Email marketers appear on the cusp of embracing new technology, according to a new survey.
For soccerloco, email automation is a game-winning strategy.
Specialty retailer Destination XL Group says data and personalization are essential to finding the perfect fit.
Two thirds of consumers use mobile emails to redeem offers, but three-quarters delete them before viewing the deals. Is it a control thing?
Technology has certainly enhanced marketers' lives, but focusing on how customers want to communicate is the true secret to success.
Email marketers need to step up their games in an ever-evolving marketplace, say inbox experts. Here is their counsel.
Valentine's Day themes in emails dipped this year, according to Bronto. Could it be that love is less lovely in email marketing?
There's no denying the importance of maintaining accurate data, especially within email marketing.
Sports teams selling tickets through the service are now able to measure the performance of individual email campaigns.
Retailer emails were through the chimney this Christmas. And while lists were small and targeting was sparse, results were good, according to eDataSource's tracking of 800,000 inboxes.
Triggered email messages rose 10% in the third quarter, according to a new Epsilon benchmarking study.
Direct marketers draw nearly three quarters of all "report spam" complaints, says a new study. Even so, email ROI numbers remain high.
Eloqua CEO Joe Payne is adamant that email-only solutions are as doomed as the dinosaurs.
Both campaigns spent big on email appeals, but neither seem to have spent enough time learning current email marketing techniques.
ExactTarget bolsters its marketing and e-commerce capabilities with it acquisitions of Pardot and iGoDigital.
A survey of 300 email marketers uncovers a lack of customer segmentation and competitive intelligence.
Marketing services firm Epsilon launched its Email Response Network (ERN) on September 4, a combination of three email products powered by database intelligence.
Marketers in the travel industry greatly increased its email activity between Q2 2011 and Q2 2012, says Regina Gray, Experian CheetahMail's VP of strategic services.
Email reigns as the most popular marketing channel, followed by social and SMS, according to results from Message Systems' Marketing Channel and Engagement Benchmark Survey.
Analytics-IQ, Inc., a predictive solutions company for marketers, has branched into email delivery solutions with a new email tool.
According to Silverpop, companies that provide personalized behavior-based content are far more likely to receive the highest click and open rates.
Epsilon and the DMA's Email Experience Council release Q1 2012 North America Email Trends and Benchmarks report.
Digital marketing solutions provider StrongMail will offer SMS messaging through a partnership with Velti.
Marketing software provider Hubspot has added functionality that effectively turns the company into an email service provider.
Athletic apparel and footwear company Fila has appointed marketing solutions firm 89 Degrees to develop an email marketing strategy, said Lauren Mallon, global marketing manager for Fila. 89 Degrees will work with Demandware, the e-commerce solutions provider Fila hired in July 2010, and SEO/SEM provider Adept Marketing
Experian CheetahMail announced May 3 that it has entered into a preferred agreement with Movable Ink, an email application designed to allow marketers to stream email content in real time, said Daniel Schotland, VP of client services at Experian CheetahMail.
To drive email response rates, marketers should be mindful of the little things such as colors, hierarchy, balancing text and images and mobile optimization said executives at the Responsys Interact conference in San Francisco, Calif.
More people will be reading email off mobile devices than off webmail or desktop clients by June, said Tom Sather, director of professional services at email deliverability firm Return Path.
BrightWave Marketing, a digital agency focused on email marketing, has hired Jay Jhun to become its first director of strategic services, said company CEO Simms Jenkins.
Experian CheetahMail today launched Outbound Direct, a tool within the CheetahMail suite of services that lets marketers send personalized emails with measurable results to customers and prospects, said Kat Berman, VP of solutions at Experian Hitwise.
VerifyEmailAddress.org has launched BulkEmailVerifier.com, a dedicated product that allows businesses to verify emails in bulk, said Matthew Dixon, chief project officer at Germany-based media solutions provider Paul Internet, which owns VerifyEmailAddress. The BulkEmailVerifier tool was designed for companies with email databases of customer information.
Daily deal company LivingSocial will launch its first credit card in the coming months, said Brendan Lewis, director of corporate communications at LivingSocial. The card will offer loyalty benefits to users and no annual fee.
Cloud-based marketing and PR software company Vocus has acquired email software provider iContact, the company announced on Feb. 28. The acquisition is designed to allow Vocus to add an enhanced email offering to its marketing suite, which currently includes search, social and publicity marketing modules.
Ninety-five percent of consumers sign up for commercial emails in order to receive discounts, said Ryan Phelan, VP of strategic services at email marketing company, BlueHornet. One-third of consumers unsubscribe from commercial emails because the promotions lack relevancy and one-third unsubscribe because of the over-frequency with which the emails are sent, he said, citing a BlueHornet study of approximately 1000 consumers.
Half of all Gilt Groupe emails are opened on a mobile device, said Jessica Harley, VP of customer marketing at Gilt Groupe. Mobile revenues for the private sales site increase 73% on weekends and 48% between nine P.M. and midnight on weekdays.
MeritDirect launched new mobile and social capabilities for third-party email campaigns, which it is first rolling out to client Penton Media, said Chris Blohm, MeritDirect's SVP of data and media services, on Feb. 16.
Yesmail Interactive has launched a tool that lets marketers track their competitors and follow new campaigns in real time. The platform, called Yesmail Market Intelligence, allows marketers who join to follow the digital marketing activity of other brands, from the times they deploy email blasts to the number of views their YouTube channel received the previous week.
Email marketing company Constant Contact has acquired Boston-based mobile applications provider CardStar, Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact said Jan. 18.
Email deliverability firm Return Path acquired email technology company OtherInbox, the company said on Jan. 10. The acquisition closed in late December, said Return Path CEO Matt Blumberg, who declined to disclose terms.
An email appeal from The New York Times offering readers a special deal to not cancel their subscriptions was accidentally mass-emailed to about 8 million people on Dec. 28, rather than the 300 individuals for whom the message was intended.
More marketers plan to increase their spending on email marketing in 2012 than any other channel, according to a survey conducted by email service provider StrongMail, which will be officially released on Dec. 7. Of the 939 executives who participated in the survey, 60% said they expect to raise their email marketing budgets.
More than 20% of emails sent during the first six months of 2011 were opened on mobile devices, according to a study released by email service provider Knotice on Nov. 30.
Email marketing company ExactTarget filed for a $100 million initial public offering (IPO) on Nov. 23.
A majority of retailers continue to email subscribers who have been inactive for more than 40 months, according to a study released by email service provider Responsys on Nov. 17.
Email marketing services firm Inbox Group acquired email marketing agency Indiemark, both companies said Nov. 1. Terms were not disclosed.
Home and garden accessories retailer Wisteria named Silverpop its email service provider, Kameilia Overton, strategic marketing manager at Wisteria, said on Oct. 12. The arrangement took effect in July.
Only 81% of emails sent during the first half of 2011 reached consumers' inboxes, according to a study released by email deliverability services firm Return Path on Sept. 20.
Despite a decrease in email volume in the second quarter, email campaign open and click rates were relatively flat, according to a study released by marketing services firm Epsilon on August 30.
With this year's email click and open rates outperforming 2010's numbers by 23% and 11%, respectively, marketers should prepare for a stronger holiday season than last year.
Emails that are not personalized with a consumer's name in the subject line generate a 3% click rate, equal to that of personalized emails, according to a study released by email service provider MailerMailer on July 19.
Email marketing firm WhatCounts said July 11 that it has acquired email service provider Blue Sky Factory. WhatCounts president and founder Allen Nance said the acquisition will add social media functionality to his company's offerings.
Overall delivery rates across all industry sectors increased two percentage points to 95% in 2010, compared with 2009, according to the Harte-Hanks Postfuture Index. Unsubscribe rates decreased from .32% in 2009 to .19% in 2010, and bounce rates averaged 5%, compared with 7% in 2009.
Cable TV provider Cablevision rolled out a tool June 14 that allows marketers to tag their TV ads with email opt-ins. The Optimum Select RFI with email fulfillment lets consumers sign up to receive emailed product information, coupons, e-brochures and other offers through a TV ad.
Three-quarters (75%) of marketers said their lifecycle email marketing programs outperform their traditional outbound campaigns, according to a survey released by email services firm StrongMail on June 14. More than half (51%) of the 1,070 marketers surveyed said they do not have an active event-triggered lifecycle program, but 32% of that segment said they plan to implement one within the next 12 months.
Email services provider Emailvision said June 14 that it has acquired customer intelligence software company SmartFocus for $40 million.
Pharmacy chain Rite Aid began sending monthly email updates to members of its Wellness Plus loyalty program on June 8 to help them keep track of their accrued rewards points and savings. The company is working with email service provider Experian CheetahMail to deliver the messages to loyalty club members.
Brands' email subscribers outnumber their Facebook "likes" by an average ratio of 70 to 1, according to a survey conducted by email marketing and automation firm Silverpop. The survey of more than 500 Silverpop clients also found that the average ratio of email subscribers to Twitter followers is 90 to 1.
Marketers increased their average email volume by 39% in the first quarter, compared with the prior year, according to a study from email marketing company Epsilon and the Direct Marketing Association's Email Experience Council (EEC). The organizations based the study on 7.1 billion emails sent by about 140 North American Epsilon clients.
An updated version of Yahoo Mail will enable the company to scan consumers' emails to deliver targeted advertisements, the company said May 24. The update will roll out to Yahoo Mail users "in a matter of weeks" with the targeted advertising implemented "in the coming months," said David McDowell, senior director of product management at Yahoo Mail.
The share of emails accessed via mobile devices increased by 81% from October 2010 to March 2011, according to a survey released by email marketing services firm Return Path on May 17. Sixteen percent of emails were accessed via mobile device in March 2011, up from 9.2% last October, according to the survey.
Video game publisher Telltale Games has hired digital marketing firm Knotice to provide email marketing services, the company said May 6. Telltale will use Knotice's software platform to track, target and segment email communications based on information from opted-in customers, such as on-site behavior and product interests.
Emails with "Mother's Day" in the subject line generate a 2.6% click-through rate in the week following Mother's Day versus 1.8% during the week leading up to holiday, a 44% increase, according to email marketing firm Experian CheetahMail.
Email marketing company ExactTarget reported $30 million in new investment capital on April 25. Technology Crossover Ventures, Battery Ventures, Scale Venture Partners and Greenspring Associates contributed the funding. All four firms had previously invested in ExactTarget.
Consumers can temporarily halt the delivery of email marketing communications with a new tool from email marketing firm Silverpop. The Snooze tool added to its Engage platform enables email recipients to cancel delivery of company communications and set the date upon which to begin receiving communications again.
Email marketing vendor Epsilon said late last week that it detected a security breach March 30 that compromised the names and email information of several clients' customer databases. Impacted companies include JPMorgan Chase & Co., Walgreens, Best Buy, Ameriprise Financial and TiVo, according to media reports. Epsilon said April 6 that the breach affected about 2% of its total client base, and that no personal identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers or account information, was accessed.
Microblogging site Posterous launched a tool March 28 that allows users to send posts as email newsletters. The company developed the tool for small businesses, which account for more than 20% of its membership, as a complement to the site's social media management capabilities, said Rich Pearson, VP of marketing and business development at Posterous.
Domino's Pizza launched a Facebook contest on March 14 encouraging consumers to vote for their favorite style of pizza. The delivery chain is promoting the contest to opted-in members of the company's e-mail database, as well as its Facebook fans.
AARP confused some members earlier this month when it launched an e-mail campaign using fake news reports to spark conversation about the future of Social Security. The nonprofit sent 2.7 million e-mails on February 1 with real-looking news stories about seniors being forced from their homes after fictional cuts to the government program. Consulting firm M&R Strategic Services worked with AARP on the campaign.
E-mail marketing is far from dead, but marketers will have to adjust to social media, a range of mobile devices, prioritized inboxes and new security concerns, said Anita Absey, SVP of global sales and services at Return Path, on February 10.
Consumer adoption of Facebook's messaging platform is challenging the relevancy of e-mail, industry experts said February 10 on the "Social Media and E-mail: A Match Made for Marketers" panel at Social Media Week in New York.
E-mail services provider Goodmail Systems will cease operations on February 8, its chief executive told Direct Marketing News. The Mountain View, CA-based company employed 35 and was founded in 2003. Daniel Dreymann, cofounder and CEO of Goodmail, said the biggest reason for the shutdown was an aborted acquisition attempt by a firm he would only call a "Fortune 500 company."
The average cost of permission-based b-to-c e-mail lists dropped 7.27% year-over-year this winter, according to Worldata's Winter 2011 List Price Index. The consumer book buyers, consumer magazines and consumer merchandise buyers categories all saw price increases of 1.11%, the list marketing company said.
Home furnishings giant Ikea named the finalists in its "Life Improvement Sabbatical Contest" on December 13. The company is using the program, part of a larger initiative including in-store seminars, an employee challenge and advertising, to drive opt-ins for e-mail and catalog requests. The retailer is encouraging consumers to vote on the winner.
Consumers are opening e-mail messages at a steady rate, but transactional or service e-mails are getting more attention, according to a third-quarter report from marketing services provider Epsilon and the Direct Marketing Association.
Google's just launched eBookstore, which made available approximately 3 million digital books from more than 4,000 publishers, will be a boon for the nascent e-tablet market, according to industry experts. It could also usher in ad-supported book publishing.
E-mail marketers don't expect Facebook's revamped messaging system to replace traditional e-mail service, but they are watching the platform's rollout to see how they can use it to interact with consumers.
Facebook launched a messaging system November 15 connecting e-mail, SMS and instant messaging chats and giving consumers the opportunity to open Facebook.com e-mail addresses.
E-mail marketing service provider Lyris has named Tina Stewart its SVP of marketing. Her hire is the company's second significant appointment under new CEO Wolfgang Maasberg.
The New Jersey Manufacturing Extension Program will kick off an e-mail marketing campaign in mid-November with an eye on acquiring new members.
Valassis is partnering with digital marketing agency Zeta Interactive this week to launch a charitable digital insert program to help find missing children.
Offers within welcome e-mails result in significantly higher transaction rates than those within bulk messages, according to research released October 19 by Experian Marketing Services.
The USA World Cup Bid Committee launched an e-mail marketing campaign October 4, asking supporters to contribute their soccer stories to boost the US' pitch to become the World Cup's host country in 2018 or 2022.
US Cellular launched an integrated campaign, "The Belief Project," on October 1 including direct mail, e-mail, newsletters, text messaging, bill inserts and outbound calls to consumers. It also features television, radio and print ads.
"Thirty percent of your house list changes their e-mail addresses annually or becomes inactive." This familiar statistic refers to an infectious disease commonly known as "list churn."
Coupon company Valpak will launch a deals website in November to provide advertisers and local businesses with another avenue to reach consumers.
E-mail marketing industry experts shrugged off Google's debut of the "Priority Inbox" enhancement in Gmail this week, saying it may even help them target consumers more effectively. The feature prioritizes e-mail messages for consumers.
Verizon has launched the 'Great Paper Escape' sweepstakes and integrated campaign to promote its online billing service and overall environmental efforts.
The National Geographic Society will launch an e-mail marketing campaign this month, incorporating a Facebook 'like' button, to support its feature documentary 'Restrepo.' The nonprofit worked with marketing firm Epsilon on the campaign, which will launch by next week.
Overstock.com launched a sweepstakes August 16 with the Boston Red Sox baseball club to reach avid baseball fans in the New England market who may not be Overstock customers.
Major League Soccer and the New York Red Bulls franchise sent out an e-mail blast August 9 to increase ticket sales for the team's August 11 home match. The game, against Toronto FC, was the home debut of international soccer star Thierry Henry.
Deluxe movie theater chain Gold Class Cinemas launched an e-mail marketing campaign August 8 inviting members of its loyalty program to free 'Eat, Pray, Love' cooking demonstrations tied to the film's settings. The e-mail blast was created internally.
Domino's Pizza launched an e-mail marketing push August 5 to promote its 'Show Your Pizza' contest.
AARP is conducting an e-mail marketing campaign to promote its series of 'AARP The Magazine' Road Show events.
The Direct Marketing Association's E-mail Experience Council has created a YouTube channel to promote the benefits of e-mail marketing.
Members only online shopping community Ideeli launched an e-mail marketing campaign July 27 to retain lapsed customers. The company developed the campaign strategy and creative in-house, and partnered with e-mail marketing agency ExactTarget on delivery.
E-mail marketing firm StrongMail has acquired two marketing services firms in a bid to expand services to its 500-plus clients.
The Discovery Channel launched an integrated marketing campaign July 26 promoting the season finale of reality show 'The Deadliest Catch.' The effort contains a sweepstakes consumers can enter through the show's e-mail newsletter.
The New York-based IFC Center, an organization dedicated to independent cinema, launched an e-mail marketing campaign July 20 to celebrate its fifth anniversary.
What's in our mailbox this month: fitness postcards from Retro Fitness, American Woman Fitness Centers, Union's United Taekwondo Academy, and Bally Total Fitness. (We're totally pumped.)
Social data can improve a brand's bottom line and customer relationships. Just ask brands Infiniti and Diamond Nexus.
Here are three must-have data sets that every marketer should include in his or her email strategy.
