Direct Email Marketing

Paul Francis

Owner, PushInc

Still reeling from last month's Market to the Max extravaganza, and all the great info I gleaned from those sessions, this month's Seattle Direct Marketing Association event was another stellar presentation.

Representatives from companies such as Classmates.com, Expedia and others, who rely heavily on successful email marketing campaigns, formed a panel to tell us about current trends, past experiences and thoughts about future directions of direct email marketing. 

The most compelling bit of info for me was the wide range of tracking, measuring tools and methods used by the different companies.  One company fastidiously tracks their direct email marketing success by looking at data on open rates, click throughs, and unsubscribes, etc.  What I would call, the good ol' core of direct email marketing metrics. 

While another company (with very successful email marketing campaigns) completely ignores all of this info and instead tracks only revenue from each campaign. Period. Of course they also look at opt-outs to calculate future dollars lost from potential transactions from these customers, using some very fancy modeling, I'm sure.

Then, to the other extreme, was the company that doesn't look at any direct email campaign metrics, and pretty much just keeps sending email to anyone and everyone until they unsubscribe.  That's another way to do it!

Also of interest was the topic of subject lines.  Many a brow has spent furrowed hours vexing over the best subject lines, and poring over data from multi-variate testing.  However, it seems that much of the old thoughts on subject lines can be tossed out the window.  What direct email marketers are finding is that while short subject lines, the holy mantra of email marketing, may get more opens, ultimately they have no bearing on sales.  In fact, longer subject lines are often found to generate more revenue per campaign.  Even with lower open rates.

The bottom line result of listening to the event panel is that technical issues will work themselves out, but all direct email marketers need to be testing and tracking results. 

Whether you are considering including animation in your direct email marketing, long stories, short stories, or special offers, every direct marketer should learn their own audience and track everything until you know what you need to be looking at.  Define your goals... and test, test, test!

Having a bit more free time these days, and a major reduction in discretionary household budget, I have taken this marketing offer to task.  I am shopping and comparing.  I see low-pricing offers in my mail-box, on business walls, and comparisons of pricing in news articles offering ideas on ways to save money in today's economy. 

...By switching my grocery store I can save my family up to $1,000 per year.  By dumping my phone provider I can save another big pile of cash...

The alarm has been sounded for direct marketers to be aware. Consumers such as myself are actually taking the time to tote the weekly shopping list around to various retailers and compare who can stretch our dollars the farthest.

My personal experiment in comparison shopping over the past few months has yielded some surprising results.  Results that may be helpful to consider in your counter-messaging as you go about the business of direct marketing communications.

I found that I was already a pretty savvy shopper when it comes to the basics.  And, that the businesses I rely on to provide my necessities are doing a pretty good job.  In the end, I've changed nothing about the basics and just trimmed the goodies.  Guess I would have already found alternatives if that wasn't the case.  Good for me!  Is this good for you? 

If your organization provides services to direct marketers, such as printing or mail marketing, or you are a direct marketer providing services such as email marketing for your clients, my thought is that you should consider how you are doing with the basics.  By simply offering your clients an evaluation of the services you provide that enable their direct marketing efforts to be conducted in the most efficient way possible you may be able to keep your customers from shopping around.  This will save them time and money, and actually strenghten your relationships in the process.

Some customers and clients will shop around no matter how great your story is.  There's no stopping that.  But, really, do we want to pay $20 for a block of cheese just to save a buck on chicken nuggets?  I can do without the nuggets and get my cheddar for half the price at my usual store, without driving from shop to shop for each and every item I need.

So, how do your direct marketing efforts speak to how well you provide the basics?  Your clients may drift for a moment, but if your services and marketing remind them of all the reasons to come back to you, they won't forget you while off looking for cheaper tennis shoes, or paper, or internet marketing services... 

As direct marketers and client organizations cut the frills, it's the quality of necessities left behind that will count.  So, if you've got a great core competency make sure your customers know and are taking advantage of all you have to offer when they go shopping around.  They'll be back for your cheese if it's good!

The Seattle Direct Marketing Association's annual conference, Market to the Max 2009, was a huge success.  Again.

With 250 attendees and 15 corporate sponsors, the event proved to be a very useful networking tool for direct marketers in Seattle, as well as an important learning opportunity.

This year's session line-up was very heavy with Internet marketing content, including sessions on "The future of search engine optimization", "Winning in the blogosphere", and "Making the financial case for email marketing."  Speakers represented nationallly known direct marketing experts such as Google, eMarketer and Microsoft, as well as many local internet marketing heros, including DNA Brand Mechanics, Ascentium, Wongdoody, Point It, and many more.

In fact, the tech-heavy schedule had some attendees asking, "where's the direct mail?"  Doesn't anyone print anything anymore? 

To this point, the SDMA is conversing about the schedule of upcoming direct marketing events.  We regularly solicit feedback from members and event attendees in order to craft a compelling schedule of direct marketing events that Seattle marketing pros are thinking about, and want to invest their time in learning more about.  Lately it seems that that Internet marketing and email marketing top the charts of many people's needs. Got an opinion about what you would like to see on the schedule for future direct marketing events?  Visit our website and go to the "Contact" page for all of our email contacts. Let us know what you are thinking.

Thanks to everyone who attended Market to the Max this year, and to all of our sponsors for making the event possible.  Also, a big congratulations to the Seattle Sounders FC for a succesful opening season.  We all enjoyed hearing from Adrian Hanauer, owner of the team, at the MttM lunchtime presentation.

If you missed all this fun and want to make sure to get in on this direct marketing event next year, be sure and sign-up for SDMA email newsletters (link on our web site) to keep up-to-date on this and other direct marketing and networking events we host monthly.

I extend thanks to Paul Francis for the below contribution to the SDMA blog. And, a big "oops" on my tardiness getting this online! 

Although the commentary here applies to last month's event, due to current economic forces (ahem...layoffs and thus confiscated emails) some messages were not getting to me.  And this brings me to the perfect point of introducing Paul's message about the last SDMA networking event and informational dinner.  He offers us an inspiring re-cap of the direct marketing session on High-ROI Marketing in a Down Economy, with appropo humor and a good read!

Thanks again, Paul.  Readers... see below...
 
I don't watch CNN these days. For a self-professed news junkie, that's not an easy thing to say. It's hard for me to abandon my pundit peeps. And I know I'm missing important information about the new administration's sweeping goals for reinvigorating the economy.

But CNN and the rest of the news organizations are stuck. Their endless cycle of doom and gloom, bad news and worse news, breast beating and woe is me was taking a toll. My enthusiasm was sapping. I was looking at my IRA balances every few hours. I was fixating on the stock ticker. It was time for an intervention.

So I took a step back and reminded myself, "This is a phase, just like a boom is a phase. It only has power if I give it power. I choose to believe that the economy is adjusting for all the right reasons." Then I turned off the TV and erased news sites from my Bookmarks.

Removing all that negative clutter has had an interesting effect on me. I'm focused, motivated and able to drill in on the work I need to do. My productivity has increased and my attitude has gone through the roof. I think I caught myself whistling the other day, but I'll deny it if confronted.

Last night's SDMA presentation on High ROI Marketing Strategies in a Down Economy was an elixir that fed my new mental stance. Why? Because I was in a room of smart folks in my industry, all of whom have been barraged with the same media coverage, but I didn't detect a single note of woe. People were engaged, eager to hear the speakers and looking toward the work needed for a recovery.

What I found interesting about the speakers was the collective sense of opportunity, the subtext of optimism. We have been through this before, they said, and we weathered the storm. This is the time to analyze what you're doing right and what needs to change. Use this time to talk to your clients. Think like your customer. Consider the channels they're using and open your mind to new ones you can offer them. Remember that your clients are also hearing the naysayers, so be the voice that tells them how it can be better. Be real, lead with authenticity.

Good stuff, this.

What's striking to me about what they said is that it's exactly what we should be doing all the time, in boom times as well as busts. We all know this, but when we're busy making money and times are good, we tell ourselves we're busy making money and we'll think about it tomorrow. So tomorrow becomes today and we get that deer-in-the-headlights look – hey, wha' happen? I wonder: why is it that it takes a time of challenge for us to consciously say, "I am responsible for my client's success. I must be their eyes and ears every day. It is my job to make their brand better."?

I've come to the conclusion that this cycle is here to teach us something about client care. Take care of your clients all the time and you won't have to worry about these so-called down times. Your clients will be your allies good times and bad, and you'll be a better business person every day. A synergistic client/vendor relationship can weather whatever CNN throws at us.

Now I gotta go find that half-empty glass of water and top it off.

Calvin Coolidge once said this great thing:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not the world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.

The slogan, 'Press on,' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

Paul Francis
Owner, PushInc.

The Seattle Direct Marketing Association has ears to the ground on all the hot topics in the direct marketing industry.  Our PR guy has done a bit of research and a bit of pondering on the topic of green marketing and has expounded on the topic for the benefit of all direct marketers interested in how their work is affecting the environment.

Thanks to Jeff Wenker for the following contribution to our blog...

On Earth Day someone wrote that not printing an email isn't going to save the planet.  Fair enough.  However, what if everyone in your office stopped printing emails, everyone in a Fortune 100 company, everyone in a city? What if it became the norm to never print emails?  That might not save the planet either, but it might help.

People have been talking about the paperless office for a long time, I think it was Tom Seibel or Larry Ellison, some database guy back in the day (what day, you say) who was all gung-ho about it.  It's impossible, of course. The joke being, offices will be paperless when they remove the bathrooms.

As an interesting experiment, try this: don't throw away any paper.  Let it pile up.  Put it in a stack in the corner of your office or cube.  See how much you produce in a month.  Then multiply that by, I don't know 100 million, to pick a nice round number.  Leave that stack there and start a new stack for the next month.  Check and see if the second stack's shorter (hint: try to make it shorter).  Then do the math again.

There's a great Paul Kelly song - "From Little Things, Big Things Grow" - it has absolutely nothing to do with paper, but I think about the concept frequently.  From the acorn comes the mighty oak, the tiny mustard seed grows into one of the largest trees, we all come from that microscopic gleam in our fathers' eyes (or that's what they told me).  A pretty obvious point, little things grow into big things, but where are those little things?

There are things we accept now as second-nature that ten or 20 years ago were unthinkable.  Some are small.  It's a reflex now to buckle our car seat belts, kids have never done otherwise, a generation will have been strapped into carseats snug as astronauts, yet their parents were frequently tossed into the back of stationwagons to roll around like empty Coke bottles.  Some are large.  We can now call or email anyone anywhere in the world from wherever we happen to be.  If someone told me in 1985, the year I graduated from high school, that I could do that in 20 years time, I would have been

blown away (stoked at something so totally bitchin' but still blown away). High schoolers today wouldn't accept less, in fact they probably complain about the speed or coverage of their service.

So, what is the next big thing that we can't imagine now, but will be accepted as the norm to preschoolers tomorrow?

Paperless Direct Marketing?

How about Train-Planes?

Instead of viewing the transportation of humans in heavier than air machines across the skies and seas as a competitive endeavor to be done as cheaply as possible in order to lure the largest number of passengers, what if air travel was viewed as part of our global infrastructure.  Governments manage and regulate highways, railroads, sewage and the electrical grid, why not air travel?  After all, we don't have competing sets of train tracks.  Let's make wildly speculative imaginative leapings.  Say we had just one kind of plane for long flights and it looked like a troop transport plane with big empty space on the inside rather than one level of seats and one level of cargo.  Then imagine a train loaded with passengers rolling right onto the plane all ready for take-off.  You could build induction terminals closer to population centers where all security measures could take place away from a secure airfield designed only for safe landings and departures of uniformly designed planes.  If one plane broke down or needed repair (not that that ever happens) another one would be in line ready to go.  It's not drastically different from a modern airport like Hong Kong where you can check your bag in town and then take a train to the terminal.  You just take it a step further so it would be like the train ferry from Hamburg to Copenhagen http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Train_ferry.  If a train can roll right onto a boat, why can't a lighter train roll onto an airplane?  Bags travel with you in your own private car or economy could share a car with other passengers, like the European train system.  You could even bring back smoking on planes by adding cars with their own air circulation systems.

Yes, it would be an engineering task of immense proportions - new planes, new specially designed trains, new induction terminals - but think of the economies of scale.  We wouldn't have airlines competing in a race to the bottom (not ideal from 30,000 feet) trying to cut costs and stay afloat in an era of rising fuel costs, necessary yet expensive security measures, and reluctant ridership (flying commercial ain't fun anymore).

Compared to a crazy scheme like this, Direct Marketing without paper sounds

downright logical.

Join Jeff's Discussion on Linked-In and Network Online with other Seattle Area Direct Marketers

As a marketer, I love strategy.  Most direct marketers probably do, and if not they will learn to crave those times when they get to sit down and look at the strategy.  Eagerly, the marketer analyzes the email, internet, direct mail, creative variations, and painstakingly it is all measured back to sales. Joy.

As a marketer, you want to do it, think about doing it, then you sit down and do it, and realize... a chasm.  An often gaping crevace the must be spanned.  You are marketing, and you rely on IT, and are accountable to sales. You have to bring them all together, because you are the marketer working in a dynamic field, and aligning these groups is your job.

Want to get better at building your marketing bridge?

The Seattle Direct Marketing Association’s next networking and educational event presents a speaker able to help you do just that.

As the Chief Marketing Strategist for Ascentium, John Kottcamp helps his customers to engage with their customers by applying his specialty- closed loop marketing- to their needs.  Ascentium is a leading national agency, and Kottcamp is personallhy known for his work with companies including Gateway, McCann Worldgroup, T-Mobile USA and more.  He is also a member of the Forrester Research Technology Marketing Executive Council, and I’m sure his customers pay a lot to learn from him by the hour! You can benefit from his wisdom for a fraction of the cost at the next Seattle Direct Marketing Association event. 

This SDMA event is coming up soon, on October 1.  It will be held at a new venue for the organization, at the Seattle World Trade Center.  Be sure and show up before the presentation start time to network with other Seattle area marketers.  

I also encourage you to check out Kottcamp’s thoughts on direct marketing at his blog, www.thecollaborativemarketer.com.

Event Details:

Aligning Marketing, Sales and IT for Business Transformation 

When: Wednesday, October 1, 2008, 5:30 am – 8:30pm

Where: World Trade Center - Seattle, 2200 Alaskan Way, 4th Floor, Seattle

What: A sales guy, a marketing guy and an IT guy walked into a room: A joke or a way to align your business?

Register Here

Register today.

Wordsmith Sharon Long-Baerny, member and past president of The Seattle Direct Marketing Association, founder of We Know Words,  recently published an article in MarketingProfs.com.  Marketers nationwide rely on this web site for articles, seminars, case studies and other resources that help professionals stay up-to-date on the latest industry news and new thoughts on executing effective online and offline marketing campaigns.

With over 318,000 marketing professionals as MarketingProfs members, Sharon’s publication as one of the top articles of the week on the web site is no small accomplishment.  The article, “Are You Committing the Marketing Sin of Assumption?” provides a humorous look at the evil traps marketers can fall into when forgetting to look at their work from the prospect’s perspective, and offers useful tips on how to avoid being a sinner of this sort.  

Sharon's advice is actionable for marketers of every type, from direct mail to email, to web developers, and sales and communications collateral development of all kinds.

Congratulations go out to Sharon for this success!  We love to see SDMA members hitting the big time in national marketing circles. (Is self-congratulation a sin?)

Read Sharon’s article at MarketingProfs, and find out what kind of a marketing sinner you may be, and how to atone for your actions.

Visit We Know Words, and learn more about their work as copywriters and marketing consultants.

A crew of dedicated volunteers at the Seattle Direct Marketing Association are including planning for the upcoming season of events in their list of summer fun activities.  One of these events is the annual Market to the Max extravaganza. This major conference is designed for Seattle and greater Pacific Northwest marketers who want to learn about the latest trends and techniques in direct marketing.

OK, so it may not be true summer fun, but it is rewarding work!

Organizers have partnered with MRM Worldwide on the creative development, which is shaping up to be another award-worthy campaign.  Keep your eye out for this piece!

Attendees at the event will be able to choose from seminars covering three tracks of marketing:  direct, brand, and social media.  You can mix and match sessions throughout the day to get the assortment that suits you best.

The speaker line-up is still under development, and will be announced as the schedule gets confirmed.

This event proves worthwhile for all attendees every year, and should go on to your calendar today! Just mark out the entire day, as there will undoubtedly be great networking after the event, and a chance to discuss and really absorb all the day’s knowledge.

When: October 21, 2008; 9AM- 4PM
Where: Meydenbauer Center, Bellevue, WA

To make sure you are on the mailing list, and will receive the clever marketing pieces designed by MRM, send your contact info to info@sdma.org, or visit the home page and sign-up for email alerts.

When I was a kid, living in a rural California farming community, we still shopped at the local “mercantile”, where pneumatic tubes rushed your money to an invisible banker, hidden in a vault somewhere in the attic of the turn-of-the-century corner store. I can only assume they were worried about six-shooter toting bandits holding-up the defenseless lady clerks, and making off with the daily proceeds from the Stetsons and Levi’s. 

We had another window on the world when the Sears and Roebuck Wish Book catalog arrived once per year, offering a limitless assortment of clothes and toys that we would never get to touch. When I got a little older, and less enthusiastic about kitchen playsets, I noticed a Spiegel catalog for the first time, and remember being enthralled with the sophisticated models in exotic locales and clothes that inspired me to want to grow-up to be very tall, and to live somewhere that I could actually wear such fine things.   

It seems that not all consumers have the same fond feelings about their catalog mail.  But, in defense of consumers who enjoy shopping through catalogs, and the companies relying on this marketing channel for revenue, industry members regularly meet to discuss ways to promote the business.

Recently, President and CEO of the Direct Marketing Association, John A. Greco Jr. attended the 25th Annual Conference for Catalog and Multichannel Merchants (ACCM) in Orlando, and has important news to report back to us in Seattle, including legislative activity, and upcoming changes to USPS pricing and rules that will affect catalog marketers as soon as March 2009.  Get your policies and budgets ready!

Catalogs are still huge business.  From Greco’s report: According to DMA's ongoing "Power of Direct Marketing" study, US catalog sales are forecast to hit $157.4 billion in 2008.  If that number holds, that would be an increase of 5.1 percent over last year's sales.  Moreover, US catalog and mail marketing, combined, continue to make up the largest slice of today's multichannel marketing pie. Yet, just this year, 15 Do Not Mail bills have been introduced in 12 states.  None of these bills have yet passed, which may be attributable in part to work done by the DMA in educating legislators about the impact of new legislation on consumers and the direct marketing industry.

The Direct Marketing Association promotes industry self-regulation and responsible marketing practices through many initiatives.  One such activity was the establishment of Mail Moves America (MMA), in 2006.   According to Greco, the MMA disseminates information about the positive impact of catalogs and other advertising mail, and ensures that legislative proposals are considered in a balanced light.

If you manage catalogs, or other direct mail campaigns in Seattle, and want to be up-to-date on legislation and consumer issues in your industry, check out the MMA web site: http://www.mailmovesamerica.org/. Information about current bills in Washington State can be found here, as well as info on how you can get involved in supporting the economic future of your direct marketing industry.

Another resource for promoting responsible marketing and self-regulation is the Direct Marketing Association Consumer Choice web site, at http://www.dmachoice.org/, where consumers can modify their own direct mail (and email) preferences with ease.

Catalog and multi-channel marketers are an important constituency for the DMA, and along with heavy hitting additions to the advisory board from organizations such as JCPenny, Spiegel Brands, Inc., and Crutchfield Corporation, a new portal has been added to the DMA web site just for this group of marketers.  Here you can find more information and resources, including news, white papers and networking opportunities: http://www.the-dma.org/segment/catalogersmarketers.

P.S. Speaking of the new USPS rules...working on a postage budget for next year? Get the most for your money and make sure your flat-size mail follows new addressing requirements, going into effect March 2009: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/E8-8621.htm.

Billed as “this year’s most informative exchange of ideas and information with marketing, IT, and operations experts from a range of industries”, the Authentication and Online Trust Alliance (AOTA) Summit of 2008 is coming up soon. This year, the Seattle Direct Marketing Association will be in attendance and is offering a great networking opportunity for members at this event. 

This season-ending event for the SDMA will take place June 4, from 5:30-8PM, at the Westin Hotel. Attendees can expect to mingle with industry leaders and visionaries working on issues such as building brand confidence online, secure e-mail, and the latest online marketing strategies. 

Behind closed doors we’ve been promised tasty food treats and cocktails, as well. So don’t miss out on this opportunity to connect with today’s online business leaders. SDMA members get a special price for this event of only $25, and space is limited. Registration is still available at this web site, through the Events page. See you there!

More information about the AOTA Summit 2008 is available at www.aotalliance.org/summit 

I enjoy receiving email marketing, but as a marketer, I’m not really normal.  I like to analyze the subject lines in my Hotmail and give them ratings, and peruse them for any indication of today’s social or political climate. You can learn a lot about what’s going on by the email marketing you receive. For instance, if you always forget about Mother’s Day or Election Day, just sign up for a lot of email newsletters, and you’ll get plenty of reminders about important upcoming holidays and spending opportunities.

 

When there are few “natural” reasons to communicate with subscribers, direct marketers have to generate other reasons to send intriguing email marketing.  And, when this is done on a regular schedule, it can grow challenging to the creative mind.  Recently I received an email from 24-Hour Fitness that I thought was quite clever. (No, not the “take your mom to the gym for a free workout” one.  That, not such a hot idea!) The one I liked was the “24 years. 12 million lives.” campaign.

 

It is mathematically pleasing, with tying in the name of the company to the years, and then having a nice, round half-value for the second part. So, I clicked to see what this more subtle than usual sales pitch would be.

 

As a marketer, I found it interesting that their email campaign is driving visitors to their own “social media” site, where users can read inspiring stories, enter their own stories, and comment on others’ stories. 

 

There is a smattering of regular guy testimonials mixed in with a few super star athletes, in case we were to forget that it’s a big-budget Internet marketing campaign. The writing is also a mix of professional marketers as well as comments that I can only guess are being made by the real users. Or, very clever marketers disguising their persuasive abilities in bad grammar, punctuation, and notes about how hot one particular lady is in her jogging picture.

 

The first time I visited the site, the links were a bit buggy, with many of the home page stories going to error messages, but that appears to be fixed. One other non-user friendly programming issue is the links to the user profiles.  They take readers to a truncated version of the story, without indicating that it is not the real story, which makes the writing just look bad. If you are not persistent enough to keep clicking around, you may never see the actual story, and most consumers will not wallow in our direct marketing propaganda for long. No matter how ingenious the design team believes it is.

 

Overall, I give one check in the plus column for a good use of combined email and Internet marketing for this direct marketing giant.  Maybe I’ll check on FaceBook to see if they have a group there, and see how seriously social these guys really are!

Click here to see for yourself   

 

0 Comments »

At a recent Seattle Direct Marketing Association networking and learning event, representatives of the Parnassus Group presented on how to use social media in your Internet marketing mix. One of the topics they covered was how to monitor your organization’s coverage in the vast, vast Blogosphere. 

 

Due to a technical snag, attendees at the event weren’t able to view this part of the presentation.  But, our friends in marketing at Parnassus have created a quickie tutorial that can be viewed at their web site.

 

If you are a direct mail or email marketer, or any other kind of communications manager, and are not monitoring the Blogosphere because it seems too complicated, then this is good new for you!

 

These are easy-to-follow directions that can get you set-up to monitor any direct marketing (or other) news you want to follow in just a few minutes:

 

<http://parnassusgroup.com/2008/03/monitoring-the-blogosphere-with-google-reader-a-follow-up-to-the-sdma-presentation/>

Today was one of those, "Lessons learned days" that will prove invaluable, but that you wish you could know without it ever happening.  One you wish you were able to suck it back in, like a regrettable email. 

I recently changed my role from that of an in-house marketing manager to vendor with marketing customers.  Since Chief Marketing Officer is statistically the shortest lived position of ALL corporate roles, with an average life span of 18 months, chances are that this may happen to you some day too. My switch was by choice, but still, it comes with some adjustments. And, even though I began my career in agency, it is easy to forget some nuances of the outside position.

In my eagerness to "handle everything" for a very important client, I found that I'd overstepped my role.  The consequences were not fatal, but the anguish was visceral.  

Fortunately, my customer is experienced and understanding, aware that they are demanding and complex.  And they are willing to go through the learning curve with me. They must see some potential. I hope.

My pain involved my decision to approve a high profile project, in an effort to get the product to the customer expediently. I was confident in my ability to make wise choices, as I've done this for years on behalf of very discerning constituents.  

The problem.  I am the vendor.  The choice was not mine to make. 

Ultimately my eye on the color of this printed piece was acceptable. But the problem is, I've not yet earned this right to choose.

So, lesson of the day, if you are in a new position as an outside vendor, wait.  Wait until the marketing manager, or print buyer, or chief bottle scrubber has said, "You make the call on this one."  Then, put the dishes away with confidence.

Oh yes, and don't forget the beauty of the written word, and never forget their signature!  Think of it as filling your autograph book, and remember the customer is now the star of the show.

Buying software is now the same as renting an apartment. 

It was standing room only on Wednesday night 11/7 for the Trends in Email Marketing event at The Bellevue Club.  ExactTarget sponsored, DRG offered free cocktails to attendees, the bar was humming and we had a who's who of Seattle and Portland marketers. A few board members relinquished their dining seats to accommodate the event guests.

 

A knock out panel of marketing experts spoke about email marketing:  Annette Barnes, Director of Email Marketing from Alaska Airlines, Stacy Bennett, Online Marketing Manager from Tommy Bahama and Cheryl Engelaer, Group Marketing Manager of Microsoft.  Our moderator Justin Foster, VP of Professional Services at WhatCounts assembled the panel and facilitated an in depth discussion.  

 

Our surprise guest was Craig Spiezle, Director of Online Safety from Microsoft.  I saw Craig speak about email deliverability at the first annual ExactTarget Connections conference in Indianapolis this fall and was really impressed—so invited him to join us.  Not only did he join us, but he co-moderated the panel!  (Note: ExactTarget was the sponsor of this event.)  

 

Craig is a founder and chairman of the Authentication Online Trust Alliance (AOTA) in addition to being the director of online safety at MS.  Although our event focused on trends, RFM scoring and more — it was great to have Craig talk about deliverability which is a huge part of email marketing today.

 

In the past email marketers knew the rules:  avoid spam words such as FREE in content and be diligent about list management.  But that's all changed.  Now what matters is your online reputation which is comprised of a number of factors.  Frequency and volume of emails sent, whether your IP is registered and most importantly the relevance of your emails.  

 

This means that getting content appropriate messages to the people who want them is what counts.  Even people who've opted in to receive your communications "junk" your mail when it comes more frequently than they desire or the content doesn't meet their needs.  The process of junking your mail, negatively impacts your reputation—and there's the challenge.  Your deliverability goes down and in the worst case scenario you're black listed. So segmenting into audiences is just a starting place.  You also have to sub-segment your audience into different types of recipients.  Don't continue to send emails to someone who never opens them.  Instead, perhaps send a survey, or email them less frequently.

Welcome to the first week of the SDMA blog.

My name is Cynthia Cruver and I’m the SDMA’s ’07-’08 president. Sharon Long Baerny of We Know Words, left the organization to me in good order at the end of her presidency last year. And not only that, she set up the new blog spot. (Thank you Sharon.)

In 2004, the national Direct Marketing Association (DMA) based in NYC cut loose its local chapters and a scrappy bunch of entrepreneurial DM professionals picked up the pieces and built a very nice organization. The difference? More relevant content for our regional market place that focuses heavily on new technology and DM techniques. The organization continues to evolve with 100% volunteer labor and offers fabulous direct marketing networking.

This year we set out to clear up a few misunderstandings about the SDMA and direct marketing in general. Direct marketers don’t just put paper in the US postal system—we use a variety of media to illicit responses—direct email marketing, paper, online and more. Email marketers are direct marketers. And, there’s a big difference between the DMA and SDMA.

The board repositioned the .org with the help of SDMA VP of Marketing, Stuart Gordon of the Hacker Group. (See new positioning statement at the end of this post.)

Before I close, here’s a little about me. My day job is as a partner and account executive for GCDirect, a boutique DM firm located in Seattle, Washington. Previous to this business I was a partner at Three a.m. Direct. I help B2B and B2C marketers generate new customers and maintain existing customers.

From a personal standpoint I love the SDMA because I always come away from the meetings with new information and new tools I can immediately use to help my clients and my own business. Meeting for dinner and drinks (rather than lunch or breakfast), makes the learning more fun and less pressured (i.e. don’t have to rush back to the office or a meeting and get to have a cocktail which is always nice!)

On November 7 we have an amazing set of marketers speaking about the latest in email practices from Tommy Bahama, Expedia, Alaska Airlines and Microsoft. Something for everyone with actionable items to take away and use immediately. This meeting is our first EVER east side event to be held at The Bellevue Club in Bellevue. Please join us!

A special thanks to Compendium for sponsoring the SDMA with their compended blogging ASP. Thank you Chris Baggot!

And here’s who we are today:

The SDMA connects area marketing professionals with new ideas and emerging technologies. It nurtures innovative thinking in all areas of marketing, including ecommerce, creative development, data and production. Frequently scheduled events feature prominent speakers on a variety of relevant and cutting-edge topics, as well as quality networking SDMA membership is open to all interested marketing professionals.