Crafting and Managing E-Mail is Hot Topic at DMA Seminar

New York - Karen Talavera, principal of e-mail consulting firm Synchronicity Marketing, Lake Worth, FL, led a DMA class through a series of discussions and exercises aimed at creating better e-mail marketing campaigns.

The DMA e-mail marketing strategies seminar began with a look at the industry in general and then honed in on topics such as the legal aspects of e-mail marketing and how permission and the law affect marketers.

 "E-mail is one of the marketing channels that is on the edge of direct marketing," Ms. Talavera said. "It let's consumers ask for what they want and get it."

After legal concerns, Ms. Talavera spoke about how to develop an e-mail program.

Key tactics were attention to developing lists and databases and keeping the lists fresh with current addresses. Communication with customers is key in building these lists. of testing and metrics.

Ms. Talavera also discussed the importance of testing and metrics.

"E-mail is great to test, because it is easy and cheap," Ms. Talavera said. "You can track how people open and click to your site."

Attendees included executives from the agency side, as well as account managers from the marketing departments of various industries like pharmaceutical, financial and staffing.

Erika McDaniel, marketing associate at financial services firm SEI, said that she was attending to learn more about how to better use e-mail for SEI's marketing efforts.

Other in-house training seminars at the DMA included focus in analytics, creative and copywriting, legal and marketing.

"Part of the DMA's charter is to provide educational resources," Ms. Talavera said. "They started the e-mail program six years ago and were one of the first associations to offer e-mail marketing education."