E-mail

Q: "What's your opinion on using an affirmative opt-in email strategy versus an assumed opt-in strategy, when the subscriber groups include existing customers only (no prospects, leads, etc.) and email addresses have been pulled from a CRM system? These subscribers have not necessarily signed up to receive email on a website or through any other method."

Almost 60 percent of online retailers don't send emails or do any type of follow-up marketing to shoppers who abandon carts, according to a recent survey. Abandoned cart emails are the most basic and lucrative of a class of emails called "triggered email." Merchants who ignore triggered email are missing out on some easy money — perhaps they had too much money to begin with?

After your from line, the most compelling thing motivating recipients to open your email is its subject line. You know the drill: To stand out in a cluttered inbox, you have to work hard to capture attention. Subject lines must be carefully crafted to develop innovative ways to present your latest promotions and products.

Promotions are an important part of every marketer's email strategy - sales, discounts, discounts with purchases, gifts with purchases, free shipping, etc. These workhorse communications shouldn't be overlooked. They work well to motivate buyers to take actions, but they're not showstoppers. They won't make you stand out from the pack.

The arrival of Google Buzz represents the latest twist in an already confusing landscape for social media. Can it displace or aggregate our existing hubs of social networking, like Facebook for personal friends and LinkedIn for colleagues? Regardless of the success or failure of Buzz, there are three major implications for marketers.

Economic crisis accelerates changes in the basic underlying business models of multichannel marketers, who have had to adapt in order to survive as consumers shut their wallets. Here are some of the ways business models have been radically and permanently altered.

There's growing pressure on list performance. It's more about contribution to profit and overhead, as it should be, but this has caused mailers to reduce circulation and prospect less. As a result, 12-month buyer counts are down, and there are fewer housefile names to leverage — a real dilemma. Here's how to improve list performance for email and print.

Delivering best-in-class service is an important competitive differentiator, so every customer interaction needs to be positive. Email is a powerful tool for strengthening customer service and increasing user confidence in your site and company.

Having come a long way from its modest beginning as a chain of floral shops in metropolitan New York, 1-800-Flowers.com usually has set trends, not followed them.

This year's economic retreat actually stands to help Gaiam, a product and information services company with a heavy emphasis on sustainability, position itself for greater growth in the near future.