July 25 2002

July 25, 2002

Dear Reader,

Do we need to rewrite direct mail rules for web and e-mail marketing? What types of things should you be testing in your e-mail newsletter, per Socketware? And finally, is skinny better when it comes to the width of your text e-mail columns? For the answers to these and other pressing (okay, well maybe not THAT pressing) questions, read on...

Table of Contents
1. More Politicians Embrace Email As Campaign Season Heats Up The Wall Street Journal Online
2. Rewriting DM Rules for the Web DM News
3. Top 5 Ways Newsletters Help Tech Companies MarketingProfs.com
4. The Email Marketing Handbook, Volume II Socketware
5. E-letters: Publishers Need to Get On Board min's b2b
6. Do Skinnier Email Notes Get Better Results? SherpaBlog

Content
1. More Politicians Embrace Email As Campaign Season Heats Up Stacy Forster, The Wall Street Journal Online, July 17, 2002

Political campaigns are finally coming around to the power of e-mail. Nothing ground-breaking here, but they do give some information on how the DNC and RNC have increased their e-mail databases (using surveys and pop-ups) as well as discuss a candidate that spammed voters (he lost). If you're not a WSJ online subscriber, you'll need to pay to read the full article.

2. Rewriting DM Rules for the Web Paul Epstein, DM News, July 24, 2002

What's the most important element of an e-mail or Online campaign? Does the old 40/40/20 (40% audience, 40% offer, 20% creative) direct mail rule apply? Paul says no and proposes a new rule for e-mail and online marketing. I might weigh the audience a little more heavily than he does, but if you consider the 'from' and 'subject' lines part of creative, I think he's right on the money with his premise.

3. Top 5 Ways Newsletters Help Tech Companies Barbara Payne, MarketingProfs.com, August 8, 2002

If your product or service requires an ongoing relationship with your customers, this article spells out 5 good reasons to publish a regular e-mail newsletter for customers and potential customers. A good source for ideas as well as making a case to management.

4. The Email Marketing Handbook, Volume II Socketware, 2002
Note: The link above will take you right to the registration form; 'I would like a copy of the white paper' which is pre-checked will get you the report.

Volume I is also available, but unless you're really new to all this, it's probably too basic for you. Two things I liked about Volume II: The list of things you could/should test in e-mail newsletters (which they also called 'programs') found on page 10 and the glossary of common terms, found on page 16. The rest isn't bad but also isn't earth-shattering. Note: You do have to register to get the white paper, but notice that although they ask for lots of information, only a few fields are actually required.

5. E-letters: Publishers Need to Get On Board Steve Smith, min's b2b, July 2002
Note: Click on the link above to request that I forward the e-mail newsletter with this article in it to you.

I was only able to read an excerpt, but what I read was fabulous. If you work in the publishing industry, you'll want to read it. Steve's point is that B2B brands have taken better advantage of the power of e-mail newsletters, and he makes his case by comparing e-mail newsletter list sizes between niche B2B and the (usually larger) B2C sites. A highlight is the B2B e-mail newsletter circulation chart at the end of the excerpt which includes Internet.com, PCWorld.com and Variety.com (disclosure: I developed their current e-mail newsletter strategy for them), to name just a few. Here's the rub: The full text of the article is only available to paying subscribers (I'm not one) and the excerpt only seems to appear in their free e-mail newsletter, so use the link above to e-mail me and I'll forward it to you.

6. Do Skinnier Email Notes Get Better Results? Anne Holland, SherpaBlog, July 17, 2002
Note: The link above takes you to her blog; This item is the fourth entry down, made at 9:26 AM on Wednesday, July 17.

An interesting idea from Anne -- that perhaps the standard 60-to-65 character line width for text e-mail newsletters is too wide. I tried using a shorter column width for my text issue per her blog. I'll let you all know if anyone found it easier (0r harder!) to read as a result.

Closing
That's it for this issue. Please be sure to tune in for the next issue on August 8, 2002 -- same bat time, same bat channel!

Jeanne
mailto:publisher@jenningsreport.com