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Publisher's Note: November 14 2002
Hi! This one's a compilation; here are the topics:
1. Best Practices in Marketing with Email Newsletters
2. Paid Email Newsletters Update
3. Spam Filters I: Is Your Email Getting Through?
4. Spam Filters II: Power of the Press
5. Double Opt-in: I did it!
6. ClickZ's San Francisco Email Conference
1.
Best
Practices in Marketing with Email Newsletters
I recently had the chance to preview this new 194-page report from Marketing
Sherpa. It's full of great information, including lots of check lists, to help
you develop content, devise a format and build your subscriber list. It's a
great guide for anyone just starting out with an e-mail newsletter -- or looking
for enhance what they've been doing. To read more about it or order your own
copy,
Click Here.
2. Paid Email Newsletters Update
Wow. A second publisher I know has decided to hold off on plans to launch a
paid version of their e-mail newsletter. Their reasoning? That the economy is
too shaky -- better to put aside some reserves than reinvest in the company at
this point. I'm disappointed; I think there's a huge opportunity for paid
content on the web, we just need some more organizations to take the leap to
charging for their information.
3. Spam Filters I: Is Your Email Getting Through?
Be careful out there. More and more legitimate e-mail is being caught in
spam filters. Earlier this week I got an e-mail from one publisher asking if
their latest issue had gotten through; this morning another publisher sent a
three e-mail test and asked readers to tell her which e-mails got through their
spam filters (the content of each was slightly different). Seems like the study
saying that 12% of legitimate e-mail was being filtered as spam really hit home
(it was in the last issue, in case you
missed it).
4. Spam Filters II: Power of the Press
Ah, the power of the press. I recently received an e-mail which used, almost
verbatim, language I had recommended in a recent
ClickZ article on getting permission from legacy lists. Although the article
specifically said to use 'opt-in permission (not opt-out),' the sender had made
it a negative option opt-out, a controversial practice I had argued against in
another
ClickZ article.
My spam filter sent the message to my junk mail folder, where most messages are deleted without my seeing them. If I didn't see it, I could not respond. The sender would have taken my silence to mean that I'd (to quote their e-mail) 'like to remain on <name withheld>'s opt-in e-mail list.' In reality, my silence would have meant that I hadn't seen this message and probably would not see any future messages sent by them (as they would probably be filtered as spam as well).
Smart business? I don't think so. Opt-in would have given them a true sense of who really wanted to receive e-mail from them, resulting in higher open and click-through rates. Yes, their list would have been smaller, but in e-mail quality is better than quantity for results. Now they're left sending to a large list, many of whom may not receive their e-mails because of filters.
5. Double Opt-in: I Did It!
Last week I finally decided to follow Ralph Wilson and Anne Holland's lead: I
moved from opt-in to double opt-in sign-up for my e-mail newsletter, The
Jennings Report. So far, only a handful of people have neglected to take the
second step to confirm their sign-up and receive the e-mail newsletter. I
featured Ralph Wilson's explanation for going double opt-in in a
past issue, in case you missed it.
6.
ClickZ's San Francisco Email Conference
It's next week, Monday and Tuesday, November 18 and 19. I'm going -- are you? If
so, let's meet for coffee (or better, let's take a field trip to the
Ghirardelli Chocolate
store!). Shoot me an
e-mail
or just look for me there!
Closing
Thanks for reading. Feel free to
contact
me with any thoughts or questions.
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The
Jennings Report
