26% say that the information they received has led them to purchase the promoted product in the store
25% say they have purchased a different product from the store
27% either bought the promoted product or a different one online

(via Marketing Charts)

1. Don’t complain about getting a lot of e-mail. We all do. Sharing an inflated number of how many you get doesn’t make us sympathize with you.

2. Don’t mark an e-mail as “urgent” if it isn’t urgent. Remember that lack of preparedness on your part doesn’t constitute urgency on mine.

3. Don’t send unnecessary e-mails.

4. Don’t CC people unnecessarily. Ask yourself whether everyone needs to be included. Most of the time, the answer is no. The hope is that others will reciprocate and leave you off of irrelevant messages.

5. Don’t hit Reply All for birthday wishes, welcomes and congratulations to one person in particular.

6. Don’t use all caps unless YOU ARE YELLING! For emphasis, try italics.

7. Don’t forget to use spell check. Even though e-mail is casual, keep them professional, even to friends.

8. Don’t ever criticize, condemn or complain over e-mail. It is too easy to be misinterpreted. Communicating an appropriate tone and emotion through e-mail is almost impossible.

9. Don’t use a bunch of emoticons or too much e-mail slang. I know you’re a QT but w/o clear direction, I’m not able OTOMH to be sure what this :-/ means.

10. Don’t use funky formats and backgrounds for your e-mail. Not all e-mail systems are compatible, and that pretty flower template may look jumbled in someone else’s inbox.

11. Don’t use a long e-mail signature. When your signature is four times the length of your e-mail, it’s out of proportion.

12. Don’t use the BCC often, if ever. If someone needs to be hidden from the e-mail conversation, you are likely gossiping behind someone’s back. It’s a strong indicator that a spoken conversation is in order.

13. Don’t send an emotional e-mail without letting it sit for 24 hours. Better yet, don’t send it at all. If it’s emotional, you need to have a one-on-one conversation.

14. Don’t add people to your distribution e-zine lists without permission. Just because I gave you my card doesn’t mean I care to read your random thoughts every month (or your friend’s).

15. Don’t assume every e-mail you send is important and that you’ll get an immediate response. The importance and urgency of your message is determined by the other e-mails in your recipient’s inbox.

16. Don’t write an e-mail longer than what people can read in the preview pane.

17. Don’t send giant attachments. Anything over 1 to 2MB will likely slow down the recipient’s computer and create frustration.

18. Don’t forward inappropriate messages to work e-mail addresses. If I want to see the “People of Wal-Mart,” I know where to find them.

19. Don’t use e-mail as a group-brainstorming tool. Many people write  “Thoughts?” or “What do you think?” Don’t ask for opinions through e-mails. Instead, use e-mail for scheduling or adding an agenda item to a list and get opinions in a meeting, in person or on a phone call.

20. Don’t have your “out of office” responder on every day of the year just to tell people how busy you are. Although it might seem like a good way of increasing communication with other

(via OPEN Forum)

79% of respondents said that mail with coupons or exclusive deals is most likely to grab their attention
39% look for mail from chain businesses with recognizable names
35% prefer mail from local businesses
29% look for visually appealing mail

(via Ask Your Target Market)

“The award is especially significant because we were nominated by such a highly valued, long-term partner. This is a wonderful honor” says CEO Tim Johnson.

Following are excerpts from the nomination:

This fulfillment service supplier sets the gold standard for business partnerships. This company has proven to us time and again that it makes its name on finding fulfillment solutions that make sense and support success. The leadership of this company fosters a can-do culture that has helped our company capitalize on opportunities quickly. With this nomination we wish to recognize this company’s exemplary performance in the following areas:

- Being a go-to source for guidance and ADVOCACY on postal compliance, including
mailpiece design, mail classification, postal regulation changes and the like.
- Pro-active customer-friendly customer service. Representatives are responsive,
knowledgeable and accountable.
- When crises arise, this team addresses the issue with a no-nonsense, can-do approach
that focuses on getting the problem solved using it’s full complement of resources.
- A refreshing commitment to a long-term business relationship, offering things like
investment in capital and equipment, providing dedicated staff, regular business
reviews and forward planning.

It is with great pleasure that we nominate Impact Proven Solutions for the 2012 MDMA Exceptional Service Award.

1. Ask a recipient to bring the piece into your store for a gift or discount.
2. Direct targets to a campaign landing page rather than your company’s home page. Go a step further by creating personalized URLs for each individual.
3. Incorporate tracking codes on coupons as well as self-addressed reply cards, forms or envelopes.
4. Ask recipients to mention a promotion code when they call your company.
5. Offer a toll-free number you’ve set up specifically for the mailing.
6. Include an e-mail address created for the campaign.
7. List a discount code recipients can enter for online purchases.

(via Deliver Magazine)

Hard to imagine a consultant or investor asking the CMO, “so, what’s your telephone strategy?”

We don’t have a telephone strategy. The telephone is a tool, a simple medium, and it’s only purpose is to connect us to interested human beings.

And then the internet comes along and it’s mysterious and suddenly we need an email strategy and a social media strategy and a web strategy and a mobile strategy.

No, we don’t.

It’s still people. We still have one and only one thing that matters, and it’s people.

All of these media are conduits, they are tools that human beings use to waste time or communicate or calculate or engage or learn. Behind each of the tools is a person. Do you have a story to tell that person? An engagement or a benefit to offer them?

Figure out the people part and the technology gets a whole lot simpler.

(Seth’s Blog)

Customer data, media planning, and media buying shouldn’t look like three feuding brothers fighting over the same prom date. They should be looked at and utilized as three important parts of the same team that are infinitely more useful and successful when working together versus apart.

…

For instance, if you had a client that offers online grocery shopping and delivery services you should do more than blindly assume that 100 percent of their customers are young moms visiting food-related websites, reading online recipes, and learning about the latest calorie-counting techniques. Maybe you’re of this opinion because that’s how you live or grew up or maybe that’s what happens in your cousin’s household; heck, maybe you are even partially accurate. Either way, under any scenario, if you’re using guesses and assumptions as the backbone to your media plan it will dramatically introduce errors and inaccuracies into the media buy, which will ultimately lead to wasted advertising budget and limiting the overall success of the campaign.

In short, ask questions, conduct research, critically analyze the answers you’re given, then repeat the process until all participating members are satisfied.

(via ClickZ)

1. Always use a linked call to action

The basic idea of a call to action email is to focus your email on getting subscribers to take a particular action, and including text that encourages them to do so.

A mistake most people make, though, is to use a call to action and then paste the link below the call to action.

That was what I used to do, too, but I recently started linking my calls to action text to the specific link I want subscribers to click, and I saw an increase in clickthrough rates of over 50%.

2. Use a custom email template

On average, with text-based email I get around eight to ten unsubscribes per email, but with a custom HTML template that figure has reduced to two unsubscribes.

Most people will think this is a fluke, and has something to do with my message, but let me explain the idea behind it.

Having an HTML template that is designed the same way as your blog template helps reinforce your brand to your subscribers. As a result, no matter how long it’s been since you sent your last message, they will remember you once they see that template. Text-based emails can also get boring—especially when you consider the fact that most people get dozens of them daily.

Having a custom HTML email template helps you stand out—it places your brand in your subscribers’ inbox and ensures no one else can copy your approach.

3. Don’t use shortened links

The problem with link shorteners is that their advantage is their disadvantage. Instead of having to include one ugly long link in an email you can easily shorten it to a few letters and enjoy the ability to track clicks to it.

The problem is that email spammers also know this, and are now abusing link shorteners. They send spam emails to people who never subscribed to their lists, using shorteners to cloak their links and track results. As a result, most of the popular link shortening services have been blacklisted by email servers.

(via ProBlogger)

(via Mashable)

66% of online Americans have made a purchase as a result of email and nearly just as many — 65% — purchased a product or service thanks to direct mail

Print in the Mix cites another survey with the following fact about personalizing your direct mail.

In 2009, 28% of direct mail pieces were personalized.

In 2010, the number of personalized mail pieces increased to 34% —a 21% increase.

In 2011, seven of the 10 months recorded saw even higher VDP usage (41%) — another 21% increase from the prior year, and a 46% jump from 2009 levels.

Whether you choose to use direct mail or email marketing or both together, personalizing these marketing tools to your customer is a good way to go.

(via Print in the Mix)