Email Marketing Blog

In the past, I’ve mentioned how I have unsubscribed from numerous email lists because marketers send me unrequested information too often. (Yes, I added my email to your list for technical updates of the product I purchased but NOT to be blasted every day with the latest “deal” you are promoting.

JupiterResearch’s survey found that frequency was the #2 reason for unsubscribing. Seems that 37% of those surveyed unsubscribed from a sender when they sent too many emails and 33% unsubscribed from offers because they get “too much” email in general.

Some additional statistics show that 39% of those surveyed felt that signing up for permission-based email leads to getting more spam (see Paragraph #1 above!). And over 25% said they unsubscribe by using the spam button.

Why go through all the trouble of building a list only to aggravate subscribers? (That is especially true if you have a list of product owners who would likely purchase upgrades and new products you develop.)  The research concludes, time and time again, that the marketers who can deliver relevant, targeted messages on a schedule that respects their reader will be read for the long term.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently released a statement that contains updates to the CAN-SPAM Act. Please take a moment to find out how these new rules may affect you.

What You Need To Do….

1.  Please review the “From” address in your campaigns. At all times, it needs to be clearly recognizable as belonging to you or your organization.

Remember: this change affects you especially if you co-operate with affiliates or third party email marketers. In such cases, you must also provide only one opt-out mechanism for a message.

What Else You Need to Know…

2.  Each commercial email you send needs to have a valid physical postal address. Update: You may now use a post office box or private mailbox instead of your personal physical address.

What GetResponse did….

3.  GetResponse has made sure the unsubscribe mechanism is very simple. CAN-SPAM specifies that if any subscriber wants to opt out, s(he) cannot be required to provide information other than his or her email address, opt-out preferences and definitely cannot be made to pay a fee. Any steps other than sending a reply email message or visiting a single page on an Internet website are illegal.

This is only a short summary of the most important updates and cannot be treated as legal advice. If you wish to know more about the update, you can familiarize yourself with the full text of the update. If you need legal advice, please contact your attorney.

My mom just bought a new computer last week and called me the other day in a panic.

“My email program won’t let me read any of my emails. All I get are little boxes with red x’s in them.  What am I going to do?”

The reason? Her new computer used Vista (that’s another story!), which does not show email images unless you click that option allowing them. It says that right above the email message.

If you are sending images (espcially if your entire message is embedded in images), do not assume that your reader will understand what has happened and how to correct it so they can read your messages.

I’ve talked about this before but, given this most recent example, it bears repeating. If your message comes through as a blank slate, not only will your prospect / customer be unable to read it, but is is more likely to be flagged as spam.  People are automatically suspicious if you don’t deliver what is expected.

Don’t confuse your readers. Above your images, include some text that reminds them who you are, what they have received, and how to read it. It doesn’t matter if this repeats what is written in their email client. Many people, like my mom, never notice that message because they are immediately drawn to the email itself.

A beautifully designed colorful email will never put a dollar in your pocket if your viewer can’t see it.

Debbi Bressler
Email Marketing Specialist
GetResponse

An average email bounce rate, according to Melissa Data, is in the 2-3% range every month. This can cause a loss of as much as 36% of your subscribers over a one year time period.

Not all bounces are alike.

Bounces are referred to as hard or soft. A soft bounce comes back before it reaches the addressee’s inbox. The email address is valid, but the inbox may be full, their server might be down, or your message is too large to be delivered. With a soft bounce, it is likely that you could email the recipient at another time and your email would be delivered.

A hard bounce occurs when the email address isn’t valid. While occasionally this comes about due to a problem with your subscriber’s network, in most cases it is because a fake email address has been used. With a hard bounce, you will most likely get the same result if you emailed the recipient again.

If you get a lot of soft bounces, chances are you have “tire kickers”, who want to get the information you are offering, but don’t want to give you their “good” email addresses. Instead, they opt to use throwaway email addresses. To cut down on this, be sure to evaluate your opt-in page, offer, and the manner in which your material is delivered.

For instance, do you automatically forward subscribers to your opt-in page upon sign-up? If so, test delivery after they’ve confirmed their opt-in requesst. In other words, make sure they can’t take delivery of your offer until they’ve opted in with a real email address.

If you require your visitor to opt-in in order to access your blog or certain sections of your website, why not test adding a link that allows them to bypass this requirement? Think of it this way. If you just met someone, would you be a bit wary if they asked for your phone number before you knew anything about them? Probably so!

Hard bounces are another story. With a hard bounce, that email is NOT getting delivered. While entering invalid email addresses is one cause, another frequent cause is email address churn. Email addresses turn over all the time. People move and change ISPs, then start over again with a new email address.

A few things you can employ include:

• Ask for an alternative email. (Yahoo does this when signing up for their services.)
• Offer a report annually or bi-annually, which can only be physically delivered. In this way, they will have to provide you with additional contact information (perhaps, even a phone number), which can be used as needed.
• Hold a contest and request a phone number so the winner can be notified by phone.
• Encourage readers to subscribe to your RSS feed.

 What techniques do you employ to reduce list churn?

Debbi Bressler
Email Marketing Specialist
GetResponse

While most of the world suffers with spam levels averaging 81.5%, the United States wins the “prize” of the most spammed country, with an 86% spam email rate.

Cities may fight to be named #1 on Money Magazine’s “Best Places to Live in America”, but they sure aren’t vying to be named the most spammed states. Those honors are shown below:

1. Illinois
2. South Dakota
3. Oregon
4. New Hampshire
5. Wisconsin
6. North Carolina
7. Indiana
8. Texas
9. Pennsylvania
10. Alabama

Want to know the real reason these states have the highest spam rate? Read Paul McNamara’s tongue-in-cheek report.