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For those who missed it, the 2012 Byte Night, an NPower annual event, was awesome: it's one of Indianapolis's premier networking and leadership events for technologists. By the way, you should be sure to attend next year - what a GREAT organization.

Consistent with NPower's mission, Byte Night provides an opportunity to showcase some fantastic not for profit organizations in Indianapolis. In addition, NPower has a long standing tradition called the Tech Angel awards. This year, Delivra has agreed to be a Tech Angel for two sensational organizations in Indianapolis: the Martin Luther King Community Center and the South East Neighborhood Development Inc. Both have amazing mission statements and are out there on the front lines serving our community.

Delivra is excited to offer both organizations a FULL YEAR of professional email marketing. We're going to partner with both organizations to provide a full suite of not just email marketing tools, but every bit of the strategy and consulting they need to create truly effective connections with their stakeholders and donors.

Check out this quick video that provides a great overview of NPower, the Tech Angel awards, and these two, very deserving organizations.

 

With Canada finalizing their Bill C-28 or FISA as it has been coined, we can expect serious penalties for email marketers not gaining "express or implied consent" and be able to prove it. (More Info) This is so important to see the impact this legislation is going to have, not only on Canada, but eventually in the United States as well. Our Federal Trade Commission's current "CAN-SPAM" laws are outdated and drastically overdue for an update.

In an industry that is led by the ESP's, checks and balances are enforced and adapted frequently to combat the more than 80% spam-only email traffic that is passed daily. It is time for marketers to understand that while the US isn't requiring permission yet, they will be soon, and when that day comes - you need to be ready. 

Are your lists of subscribers all truly response based, opt-in? DO you maintain a clean list by engaging them regularly and offering to remove those who aren't interested anymore? Permission isn't forever and it certainly doesn't come from compiled, opt-out based lists. So be engaging, be relevant, be targeted, and treat them like you were dating. You wouldn't automatically add a boyfriend to a mailing list without his permission or email him the same message several times - so don't do it to your subscribers. 

Guest Blogger | Stephanie DeWitt
Stephanie DeWitt is a Database Marketing Strategist with Embanet Compass, the pre-eminent full-service provider of online learning services to universities and colleges that wish to offer online educational programs. 
 

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

You don't have to be an email marketer to know that the holidays are fast approaching. Many retailers have had their Christmas decorations out in full-force since before Halloween. Those of you who know my love of Halloween can guess how I react to that, but I do understand the desire to get as much out of your marketing efforts as possible this time of year.

Every year, I see email volume and frequency start increasing earlier and earlier. Competition to get your offers into the hands of your subscribers while they're planning their holiday purchases is fierce. While you may touch recipients once a month or weekly, you may decide that, during the next 6 weeks, doubling or tripling your current rate will help keep your product/service/cause on people's minds during the holiday rush. If so, I have one piece of advice: set the right expectations.

I'm always a big proponent of setting expectations at the time of opt-in. With that said, it's possible that expectations either weren't set or have changed since they signed up. So what can you do if you want to increase your frequency without killing the golden goose?

Alert your subscribers of the coming increase. Zappos is one retailer who recently sent out a mailing to their subscribers letting them know that their offers would be coming more often through the holidays. This gave their readers a heads-up for what to expect in terms of frequency (when the increase would start and how often offers would be sent), along with the well-worded explanation of why they're doing it (along with some of the additional benefits that are part of this special program). Putting this information in subscribers' hands can help reduce the number of complaints generated by inbox overload.

Allow your subscribers to opt-up or down for the additional emails. Providing your recipients the ability to set their own preferences for offers they want helps to make sure you're putting your offers into the hands of those most receptive to them. Allowing recipients the ability to opt-out of the additional holiday offers but continue to receive the emails at the frequency they're accustomed to can go a long way toward reducing list fatigue and making your readers feel engaged and less like they're "just a number" to you.

If you are looking to ramp up your marketing efforts through the holidays, and are looking for some help, give us a call. We're glad to help.

Kris Dougherty | Director of Operations

I often hear from marketers asking  how to protect various aspects of their recipient lists(s) from others in their organization who are looking to do something they know isn't right.  The questions normally come on the acquisition end ("They're convinced buying a list is a good idea, what should I say?") but sometimes, it goes the other direction, and the marketer is dealing with higher-ups who think it is a good idea to sell their list to a third party.

These requests for help are full of exasperation as the marketer can't seem to overcome the "but they'll pay us a lot of money" argument that they're getting from the other side.

One such conversation recently came from a marketer that has been running a very successful, yet small mailing list of dedicated subscribers.  His superiors had been approached by someone wanting to market their list.  He knew this was a bad idea.  He knew that it was a betrayal of the trust he had worked to build. He knew it could have repercussions, but didn't know specifically how.

Every time he objected to the idea, it was met with a "but this is like free money" response.  The executives gung-ho about it had been approached by a third party interested in marketing to their audience.  They saw it as an opportunity to take an asset of theirs (their list of email addresses) and turn it into a revenue source.

"So, this company wants you to send out ads for them?" I asked.

"No, they would buy the list and send the mailings out themselves." was the reply.

And that instantly put a bad taste in my mouth.  At that point, I asked some questions about how the list was grown, what expectations were set at the time of opt-in, what this third party is sending, what's to keep them from selling them to others...

"Yeah," he said "I've gone over all of that with them. It's directly in conflict with what our subscribers agreed to when they signed up.  We told them we'd only be sending updates about our products and services, but the executives aren't concerned with that.  They say that this  third party will make sure no one would know the addresses came from us."

I've heard that before and I'd sure like to see the guarantee that goes along with that statement.  As we talked, I mentioned the possibility of subscribers who have created unique addresses.  Suddenly, he perked up.  "You mean someone might have an address that they only use to receive emails from us?" You betcha.  And if they suddenly start receiving email at that address from others, they're not going to be very pleased with you.  In the recipients eyes, either you sold them out, or you didn't secure the information they gave you. Either way, you ruin your relationship with them and potentially generate some really bad publicity for your company.

I'd like to think that people will do the right thing regardless of whether they think they'll get caught, but sometimes they can get distracted.  I was glad I was able to help this marketer make the case not to sell and he was glad to know someone had his back.

Kris Dougherty | Director of Operations

Here at Delivra, we are excited to announce to our faithful readers that we've been selected by customer relationship manager (CRM) solution provider AddressTwo as its integrated email service provider. 

AddressTwo is a great company that provides small businesses with technology and processes for managing sales, marketing and productivity. With more than 1,200 users, the company eschews call center support and instead partners with local companies to provide hands-on support and a unique customer experience to small businesses. 

"Delivra is a great choice for us because we have very similar customer service philosophies," said Nick Carter, president of AddressTwo. "I know that the Delivra email platform is reliable and I feel good knowing that I can talk to a real person at Delivra immediately if I need to." 

To read more about the Delivra and AddressTwo partnership, please click here to go to the full press release available on the Delivra website! 

I often hear dramatically different definitions and interpretations of what "Full Service" means as it relates to email marketing.  Please don't confuse the quality of service with the level of service...these are two very different things.  "Level" describes the agreed upon ownership of various activities between the customer and the contractor/vendor.  These activities could range from creative design, automated email campaign setup and management weekly or monthly coaching/consulting all the way to "here is my vision...let me know when you are there." "Quality" on the other hand describes how well or poorly those activities are handled in the eyes of the customer.

Let's face it, marketers are continually being asked to do more with less.  If by chance I temporarily forget this and need to be reminded...I need only look across our office at our Director of Marketing, Carissa Newton, as she navigates through the constant barrage of requirements and requests: e-newsletters, product releases, press releases, SEO optimization, website improvements, sales collateral, speaking events, whitepapers, blogs, company Facebook page updates, tweets, clicks, PowerPoint templates, etc...all of which need to be done yesterday.

So what level of service is right for your organization?  If I had to group our industry into buckets, I would give you these three:

Full Service - This relationship is where you tell them what you want and they do the work for you.  Typically, you would never have a need to see their user interface.

Self Service - This is the typical SaaS model.  You pay money for access to software...you get training and off you go.  There is usually a phone number, web chat, or email address available if you have a question or concern.

Hybrid - This gives you the flexibility to control those items you wish to control and outsource those that you wish to outsource...either all the time or case by case.

So which one is right for you?  Take a look at your email requirements and your core business over the course of the next 12 months.  Maybe you have a marketing team that can get the job done 6 months out of the year, but will fall short during the trade show season.  Maybe email is the number one most vital component to your business so you would like to have the professionals drive the system.  Maybe you are great at the business aspect of email marketing, but lack a team member with design talent.  Depending on your department and situation, there is a solution out there for you.

To find out if Delivra is the solution for you, please visit our website or give us a call at 866-915-9465.

Scott Cramer | Director of Sales

I don't know about you, but email marketing isn't the ONLY marketing function I handle these days.  In fact, it is one function of about 500 others.  In addition to that, unless you go to school for Web design many schools never even cover email marketing, HTML, or even the web-based technologies that we are all using today to manage those hundreds of things we do.  I doubt anyone can disagree that email marketing, when done right, generates tremendous ROI.  According to the DMA just last year, email marketing can generate as much as $43 of ROI for every ONE DOLLAR you spend.  That's pretty powerful when you think about all of the other marketing methods and tactics that are typically generating one-to-one or two-to-one at best.  And isn't that what it is all about?  ROI-Return on Investment.  Here is a very simple video to learn the concept of ROI...

In today's economy if you are a marketer that isn't measuring each tactic and the results it generates, then you are likely headed for the same demise as the 8 Track Player, the Walkman, or even very soon, the CD!

So NOW you truly get it and you begin marketing by the numbers.  You know email brings the greatest result and you want to integrate more into your strategy, now what?  Well, if you are like me you are juggling all things marketing and cannot self-teach yourself HTML overnight.  there are still a few things you can do to be successful.  Here's my list of three things that will guarantee your marketing superstar status regardless of your knowledge of HTML:

1. Use an Email Marketing Service Provider (otherwise known as an ESP) to manage your campaigns.  You see, with an ESP you get the software to build, send and track each campaign with ease.  In fact, almost all ESPs have very user-friendly editors & templates in which you can use to build your HTML message.
2. Find resources that help you along the way...whether you design in Dreamweaver, FrontPage or in an ESPs editor, finding email marketing or HTML tips and guides to reference along the way will help you a ton!  Email Marketing Reports has an excellent article where they reference over 50 articles on HTML and email design.  The Email Experience Council offers research, blogs, and webinars for you to learn more.  In fact, even Delivra offers webinars to our customers now to learn more about the email basics and next steps.
3. Outsource your design work.  It's not unheard of!  We,  as marketers, outsource PR, web design, and many other projects....you can outsource your email design as well and be more effective with the strategy to implement each campaign.  Here at Delivra, we have a full-time design team that can provide advice, custom project-based services along with full-service.  Not only is it a great service for your investment, their design often makes mine blush!  You can even follow their tips, hints, and tricks in our blog in the Design Category.

Hope this blog post provided you some insight and resources to get started today!  Drive powerful results with email marketing today and let me know what questions or comments you have.  Comment today!

Carissa Newton | Marketing

I always get excited when we can devise a new way for a client to build a list and communicate with their subscribers. In this case it is a franchised hotel.

Background
The hotel had done little marketing in the past. They are located near a major airport and business demand kept the rooms full and the food service facility busy. However, economic conditions have reduced business travel and business.

Marketing Goal
The hotel marketing manager was looking for a high ROI method to build sales. Email was on her list but she was unsure of how to proceed. With 200 email addresses in hand and no previous email marketing program the task looked daunting. In addition, the facility did not have authority to post anything on the franchiser's national website.

Needed
Before you can market with email you need a recipient list to mail to. How do you build a sizable list of email subscribers interested in receiving site specific information (in this case the airport hotel) and with offers that are relevant and timely?

Solution
The solution required connecting four marketing tools. Print, web, email and smart phone.

Printed announcements are to be placed in all guest rooms and maintained by the housekeeping staff. The printed offer sends hotel guests to a one page web site hosted by Delivra.

The web site has a subscribe form with text boxes for email address and optional name. Plus the offer is reinforced on the site. Revisions to the web page are easily performed using simple editing tools already in the Delivra solution.

An emailed coupon is delivered in real time to people who complete the web site subscription form.

Using any smart phone that displays HTML or text email, a guest can merely display the coupon to hotel food service staff who redeem the offer.

Payoff
The hotel gets an instant boost in sales from current guests plus they build a list of email addresses for an email newsletter aimed at encouraging return visits.

Neil Berman | President & CEO

 

Today marks an important day in the history of Delivra. We describe ourselves as "one of the original email marketing companies," because it's true that we've been in the email business for longer than many of our competitors. However, this occasion, the 109th anniversary of our parent company's creation, calls for some reflection on the early career of our esteemed founder. 

Fred Delivra arrived on these shores sometime late in the 19th century, although Ellis Island has no record of his arrival. A very private man, his personal history remains shrouded in mystery. Rumor had it that he was a viscount or baron from either Bohemia or West Frisia, though no details of his prior life could ever be substantiated. In any case, Delivra started his namesake company on April 1, 1901, not long after he migrated to Indianapolis and deposited two bags of 20-franc gold pieces at the National Bank of Indiana on Maryland Street. 
 

Fred Delivra & Co. started out as a retailer of ladies' fashion shoes, and Delivra also dabbled as a restaurateur before discovering the potential financial windfall in delivering marketing messages on behalf of local merchants. His company became a Central Indiana sensation thanks to Fred's flock of highly trained carrier pigeons. They were known for their unerring accuracy and ability to loyally return to the pigeon coop atop the Delivra Building on Delaware Street (which, to the chagrin of historic preservationists, was demolished in 1971 to make way for the Indiana Pacers' new home, Market Square Arena). Unfortunately, this hardy breed was also well known for its delicious and succulent flavors, which ultimately led Delivra to abandon pigeon marketing. 
 

As his pigeon flock dwindled, Delivra began developing a Teletype system. It was this innovation that moved Fred Delivra from local figure to national curiosity. From the New York Examiner, August 22nd, 1915: 

"Fred Delivra brings the wows to crowds as the new teletype marketing interchange is able to send 8 messages over the course of an hour, blazing past all previous records. Whoa, nelly! Fred Delivra has the moxie, the gumption, and the old-fashioned know-how to change the way we in this fair land communicate!"

Some of Delivra's first clients included the Wharton-Smyth Velocipede Company, Dew Drops 100% Safe Children's Cough Syrup, and The Minneapolis Pavement and Steam-Pipe Co-Op. An original telegram from Harold Wharton-Smyth, framed and hanging in Delivra's current office, reads: 

JOYOUS NEW SALES CEILING REACHED STOP FULLED PLEASED
WITH FRED DELIVRA & CO STOP FORSEE GRAND NEW 
PARTNERSHIP FOR CENTURY STOP
 

Other competitors followed, and the young industry (which some had already dubbed as "electronical mail," a moniker later adopted by the inventors of the Internet as a homage to Delivra and other communication pioneers, and shortened to "email,") grew but was soon threatened by Estonian Teletype bandits sending unwanted and unsolicited teletype messages to law-abiding, peaceful citizens. The integrity of the new technology was jeopardized by the proliferation of these false and misleading advertisements for Dr. Prufrock's Vitality Ointment; promotions for knockoff Winchester Brand Pipe-Tobacco; and scandalous gossip against Hollywood starlet Louise Brooks. Facing the grim prospect of a federal crackdown on all commercial teletype activity, Fred Delivra broke his longstanding stance against involvement in public affairs to assist Congressman Carlyle Root Phelps in creating the first laws regarding teletype sending and receiving. 

Does your email service provider have this kind of track record in delivering marketing content and preventing messaging abuse? We think not. The proud employees of Delivra salute our visionary founder on this, our 109th anniversary. However, the festivities planned for today won't affect service to our clients, we promise; Delivra's support lines remain open during regular business hours today, despite the celebration. Fred would have wanted it that way. 


 

I often hear people compare unwanted email to junk postal mail.  There is some validity to the comparison.  I know there have been times our home mailbox has been crowded (if not full) with offers that I never asked for.  At certain times of the year, we get catalogs galore, and probably half are from stores we've shopped.  The others range from alleged partners of those stores to the completely random.  This says nothing of the numerous offers from local businesses wanting me to paint my house, whiten my teeth, or dine at their restaurant, just because I'm within a given radius from one of their locations.  And there are different levels of personalization.  If you're sending me something, you should know I've never been too fond of being referred to as "Current Resident".

But I don't find myself getting as angry about postal junk mail as I do about email.  Perhaps it is because I work with permission-based email for a living. Maybe it is the frequency or volume.  Maybe it is the types of offers being sent (I'll guarantee my postal mailbox doesn't get nearly as racy as what I see via email.)  But more likely, for me anyway, it is because I know that there is a significant cost associated with postal mail.  If I receive a big, glossy catalog in the mail from someone I have no interest in purchasing from, I know it set them back a pretty penny.  If they're going to waste that on me, so be it. My only concern at that point is how to dispose of it (can I put that in curbside recycling or do I have to take it somewhere?)  I suppose I could be more environmentally conscious and ask them not to send to me any more (reducing the paper, ink, power and fuel needed to get it to me) but that's seems like a lot of work.  There's no "unsubscribe" button on my mailbox.  So, I take the approach of, "if I don't buy anything, they'll stop sending it.  And typically that is what happens.

But yesterday I received a piece of postal mail that really bothered me.  It was enough to make me throw the item down and select some colorful expletives to hurl at it (my wife can confirm that).  The item in question was a letter from our mortgage broker who, up until now, has sent fairly relevant mail about offers and trends in the market.  This one, though, was a long, rambling letter about how she has never embraced new technologies but had to learn to use text messaging to communicate with her teenage daughters.  I read through the entire thing, all the while waiting to get to the point where this had any bearing on me.  Was this leading up to an offer to sign up to receive texts when re-fi rates dropped to a certain level?  That would be cool, but no.  Was this a public service announcement about the dangers of teens using the technology inappropriately? That wouldn't be entirely out-of-line with some mailings I've received from real estate agents and brokers who feel they are part of their client's lives... but it didn't go there either.  It ended without having a point other than that she had a new technology that she had to adapt to.
And I was mad that I had just wasted my time reading it.  And I wanted an unsubscribe link soooo bad at that moment.  Actually, I wanted a "report spam" button.  It was no longer enough for me to know that the mailing had cost the sender money to get it to me.  I had read this only because it came from someone I trusted to send me information relevant to me.

And this whole thing made me think about email (surprise!)  Email is so inexpensive that many marketers don't bother with cleaning up their mailing lists.  They don't check to see who is engaged and who is not.  Even if they do, many don't do anything with the information (like attempt to re-engage with different offers, or cut recipients loose.)  And I find a lot of senders who don't bother to figure out not only whether, but why their emails are relevant or not.
Too many people are tuned into the low financial cost of sending email that they don't bother to think about the other costs associated with sending irrelevant or unwanted emails.  There is no barrier for complaining about an email.  And those complaints can hurt your delivery to those who actually do want it.  They can damage the reputation of your domain, making it harder to do business period.  And, yes, if there are enough of them, your ESP can terminate service.

So, do yourself a favor, and before your next campaign (regardless of how you send it), put yourself in the shoes of your recipients and ask "why do I care?"

Kris Dougherty | Deliverability & Operations

MarketingSherpa's Email Summit in Florida last week gave marketers something to think about. When a group of bright minds get together, it's my opinion that we should pay attention. Below is a synopsis of the major summit themes presented by MarketingSherpa
.
Takeaway #1. So-called email killers aren’t that deadly
One of the most significant themes of the event was the symbiotic -- not antagonistic -- relationship between email and social media (more on this below).
Takeaway #2. Think like an integrated marketer, not just an email marketer
Email marketers must integrate their strategies with those of other departments, and make sure the email channel is connected to others, such as social media.
Takeaway #3. Customer service is the new differentiator
Customer retention should be the new focus of marketing, and that satisfying customers, rewarding them for their loyalty, and empowering them to share their positive brand experience will help companies grow.
Takeaway #4. Think value, not just relevance
Just because something is relevant, it’s not necessarily going to inspire us to act.
Takeaway #5. Test assumptions and best practices
Look at each of your email messages and ask yourself:
What am I asking the recipient to do? Why should they do it?  What is my objective?  What is the best way to achieve it?
Takeaway #6. Promote your opt-in offer like a product
Market your email newsletters and alerts as a product with value and promote your email programs on all your social sites (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn...).
Takeaway #7. Better engagement will help deliverability
The industry is moving beyond reputation and authentication and toward the sum total of all positive and negative impressions of your company based on email practices.

So while a subscriber hitting the spam button will still work against you, the improvements in opens, clicks and other engagement metrics that you achieve through testing, optimization, social integration and the like will help outweigh the occasional disgruntled recipient.

Read the full article here:
MarketingSherpa: Summit Wrap-Up Report: 7 Takeaways to Improve your Email Marketing in 2010.

Neil Berman | President & CEO

I met with a long-time client yesterday. The occasion was our annual account review, which among other things provided a forum to explore new ideas.  This client is a manufacturer with outside sales reps calling on their worldwide customer base.

My contact was looking for a simple way for reps to complete a form after visiting a customer. The form would systematize the data gathering process and provide a convenient way for the sales manager to track activity.

He asked if the Delivra survey tool would work. Although we don't think of ourselves as a CRM solution, his request was doable within the system.

Think of a survey as a data collection device, which can be linked from an email or posted to a web page and presto, you have a way to aggregate information in a database which is downloadable into a spreadsheet.

Why not go with a full-featured CRM package?

Well for one, the Delivra tool is free with unlimited use. But perhaps more importantly, the need is so basic there is no reason to buy all the bells and whistles available in more robust solutions not to mention eliminating the need for training and support.

Sometimes an answer is staring you right in the face. You just need to see it from a different angle.

Neil Berman | President & CEO

Talking about "thinking outside the box" is one thing; actually getting out of the box is quite another.   To break through the walls of our boxes--a.k.a., "the rules"--it helps know what each wall of the box is made of.   For example, consider this illustration from the authors Beverly Kaye and Sharon Jordan-Evans in their book "Love 'Em or Lose 'Em: Getting Good People to Stay," about the constraints managers deal with in trying to retain key employees:

• "Concrete: This wall represents rules that are truly rigid.  It cannot be broken, pushed, bent, or shattered.  Example: You must have a medical degree to practice in this hospital."
• "Glass: This wall is strong and sturdy, but if you hit it just the right way, with the right instrument at the right time, it will break.  Example: Women will never be Supreme Court justices."
• "Rubber: This wall is thick and strong, but it has some give to it if you are willing to push hard.  It represents rules that might be bendable. Example: We all put in a forty-hour week, from eight to five, five days a week."
• "Vapor: This wall is made up of our beliefs, assumptions and perceptions about the rules. Example: People will never fly."

The email marketing industry definitely has its concrete walls, CAN-SPAM regulations being the most notable among them.  But how many of the other rules you're operating under are made of lesser material?  Which of the walls constraining you are not even walls at all?  Here are some examples of walls I've seen Delivra clients overcome:

• Glass: We don't have the time to create professional email campaigns.  It does take time to develop an email marketing program if you want to do it right, and marketers today are being asked to do more with less.  But that's why Delivra offers a full-service option including design and deployment services.
• Rubber: We can't send email to people who haven't given us permission to contact them. That's true, you can't.  But your recipients are free to send your message to others.  Give them "Refer-a-friend," or "Forward this email," or "Share with your social network" links, and create compelling content that makes them want to share.  We're currently working with national brands that are growing their lists using viral campaigns that begin with email to existing subscribers.
• Vapor: We can't afford to integrate our email program with <insert name of system here>. Hmm...have you really defined your requirements in detail and sought estimates?  Check your assumptions.  Delivra's custom programming rates are cheaper than most competitors', and you may find much of your integration need satisfied by built-in features of our product, like our API.

Don't mistake concrete walls for walls of glass or rubber, and don't be fooled by walls of vapor that are only assumed to be real walls at all.  It's good advice for business in general, and email marketing in particular.

Chris Broshears | Product Development

I don't know about you, but I was not born a designer.  I have learned quite a bit in the years since I have been marketing and even more so since I have been creating email marketing campaigns.  One of the greatest things I learned over time is to find valuable resources that you can call on from time to time.

Now with almost every email service provider out there, including Delivra, marketers are able to create visually appealing design that aligns well with brand guidelines and renders well to the end recipient.  With the advent of WYSIWYG editors, a busy marketer like me can easily drop images, copy and links to create that final email campaign.  The key now is to find resources that will help make that job as easy as possible.  Here are a few that I have found and use frequently:

Images: While most organizations have logos and standard in place for colors and fonts, images always help make an email more impactful and engaging.  Copy is king, especially in the email world where you cannot always predict how your emails will be rendered, but you do want to have an HTML based email with images as your first choice with a text based backup.  Here is an economical site I use to find images that fit what I want to communicate:  istockphoto.com.

HTML Cheat Sheets: While I am certainly no code developer, there are times when I may need to troubleshoot why the HTML code is not rendering correctly in my testing.  I found GoSquared.com as a great resource with cheat sheets that I could reference to fix any code errors I might have.

Witty Quotes & Sayings: Not sure if you feel this way, but after writing so many different types of communications, I am often stumped with creative inspiration.  I reference Brainyquote.com often for a relevant quote or for inspiration in my writing direction.

With tools like these, I can design with the best of them.  And last but not least, here's a list of even more!  I never claim to be an expert, but I certainly know how to find tremendous resources that help me get the job done.  Now design away without the worries and remember to keep it simple and keep it relevant to your audience.

Juggling a million other marketing items like me?  Strapped for time?  Short on inspiration?  Let us help!  Did you know that we  offer full service creative design services? (here are a few samples)  At Delivra, your success is our primary goal, so leave the work up to us and we will make sure your email campaigns are dynamic & engaging.

Carissa Newton | Marketing