Our Blog

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
Albert Einstein

This is absolutely one of my all-time favorite quotes. As a results-oriented-marketer, I've spent many days (and nights) pouring over data, trying to understand why things are they way they are. But the reality is, data only paints part of the picture.

This is a fantastic blog post from MarketingExperiments, Optimization 101: How to get real results from A/B testing by Paul Cheney, illustrating the entire picture to successful testing. I really liked alot about this post, but this paragraph in particular really rang true to me:

So while most marketers can certainly slap together two treatments and see which one gets a higher conversion rate, the marketer that asks “why” more customers responded to one treatment over the other is gleaning the maximum customer insight.

This may seem like a really basic statement, but how many of us actually take the time to combine numerical data with anecdotal data from prospects, customers or other stakeholders? I'd actually love to have your response! Please reply in the comments section with the types of data you collect to run your testing.

What we find from many of our managed email marketing clients is their need to outsource much of this testing to ensure their projects get done, the right way. As marketers, we've all been there, awesome intentions to run a comprehensive A/B campaign only to get side-tracked with another priority mid-stream. Sure you may glean some high level wins, i.e. a particular subject line yielded higher opens than the other... but by taking it one step further and asking "Why" just might yield the biggest win of all.

At Delivra, we're an email marketing agency that provides software and managed services to our clients. We enjoy putting together testing campaigns and ensuring we paint the entire picture of their email marketing programs. If you're looking for an email marketing partner, give us a call at 866.915.9465

I'm REALLY excited about our recent NetSuite Email Integration via Cazoomi. 

Easy set up. Automatic syncing of the two software applications. Fast results. Affordable pricing. 

Read the case study on how the Delivra/NetSuite Cazoomi SyncApp helped John & Kira's gourmet chocoloate company go from vanilla to chocolate ganache. 

Or call our email marketing consultants for more information at 866-915-9465 toll free. 

Gosh, it has been a while since my last post... but things have been a little busy at Delivra. And, there's one thing in particular making us smile.

For the past couple of months, we've been focusing on our own email marketing program. As a best practice, we believe it's very important to do a data clean-up every year, as well as evaluate all email content being sent. What was a relevant email schedule last year (or even last month) may not be so relevant anymore, and this is exactly what we found.

To ensure our data was clean, we did a re-engagement email campaign to our subscribers. This consisted of a few emails over the course of three weeks which asked email subscribers to update their preferences.




Once we had the data in place, we were ready to start drafting content and send schedules. One of our goals for this process was to do a better job incorporating highly relevant and personalized content in our emails.

Delivra's email marketing software has a feature called Conditional Content. What this feature allows us to do is create one email and swap out pieces of content or images based on data unique to the recipient.

For our own emails, we decided to use this feature to swap out Account Owner information. Many of our retail clients use this feature to swap out product information based on things like region, buying behavior, age, interests, occupation...the sky is the limit! Here's an example of what our email looked like:



Overall, the email "felt" good but ultimately, it's up to the data to let us know how we performed.  Some of the basic metrics we look at:

• Open Rate
• Click-through Rate
• Engagement Score
• Unsubscribes

We look at these metrics compared to data collected from previous mailings, we call these baseline metrics. Having these metrics are super important when you change any aspect of your strategy.

Finally, we can't forget the ultimate intent of the email. Our goal for this particular email was to raise awareness about new software features and gauge interest among our client base. In order to collect this data, we created a unique form-submit landing page that funneled info into Salesforce, our CRM. As the clients filled out the form, they were immediately put in the appropriate campaign and their Account Owner was notified.

Such a simple user experience, and yet, it allowed us to gather feature interest and another layer of data to determine the success of the mailing.

So, what were the results of our efforts?

• 14% increase in Open Rate
• Doubled our Click-through Rate
• 5% Conversion Rate for people interested in new features.

All of this goes to show that with a little effort and a lot of thought, you can take an existing list and re-invent results.

With all the Super Bowl craziness going on in Naptown this week, it's a little hard to catch your breath! As an email marketer though, you probably know the feeling. This week's madness is really no different than what you normally deal with on a regular basis at the office while trying to send out immaculate email campaigns to your subscribers. 

Do you feel overwhelmed sending out emails because you alone are the entire email marketing team or because you only have a handful of burned out help? It might be a good idea to look into an email marketing agency to help manage your email marketing program who offers more than just the software. An email marketing company can act more like your email marketing partner and offer services to help ease some of the pressure and stress from your team.  Some of those services at Delivra include: 

Consulting. Who wouldn't appreciate an email marketing pro offering advice on how to make your email marketing program the best it can be and boosts your long-term results? 

Design. We have a design team at Delivra who is dedicated to making client email campaigns look professional and get them results. 

Account Management. Each Delivra customer has a dedicated account manager who is paired with them to answer questions, provide email marketing insight, and assist in long-term goals and objectives. 

To find out what else Delivra can help you with, click here: http://www.delivra.com/managed-email-marketing/.

Today's post is from Robby Slaughter of Slaughter Development, a business process improvement consulting firm here in Indianapolis.

Email marketing is absolutely crucial to your business. I get it. And it's the holidays, and you feel the need to use your email marketing platform to reach out to customers with a greeting.

That's great. I feel you. But for the love of pete, please stop the holiday card madness!

You know what I'm talking about: the generic messages that just read "Happy Holidays from ABC Corporation!" Do you have any idea how many of those I'm going to receive today?

Answer: A half dozen or more.

Here's what I think when I receive a "seasons greetings" email from you that says little more than just "seasons greetings":

• You've got email marketing software, but you don't know how to use it
• You don't know what to say, so you're just copying everyone else
• You count every email open as a "win", no matter how instantaneous the deletion.

Okay, that's a little brutal. Maybe I need to calm down a bit.

This is not a case of the bah-humbugs. I do like the holiday season. And I want to hear stories about what your company is up to. Maybe you are raising money for some important cause. Maybe your employees are taking some interesting vacations. Really, telling me anything beyond just general well-wishes is going to be interesting.

In fact: being interesting is the secret to email engagement. You can pique my interest in many different ways. Maybe it's a special offer. Perhaps it's a distinctive story. No matter what you choose to do, if you're different than every other message in my inbox, I'm more likely to read it.

If I could sum up all email marketing best practices in just one word, I'd choose "unique." If your message could only have been sent from your company, it's got a good chance of real engagement. Keep this in mind, not just for the season, but for your email marketing strategy year-round.

Happy Holidays!

Today I walked past our CEO, Neil Berman, and noticed he had his arm in a sling.  I exclaimed "What happened to you!?"  His response, "I fell off the ladder cleaning out my gutters."  I replied, "Well, next time you should hire that out."  The conversation got me to thinking, Delivra is that kind of company.

No, not a gutter cleaning company, but a company that provides the right email marketing resources when you need them.  Sure we have a software that enables you to create, send and track emails, but our Consulting Services ensure you don't fall off the ladder.  You spend money when you send emails, but are you sure you're getting the most bang for the buck?  If you're not talking to us about how to increase your overall email marketing engagement, you could be in for a big fall!

Here's a picture of some cute puppies I found on the internet.

Email marketing isn't just for huge companies with a lot of budget to spend.  It can be a great way to help small to mid-sized companies level the playing field. 

By teaming up with an email marketing company that can provide email software, smaller companies can share information with their audience quickly and efficiently in the same way that a large company can. 

By working with an email marketing service provider, a company can:

• Provide a central hub for storing their email lists. 
• Give assistance in setting up the appropriate email opt-in for subscribers. 
• Receive templates, making the design of emails much easier. 

Being small doesn't put you at a disadvantage when it comes to email marketing. In fact, an email marketing company is a resource you can use to help you become a powerful player in the game. 

As most of you know, Delivra has recently moved. To celebrate, we held an Open House and invited clients, family, and friends. In preparation for the event, we had to determine the most efficient way to send out invitations to guests. 

Lucky for us, our speciality is email marketing...

Like me, you have probably seen several emails in your inbox promoting the latest webinar or confirming your RSVP for the latest event. Email marketing is a great way to promote events. If you pair it with sharing on social media sites, word of mouth, and/direct mail you can really spread information quickly to a number of people! 

Sending an invitation to guests using email is quick and easy. Here are some steps you can take to send an invitation using email marketing: 

1. Add a list of guests' names and email addresses to your email software. 

2. Create an appealing invitation with all pertinent event information. 

3. Including a RSVP link is important if you need an estimated number of people planning to attend. If you do include a RSVP link, send out a confirmation email so people know you received their information was received. 

4. Consider following this up with reminder or thank you emails depending on the event. 

We used email marketing to send our Open House invitations, but other events you could use email for are: 

• Webinars
• Classes
• Meetings
• Speaking Engagements
• Conferences

Want help using email to promote your next event? Contact your Delivra Account Manager today or call 866-915-9465. 

A lot of people think that my job is just to sell our software.  What a lot of people don’t know until they talk to me or one of our other Business Development Managers is that our job is to make sure you get the most out of your email marketing.  That’s not just selling software, but often times it’s applying best practices and leveraging your overall marketing and branding strategy.
 

Delivra is an email marketing software and services provider. While email marketing is our specialty, we understand the importance of incorporating several different types of marketing efforts to be most effective.

Blogging is an active piece of the inbound marketing puzzle pertinent for some businesses to be an active part of.

What is a blog?

For the technical definition of a blog, click here.  For companies,  a blog is an interactive tool that allows them to share information about their company, industry, or business practices in general. They can share this blog post to their social networking sites or comment with their own views.   A blog is a great way to engage visitors with your website, increase traffic, and potentially assist in gaining leads.

Who should be using a blog?

With the Internet so readily available today, literally anyone with access can write a blog.  Determining what businesses should or should not write a blog is based on individual companies. Some things to consider though before starting a blog would be to make sure you have the resources available and determining if you have something to say relevant to your audience.

How should you start blogging?

As with any new marketing channel, you want to make sure you have a plan of action completed first. Determine the following:

• What kind of audience do I hope to reach?
• What software do I want to use to present my blog?
• What content do I want to share?
• What do I hope to accomplish with my blog?
• What metrics and statistics can I track to see how well my blog is progressing?

This is a brief overview of blogging and some tips on getting started. For more information, check out these resources!

This Blogging Thing Really Works

9 Tips to Start Blogging Successfully

How to Start a Blog

As with any marketing strategy, it's important to continuously evaluate and improve. Over the next few weeks, we're going to be doing some work on the Delivra blog.  You may notice changes in the look and feel of the site, more guest bloggers participating, and more. Stay tuned for more updates!

Lavon Temple | Marketing

When I left the search marketing world a few weeks ago to join the Delivra team as their Director of Marketing, I got a lot of advice. One in particular that's stuck with me is:

Choosing an ESP is like car shopping. There's a make and model to fit everyone's demands.

Boy, isn't that the truth. As I continue to look under the hood (pun intended) at this new space I'm in, I'm simply amazed at the variety and scope that each service provider offers. And, it's not a coincidence that the same values you place on your personal purchases (automobiles, homes, etc.) absolutely roll over into professional purchases as software and other crucial vendors.

One thing, among many, that really sold me on Delivra was the intense focus the company has on its customers. You see this in the company's messaging platform: We are answerable only to our customers. As the first statement among our Vision and Values: We exist to serve our customers. And, through our action, Rachel, an Account Manager is on the road no less than five days a week meeting and strategizing with clients.

As I continue to put the pedal to the metal (I know, stop with the corny puns already!) at Delivra, I look forward to learning from our clients and prospective clients. I'm eager to hear, in their own words, what type of make and model we are to them, and how we can continue to assist in building successful email programs that mirror their own values.

Megan Glover | Director of Marketing

We hired a consulting firm recently to build out a CRM integration. At the kickoff luncheon one of the firm representatives asked, "How does Delivra compete with the larger, rapidly growing email service providers?"

My answer was two-fold. One, we are closer to the customer and therefore understand how to build better relationships. Two, a smaller company is generally more agile than a larger one. Picture how long it takes a cruise ship to turn 180 degrees vs. a speed boat.

Coincidentally, the very next day I was reading a copy of Fortune magazine. In it was a one-page article entitled David vs Goliath - A cereal maker, a ticket seller and an accounting firm: Don't underestimate the entrepreneurs behind these nimble small businesses. Three short analyses were presented which I have summarized below.

First, Better Oats vs. Quaker Oats - How does the underdog cereal maker, Malt-O-Meal, grab market share from the biggest name in oatmeal? By rolling out a natural and organic line of oatmeals with better ingredients and smaller packages to maximize shelf space now selling in 21,000 retail stores including a private label product at Whole Foods.

Second, Brown Paper Tickets vs. Ticketmaster - This ticket seller is thriving even as the industry leader becomes stronger by targeting venues overlooked by others and customers that did not want Ticketmaster as a partner since they now own competing venues.

Third, WTP Advisors vs. PWC - How can a start up accounting firm compete for Fortune 500 clients against the big four? By avoiding bureaucracy and overhead, the 75-person firm offers big companies easy access to partners, speeds delivery of complex tax computations through custom software and charges lower rates.

Delivra's choice for a consulting firm was based on the fact that their staff lived locally thereby eliminating travel expenses, their rates were a fraction of the nationals, and they understood how to work with a fast-paced entrepreneurial company like Delivra. Quality work and reputation are tickets to play with any partner under consideration.

Our competitive advantage is similar to that of our consulting firm. I reminded them that bigger is not automatically better. They knew that didn't they?

Neil Berman | President & CEO

The Indianapolis Zoo, since opening in 1964, has grown into a world-class facility hosting a million visitors each year and playing a major role in worldwide conservation and research, including accomplishing the world's first successful artificial insemination of an African elephant.

My visit to the Zoo last week brought to light a common challenge facing many organizations in this era of rapid technological change.

As a long-time partner of Delivra, we serve not only as their email resource, but also as an occasional sounding board for guidance on electronic communication and technology in general.

After an obligatory behind the scenes tour to pet the penguins (last year we wallowed with the walruses), it was down to business.

Our agenda was titled, 'Exploring Technological Innovation and Efficiencies.' I was surprised to hear that no less than thirty companies had called on the zoo recently offering new technology ideas.

Their dilemma was where to start and how to prioritize.

We discussed SMS/texting, PURLS (personalized URLs), enhancing online profiles, enriching data, online ticketing and donation tools, eCards and more.

After a robust conversation I commented that Delivra is a software company working hard to stay ahead of change. How can an organization built for wildlife possibly have the resources to evaluate the plethora of technology options and furthermore, implement them?

I left thinking that maybe we should ask one of the remaining 450 Siberian tigers that is housed at a new zoo exhibit. After all, isn't their future our future?

Neil Berman | President & CEO

Price:
Fancy Feast $0.62
Chunk Light Tuna $0.64

Weight:
Fancy Feast 3 oz
Chunk Light Tuna 5 oz

Ingredients:
Fancy Feast - Fish broth, salmon, liver, wheat gluten, meat by-products, chicken
Chunk Light Tuna - Light tuna, water, vegetable broth

My Cat's Reaction:
Fancy Feast - smell, stare, lick the gravy, back for the good stuff later or never
Chunk Light Tuna - meow for dinner, then head is down until the dish is licked clean

Packaging is an art form for consumer goods but does not always have your best interests in mind. Packaging with email service providers can also be misleading.

How do you evaluate software tools, deliverability, rendering, training, service, security, success quotient vs. price between providers?

Feature sets, service, results and price varies widely. The phrase 'email marketing' is used liberally. What you don't know can be defeating against the crush of email that recipients contend with on a daily basis.

How do you know when the fancy packaged service appears to offer more but actually offers less than the plain tuna variety?

Here at Delivra we take our tuna seriously. Our values statement reads, "We exist to serve our customers."

Now, Delivra does not have the only straight-talking tuna philosophy in this business, but my advice is to seek out those that share our vision of how to partner with people rather than those that prefer to partner with the paycheck.

Have a comment or story to share? Contact me at n_berman@delivra.com.

Neil Berman | President & CEO

According to the eMarketer.com, as a percentage of all Internet users, people who listen to podcasts will grow to 17% by 2013, and 50% of primarily online buyers already listen to podcasts. If you're not including podcasts as part of your marketing strategy, you might want to reconsider.

Here's why: Recently, a software company was looking to nurture credibility and trust with prospective buyers, and extend brand loyalty with existing customers. We produced an eight-part podcast series that featured clients telling their success stories in their own words. Each was available as streaming audio as well as an MP3 download. The series was produced with an NPR-like feel. It was promoted via an email marketing campaign, the company's website, social media, and iTunes. The series was heard more than a thousand times. The largest audience segment was contacts that hadn't interacted with the brand in three-months or more.

If you endeavor to produce a podcast series, here are six tips that will maximize your success:

1. Keep it short. Unless your podcast strategy is to sponsor entertainment programs, keep each episode in the 2-3 minute range; 10-minutes at the outside. Keeping the listener's attention for more than five minutes is challenging. My own observations reveal that an average person will listen to five three-minute audio clips in a row, but rarely sits through a single 15-minute clip.

2. Write compelling content. There are a lot of people doing 30- and 60-minute talk-show webcasts. With few exceptions, these tend to pack five-minutes of real content into a 30-minute bag; too much fluff. Instead, write a conversational script of 500 words - the length of this article. Provide actionable advice, insights, or inspiration.

3. Partner with other subject-matter experts. If you find it a challenge to create your own content, share the work with others who provide complementary products and services. In return, these partners get exposure and a chance to build their own brand.

4. Produce a professional sound. Make it a great listening experience - use a quality microphone, eliminate background noises, clicks, throat clearing, mispronunciations, tinny voices and monotones. Add music to accentuate the enthusiasm.

5. Promote it through multiple channels. Distribute this great content through a campaign of email tactics, social media, website, and iTunes. Provide a written transcript on the landing page of each episode. This serves two purposes. First, some people want the written word. Second, the copy does wonders for your organic search marketing.

6. Measure the results. In the campaign brief that you write at the beginning of this, you'll establish goals and objectives. Among them, you'll want to track listenership. Depending on the audio platform you use, you can track the number of listens of each podcast as well as the average length of time spent listening. This can provide input into future subject matter.

Add podcasts to your marketing toolkit. An effective podcast series will invigorate your brand to re-engage dormant contacts, nurture active leads, and build brand loyalty with existing customers.

Guest Blogger | Richard Cunningham

Richard Cunningham is a veteran of corporate marketing with business-to-business companies ranging from start-ups to Global 100. His passion is developing demand generation programs that produce measurable results. Hear him at Rich Cunningham Voice Over.

Implementing an email marketing campaign is not easy.  There are several things to consider when starting an email campaign and then, of course, several more added when you decide to take the necessary steps to improve your email marketing efforts.

With so many things to remember when it comes to email marketing, here are a few reminders to keep top of mind when making the most of using email marketing.

A. Always Get Permission. It is no longer acceptable to buy a list of email addresses and send a "blast email" to numerous amounts of people that didn't sign up to receive your emails.  It's so much more effective to send to a smaller, more targeted list of subscribers that actually want to receive your information and are engaged with your emails. Delivra prides itself on being a permission - based email marketing software provider.

B. Basics, Basics, Basics. People have been telling marketers to get back to email marketing basics for a while, but the truth is some haven't even started to use them yet. It is so important to start using the email best practices that are available.  You want to make sure that you are using them because if done properly - it really does have an impact on your marketing efforts. You may find that your click through rate is increased, readers are more engaged with your emails, or that the amount of people sharing your email has substantially increased.

C. Content is King. Still. People want to read emails and forward emails to others that have content that is intriguing and informative. A new focus has been placed on content marketing and making sure that the information is educating customers.

D. Design. It's so important that you plan the design of your emails.  As marketing that is being presented to your subscribers, you want to make sure that it looks professional and will render well in email providers. Delivra has a Design Team that writes blog posts in order to share information about email design best practices.

Have other ideas that could be used for these letters?  Add them in the comments section.

Lavon Temple | Marketing

Scenario: A businessman, eager to promote his services, collects the addresses of members of a network he belongs to.   He sends them an electronic message inviting them to check out a new product.  Some recipients take exception to the intrusion, leading to a vigorous debate about the businessman's ethics.

If you follow the email industry in 2011, you may recognize this scenario as the one that played out last month involving a businessman (Douglas Karr, CEO of DK New Media) and an offended recipient (Al Iverson, deliverability expert and anti-spam advocate).   The argument that followed, which began on Twitter and continued in a Magill Report article, was about whether DK New Media's email to Iverson's address--which Karr obtained through their mutual LinkedIn connection--constituted spam.

But theirs was not a new debate.  The question of "what constitutes spam" is older even than the use of the word "spam" to describe unsolicited commercial email, almost as old as the Internet itself.

In 1978, the word "internet" had not yet been made into a proper noun.  It was an adjective, used in technical papers as shorthand for "internetworking."  However, there was such a thing as email, on a network called ARPANET, which was the predecessor to the Internet-with-a-capital-I that we know today.  ARPANET was established by the Advanced Research Projects Agency of the U.S. Department of Defense.  It connected ARPA-sponsored researchers at universities and private corporations.

One corporation connected to ARPANET was Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC).  In 1978, a new model of DEC computer was available, and a DEC marketing executive thought ARPANET users would find it particularly interesting.  All ARPANET-connected persons were listed in a printed(!) directory, so a DEC employee looked up all the West Coast addresses, typed them in, and sent them this message:
DIGITAL WILL BE GIVING A PRODUCT PRESENTATION OF THE NEWEST MEMBERS OF THE
DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY; THE DECSYSTEM-2020, 2020T, 2060, AND 2060T. THE
DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY OF COMPUTERS HAS EVOLVED FROM THE TENEX OPERATING SYSTEM
AND THE DECSYSTEM-10 <PDP-10> COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE. BOTH THE DECSYSTEM-2060T
AND 2020T OFFER FULL ARPANET SUPPORT UNDER THE TOPS-20 OPERATING SYSTEM.
THE DECSYSTEM-2060 IS AN UPWARD EXTENSION OF THE CURRENT DECSYSTEM 2040
AND 2050 FAMILY. THE DECSYSTEM-2020 IS A NEW LOW END MEMBER OF THE
DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY AND FULLY SOFTWARE COMPATIBLE WITH ALL OF THE OTHER
DECSYSTEM-20 MODELS.

WE INVITE YOU TO COME SEE THE 2020 AND HEAR ABOUT THE DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY
AT THE TWO PRODUCT PRESENTATIONS WE WILL BE GIVING IN CALIFORNIA THIS
MONTH. THE LOCATIONS WILL BE:

TUESDAY, MAY 9, 1978 - 2 PM
HYATT HOUSE (NEAR THE L.A. AIRPORT)
LOS ANGELES, CA

THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1978 - 2 PM
DUNFEY'S ROYAL COACH
SAN MATEO, CA
(4 MILES SOUTH OF S.F. AIRPORT AT BAYSHORE, RT 101 AND RT 92)

A 2020 WILL BE THERE FOR YOU TO VIEW. ALSO TERMINALS ON-LINE TO OTHER
DECSYSTEM-20 SYSTEMS THROUGH THE ARPANET. IF YOU ARE UNABLE TO ATTEND,
PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CONTACT THE NEAREST DEC OFFICE
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE EXCITING DECSYSTEM-20 FAMILY.
In this retrospective by Brad Templeton, one can see several parallels between the 1978 DEC mailing and the 2011 DK mailing:

• The senders didn't think they were doing anything wrong. The DEC executive thought the ARPANET users would welcome hearing about a product designed with their needs in mind.  Karr believed his LinkedIn network would welcome hearing about goings-on at his company, or else they wouldn't be connected to him.
• The network operators were not amused. A DoD administrator called DEC's message "A FLAGRANT VIOLATION."  One university's system was taken down when the DEC mailing filled up the server's disk (at a time when disk space was much, much more scarce and expensive than today).  Then, as in 2011, system administrators viewed unsolicited commercial email as a serious problem.
• Recipients' reactions were mixed, but tended towards angry. In his Twitter defense of his actions, Karr cited his mailing's high engagement metrics as evidence that not everyone took offense.  And the DEC rep's actions were defended by at least one recipient as being more relevant than some of the birth announcements and other mail sent on ARPANET.  But generally, unsolicited commercial email then, as now, was poorly received.

This last point illustrates a common cause of confusion for marketers: there is not a universally-accepted definition of spam.  Attempts by governments to define spam for legal purposes have fallen short of the practical definitions used every day by ISPs in filtering incoming mail, and by recipients when deciding whether or not to click that "Report Spam" button.

Was Karr's message spam?  Legally, under the CAN-SPAM act, perhaps not.  But whatever you call it, it was a bad idea.  If you have to argue about whether you have permission to send to someone, then for practical purposes, you should assume you don't have permission.

Marketers who only send mail to explicitly opted-in addresses tend not to get drawn into Twitter fights over their practices.  And if your sending practices resemble those of DEC in 1978, then it's worth noting that their DECSYSTEM-20 mailing is widely regarded today as having been "the first spam."  Don't let your mailing be the next spam.

Chris Broshears | Product Development

By now, you've probably seen this video clip from 1994 making the rounds on Internet.  If not, take two minutes and watch it now.  Then scroll down for a question:

It's easy enough to laugh smugly at this now, in 2011, when Internet email is part of our national consciousness, and Bryant Gumbel isn't.

But where were you when you first encountered email? Probably not on camera like Gumbel and Katie Couric, I'm guessing.

In terms of familiarity with email, I had an advantage over the Today Show anchors, because in 1994 I was a college student.  I had discovered Internet email two years earlier, when I learned that my account on the university's VAX/VMS mainframe could be used not only for sending messages on campus, but could also communicate with my high school classmates attending schools in far-flung places like Muncie, IN; Bowling Green, KY; and Knoxville, TN.  And when we found out that my parents' Prodigy online service included email, it became a cheaper alternative for keeping in touch with them than long-distance calling.

HTML email was still unheard of, as the main application for HTML, the World Wide Web, was still a curiosity, even on campus, where Mosaic, the first graphical Web browser, had only been recently introduced to the PCs in the Computer Science department lab.  Obviously, then, we weren't using a Web-based email client, or any client at all; instead, we used terminal emulation programs, or actual dumb terminals, to connect to the server and read plain text emails there.

But outside the university, email wasn't fully mainstream.  When I took my first job out of college in 1996, working tech support for Software Artistry, Inc., our clients included Fortune 500 companies, most of which still didn't issue Internet email accounts to their employees.  When problems occurred, it was not uncommon for customers to fax us a 50-page printed log file that today would just be attached to an email.

That's my "when I met email" story—what's yours?  Were you flummoxed like the Today Show talent?  Was your first email account through school, or work, or your home AOL dial-up service?  Or are you're of the generation that has never known a world without email?  Post your story in the comments section below.

Chris Broshears | Product Development

For those of you that may have missed the Delivra annual update press release, we are sharing it in today's blog post.

Delivra reports continued growth in revenue and new customers throughout 2010. The company reported a 36 percent increase in revenue over the last six months of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009. The company's outlook for 2011 calls for continued growth.

Delivra attributes its growth in 2010 to several key events, including integrating and partnering with companies, such as Flimp, Omniture, and TabSite, which gives customers a greater variety of services.

Other highlights from 2010 included Delivra being named one of the Indiana Companies to Watch; eMailchatr, the Delivra blog, being named one of the Top Indiana Blogs of 2010; and Delivra ranking on the Lead411 Technology 500 List.

"Delivra looks forward to the new year as an opportunity to work aggressively to meet the email marketing needs of our clients. We want to continue to offer them new improvements to the software; more convenient ways to create, send, and track emails; and advanced capabilities through integrations with other companies," said Neil Berman, president & CEO of Delivra.