By now, there are enough “Big xxxxx” doing the rounds: Big Business, Big government, Big Chocolate, Big Oil, Big Science, Big Tobacco and Big Media. A recent addition is Big Data, which broadly refers to the humungous amounts of information that gets generated in this digital age.

Naturally, Big Data is complex and unwieldy. In fact, it is defined as “a collection of data sets so large and complex that it becomes difficult to process using on-hand database management tools or traditional...

There is no better and effective tool than email marketing to create brand awareness. To turn brand awareness into action though, you must entice your readers to respond to your email campaigns. When you make them aware of your brand, they should feel attracted enough to act on it – refer or buy. Here are some steps to help you increase the response rates of your email campaign:

Clear subject line: Having a clear and informative subject line is important because the decision to read your mail...

Hey you. 

Do you have customers? Prospects? Or just fans of your organization?

If you can name two people who might fit into any of these categories, you probably need to put list management as your number one task in your managed email marketing efforts.

If "list management" sounds boring, that's okay. Your email marketing pro won't care if we change the name. Instead of list management, let's call it sales prediction. Because the better you handle your lists, the better you understand how...

Email marketing is attractive because it is a budget-friendly marketing tool in our Net-connected world. Among several channels, the ROI from email is at the top, almost twice that of its nearest rival – search marketing. This means email continues to be a marketer’s best bet for connecting with customers and prospects. And if customer is king, all your email recipients are the prospective heirs-in-waiting, right?

This brings us to the rules that apply to customer service. You must have heard...

You have nicely segmented your email list into smaller lists. You have used your judgement and evaluated available metrics, user preferences and habits to categorize the main email list. Now you know, your next task is to customize your email message to target each separate list, so that the content, the timing and the frequency suit the identified characteristics of each segmented list.

Segmentation gives a great impetus to the responses from your recipients and the numbers will show up in the...

One persistent worry for email marketers is the set of email addresses which show no response over a period of time. Such addresses can be likened to cul-de-sacs that usually lead you no where. How will you make your way around such ‘dead-ends’ and eventually bring them to the mainstream? Even if such email addresses don’t lead to increased spam complaints, bounces or other such headaches - over time, they do. A good proactive marketer will devote resources to look anew at these dormant...

Recently, CEOCFO Magazine interviewed Delivra's CEO, Neil Berman. In the interview, Neil covers topics ranging from how he got his start in the email business (with an idea and a kitchen table)  to his expert analysis of email marketing software's competitive landscape. Several excerpts from the interview are below. For the full interview, please click here. 

CEOCFO Magazine: How vital is email to the marketing program and how do you work with your clients so that they understand the role it...

Email marketing experts agree that an essential part of your email campaign is timing. You want to make your messages go out on exactly the right day at exactly the right hour.

Unfortunately, there isn't much agreement on when that should be. Copyblogger reports many expert email markterers prefer different times. Rick Whittington notes there several studies all showing different data. Scott Stratten insists content is more important than the timing. Even Delivra's competitor (and other email...

A couple of centuries ago, Cal von Clausewitz, a military theorist wrote: "Tactics is the art of using troops in battle; strategy is the art of using battles to win the war". 

The word strategy is something of a cliche in marketing. Marketers are fond of using the term - rater often - to encompass just about every bit and byte of thinking they do. 

For a marketing department: email, social media, direct mail, advertising are really all tactical 'weapons' that can be deployed separately to win...

Email marketing is a powerful tool to market your products and services. However, there is no guarantee your emails will be read or acted upon. A carefully planned out email marketing strategy can address all your concerns. Here are 4 key elements to develop a sucessful email marketing strategy:

Set Goals: Before venturing into a email campaign, sit back, think and understand what you would like to achieve. Is it to increase sales or to create brand awareness or to have more followers? Your goal...