Internet Marketing

I’ve been posted here ( head down to the footer area and look under “Reach the Destination “and the online marketing lessons I offer are taking a hit with registrations from all over the place.

So, what do others think how blogging will affect email marketing in 2005?

Well could it be a time to add a blog to your web site and then start to fire out some blended communication? Here’s a link to some more bullet points on this are from Debbie Weil, both an emailer and blogger who is worth tuning into. Just click through and scroll down to the centre of the page where it all kicks off.

IT Conversations is a web site that is making a positive change to my exercise routine. Now it’s a breeze to make a 45 minute walk in the morning worth looking forward to.

And finally I’ve never flown Virgin before. This could be the chance I’ve been waiting for.

Hmm now I pick up this post from Stephan Spencer’s cool blog and see there is a merging of email to RSS. I tell you it’s only a matter of time before RSS starts to make more headway here and the messaging mode of choice for a growing bunch of people.

Midway through this year I started conversations with my clients about the likes of Bonded Sender, SPF and all things alike that would go someway to improve their Inbox deliverability.

Chip House from ExactTarget talks more about this and other areas that he thinks will get more air time in 2005. I tend to agree with his predictions. The plan to get your subscribers to include yourself in their address book I have covered before.

It’s only a matter of time before people wake up to how important their online reputation will be to ensure they deliver effective email marketing.

Deep down, however, I sense that RSS feeds from blogs will move into the space presently taken by email newsletters, making the whole email deliverability issue slacken off.

Feeds are so much easier to consume. For example I can monitor 15 blogs through my feed reader with ease. (I hear others doing this for hundreds of blogs and now see how it can be done.)

My Inbox is a mess but the feeds are neatly archived in my version of Newsgator, well away from the jumble that makes up my Inbox. All this makes their management and consumption a breeze.

Yes I know that I have to pay for Newsgator and Yes it is still a bit geeky on how you go about subscribing BUT this will get easier and surely Outlook 200* will have this all built in.

Subscribing to feeds is an anonymous process that I have complete control over. Plus the content is delivered in a skim reading friendly way.

Am I missing something here or will the rise of RSS over email become a bigger issue than email marketers really believe?

Or is it that the “fee for message delivery” business model that email vendors support just disappears in the Blog to RSS model and hence it receives little comment?

Christopher Knight has done the hard work and read through the 81 page document that outlines some of the alterations to the act that are now worth understanding. Here’s his thoughts.

Is it working?

Hmm, can’t say I have seen much of a drop off in the torrent of SPAM I’m receiving down here in NZ.

Now you guys stateside could have a different story?

Me thinks not.

There is a bit of debate on ClickZ on the merits of HTML over Text and visa versa. I think it’s all a bit of a moot point. Each format should be used to fit its own messaging need.

Small amounts of copy and a quick decision required by your subscriber (with little “selling of the message”) and Text steps up to the plate and does a great job.

But when more words are need to explain your reasons then you need the bullets, images and underlines and all the rest that HTML can offer.

Anyone in LA looking for one great Web designer? My colleague Kevin is moving his family up from New Zealand in January. Here’s his site – he’s got a nice touch.

Perhaps the process of segmentation is just a way of progressing an online conversation?

I while ago I used to sell printing. (In fact add to that list, scientific equipment, valves , document scanning and business outsourcing.) During the 18 years of front line selling it was drummed into to me that by mastering the process of questioning I was better able to meet my every growing sales budget. Well I read the books, listen to the tapes and did my home work and guess what, it seemed to work.

Plus early on I quickly discovered that by starting my selling process with a few key questions made all the difference to me having a good chance of closing the sale. And furthermore by building on these questions with related others I had an even better chance to hone down the real needs of those in front of me.

The questions weren’t random; they followed a set path, hopefully directing my prospect into the right place for them to want to buy what I was offering.

Email marketing can do the same IF it is designed to. May be it is something like presenting a “permission pathway” for your subscribers to follow as they receive message after message.

Here is an example of a web form that achieves something similar to what I am mean. (Example below.)

With some technical wizardry this could work in a group of messages, slowly building on the answers of prior questions.

I have two young girls (8 and 5) that delight in quickly unwrapping the Pumpkin Patch catalogue when it arrives and then promptly marking out all the clothes Claire and I can buy them when we next visit the store.

When we get hold of the catalogue it is both dog eared and well marked.

Now I see you can mouse click through the catalogue online just to prepare myself for what will be marked later on.

Nice touch Patch people.

Simon Young writes for Marketing Magazine, whilst also operating his own business, Simon Young Writers. Last month he wrote an article “Logging On To Blogging”, where for many he introduced it as a channel worth consideration. Earlier on today I called Simon to cover off the base questions people have asked me on blogs and the act of blogging.

These included:

Listen in here. (Audio file should self start and runs for approx 20 mins.)

The process of using segmentation to build relevance in email marketing has me enthralled at the moment. Look at this research from ChoiceStream on the willingness for consumers to give up their time to help build communications that are more personal.

I love a good selection of email marketing case studies. ExactTarget delivers a range to satisfy even the most selective tastes. Just stumbled across their list, check it out here

Straight off Brent’s blog eINFO, this is worth a peek to see what the guys at eROI see email fitting into the customer lifecycle.

The December edition of Subscribe, the Permission newsletter, is out and about. Here’s a link for all you in blog and RSS land to catch up.

Subscribe to the email and you can receive a copy of the PDF that includes the top articles that have been published in newsletters before, plus full access to all our archives. (Membership does have its benefits.) Here’s the subscribe link

Yes you can get more than 40% to open your message and yes you can generate more than 10% click through rates.

Below is a snap from a recent customer’s email marketing campaign.

What drove this success?

The lessons?

A year or so back I read one of those books that completely changes your outlook on marketing. The Cluetrain Manifesto presented its thoughts on how future markets would operate, explaining the large differences between what was being experienced then.

One of its themes was that “markets are conversations”. I remember pronouncing this at a seminar in town mid way through a powerpoint bullet point hell experience ( I have now radically changed how ppt is put to task).

I showed a book shot and took people through the rationale of the theory. Blank looks bounced back at me. I moved on and the hole of silence was filled with content that the audience found easier to mentally digest with fare of graphs and charts.

Well I now have my own market conversations.

Newsgator is busy fetching each of my conversations and bringing them into my version of Outlook as people post their latest missive on their blog. I do nothing except read their next sentence, listening in as like me they ramble on.

At the moment I have 10, others I hear have hundreds. And its all easily managed in the comfort of my own email client.

Why not subscribe to my own RSS feed ( if you haven’t already) and listen in? You can find the link at the foot of the blog.

Last Friday I spoke with Mark Littrell, the Marketing Manager for business software company Information Management research (IMR), about his thoughts on effective online lead generation.

Earlier on in the year I had read about him in MarktingSherpa and was keen to see what else he could share with my listeners interested in lead generation.

We had a great chat that I think you will enjoy, here’s the streaming interview (auto plays when opened).

OK so I have asked Google if they have one spare Gmail account out there for me to try and promptly received a reply.

Nope, sorry but thanks for the enquiry.

Well if there is anyone out there with a spare invitation then there is some keen Kiwi ready to get their hands on one. (Just email me at keengmailkiwi@permission.co.nz .) I have read bits and pieces about how this will all work out in the new Gmail format but it would be good to see it all for myself.

Well within a day of this being posted I now have an account. Thanks again Brent.

Have fun

In this interview I put Justin Burke from Itchy Feet Travel on the spot to reveal how he grew his travel email newsletter list from zero to tens of thousands of opt in subscribers in a few years.

So what’s his secret? Trade shows and a novel way to stand out from the competition crowd, listen in here.

Times are a changing at the New Zealand DMA (Direct Marketing Association), come February 2005 the “D” is dropped and the Marketing Association is born.

Is this just a simple name change? And why is the change necessary? Plus what does it mean to the existing membership services that are currently offered? This afternoon I sat down with Keith Norris, the DMA’s chief executive to quiz him on these points and more (are the subs going up).

Plus I couldn’t help but ask about the impending status of local legislation on SPAM. This audio recording goes for 13.5mins. Click here for an audio stream and listen in or download the MP3 file (6.1Mb)here.

Keen to create content?

Calling all those interested in online marketing. I am looking for people in the online marketing industry that are keen to catch up over the phone and talk about marketing online. It’s a trial but I think the talks could be fun and what’s more could provide some great content for others to listen in to later on.

Let me know if you are keen. Just use the form here to kick things off

All the best,