We have been working on a brand new version of EliteEmail.com for a while now. This new version is jam packed with new features that is entirely the result of customer feedback we have received. We always (and I mean always!) listen to our customers and attempt to be as responsive as possible in building the absolute best program possible. People are always asking when this new version will be available and while we have a rough timeline we are reluctant to give an actual date.

This reluctance isn’t because we enjoy keeping secrets or like building suspense, it’s because we need to go through the most rigorous of beta testing to ensure our customers email marketing activities are not interrupted for even a second. The only standard we accept is absolute excellence and while holding the bar that high does lead us to have a long beta testing cycle, we believe that anything less is simply a disservice to our loyal customers.

Last night I was watching CNN and was reassured why beta testing is so important. CNN has lots of new gadgets and graphics for their election coverage, most of which so far have been running fairly smoothly. The folks at CNN seem to have a good handle (as they always have) on how technology enhancements can really spruce up a newscast. Yesterday they showed off a cool new feature on that nifty touch screen they’ve been using lately. With a few taps of the screen, they were able to load Google maps and zoom in to any area of the country to illustrate a particular point. In this case the host (John Roberts) was showing the levies in New Orleans.  After proudly announcing this new feature, which, I must admit, was incredibly off-the-charts cool, Roberts went to switch the touch-screen to show the Republican side of the story. He tapped the screen and there was no response. He tapped again, and nothing…again, nothing, and again. This is on national TV with millions of people watching and all anyone can see is John Roberts tapping the screen to no avail. Finally he knew it wasn’t coming back and tossed it over to Wolf Blitzer for a semi-smooth cover-up. I guess no one at CNN ever tested the new Google Maps feature followed by resetting the screen to the other party. With millions of people watching, they couldn’t have been happy about this glitch, which once again reaffirms why you need to test, test and then test some more before releasing something live.

So, that is exactly what we are doing with our EliteEmail.com, our flagship email marketing program. We test and then we re-test. Then we test even the most obscure scenarios because each customer of ours does their email marketing a little differently and we need to make sure their experience is flawless. We may not achieve perfection and I’ll be the first one to admit that, but that’s where we are setting the bar and we’re not prepared to cut any corners. Ultimately, I believe this philosophy shines through in our program and is something our customers appreciate even if they have to wait a little bit longer.

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I saw a couple support emails come in today from people asking if it’s a good idea to send emails Sunday night. Their theory, which definitely does make sense, is that by sending their email marketing campaign Sunday night, they’ll  be first in their recipient’s inbox come Monday morning.

While it is true that sending an email marketing campaign Sunday night puts you in the box ahead of anyone who sends out an email Monday morning, the research consistently shows that this is a flawed tactic.

One thing to think about is how most email programs, including the one you’re using, actually work. The email programs put the newest emails at the top of the list and slowly push the older emails down. So, if you send your email now, it will get pushed behind any other emails that may get sent to your recipient before they check their email Monday morning. While the idea of “First in, First Read” (FIFR, in case you like acronyms!) would be nice, it doesn’t typically hold true.

The other thing to think about when sending an email marketing campaign Sunday night is that when your recipient checks their email Monday morning, they are going to get a rush of messages. Usually this encompasses anything sent from Friday at 5:00pm through to Monday morning. When this big rush of emails come flying in, it’s a lot easier for your email marketing campaign to get lost in the clutter. Since you want to make sure your email gets the attention it deserves, you’re a lot better off not being part of this email flood.

It’s best to give a lot of thought to the timing of your email marketing campaigns since it can heavily skew your success. Be sure to put yourself in your recipient’s shoes because it’s their schedule (not yours!) that you’re trying to accommodate.

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As of lately, I’ve heard several customers call in and ask about the length of their email marketing campaign that they are putting together. They want to know if it is wise to pack their email full of information or if it’s better to be brief and to the point.

Our email marketing studies consistently show that recipients often prefer short emails that are direct and to the point. An email that seemingly scrolls forever can often be intimidating and may scare off your reader.

Plus, it’s important to realize that your recipient has limited time in their day to devote to your email marketing campaign and if your email is designed to exceed that time (because it’s so long!) then you run the risk of them stopping short and potentially missing some key messages. Whereas, if your email is very much focused on your key points and kept as short as possible, then chances are your recipients will read all the way to the bottom and nothing will get left out.

One tactic that is very helpful for email marketing campaigns that run the risk of being very long is to include a short ‘teaser’ type paragraph and then put a “Read More” or “Learn More” link at the bottom. When the reader clicks that link, you bring them to your website where they can read the full version of the article.

This is a great approach because those that want more information can easily click the link, whereas those who aren’t particularly interested in that article can easily skim over it and move onto the next article (as opposed to just giving up completely).

The length of your email marketing campaign is an important factor and if you haven’t asked yourself lately “Is my email too long?” you may want to stop and ask that because if the answer is “yes, then there are quick and easy remedies.

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A couple of weeks ago we released a brand new template category within EliteEmail.com titled “Holiday”.

I was just reviewing some of the recent template usage metrics and these new templates (obviously fueled by the time of the season) have been a massive success.

It is interesting to see that businesses around the globe of all types, ranging from banks, consultants, restaurants, bands, artists, and more all chose to send out holiday eCards to their contacts. Furthermore, in most cases these messages carried no promotional message whatsoever, and simply wished “happy holidays” and ‘happy New Year”.

This is a wonderful example of how email marketing can help boost your brand image with your customer base, even if you aren’t actually measuring sales conversions as your key email marketing ROI metric for a certain campaign.

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A customer called yesterday and asked a very good question about the ‘from name’ they are going to use for their email marketing campaigns.

The ‘from name’ is what appears in your recipient’s inbox as the sender of the email.

Since, in many popular email programs, all someone can see is the name and subject prior to deciding whether or not to open the email, the name represents a very important piece of the puzzle. Often times the name alone can severely impact your open rate.

The key thing when selecting the ‘from name’ is to use something that your customers will recognize. This is by far the most important question you have to ask yourself. If all of your customers know your store as “Widgets R Us”, then it is very important that is the name they see. Even if your name is John Smith that doesn’t mean it is in your best interest to put that on your email marketing campaigns. If people are only going to recognize your company name (in this example “Widgets R Us”) then you should use that.

On the flip side of the coin, if people know your name personally, then don’t feel obligated to use your company name.

As always, the key is to put yourself in your recipient’s shoes and figure out which name they will recognize most.

If you’re really unsure and you’re banging your head against the keyboard trying to figure out what name will yield the best results, then you can do some A/B testing. Send out an email to half your contacts with one name (maybe your company name) and then the other half with a different name (maybe your personal name). See which one performs better and then that will answer your question on what to do for future email marketing campaigns.

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All week long customers have been calling in discussing their plans for sending out holiday email marketing campaigns next week and the week after. Tis’ definitely the season to harness the power of email marketing to spread your message!

One customer posed an interesting question to one of our support representatives. He asked whether it was appropriate to advertise one of his products alongside his holiday wishes. When you really think about it, this is an interesting question.

Does it diminish the thoughtfulness of your holiday eCard if it comes across as a promotional piece?
Do people see your holiday eCard as a promotional piece anyway and expect to see advertising?

Personally, I would keep my product promotion out of my holiday email marketing campaigns. I think there is an implicit brand promotion in your holiday eCard without explicitly highlighting a product. Your holiday email marketing campaigns are a time for you to tell your customers that you are thinking about them and to wish them a happy new year. Doing this scores serious brownie points for your brand and I think you lose out on that if you say “Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, Click Here To Buy This Product”.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with putting a link back to your website (… I’d definitely encourage that!) You can even put a message saying you have many new products coming out in the upcoming year to get your customer’s excited.

If you try to do too much in one email, then you run the risk of accomplishing nothing. So, ask yourself, what is the real goal of your holiday email marketing campaigns and you should come up with the exact right answer for what tactic you should adopt.

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As I sit here watching the CNN YouTube Republican debate, I can’t help but think that this is CNN 2.0 and maybe even the evolution of TV. If Web 2.0 is defined as the age of consumer content and interaction, then CNN hit the nail on the head.

 CNN recently revamped their website to a more Web 2.0 style and clearly that is carrying forward into their broadcasts as well. Their much advertised YouTube Debate (just look at that YouTube branding!) aired tonight and featured members of the general public asking questions via YouTube videos right to the candidates. Is this the direction we’re heading?

First TIME Magazine names the person of the year in 2006: “YOU”
And now we’re dictating what content earns a slot on a primetime national news network. Wow, we’re coming a long way!

If consumers are demanding to be the directors, is it long before we’re doing that on sitcoms? We already know about “America’s Player” on Big Brother, so we can check realty TV off the list.

This could end up being cool…
(Side Note: Is this why the writers are on strike? Because WE are collectively stealing their jobs…JOKES!)
Or maybe it’ll be brutally awful.

I know I would have liked to tell Jerry Seinfeld what to do a few times or maybe tell Ross just what to say to Rachel…heck, more recently, if I could direct Peter Petrelli, I couldn’t be happier!

I just can’t help get the feeling that if “WE” are breaking into mainstream broadcast programming on certain networks, it won’t be long before the other networks latch on.

I know how many of my friends feel about realty TV these days, they can’t stand it!
If this plays out as I think it might, is it long before we start saying “Geeze, I can’t stand US!”? Or are we going to embrace “US” as the future of media?

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Seth Godin wrote an interesting Thanksgiving post where he thanked his readers for giving them a wonderful gift, their “attention”.

This is a very important concept that many business owners I talk to seemingly overlook. In today’s world there are a million distractions. Between TV, radio, books, billboards, iPods, bus advertisements, web sites, email ads, text messages, cell phones, Blackberry’s…well, the list goes on and on. The point is, there is always something vying for your attention. With only 24 hours in the day, that makes someone’s attention a highly sought after commodity.

Often times I hear business owners say something to the effect of “I don’t understand why my customers didn’t read all the way to the bottom of my email advertising campaign”. Then, I’ll take a look at their email and it appears to contain half the text from the Encyclopedia Britannica! I then ask the business owner if they would have time to read the whole thing, to which the reply is often a hesitant delay (realizing their blunder!) and then the statement “maybe not”. Well, if you won’t give you own content enough attention to get all the way to the bottom, you better believe that your customers are willing to invest a whole lot less than you are!

This is why it’s vital to put the most important pieces of information at the very top of your web page, your email, your hand-written memos, etc. If you assume that people are only willing to give you 15 seconds of their time, then you can strategically approach the way you present your content.

So, this Thanksgiving, while you’re giving thanks, don’t let “attention” slip your mind because if you don’t appreciate your customer’s attention, then it may not be long before you lose it.

I thank you all for reading this =)  […I guess it’d be hypocritical to not say that!]

I’ll close with this quote:
“On Thanksgiving Day all over America, families sit down to dinner at the same moment - halftime.”
– Unknown

Have a great Thanksgiving!

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In a couple of hours, a press release will hit the wires announcing that EliteEmail.com has partnered with Registry Compliance and Protect Mi Child. To see a copy of this press release, visit the EliteAnswers.com Media Center.

It is with great pleasure that we welcome this new partnership. As always, we are trying to move the overall email marketing industry forward and separate legitimate email marketers from those that send spam/UCE, which includes adult orientated emails aimed at minors. By allowing our clients to scrub their database against the email registries in both Michigan and Utah, we are keeping children safer and that is in all of our best interests.

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Today we started getting calls and emails from customers asking when the best day is to send out their email marketing campaigns saying “Happy Thanksgiving” to their customers.

Obviously one of the benefits of email marketing is that your message can be timely, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you should wait until the absolute last second to hit send.

There are primarily two schools of thoughts when it comes to email marketing strategy on this topic.

1. First Mover Advantage
While this actual term typically refers to a company gaining a competitive advantage by entering a market segment first (see Wikipedia on First-Mover Advantage), I like to use it on a more micro level as it applies in this case. If you want your customers to get their first “Happy Thanksgiving” email from you, then go ahead and send it early. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with launching your email marketing campaign before the actual holiday is upon us. If you think that waiting will make your customers say “Yet another email wishing me happy thanksgiving” then go ahead and send it early.

2. Timeliness Is Everything
My birthday is on June 5. But, if someone were to call me up on May 26 and say “Happy Birthday Rob!”, I’d probably think they’re crazy. I mean, nice gesture, but come on? That same sort of methodology applies to your email marketing campaigns around Thanksgiving. Just about everyone realizes that email is an instant technology (that’s one of the key benefits over traditional snail mail!). So, you may make your customers wonder why you jumped the gun on pressing send on your email so early.

In my opinion, no matter which option you choose for your email marketing strategy, the important thing is to realize that your customers will appreciate the gesture. So, in this case, there may be no wrong answer, just two variations of the right email marketing strategy.

Go ahead and adopt whatever you think will work best for your audience, but don’t spend too much time worrying about the exact timing. After all, while I thought the person who wished me happy birthday in May was a little bit nuts, I still appreciated the gesture (and, heck, it may be the only birthday wish I remember because I’m even writing about it now!).

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