Get it right: Drake Morton
by Mike May , Wednesday, November 18, 2009
If you thought inboxes were already cluttered, just wait until this year’s holiday season ramps up to full speed. Retail business are struggling to recover, while at the same time cutting ad and direct mail spending, and focusing more resources on ROI-heavy programs like email. It’s a perfect storm headed straight towards inboxes. (more…)
Good Information: Drake Morton
NOVEMBER 13, 2009
Getting ready for consumers to open their wallets
Recovery from the recession is not yet in reach, but online retailers are ready to start spending all the same.
E-tailers know online consumers demand a top-notch shopping experience, and that difficulties navigating e_commerce Websites can lose them sales. Internet Retailer and Vovici Corp. found that more than seven in 10 Web merchants planned to spend more on advanced e-commerce applications and services this year.
You need to understand the parameters of the playing field: Drake Morton
You need to know: Drake Morton
SUMMARY: Email has not only been spared the ax that fell heavily on most marketing budget line items, it seems to have actually benefited from the down economy. This boon wasn’t skewed by a few email-reliant sectors, it occurred in every industry participating in our benchmark survey.
Worth thinking about: Drake Morton
by Loren McDonald , Thursday, November 5, 2009
If you’re already thinking about how to take your email-marketing program to the next level in the coming year, you should start by switching out your batch-and-blast program for one that uses lifecycle marketing to send highly targeted and relevant messages.
Although it might be a challenge to persuade your upper management to invest time and money to upgrade your email program, this story of a company that boosted its conversion rate 40% using segmentation and targeted messaging might help loosen up the budget.
 Good Read: Drake Morton
by Daniel Ambrose , Thursday, October 29, 2009
I first read of the death of email, by email.
I guess certain Wall Street Journal reporters will go far to get attention. If journalism is supposed to be provocative, it worked. The recent article ” Why Email No Longer Rules,” by Jessica E. Vascellaro, made the case that communicating through social media like Facebook and Twitter is so much more “for the way we live” — which just didn’t make sense, and drew many objections and comments. The subsequent follow-up blather from Vascellaro didn’t add any clarity, including a “non-scientific poll.”
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 A Must Read: Drake Morton
by Morgan Stewart , Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Interesting Read and Take-a-Way: Drake Morton
by Ryan Deutsch , Thursday, September 17, 2009
Newly emerging metrics – all email marketers should be considering when looking at integrating social media into their programs. Since then I have had the opportunity to help a number of clients socialize their email campaigns to increase reach and conversions. Today, I would like to share the results that one of these clients has realized: online personal financial service Mint.com, recently acquired by Intuit.
Good Excellent Article: Drake Morton
by David Baker , Monday, July 27, 2009
The foundations of strategy don’t change, but transferring it to email require a different level of thinking these days. I was teaching my daughter backgammon and talking about the strategy of the game. She very simply said, “My strategy is to win.” After laughing, I said “Winning isn’t a strategy, it’s a result.” But she had a good point; we seem to think very cause and effect in our business.  We either think too narrowly in determining what winning means — or we think so long-term that we lose sight of the strategic things that really worked.
Strategy to me is an evolving thing that includes establishment of goals, objectives, tactics, and an iterative methodology that allows you to create dimensional approaches across many segments, products and channels.
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 Excellent Read: Drake Morton
by Aaron Smith , Tuesday, July 7, 2009
The welcome email is one of the most important messages in any email program. Welcomes come at a time when subscribers are most receptive to receiving messages, generating outsize open and click-through rates. So why do so many email marketers pass up this once-in-a-business-relationship opportunity by delivering subpar welcome emails — or worse yet, none at all?
Sometimes the technology limitations of an organization’s infrastructure come into play. It also may be a result of organizational dynamics, where the group responsible for email marketing may not be in a position to change the underlying technology infrastructure used to send welcome messages. Often it’s simply the result of the email team being over-tasked, unable to add yet another project to an already overflowing queue.
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