E-mail

In a session I led on May 21 during the ACCM Conference in Boston on building an e-mail program, I emphasized the basics of e-mail. Below are three key takeways. 1. Can your readers really see your message? A quick audit I did showed that catalogers have fabulous e-mails. But the sad news is that many readers won’t be able to see them. Too many catalogers aren’t using the appropriate creative and design techniques. Many e-mails consist of a series of images. With many ISPs using image-blocking for e-mails that have any problems (authentication, too many bounces, too many spam complaints, content filters). So

Although far from new, polls are a greater part of the American fabric than ever before. Consumers have become more comfortable with polls conducted via e-mail, on Web sites and via text messages (as much as I loathe the show, two quick words come to mind here: “American Idol”). In fact, it’s pretty rare these days when we’re not subjected to some sort of poll at least once a week, sometimes even once a day. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Polls aren’t like those delightful 6:30 p.m. telemarketing calls we often have to answer with a mouthful of pasta. They’re there; you

Results of the Chicago-based the e-tailing group inc.’s 6th Annual Merchant Survey found that e-mail continues to play an important role as a tactic for online retailers because it is cost-effective and can be used for targeted initiatives. This year, 95 percent of respondents ranked e-mail as very to somewhat valuable as a merchandising vehicle compared to 91 percent last year. When asked about the top uses of e-mail as a merchandising tool, 86 percent said they use it to drive incremental revenue and 80 percent said it was good for increasing purchasing frequency. Here are other top applications of e-mail as a merchandising function: *

Your e-mail is legitimate, but it might be getting blocked because some ISPs think it’s spam. In many cases, that’s probably because ISPs can’t be sure of who you are. This and other e-mail deliverability issues Lyris Technologies addresses in its recent white paper, “The Role of DNS, Unsubscribes and Bounces in E-mail Deliverability.” The e-mail marketing and delivery solutions provider notes that many ISPs offer several tips for helping the ISPs verify your identity. * Have a static IP address to have a complete DNS (domain name system) record. Lyris describes DNS as a giant phone book for computers to find each other. A

At the turn of this century, cataloging — and all retailing for that matter — was revolutionized by the emergence of e-commerce. Shopping at home became easier than ever, and consumers warmed up to the concept of wielding their purchasing power with the click of a mouse. Today, so many orders are coming in online that it’s becoming difficult for some catalogers to recall the times when they were all but completely reliant on their call centers for order-taking. Your Web site, however, isn’t just a vehicle through which orders can be taken and processed more efficiently; it’s a powerful data-gathering tool that an

In the mid ’90s, Louis Stack, founder and president of Fitter International, was like many people — he’d never seen a Web site. Then a Web developer from Florida offered to create one for his Calgary, Alberta, Canada-based company that sells balance and fitness equipment around the world. By 1997 — the same year Stack’s catalog, Fitterfirst, was launched — the site was downloading orders. Today, Fitterfirst also sells products from a retail store attached to its headquarters, and through 2,500 international dealers and wholesalers. Like plenty of other multichannel marketers in North America, Stack’s challenge these days is in coordinating his company’s multichannel efforts.

As catalogers, you know the importance of search engine marketing for your Web sites and ultimately on your revenue. But technological advances and users’ preferences can make a difference in search engine results, page algorithms and spiders, as well as search engine optimization and overall SEM strategies. Manoj Jasra, director of technology at Enquiro Search Solutions, a search engine marketing firm in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, recently shared his thoughts on SEM changes in a blog entry. He warns marketers of some key factors to watch for: *Growth of personalized search. Because this is becoming more prominent, Web site operators have to work hard on Web

Multichannel Brand Management: Refine Your Message

* This article is very image-heavy. For optimized Web viewing and readability, the images do not appear here. To see the print version, plus images, click on “Refine Your Multichannel Message” PDF under Related Content in the upper-right corner of this page. You must have Adobe Reader 6.0 or above to view this document. As the online channel has settled into the mainstream in recent years, multichannel integration has become more crucial for catalogers. Still, there are plenty of marketers out there who neglect, or simply fail, to maintain one voice and a cohesive visual treatment across the three key channels: catalog, Web

Research shows that most people say they trust the content in e-mails they’ve signed up to receive. The challenge, though, is to build an opt-in list of loyal customers so you can convert those eyeballs into sales and keep them buying. GOT Corp., a Montreal-based e-mail service provider, offers several suggestions in its new white paper, “Growing Opt-In Lists: Turning Web Browsers into Buyers.” • Place multiple opt-in locations on your site. Too many marketers make the mistake of limiting opt-in requests to the home page, the whitepaper states. Include e-mail registration and opt-in requests on every page and at every potential customer interaction