If you've heard it once, you've heard it a thousand times: subject lines matter when it comes to email marketing. Think of subject lines like the headline of a newspaper article. If it grabs you, you start to read. Over the past few months, the author collected subject lines from all sorts of senders, all based on how they grabbed him the second he saw them. What you'll see here is quick analysis of what he liked or despised. The hope is that after perusing this piece, you get a sense of what other marketers are doing and how you can be better, resulting in more opens, more views, and more purchases. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

HTML email marketing is now thriving and widely encouraged for its strong ROI and results. Pundits predict an ROI of $45.65 for every dollar spent on email marketing in 2008. Email was also voted best marketing vehicle for customer retention, according to Jupiter Research. HTML email has come a long way, but there is one major pain point that remains: compatibility across all major email accounts. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

You may or may not be using the basic segmentation strategy of RFM (recency, frequency, monetary): dividing your email mailing list into a few buckets based on recency in ordering or visitation to the site, the number of times they've ordered or visited the site, and the lifetime spend. But here's a better approach to segmentation. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Email marketers must keep in mind that a consumer who decides to opt in to the brand's email channel is likely a fan of that brand. Do not lose those consumers by making the following mistakes. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

There are plenty of reasons for email marketers to pay attention to their unsubscribes. But if we read a bit between the lines, we might find some value by learning both to reduce the number of unsubscribes from our campaigns and to better engage those who stay with us. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Mobile technology continues to develop. The number of consumers with mobile devices capable of retrieving and viewing email continues to increase rapidly. The early adopters of the Blackberry have given way, in numbers at least, to those using what are fast becoming fully functional internet-ready devices. With multiple mobile platforms on the market and mobile phone companies vying for the sale of not only the devices but also the data plans that supply the bandwidth, these "mini-messengers" are in the hands of millions of consumers. Could your email be more mobile friendly? [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Much is being said these days about how marketing effectiveness can be increased by targeting customers with the right message at the right time based on customer behaviors and buying patterns. However, many companies have not been able to evolve past text-based confirmation messages. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

The ability to move, motivate, and entice consumers within the confines of their inbox is not an easy task. Too often, marketers overlook the tools available to attract and draw customers to open their messages. The inbox is a competitive arena in which you must fight for your open. The battle can be won by effectively utilizing and optimizing four straightforward email marketing elements. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

You can uncover a slew of companies that tout the virtues of this email service and that email service and that other service over there in the corner. How does a corporate marketer charged with the sole purpose of finding the right company to provide software and service to get an email marketing campaigns off the ground make the right choice? [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

What is so powerful that it could spoil your customer relationships, blemish your reputation, entangle you in a legal battle, or even put you out of work? Email is that powerful tool. To maintain control over it, you must know the rules of email etiquette. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

If you now understand (or can at least appreciate!) the first four Cs of Permission Email Marketing: Conscious Consent, Choice, Clarity and Confidence, you're ready for our final two: Control and Confirmation. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

In this second of our three-part series on the six Cs of permission email marketing, we continue to define the permission fundamentals by examining the third and fourth dimensions of permission: Clarity and Confidence. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

With marketing channels proliferating and messaging devices diversifying, it's not hard to imagine a future where permissions are granted not only by marketing channel (email, postal mail, phone, RSS), but also by content, device, time, and place. All the more reason to genuinely understand "permission," which in the world of email marketing seems relegated to subjective definitions. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Suppose your product features are much like your competitors', and the benefits of using your products or services are similar. Looks like you're on the commodity train. When a typical approach fails to distinguish your business from the pack, it may be time to take your messages into the heart of the customer experience. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

For email marketers, dealing with the small business owner can be an ongoing challenge. There are typically three main obstacles to introducing email marketing to a small businesses. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Most marketers have email addresses for less than half their customers and prospects. If this is the case for your company, it might make sense to explore email appending. Let's first look at the process, and then we'll examine how one publisher implemented its communication plan. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Do you have the preview pane enabled in your inbox? Many of your email recipients use this setting and some even read most of their emails this way. In short, the preview pane is important email real estate, and you can use it to your advantage. What readers see in this area can influence their decision to open your email to read more or to scroll down to see more. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

The New Year is in full swing. You've probably made a few personal resolutions, but what about making some resolutions that will help you improve your email marketing? Here's our guide to the six marketing resolutions that will make a difference to your business in 2008. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Email can be a great call to action for multichannel customers, particularly in retail but also in B2B marketing. We all know that email can play a powerful role in turning Web researchers and site browsers into buyers. In fact, more and more of our retailer clients are building a specific segment of in-store buyers—and getting results that blow away store managers. Lessons learned in these B2C experiences can also be applied to B2B, especially with the advance of more strategic account management approaches that cross business and geographic boundaries. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

If you haven't done it yet, now is the perfect time to map out plans for your email program. Any changes you might make in the first few months of the year will stand you in good stead; any plans or changes that you implement in the first quarter should pay dividends for the balance of the year. Here are several actionable ideas. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

If you've ever heard George Carlin's famous "Seven Dirty Words" you can't say on TV, you can safely avoid using all seven in your subject lines. They will definitely get you blocked. Here is a list of 100 more that you should avoid using as well. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Direct marketers live in an impatient world. A week (maybe two) after a campaign drops, the verdict is in. And if that campaign appears not to be working, it either gets fixed pronto, or the direct marketer gets fired. To avoid being shown the door, the DM manager needs to know how to swiftly solve direct marketing's most common and costly problems. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

We all know some tried-and-true tips and tricks for building an email list. But there are five key points to consider and five glaring points to avoid when creating opt-in lists from the very start. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Are dead email addresses haunting your open and click-through rates? If once-active recipients have stopped opening your emails, are no longer actively reading your messages, or aren't clicking on email links, those recipients are no longer in the land of the living. In the spirit of Halloween, here's some advice to determine whether your dying email list can be saved. [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

In this MarketingProfs Classic, originally published in April of 2003, Suzan St. Maur highlights 10 online writing concepts that also kick offline. "After all the agonies we suffered some years ago when some tried to make offline text work online, we've finally turned the tables," she writes. "Now we can borrow back a number of online writing concepts and use them to sharpen up our paper-based marketing communications." [Read the full story] Marketing Articles: Email Marketing

Wacom's digital pens and their capabilities are well-known in the business world. To continue growing, however, the company needed to address the consumer market. Here's how it effectively reached a new fan community. [Read the full story]
Marketing Case Studies: Email Marketing

In late 2006, Dollar's business was slowing at New York's LaGuardia airport. With some outside help, the local marketing manager developed an email survey, then used the answers to pinpoint Dollar's weaknesses. The resulting efficiencies helped Dollar grow its parking-related business by 24%.[Read the full story]
Marketing Case Studies: Email Marketing

Kimpton Hotels had successfully created a loyalty program, but its email program was lagging. By implementing an email strategy that focused on segmentation and targeting individual preferences, and by adding a corporate branding strategy, the company increased email bookings fivefold.[Read the full story]
Marketing Case Studies: Email Marketing

Business for Blooms Today boomed around Mother's Day and Valentine's Day. But the company needed a way to drive sales during non-peak times. Via a new email strategy, it increased non-seasonal sales—as well as open and clickthrough rates—and grew its email list 40% in just over a year.[Read the full story]
Marketing Case Studies: Email Marketing

Find out what's new, what's hot and what's not in B2B marketing trends. [Download] Marketing Downloads: Email Marketing

Get the most up-to-date info on email marketing. Step-by-step guides and answers to all those annoying questions about contradicting metrics. [Download] Marketing Downloads: Email Marketing

Let's face it, more small businesses fail than succeed. Make sure yours is one of the winners with this guide to getting your small business off the ground and solidly on the road to success. [Download] Marketing Downloads: Email Marketing

The e-newsletter has become ubiquitous. Almost a dime a dozen. How do you make yours not only stand out in the inbox, but make a positive impact on your bottom line? This guide will show you how. [Download] Marketing Downloads: Email Marketing

Great product, great sales team, great marketing collateral - now what? People to sell to, of course. Put your lead generation tactics under the microscope with this enlightening how-to guide. Get more and better qualified leads, faster today. [Download] Marketing Downloads: Email Marketing

The usual approach to segmentation in email marketing, says Anna Billstrom, cuts a mailing list into the classic RFM slices: Recency of visits and placed orders, Frequency of visits and purchases, and the total Monetary spend from each customer. But this strategy might not be... [Read the full story]
Marketing Quick Read: Email Marketing

"It's easy to feel defeated about losing subscribers who opt out," says AWeber's Tom Kulzer. But don't get discouraged. Instead, use Kulzer's list of why customers unsubscribe to make improvements: 1. You send too many—or too few—messages. When recipients feel overwhelmed by the pitches in their... [Read the full story]
Marketing Quick Read: Email Marketing

Maybe you've put off including offers with the automated—or triggered—messages you send to customers. Well, maybe it's time to rethink that strategy. A study conducted by JupiterResearch in 2005 found that the ROI on offers in triggered messages was nine times better than traditional batched... [Read the full story]
Marketing Quick Read: Email Marketing

Hey, the best offer in the world won't get results if no one looks at it. So Bronto's Kimberly Snyder recommends four steps to make your email message an irresistible call to action the moment a customer sees it. Look at these tips: 1. Use a consistent... [Read the full story]
Marketing Quick Read: Email Marketing

Now, wait just a minute. Don't hand that online campaign to just any email service provider (ESP)—at least not before you ask some hard questions. Here are four tough ones that SendLabs' Josh Nason says you should always ask an ESP: 1. What do I get?... [Read the full story]
Marketing Quick Read: Email Marketing