Google Debuts Gmail “Sm...

As a compliment to its recently introduced Priority Inbox feature , Google today announced a new addition aptly named “Smart Labels.” Smart Labels are another way Google is trying to defeat the problem of “email overload” by routing incoming messages to newly created labels, bypassing the inbox altogether.  Once activated, the feature creates three new labels for bulk, notification and forum messages.  ”Bulk” messages refer to things like mass mailings, promotional newsletters or daily offers.  The “notifications” Smart Label works for things like account statements and receipts, while the forums section is for messages from mailing lists or other large email groups. The emails are automatically filtered out of the inbox and left “unread” in the corresponding label section of the navigation panel.  While it’s meant to help automatically route incoming mail to where it needs to go to help with organization, the fact that it’s an automated process could effect marketing emails.  Messages seen as bulk mailings will never make it to the inbox — things like newsletters, promotional offers, etc.  While the messages are still there for the user to read, they’re not in the area users focus on the most, which is the inbox itself. Unlike Priority Inbox where relevancy and on-going user engagement can help a marketer’s  email maintain “priority” placement within the inbox, Smart Labels don’t take the same attributes into account.  While the feature is live, it’s also not being forced on users like Priority Inbox was.  Instead, users have to turn the feature on within the “Google Labs” portion of the settings panel.  A large majority of users will never realize the feature exists as a result.  Still, the feature is worth noting as a marketer.

Keep it Clean! Don’t Le...

This is Part Two of a three-part series dedicated to helping email marketers make the best of their campaigns through proper list management and hygiene. Part 2: How to keep your list/s clean I wish I could give you a magic silver bullet that would resolve list issues automatically, but the reality is… there isn’t one!  Believe it or not, there are many simple best practices and list maintenance techniques that can help whip your list into shape.  Here are some basics… Lose the dead weight The first technique involves some investigation work which will significantly reduce your list.  Here is a very fundamental example of how this works: Identify people who haven’t open or clicked (engaged) your messages Send non-engaged subscribers (nonopens or clicks) a campaign to let them know your emails will go away unless they re-confirm their subscription. Remove the remaining subscribers who did not re-confirm. Make sure you do this every 6 months to ensure your list stays updated. While this step may seem scary, keep in mind that people who do not engage your messages can prevent you from reaching interested subscribers and cost you money.   Don’t be misled …its quality over quantity.  A smaller list with a 30% open rate is a lot more engaged than 5% on a larger one. Still not sure this is the key to success?  Find out how one of mobilestorm’s clients increased sales by cutting their list . Strengthen the sign up process and manage expectations As previously mentioned, a poor sign up process can lead to delivery issues.  Therefore make sure you set expectations and solidify the relationship with your subscriber as early as possible by doing the following: Use a confirmed/double opt-in process. Let people know exactly what they will be getting and how often. If the sign-up is Online, provide preferences of frequency and examples of content. Send a welcome message and thank them for their subscription within 24hrs of sign up. (Timing is even more crucial for offline sign ups.) Following these steps can significantly decrease complaints, avoid spam traps and reduce the volume of invalid email addresses. Avoid purchased and shared lists I can’t stress this one enough.  Think easy come, easy go!  Gathering addresses of people who did not sign up to receive YOUR emails can result in high complaints, unsubscribes, spam traps and invalid addresses (not to mention it’s illegal in many countries outside of the US).  Why?  Because they didn’t ask for it! Here are some other points to consider: In most situations, anywhere from 80-90% of email addresses on a rented or purchased list are old and invalid. You can never be 100% sure of how or where every email address on a shared list was collected.  As a result, your brand and reputation is at the mercy of the data source. When you think about it, it’s not very cost effective in the long run.  Find out more information on how purchased lists can harm your delivery here . As mentioned, there is no secret sauce or magic trick to keep your list clean.  Simply implementing these basics will work each and every time. If you’re still asking yourself….what are the real benefits?  Is this really worth the effort and time? Tune in next time as we examine the benefits of keeping your list clean. Until next time, Keep it clean and take control of your delivery!

New Changes at Yahoo! A...

Yahoo! has implemented changes in how it ranks sender reputation for those using multiple “from addresses.”  As an email marketer, the changes have a direct impact on deliverability to subscribers using Yahoo! mail, so here’s a quick overview of the changes and how to be prepared for it. What are the changes? Yahoo! has changed its requirements for designating sender reputation.  It now uses the “from name” in addition to the sending domain name and IP address to determine inbox placement.  In the past, sender reputation was determined using just the domain name, no matter what the “from name” was to the left of it.  Now, Yahoo! is keeping a separate reputation for each combination, which could result in different inbox placement even though the messages are sent from the same sending domain name and IP address. For example, “news@company.com” and “newsletter@company.com” will now have separate reputations, when in the past, anything using “@company.com” would have been given the same reputation.  In addition, Yahoo! is now designating unique reputations to each combination of “From Name + Domain Name + IP Address.”  So, if you use two different IP addresses to send messages from “news@company.com,” then Yahoo will assign a separate reputation to each stream. Why the changes? ISPs continue to implement changes to combat SPAM and prioritize incoming messages for its users, and this is no exception.  Marketers often use different “from names” to send to different segments of their lists, and Yahoo! is wanting to reward segments that establish positive reputations while punishing those that don’t meet expectations. How does this affect email marketers? As a marketer, your sender reputation for your primary domain has a major influence on deliverability.  While you’re likely already monitoring sender reputation for your domain and IP address, it’s now equally important to monitor reputation for each “from name” as well.  Like with most changes that affect email deliverability, the bottom line is to strictly maintain best practices in all facets of your email marketing strategy, and to keep a close eye on deliverability data to be able to take action as quickly as possible.

Email Marketers Ramp Up...

Now’s the time for email marketers to begin their campaign strategy to capitalize on two of the busiest shopping days of the year; black Friday and — more importantly — “Cyber Monday.” Last year saw record-breaking email volumes surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with all indicators pointing to this year being no different.  With extreme competition fighting for placement in the inbox, deliverability remains at the top of the list in terms of developing a solid strategy.  On average, 20% of consumer mail doesn’t reach the intended recipient.  Additionally, analysis reveals a 14% increase in email volume in November over October, subsequently increasing the chance for deliverability issues. In the week leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday last year, analysis showed a definite and substantial decrease in overall deliverability.  There was a decline of as much as 25% in mail that went missing and wound up as either junk mail or simply didn’t arrive.  Much of this can be attributed to timing, with many marketers blasting out their campaigns at the same time, on the same high-traffic days.  Marketers cause a virtual traffic jam of advertising bound for the same ISPs. In order to deal with that digital mess, ISPs are forced to queue messages as they deal with the backlog and continue mitigating the millions of pieces of spam bound for those same inboxes. Still, statistically speaking, there’s simple yet effective ways to increase deliverability.  Sending your campaign between 8pm and 12am historically achieves higher deliverability rates as opposed to the more traditional 10am to 8pm window, for example, with average delivery rates for traditional timing running between 67%-73% inbox placement, while late night sends see 88% to 92% inbox placement. Competition remains fierce around the busy holiday shopping season, yet it’s one of the best times of year to capture Online sales.  Following standard best practices and thinking outside the box in terms of sending pattern, offers and timing can make a world a difference in making your holiday campaigns as successful as possible.

Delivered’ Does Not Mea...

It’s rather amazing how much confusion there is between the bounce rate and the inbox deliverability rate. I’ve been on the road much of May and June speaking at online marketing conferences — and while every marketer understands that if they don’t reach the inbox, they don’t earn a response, there is a sense of complacency around inbox deliverability that is not grounded in the right data. Marketers think they know their inbox deliverability rate, but in fact are either misinformed or just do not have access to that information.