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January 22, 2004
The Biggest Challenges Facing
Email Marketers Today
by Jeanne S. Jennings
I love speaking -- and while I've spoken to groups of 200 or more, I much prefer smaller groups. Why? Because it's easier to interact with the crowd -- it's more like a group discussion and less like a lecture. Tuesday's Newsletter and Electronic Publisher Association's luncheon was just such an event. We had 50 to 60 people. In addition to getting e-mails with questions from attendees in advance, I collected questions from people before I spoke and asked people to jump in as we went. Here are the things they wanted to know about -- probably some of their concerns overlap yours.
Q: The FCC had delayed the fax marketing rule, but it's likely to come back. The do-not-call registry is in place. What can we do now to prepare for the inevitable restrictions on faxes and e-mail?
A: And the CAN-SP*M Act includes a provision for a do-not-e-mail registry, although it remains to be seen if this will be implemented (a feasibility study on it is due to Congress this summer). I'm recommending that all my clients get opt-in or double-opt-in permission for all these contact points -- fax, e-mail and even telephone. It takes some effort, but it's worth it. In the short term you should see better response rates on messages you send to folks who have opted-in; in the long term, you'll be covered if and when these regulations become law (which I believe they will).
Two more notes -- First, it appears that Congress does recognize the difference between communication that's the result of 'affirmative confirmation' (their term for opt-in) and that which is not. There's precedent to exclude 'opt-in' commercial e-mail from the 'scarlet letter' labeling guidelines being considered (ADV in the subject line, 'Advertisement' in the body of the e-mail). Which is a huge benefit, as most marketers agree that that create a 'don't pass go, don't collect $200' situation where labeled e-mail goes directly to jail (a.k.a. the delete folder).
Second, Double opt-in is even better insurance, if you can track the confirmation. This assures that the person at that e-mail address really did opt-in. Good proof to have if your e-mail practices ever come into question.
Q: Information in the body of the e-mail or as an attachment -- which is read more?
A: With the proliferation of viruses in e-mail (have you read about the latest 'bagle' or 'beagle' virus?), sending attachments becomes a riskier and riskier proposition. You're less and less likely to get read. I know there are organizations out there clinging to their PDF newsletters, but really, it's time to move to HTML. Your subscribers won't need Acrobat to read it, they will see the content as soon as they open the newsletter and be able to interact with it and they'll be more likely to read it online and take advantage of hyperlinks. You also run into issues of file size (some organizations block attachments larger than a certain size) and delivery. It's time to shift if you're sending out content as an attachment.
Q: How much do graphic elements add to the e-mail -- do they cause recipients to read further? Or is a simple text message better?
A: Graphic elements can increase readability significantly -- if they are done properly. Any design or graphic you use should support the business purpose of the e-mail. Things like bold, underline and highlight can increase the effectiveness of your presentation. As far as graphics, logos and icons, I like to use them in the preview pane to grab the reader's interest and pull them into the e-mail. You want to keep your file size below 30K if you can (for some clients with graphic-heavy products, we strive to stay below 60K) to be sure it loads quickly. And you want to be sure that even if the graphics don't load, your message will be conveyed (see the question that follows on spam filters). I've had great success with text e-mails, especially to more technical audiences, but done correctly HTML can pull as well as or better than text.
Q: What's up with Spam Filters? We are concerned our deliverability has gone down in the past few months.
A: There used to be three basic kinds of spam filters -- one filtered based on content, another filtered based on a blacklist and the third type filtered based on what I call velocity -- the number of identical messages sent per minute from one person to a list of many.
Late last year, there were some major ISPs and e-mail client software companies that enhanced their filters. Here the three most prominent new filters, how they work, and what you can do to be sure your mail gets through.
Adaptive Filtering -- a.k.a. Machine Learning Technology. This is an enhanced content filter -- it actually looks at e-mails that a user or group of users identify as spam on an ongoing basis and adjusts it's filters according. It's like a 'smart filter' that can learn that anything I receive with 'mortgage' in it is spam and adds that to my personal 'trigger' list.
Image/Link Blocking -- this is 'on' by default in AOL 9.0 and Outlook 11, and is an option that can be turned on in MSN, Hotmail and Norton SpamKiller. If the sender of the e-mail is not in the recipient's address book, then images are blocked from serving and links are not live. For marketers this results in a decreased open rate (since the open rate counter is blocked with the graphics) and lower click-through rates (especially in HTML e-mail, where the URL won't be visible, so it can't be cut-and-pasted). Microsoft says this filter was put in place as a result of Customer Feedback -- people were tired (as am I) of opening their e-mail and seeing borderline pornographic pictures.
Challenge Response -- Earthlink has incorporated this into their e-mail client software, but for most users it's a stand-alone software product they must purchase. It requires a human response from the sender for an e-mail to be delivered. Less than 1% of the population is using this -- it hasn't taken off as anticipated, but it's something to keep in mind and have a way to handle if you send lots of e-mail.
As a Marketer, what is your Best Defense against Filters? Drum Roll please... It's getting your recipients to "whitelist" or "safelist" you. How do you do that? Ask them to add the e-mail address you send from to their address books. The Image/Link Blocking and Challenge Response filters do not affect mail from know senders -- a.k.a. people in a recipient's address book. You will have to keep this address consistent across mailings, but it's the best way to increase your chances of being delivered. You should also run every e-mail you send through Spam Assassin or another content/format filter before you send and check your score to be sure you're below the 'probably spam' threshold.
Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you have to say. Feel free to contact me with any thoughts or feedback about this publisher's note.
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The
Jennings Report
