MindComet

Oh The Humanity!

A colleague of mine recently received this email from B2BMarketing and forwarded it along to me.  What I saw next was the most horrific, biggest train-wreck of an email I’ve ever seen.  Have a look for yourself:

What’s wrong with this picture?

• Broken Characters in the Subject Line
• Black on Blue text (seriously!?)
• Blue on Blue text
• Text overlapping in table of contents section
• Broken image next to the header ad
• Bad formatting (content of email flush to the left)
  

Well, on second thought, I suppose the more appropriate question is what’s RIGHT with this picture?  Not much, I know.  But let’s go through the list:

• Forward to a friend image / link is eye-catching; effective call to action (which is a bit ironic in this case, don’t ya think?)
• Relevant content for the audience
• That’s about it

The party responsible for the B2B marketing newsletter should seriously consider looking into testing their emails before sending them live.  Having a dedicated, Quality Assurance specialist can do wonders for your email campaign.

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Posted by MindComet on Sep. 20, 2007

Message From Digg.com

I dont typically receive messages from Digg.com so when I saw a message in my inbox this morning I was compelled to read what they had to say.  A short and sweet text based message on the sites new features and Digg Profiles.  Even better, a video tutorial for me to click on as an additional option to receive and understand these new changes.  Simple communication such as e-alerts are sometimes key especially when you aren’t expecting it yet its coming from a credible source in your address book.

What was seen as even better to me was the message below the actually email copy:

This is a system message from Digg.com, which we are required to send to all account holders. Control what other emails you receive from Digg.

So, not only did they tell me that this message is going to all Digg members because there have been changes to the site and any member should be notified of that so they aren’t feeling lost or confused next time they visit but also a link to control future messages if I wish not to receive them.  Now who would want to opt out of that?

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Posted by MindComet on Sep. 20, 2007

Images Are Fine in Moderation

This post is about deliverability.  Specifically, it’s about getting your message across.  I don’t mean getting it into your recipient’s inboxes…  I mean the content within your message.  How is it being displayed?  Are the most important parts (calls to action, etc) of your email within images?  If this is the case, you may want to reevaluate your strategy for email marketing.

Most email clients block images by default.  The only exception I can think of is when a user adds you to their address book. So if the majority of your users open your email and all they see is x’ed out boxes – or if you’re lucky the alt text attached to your images will display in their place – how can you guarantee that they’ll all choose to display the images?  It’s ultimately risky to put nothing but images in your email to drive your message across.

If you want to see an email campaign that gets it right, subscribe to The Home Depot’s mailing list.  They use large, embedded text over enticing images / calls to action.  See for yourself:

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Posted by MindComet on Sep. 19, 2007

I Heart Transactional Emails - When They Arrive

I love being able to track my shipments with the help of UPS and USPS.  Im going on my second Alaskan cruise this Friday and had to buy a few things as I stated in one of my previous posts. Transactional emails are key when it comes to making a purchase online except when they don’t arrive in your inbox. 

I made a purchase in the middle of August and was notified that the online store was moving its distribution center so processing the orders would take additional time.  Notification received and expectations set, check.  Although I was a bit upset by the few extras days I would have to wait, I was able to track my purchase through UPS upon shipment and it arrived at the end of August.  Not too bad, however they shipped me the wrong item and another item was too big, the joys of online shopping.  So I immediately returned it the next day due to knowing the store is upgrading to a new distribution center and now I had to give myself enough time to get it returned before they could ship the correct items back out.  I lost track of my UPS tracking info so I was unable to track my package online so I figured Id just call the stores support line to see if they had received it which they hadn’t and told me to allow 30 days for processing since the date I shipped it, Ill be on the second to last day of my cruise by that point. 

I was frustrated with the company however while visiting their website to get the support number I fell in love with another item so I ordered it on the spot.  I waited patiently for the transactional email to tell me my order had been shipped however it never made it to my inbox.  Frustrated again after about a week of waiting I sent in an email in hopes of getting a response, response time could be up to 72 hours - expectations set but not too happy.  I received notice after patiently waiting those 72 hours that my item should be there by the 20th, the day I leave for my trip – however, how come no transactional shipment email with a tracking code for impatient people like me?  If the shipment does arrive in time for my trip and the item meets my approval I may just have it in me to give them another chance once they are back up and running 110% since this has been my first disappointment with them.  As for my return and exchange missing in action, maybe it will be a pleasant surprise on my doorstep upon my return…

In terms of email marketing, transactional emails are key to allow your customers to receive the information they need upon completing an action on your website otherwise they may feel like no one cares and decide to take their transactions elsewhere.  Be sure to test transactional emails through deliverability testing while providing additional lines of communication to allow consumers additional support.

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Posted by MindComet on Sep. 17, 2007

Neosporin for your IP

If your email campaign has been experiencing an ungodly amount of bounces it may be caused by a number things: namely, your IP.  I’ve never really known the methods in repairing an IP, but recently – especially after reading this post – things have become a bit clearer. If your IP is getting bounces left and right from an ISP such as yahoo, the best “ointment” for this deliverability-wound is to send small amounts (within the 1 – 5 thousand range) daily.  Then double that amount after a week…then double that the following week.  Within 3 to 4 weeks of the ISP monitoring your messages, they should become more receptive to your bulk sends.

One thing to keep in mind for future sends: remove any and all invalid email addresses immediately.  If you keep trying to contact a Yahoo or Gmail account that isn’t there anymore, you’re going to wind up on their respective blacklists.

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Posted by MindComet on Sep. 11, 2007

Adjust Send Schedules Around the Holidays

My three-day weekend was fantastic.  I went to a few bars, went to the movies, a cookout with my closest friends, and karaoke night (my renditions of “Wanted Dead or Alive” and “On the Road Again” garnered me two standing ovations, but I digress…) I couldn’t have asked for a better holiday.

But when I returned to work on Tuesday, I was immediately stressed. My inbox was flooded with newsletters and sales offerings desperate for my attention. Because of the abundance of emails, my attention was concentrated only on the ones related to my daily tasks at hand.  The others merely fell by the wayside, or in this case, the delete button.

As a rule of thumb, don’t send any emails for your campaign until at least 3 days after everyone returns to work… It gives the recipient some time to catch their breath.  Unless of course it’s time sensitive or you’re sending to a highly segmented list.  But even if its segmented, your recipients might be as overwhelmed as I was and completely overlook your message.

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Posted by MindComet on Sep. 05, 2007