It is that time of year again when pundits predict what is in store for email marketing in the year ahead. Such articles make the writers nervous; too specific and there is little chance of being correct, to vague and there’s nothing said. So what are they all saying? There are certain developments that everyone … READ MORE »
Email marketing truths are not eternal. Circumstances change in response to outside forces as well and internal ones, and you should change with them. Let’s face it, if you don’t, your competitors will and you will fall behind. Take forms; everyone, including me, has said that the shorter the forms the more people will complete … READ MORE »
23 August marks the accepted 25th anniversary of the World Wide Web being open to the public, Tim Berners-Lee starting a revolution that will be a subject of study for school children in years to come. We cannot describe the syllabus in detail as it is changing as you read. When Amazon opened business on … READ MORE »
None of us appreciate having our old certainties challenged, let alone proved incorrect. At the very least it will mean extra work. But please don't hold that against me. We all know that HTML marketing emails give much better open rates, click throughs and completions than plain text. What's to like about dull, unsophisticated email? … READ MORE »
The planning is complete, the video is made, and the only decision is what to do with it. The most frequently asked questions are: 1/ Do I embed it in the email? A year or so ago, the answer would have been no. As many email clients did not support video, it was clearly a … READ MORE »
So how long should a sign-up form be? There is, of course, no perfect length for all requirements but we can give limits: running onto multiple pages is a no-no, as is not asking for sufficient information. There are a number of points to consider when trying to decide how long a particular form should … READ MORE »
Anyone concerned about open rates would look first to the Subject Line. They might consider being a bit more familiar or think that a more ‘in-your-face’ explanation of the offer might work. However, every aspect of email marketing is interconnected and if your open rate suddenly drops, the most likely cause are your previous email … READ MORE »
Integrated branding boosts email marketing returns. Your surface design, such as periodical advertising, posters, trade fair displays, signage and even down to business cards, should shout who you are, although doing so subtly is probably the best way. The dual pressures on email marketing design are the need to make them familiar in order to … READ MORE »
Let’s go back a year and see what the pundits predicted would befall email marketing in 2014. For reasons of self defence, I’ll give no sources. 1. Mobiles We start with a success for virtually all of the prognosticators. There was a consensus that more than half of those on our email marketing lists would view … READ MORE »
The art of prediction can backfire, especially if you tell anyone your conclusions. After all, someone nasty might look back a year later and point out where you went wrong. Or occasionally where they were spot on. So let’s do that. Not all the predictions made for 2014 were off target. The most popular one, … READ MORE »