Is email marketing all about tactics? No, of course not. But you might think so if you looked at the inventory of speeches, articles and blog posts from throughout the industry. Tactics are worthless unless they are based on a solid strategy, but poor execution of a solid strategy is just as problematic.

Successful email marketing doesn't have an "easy" button. Dozens of elements come together to deploy a world-class email program. Ignoring or not optimizing one aspect can sabotage other aspects of your program that you've done well.

The single most important way you can improve your email performance is to increase relevance through greater use of segmentation and dynamic content. So put this at the top of your "2009 To-Do List."

Following that, as you look ahead to 2009, consider tackling some of the following tactics to take your program to the next level. To view more detail behind these tactics and find links to earlier columns, read my recent Email Insider column, "Your 2009 To-Do List: There Is No 'Easy Button.'"

1. Focus on business metrics.

14. Enable subscriber choice with preference centers.

I've obviously left off many other email tactics, so let me know what's on your To-Do List for the coming year.

Posted by Loren McDonald at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Despite the growing popularity of online social networking, these social networking sites remain largely untapped by online marketers. And, it appears people like it that way.

According to a survey by media research form IDC quoted in this Dec. 5 article by eMarketer, people don't want brands following them around in social networks trying to strike up conversations. IDC reported that just 3 percent of social network users polled said it was appropriate for publishers to use their contact information in order to serve them targeted advertising.

With a slowed economy and the lukewarm reception for even targeted advertising, eMarketer projects social network ad spending will slow even more than other forms of online ad spending.

But (and this is a big but), email marketers who understand and respect the culture of the social networking environment can be both welcomed and successful there. Instead of intruding on your customers' and prospects' social spaces, you can be invited in and introduced to their friends. If you haven't already checked it out, download the white paper "Email Marketing Goes Social" by logging in to our preference center. It will give you lots of tips on how to get started. When you play by the community's rules, you become part of what makes it valuable to its participants rather than the noise that detracts from it.

Posted by Scott Voigt at 1:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We're mad as heck and we're not going to take it anymore. At least, that's what the results of our recent study, "Spam: What Consumers Really Think," seem to show.

To find out why people report messages as spam and how much they know about what happens when they do, Silverpop conducted an online survey of 400 email recipients age 18 to 55, and the results were eye-opening: If people don't like a message, they won't hesitate to get rid of it. And they don't care who gets hurt in the process.

While most people (76 percent) said they hit the spam button because they had not subscribed to the senders message, 30 percent said it was because they didn't trust the unsubscribe link. Another 7 percent acknowledged they had subscribed to the message, but simply didn't want them anymore; and 7 percent said they hit the spam button because of message frequency.

Another interesting finding was how people define spam. While most respondents (52 percent) defined spam as any email they haven't subscribed to, 40 percent also said it was any email they no longer wanted to receive, and 35 percent said it was email from any commercial entity.

Aside from the obvious negative brand implications of having your messages thought of with the same regard as Viagra ads and stock market picks, use of the spam button poses very real deliverability concerns for legitimate marketers. If even a tiny portion of your recipients hit the spam button, Internet service providers may decide to block all your messages from delivery.

Interestingly, the study found that 83 percent were unaware that clicking the spam button could cause a sender's messages to be blocked from other people who wanted them. And, here's the kicker: two out of three said they would continue to brand unwanted emails as spam even after learning that it could block senders' emails from reaching others who had requested them.

Regardless of whether you have permission, all the necessary technical configurations in place and a sterling reputation at the ISPs, in the end good deliverability ultimately boils down to whether your recipients perceive your message to be worthwhile.

To learn more about our findings, and to get tactics for reducing spam complaints and making sure your messages remain welcome in the inbox, you can download our study free on our Web site here.

Posted by Ted Roberts at 10:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)