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| October 10, 2002 Dear Reader, This week's newsletter is dedicated to practical advice to help you in your e-mail marketing efforts. We've got a link to the first study I know of on Email Newsletter Usability, as well as articles on viral marketing, avoiding spam complaints and implementing a 'serial' e-mail marketing campaign. Also in this issue: I expand on the e-mail newsletter findings in my publisher's note, and our first-ever poll, to learn about your experience publishing e-mail newsletters. Table of Contents 1. Publisher's Note Jeanne S. Jennings 2. Avoiding Spam Complaints Opt-in News 3. Viral Marketing WebAd.vantage Marketing Tip 4. Email Newsletters Pick Up Where Websites Leave Off Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox 5. Poll: Does your Organization Publish an Email Newsletter? 6. Serial Storytelling: Email Marketing's Missing Link MarketingProfs.com Content 1. Publisher's Note Jeanne S. Jennings Email Newsletters are back in fashion, so if you're looking to add one to your business wardrobe or want to find new ways to accessorize the one you've got, check out this week's publisher note. 2. Avoiding Spam Complaints David Herscott, Opt-in News, October 7 2002 As people become more active in reporting spam, this is an issue all e-mail marketers, even those using only opt-in lists, need to address. David provides 4 suggestions for shielding your initiatives from complaints, plus sample 'disclaimer' paragraphs which he and I agree should appear in all e-mails and provides a short list of additional resources on the topic. It's short and sweet, but offers good advice for e-mail marketers. Check it out! 3. Viral Marketing Hollis Thomases, WebAd.vantage Marketing Tip, May 2 2002 This is a great article covering the basics of viral marketing, including case studies (Do you know which company ran the most famous viral marketing campaign to date?), tips on successful execution and potential pitfalls. A good quick read for anyone using -- or thinking of using -- viral marketing. 4. Email Newsletters Pick Up Where Websites Leave Off Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, September 30 2002 This article is actually the executive summary of a new research report on e-mail newsletter usability. Some have expressed concern over the small sample size, but I found the 'guidelines' for developing a reader-friendly e-mail newsletter to be right on target based on my experience developing over 170 e-mail newsletters. This article briefly covers the emotional aspect of e-mail newsletters, the subscribe/unsubscribe processes, platform diversity issues and provides some guidelines on content. Not ground breaking, but a good piece. Bonus Links! Read more about e-mail newsletters and the full research findings in the Publisher's Note. This is the third time Jakob has turned his expertise to e-mail. I included links to the first two instances in the March 29 2002 issue of The Jennings Report. 5. Poll: Does your Organization Publish an Email Newsletter? Take a moment to participate in our poll (three questions or less!) and view the responses-to-date. We'll disclose the full results in the next issue of The Jennings Report. 6. Serial Storytelling: Email Marketing's Missing Link Neil J. Squillante, MarketingProfs.com, October 8 2002 Neil makes a compelling case for using a series of e-mails, not just one, in your next campaign. It's a sophisticated approach which makes a lot of sense to me -- provided, of course, that the audience is opt-in (otherwise, you'll just be annoying them over and over again). Give it a read, and let me know how it works if you decide to try it. Closing Thanks for reading. The Jennings Report will be back in your mailbox again on Thursday, October 24. Until then, enjoy the fall weather and the start of hockey season (Let's Go Caps!). Jeanne mailto:publisher@jenningsreport.com |
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The
Jennings Report
