Intevation Report April 2007
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Intevation Report - Best Practices in Email Marketing
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    April 2007
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Optimization
How to Grow Your Opt-In List: The Ultimate Guide

By Stefan Pollard

Growing a mailing list, especially under the rigorous opt-in standards, is a tough business. It isn't enough just to collect a lot of addresses. What you do with those addresses post opt-in will determine whether the subscribers stay on your list, perform for you – or disappear, and force you to start the process all over again. This article lays out the three essential elements of effective list-building: where and how you acquire addresses, how you welcome new subscribers and how you manage your list after opt-in. Read it here: How to Grow Your Opt-In List: The Ultimate Guide.

Full Article | Email Feedback

Previous Optimization Article
Strategies for Expanding Your Email Programs

Additional Resources:

       Editor's Note
Dear Reader,

How to build a good mailing list – that's really your leading concern as an email marketer, isn't it? It should be, too. Without a healthy mailing list of substantial size, your email marketing program won't generate the results you need. However, list-building is more than just slapping names into a database and churning out offers. This month's Optimization article lays the foundation for effective list building, but you can get more detailed information in our new guide, "How to Grow Your Opt-In List," which you can download here.

Stefan Pollard
Editor
Delivery Trends
Monitor Feedback to Boost Deliverability

By Stefan Pollard

If you still can't move the needle on your delivery rate despite a total overhaul, it's time to look in a new direction – at the way you manage feedback related to your email messages. If you aren't paying attention to what your subscribers are telling you, you leave your email program open to direct threats from negative spam reports and dead addresses. A recent ClickZ column explains how better feedback management helps deliverability and lists the four relationship touch points where you'll get the most useful comments. Read full article.

Full Article | Email Feedback

Previous Delivery Trends Column
When Parting Isn't Such Sweet Sorrow

       EmailLabs News
EmailLabs Garners Sixth Award – Captures 2007 Web Marketing Association’s Internet Advertising Competition Award for Best Email Online Newsletter Campaign

EmailLabs Wins Two Marketing Sherpa 2007 Email Marketing Awards—Gold for Best Welcome Email and Silver for Best Email Opt-In Campaign
Stat Watch
Email Users Savvier than You Think

Eight out of 10 email subscribers say they know exactly what they're doing when they hit the "Report Spam" button in their email clients, according to a new study by the Email Sender and Provider Coalition. The key take away is the importance of recognition by recipients of the From and Subject lines for making decisions on how the treat email.

Other results from the survey, which assessed email users' attitudes and preferences toward email management:

83%: Used the Report Spam button in their email clients at least once
80%: Use it without opening the message
73%: Base decision on the "from" line
69%: Base decision on subject line
20%: Use it to unsubscribe from the mailing

Source: ESPC
       EmailLabs Events
AD:Tech San Francisco
Apr 25-27, 2007
San Francisco, CA

ClickZ Email Marketing Event
May 14, 2007
San Francisco, CA

ACCM 2007
May 21-23, 2007
Boston, MA

Internet Retailer 2007
Jun 4-7, 2007
San Jose, CA
Ask EmailLabs
When to Ask for the Address

Question: I know I should be asking for my customers' email addresses when they are either in my stores or at my Web site but should I ask for it before, during or after the sale? I don't want to scare them away from buying if they don't really want to hand it over.

Answer: A rule of thumb for both online and in-world: Never wait until you have closed the cash-register drawer before asking your customers if they would like to sign up for your newsletter or email offers.

In a brick-and-mortar store, ask for the address just as you are about to complete the sale, just after you have totaled the purchase and while you are either counting change, bagging the merchandise or processing the credit card. Take advantage of those few seconds of dead air present in every sales transaction to explain briefly why the customer should sign up for your program. If you wait until after you finish the sale, you will most likely lose your customer.

For online purchases, you should have a subscription blank or link to your preference or registration page on every page of your site, and certainly on the transaction page, confirmation page, confirmation email and any follow-up emails you send. Be sure to draw the customer's attention by stating subscriber benefits – "Sign up to receive email-only offers and product news" – instead of a dull "click here for our newsletter" slogan.

Got a Question? Ask EmailLabs

More Email Marketing FAQ's

       Recent Articles
Your 10-point Email Check-Up Plan

Permission Email Marketing: “Permission” is Not Optional

The Ten Most-Ignored Best Practices

How Spammy Subject Lines Hurt Delivery (ClickZ E-Mail Delivery Column)

The Seven Best Ways to Boost Deliverability in 2007 (ClickZ E-Mail Delivery Column)

28 Ways to Build Permission-Based Email Lists

Strategies for Expanding Your Email Programs

Many Opt-In Sources, One Permission Standard (ClickZ E-Mail Delivery Column)
About EmailLabs
EmailLabs is a leading provider of high performance email marketing solutions to agencies, publishers and marketing, sales and customer service departments of middle-market and Global 2000 companies. The EmailLabs email marketing platform is provided as an ASP (Web-based) service, and is easily customized and integrated with a company's Web site, sales force automation and CRM technologies. The company provides email marketing solutions to more than 550 companies, including Nokia, Agilent, PalmSource and Jupitermedia. Headquartered in Menlo Park, Calif., EmailLabs was founded in 1999 and is a subsidiary of Lyris, Inc. (OTCBB:JLHY).

For more information, visit emaillabs.com or call 866.362.4522.


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