Will Schnabel says, “Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past few months, you’ve probably been bombarded with articles screaming that context-driven messaging is the next big thing in marketing. If you’re really unlucky, you’ve even had your boss forward you one of them, captioned with a cryptic directive like “we should be on top of this.” While hearing phrases like “the next big thing in marketing” justifiably triggers gag reflexes, there is some validity to all the attention. Context matters, especially when you’re talking about communication. Take this example from... [...]

Steve Dille says, “Last month, we took a long look at LinkedIn, exploring how it uses email as a key component of creating, sustaining and driving its online community and overall business model. This time around, let’s examine a marketer whose name is practically synonymous with email engagement. Ask nearly anyone about which brands’ promotional emails land in their inbox, and there is an excellent chance one of the first names on their lips will beGroupon. Groupon is a case study in building a business using email. It’s also an example of how a marketer may need to evolve beyond... [...]

Erin Hogg says, “”We really test. If we’re going to take the time to run a special program, like these programs, we’re going to test them. If we can’t test them, we’re not going to run them,” Diana Primeau, Director of Member Services, CNET, said. In this case study, we’ll be covering one element of Primeau’s upcoming presentation at Email Summit 2015 — the CNET welcome and nurturing program. Learn how Primeau achieved a 26% increase in clickthrough and 12% lift in open rate by onboarding new subscribers and optimizing the process”. Email Marketing:... [...]

Pamella Neely says, “As effective as email marketing is, you need a list to make it work. Building a good list takes time, and buying a list is never a good idea. The good news is that building your email list can be sped up significantly. It doesn’t have to take two years, or even one year, to have a reasonably-sized list. If your website is getting anything less than a 2 percent opt-in rate — i.e., at least 2 percent of your website visitors are signing up for your list — then it’s time to add more prompts to get more people to respond. In addition to setting up a few of the free... [...]

VR team says, “Whether you’re a fitness coach, a dentist, run a plumbing company or a computer repair business, as a service-based business, your email marketing needs and desired outcomes may not exactly fit that of a retailer. We’re here to help our service-based clients with a little email inspiration. To get your creative juices flowing, include these four emails in your marketing efforts. Contests Send an email that promotes a social media contest. Contests offer low-cost opportunities to attract customers to your business, increase “likes” on Facebook and help you solicit testimonials. For... [...]

Graham Charlton says, “Depending on the stats you choose, mobiles now account for somewhere between 40% and 70% of opens.  Whichever is the ‘correct’ figure, it’s clear that mobile is important enough for marketersto be optimising for these users. One area to optimise is the unsubscribe process, so are brands doing this well? Let’s see… Why should brands make it easy to unsubscribe?  The bottom line is that, if people can’t unsubscribe easily, they’ll report emails as spam instead.”. How easy is it to unsubscribe from emails on a mobile? ‘Econsultancy’... [...]

Kristen Dunleavy says, “Picture this: You’ve just hit the send button on a new email campaign for your business. You’ve got killer content, a great call to action and an attention-grabbing subject line… or so you think. As you watch your analytics, it becomes clear that your email isn’t getting the results you want. What went wrong? Whether your open rates are suffering or you’re not getting enough click-throughs, there are lots of common email marketing mistakes that even experienced marketers make. The good news is that they can be easily fixed to increase engagement”. Common Email... [...]

Anum Hussain says, “Google “business email mistakes” and you’ll find endless articles and resources. But they all say the same thing: Include a first name in the email. Avoid using business jargon. Don’t forget to include a greeting. Don’t say “to whom it may concern.” Make sure you change the subject line. Spellcheck your work. Avoid emoticons. And the list goes on. But all of these suggestions are common sense. If you’re a business professional today, what are the not-so-obvious mistakes that are preventing your emails from generating a response?”. Why People Are... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “Email marketing platform Movable Ink has released its Q3 “Consumer Device Preferences Report.” The report is focused on email engagement and based on statistics captured from across the company’s client base. The report states that nearly half of all email opens are happening on smartphones. Another 17 percent are happening on tablets and the remaining 34 percent are happening on PCs. Of all email opens, Movable Ink says that just over 59 percent are happening on iOS devices. Frankly that’s amazing given Android marketshare dominance”. Report: 66... [...]

Andrew King says, “I recently participated on a panel of email designers, hackers and entrepreneurs that discussed the many difficulties that email designers face with poor CSS support in various email clients and what developers could do to fix that issue. Despite the limitations of many email clients these days (even the new Inbox by Gmail app doesn’t support media queries!), I’ve still seen some absolutely amazing emails this year that really push the boundaries of what is possible within the inbox. So, I’d like to say a big Thank You to all of the email designers and companies... [...]