from this short survey:

There’s other creative ways to use this technology. For instance, alot of independent manufacturing reps schedule counter days regularly throughout the summer for my company’s contractor customers. However, contractors are busy, often working during counter days hours. How about I tape the presentation made by a manufacturer rep, edit, upload to a free video player like Brightcove, embed video on the company website along with a Google Form – submit your information to receive specs, more info, etc. I share the online spreadsheet with the vendor rep who follows up on information requests. Seems like a sound way to generate leads.

Do you have any ideas on how to apply this new technology to your business?