Bronto Blog

I was recently told that I’ve been on a “car kick” these past few weeks. It all started with my EEC post on June 13th, “Enterprise: Great Intent, Poor Execution” where I discussed how Enterprise sent me a confirmation email (good) but then continued to send me emails even though I didn’t confirm (bad).

Today’s post will continue down the automobile comparison road as it relates to the taboo subject of…list rental.

At this summer’s Email Insider Summit, I sat at a breakout session where marketers were debating 3rd party list rental. Suffice to say, the discussion got quite heated. Seems like you are either on one side of the fence or the other…not much room in the middle. If you’re in good company, list rental is just as dangerous a topic as religion or politics (”the things we don’t talk about”). Later that evening, I sat at dinner between a friend of mine from another ESP and a gentleman whose company provides email appends and list rentals. Emotions flew back and forth for over 30 minutes.

Why is the topic of list rental so controversial? But first…

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A fellow Bronto recently IM’d me a fantastic article from Slate author, Michael Agger. How we read online is a sagacious, witty piece outlining how:

We.

Read.

Online.

(Once you read his article, the 3 “paragraphs” above will make more sense)

Mr. Agger talks about reading online (aka, the Internet, World Wide Web). Much of what Agger writes is relevant not just to “online” but also to email marketing. Specifically, he recommends:

1. A short paragraph at the top of the page…surrounded by white space…in small type
2. Bulleted lists
3. Occasional use of bold to prevent skimming
4. Short sentence fragments
5. Explanatory subheads

Simple, yet brilliant.

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Don’t underestimate the power of welcoming new subscribers to your email marketing efforts with a very clean, clear and convincing Welcome Message.

Can’t view the video? Try viewing it on YouTube.

In this month’s BrontoFire, DJ and I analyze welcome emails from the following big-name online retailers: NewEgg, Sierra Trading Post, Coach and John Deere. This simple yet very compelling message facilitates an immediate relationship with your consumers. Subscribers like to be recognized, thanked and embraced by a brand.

View our lively discussion on Welcome Messages today.

Next month, we’ll highlight online retailers implementing Preheaders.

Kimberly Snyder and DJ Waldow
Account Managers at Bronto

In our quest to achieve business objectives and to increase ROI, we often lose sight of the customer experience. We’re caught over-sending, using personalization incorrectly, not utilizing segmentation, or not effectively tracking customer behavior. All of these things add to a poor customer experience. We’ve devalued how important the role of customer experience should be in email marketing.

Here are just a few examples of low hanging fruit that can improve the customer experience.

• Over-sending to your customer. Did your customer set preferences for frequency? If not, have you considered offering your subscriber that option? It’s key to allow your customers to tell you how often they are going to receive your marketing. If you have set frequency expectations, don’t abuse them. Respect your customer’s inbox, by doing so you will have a positive return.
• Personalization used incorrectly. A colleague recently received an email that addressed her with her last name only. It seems the sender didn’t verify that the personalization they were using in fact targeted the first name. It may seem small, but to the recipient, it’s the first tell-tale sign that your message isn’t going to be relevant to them.

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I recently attended a session at Internet Retailer 2008 Conference which focused on Social Networking. I was wary that the session would once again focus on why Social Media is growing and that it is a great marketing opportunity – which I have heard over and over for the past 24 months.

I really wanted the discussion to pivot around real life examples where marketers are utilizing these viral sites to sell their product and promote their brand. Heather Dougherty, Director of Research at Hitwise, gave me exactly what I was craving – a compelling and thought provoking session packed with great examples that I could internalize and run with.

I was inspired to re-think my overall concept on how marketers can empower consumers to become their “brand’s fans.”

As we all know, or at least have been told, Social Networks can build brand awareness and brand loyalty virally. Consumers of all ages are continually creating and updating their MySpace or Facebook pages with creative pulled from here, there and everywhere. Savvy marketers should be enabling their “brand’s fans” by giving consumers digital content that can simply be pulled down from your corporate site. Read the rest of this entry »