Email Construction

In my book, bad email content is one of the greatest goofs, many examples we encounter end up in our Good, Bad, Iffy reviews for Service In Action or Panel of Peers events. Without including photos of offenders, I though I’d give a few pointers on how to avoid content mistakes:

• Print ≠ Email – I have a few examples in this category, either an entire brochure has been put into an email, or the entire website is restated. Keep it simple and targeted, you can always continue with a click through. The best tip here would be around 300 words (if it’s informative), maybe 50 characters each if you’re attempting to sell multiple products. FYI – my opening paragraph is 50 words, 228 characters without spaces (277 with.)
  
• Get to the Point – Related to the previous point, you sometimes wonder what the message is attempting to accomplish, is it selling, informing, recruiting or simply attempting to entertain. This where graphics play a role – the “click here” option is vital in some messages, just the subliminal urge is all that’s keeping you from complete confused frustration (and for the record, the button is more at home above the fold.)
  
• Keeps Going… and going – Ever receive a message that requires unnecessary scrolling? Yeah me too, I’ve gotten the most graphic-heavy newsletters with small while text on a multi-shade black and blue background. If printed, the email would be seven pages. Although allusive, I’ve also received messages that required left/ right scrolling. There are a couple schools of thought here but the most accepted width is 600 pixels and the height should be maybe double that… if you have more, I’d suggest separate messages and interesting copy to inspire click throughs.
  
• Read Carefully – You can always tell when email text has been copied from word and pasted into the graphics program, usually because there a few odd characters included (apostrophes and dashes are usually the first hit.) Proof-read and have others proof-read, you may catch misspellings too.
  
• Know thy Target – It should go without saying, but emailing for the sake of sending is pretty pointless. This is where segmentation and customer insight is crucial – otherwise you’re firing blind. I recently received a very well written email from my credit card company reminding me about their online services and inviting me to visit the portal… only trouble is that I cancelled the credit card seven months ago.

Again, these are just a few points to consider... otherwise, you may end up in our presentations!

eRecognition

In some of my presentations, I’ve told the story about the cashier in a shoe store asking for my email address. Before giving it to her I asked what they sent; her response, “SPAM and stuff.” This story has inspired many laughs and gasps from those of us who focus on email marketing.

Another retailer I visited recently had tons of signs displayed throughout their store offering an island vacation – they had forms at the cash wrap asking for an email address and preferences in exchange for an entry, all the sales reps mentioned the chance to win and tried to get my email (main requirement.)

I would like to offer these stores (and others) a suggestion, something to make their email program the true star. Consider if the first company had a clever name for their email program, or if the second offered the program benefits associated with email sign-up rather than just the chance to win a vacation – this would help establish the program, give the front line additional talking points and could help establish brand recognition for the recipient. Our friends at AAA Carolinas has named their main communiqué the eUpdate, their call center uses the name and their printed piece also make reference. Coastal Federal Credit Union has branded theirs as eClips; just another example of branding at its finest.

… and for the record, I have no island vacation in my future and the shoe company isn’t exactly spamming me.

Magazine Marketing

Those clever folks behind the scenes at your favorite monthly mag use very savvy marketing techniques that get you to buy, read and maybe even implement into your lives. Here are just a few examples from the covers that are helping hold down my coffee table:

20 Foods that Fight Cancer
300+ Fall Fashion Ideas
7 New Ways to Be Happy
20-Minute Workouts that Work
6 Ways to Retire Sooner (on the MSN site this morning)

Suppose you know that blueberries (blackberries, cranberries and red grapes) contain antioxidants that repair cell damage… but you’re not really sure about the other 19 foods that could fight cancer. So you buy the magazine and read to discover the unknown 19, or six alternate ways to be happy (inheriting millions was not listed.) The point is that these magazine marketers have gotten your attention and inspired purchase or inspired you to open and read.

This numbers game can also be applied to your email marketing efforts; I’ve included an email sent yesterday by Medical Arts Press, they have highlighted their Top 10 Giveaways under $1. Naturally, I’m the proud owner of a ton of promotional pens but I’ve never gotten a logo toothbrush from my Dentist nor has my little brother (AKA Jacques the Poodle) ever received a pet food can cover from his Vet. The point is that the numbers game in play is effective because it makes the reader think more about what they are reading, it’s subtle but it could be a real marketing advantage.

Ketchup with cereal?

I’ve flown to India twice this year – once for a conference and now for vacation. On each trip to India the attendants served Indian food, unfortunately these US-based flight attendants didn’t really understand the cuisine. The menus were very descriptive, but the items served weren’t correct – both flights (different airlines) served the snacks without condiments. Instead the chutneys that were described in the menu were served with the salad as an additional dressing; when I questioned it, the attendant laughed and said she didn’t know what each dish was.

Unfortunately, the same can happen to an email program. It’s easy for us in the industry to tell when the groups in merchandising fight for product space in an email – the myriad of products are squeezed in and the ensemble doesn’t match. If your program incorporates recipient preferences, there is a good chance that the email may have a vast array of products. If you’re showing an array of products on purpose, try to categorize or… maybe it’s time to evaluate if the ketchup should be advertised with the cereal.

Oh yeah… and make sure your front line knows how things are presented – menu, offers, etc.

Collingwood vs. Geelong

While in Australia, we attended an Australian Rules Football game (AKA Footy) – their AFL Series (Australian Football League.) It was a high scoring match-up with the underdog making win big, Collingwood beat Geelong 132 to 48. Their stadium was packed with 78K people on Friday night, breaking out in songs at every chance.

The match was exciting, even though we were confused outsiders – Australian Rules games are slightly different from the typical American version. There are more players on the field, they don’t wear the helmets or shoulder pads (but are just as rough), there are more goal posts and players can throw, kick or pass the ball – making it a weird combination with elements resembling our basketball, soccer and football. Like basketball, each player is guarding another from the opposing team; one of the more interesting pairings was right in front of our seats – these guys must have really hated each other, neither gave the other a break, constantly pushing, punching and shoving although the ball was at the other end of the field, our hosts called it niggling.

In addition to educating us on the game, our hosts were a major AFL sponsor and host a little league Footy mini-match during the half. The mini-match was the exhibition game from the leagues of kids/ young adults participating in matches throughout Australia, leagues that partially serve as training-grounds for future footballers.

So what all can an email marketer learn from this? For starters, segment your lists based on interests and interaction. As people join your program, carry them through a bonding stream to set expectations (this keeps them from feeling like the Americans at an AFL Game.) Make sure your recurring campaigns leverage all stages – introduction, product/ service interest, post-purchase follow-up etc. Take a positive spin on the niggling; make sure your recipients know you’re there… but maybe without using your fist. Finally, try to evoke some passion into your work make your campaigns a welcome addition to the inbox for your recipients and yourself… you may even inspire a song or two.

Science, Art, Tact & Luck

The strength of any marketer’s efforts is based on information and leveraging data appropriately. Many sign-up sites simply collect email IDs – the focus for all of us should be a lot more. You don't have to make it mandatory to get extra information but every little bit can be leveraged in your marketing endeavors.

Couple information provided with information you gather – they provide their name and email ID, you should date/ time stamp receipt in your database. Monitor the source code, did they sign up on your home page or specific product page, did they come from other channels or a search, were they passed on by a friend or did they enter a contest? Having the source code is vital to your list maintenance and growth as it helps you know where you should spend to get more names.

Try to know their preferences, Paul Fredrick asks about the type of apparel you wear, AAA Carolina's asks you about your interests and Herrington wants to know what your passion is. Try to collect other demographics – ask them about their gender if it is appropriate to your brand; a subtle way of doing this is to revert to the British by asking the recipient how they would like to be addressed – Mr, Ms. or Mrs.

When someone is making a purchase, ask them if it is for them or for someone else. This can be achieved indirectly by offering to include a gift message or gift wrapping the item. Ask them where they live, you can ask for their address or just a state or region. Collecting location helps product targeting (it’s hard to sell tulips in Tucson.)

Again, couple information provided with information you monitor – add transactional information about the customer; track buyer versus non-buyer, openers versus non-openers and clickers versus non-clickers. Keep the bounce history and remember to run the name through your SPAM trap database.

Attaining email nirvana is a combination of science, art, tact and some luck – the science part is your database.

Quarterly Check-Up

Each quarter you should conduct a deep-dive introspection on your email program – a hard look at what is working, what needs to be improved and then focus on next steps to strengthen your program going forward. This is a review that should take place among the email marketing team, then presented to your management and (if applicable) incorporate a review with your direct marketing team.

The goal of this exercise is to seek continuous improvement and look to extend the support that the email marketing group can provide to the rest of the organization. A typical agenda should include:
1) Review of campaigns and statistics
a) Brief on reporting numbers for the quarter
b) Look at opens, clicks and conversions for current quarter (how do they compare to the previous quarter, for the same quarter prior year)
2) Net subscribes
a) Number of new people opted-in
b) Number of people who have unsubscribed
3) Deliverability statistics
4) Unsubscribe audit results
5) Email ROI
6) Quarterly email champion
7) Observations, ideas, suggestions and challenges

The Results
Create charts to illustrate trends – enhance the raw numbers with additional measures, like which subject lines were top performers and why. Evaluate why some campaigns gained a higher click through than others. Determine which campaign resulted in more visits to the landing pages and what happened once the user arrived there. Monitor net subscribes, the number should be a positive (if not, dig-down to see what’s happening.)

Evaluate processes, what were the main deliverability issues you’ve faced, plug existing holes and ensure you are adhering to white-listing standards. Audit processes, make sure unsubscribes are being honored (via phone, fax, mail-in, email and/ or the single click.)

Assign an ROI for your campaigns, compute by removing your total cost to email from the margin for your sales. If you are using this to cut down on costs for direct mailing – write down the amount saved and the impact made (opens and clicks).

Assign a quarterly email champion – pick someone from the store, or call center or another department, thank them and highlight how they helped.

Finally, always gather ideas from your team – present your challenges and seek their help, debut draft communiqués and/ or upcoming streams to them to get them onboard along with their feedback.

Top 10 Gifts for Dad

Father’s Day is just four days away, and one of the last calendar holidays for retailers before the end of the year push. We’ve seen a number of interesting campaigns including Absolutes for Dad and Must Haves – retailers have pulled out all the stops to get the end-user to bite.

Stand-Out Campaigns
A mid-western retailer sent a series of campaigns listing the top 10 gifts for Dad, the first campaign had two gifts listed and the subsequent four campaigns all listed two gifts each. The final campaign recapped all 10 but with an added twist – the landing page included testimonials from recipients of the gifts from the last year.

A bank sent a campaign encouraging recipients to a landing page that carried the tag line: “Put $100 in the bank, take Dad to lunch and tell him what you did!” The messaging went on to tell how happy Dad will be; the campaign was sent to young professionals and included different subject lines depending on the segment targeted.

In the days leading up to fathers day, an insurance company in India asked people to write about the best thing their Dad had done for them as they were growing up. Some submissions were run as a series of TV ads; others were listed on YouTube and in plain text. Engaging the recipients did a lot to build their brand.

Good luck this Fathers Day and best wishes.

Send x 4 = ?

Sometimes, the frequency of your email campaigns determines how well you can engage a customer, but there are other factors to weigh against the quick interaction, low costs and track-ability.

I recently read how a major cataloger leveraged frequency; during a six month period they would mail four times a day. Their list included over 2.5 million recipients, the entire list would receive their 8:00 AM campaign, then at 1:00 PM the non-openers would receive it a second time. The process was repeated at 6:00 PM and then followed by an encore at 11:00 PM (all times were eastern.)

Their thought process was that if you hadn’t paid attention to their morning campaign, they would get your attention before the day ended. As the weeks wore on, the direct marketer found it cumbersome to exclude openers – so they excluded clickers but retained the same time strategy.

Their measure of success was to compare the cost on a direct mail drop with the costs of an email campaign. They also compared the production time; it typically took three weeks to produce a direct mail piece but less than five hours for an email. With marginal costs and warp speeds – they were able to get increased attention from their recipients and a phenomenal ROI… but it came at a cost.

There were three key issues they failed to address, the first was the number of unsubscribes, a hefty portion as a result of the approach. The second was the issue of aggravation; they upset a number of their prospects and customers with this steady barrage of messages. Finally was the wake created for other email marketers – to eke out a gain, they jeopardized relationships with partner companies and others in the industry.

Their CEO was pleased, but this is just one example of how a marketer needs to look past the instant gratification and build a sustainable marketing strategy.

Targeting with Relevance

I receive emails and alerts from a major airline; in addition to my weekly newsletter, I receive information about different destinations and numerous partner offers. They send info about flights, including updates on gates and whether or not my pleas for an upgrade have gone through. They send 12 to 20 emails a week and occasionally leave a voicemail or send a text to my cell (usually it’s the same important message.) I have been trained by them to look at the subject line only, and I’m certain that I’m coded as a non-opener in their reports.

These multiple messages are typically a sign of an email program owned by many departments… this isn’t uncommon, but it can be remedied by targeting me with relevance, maybe these ideas could get them started:
1) Send a level-set message, something like… Sundeep, you are going to receive one email a week from us – this is going to include your updates for the week, you might get more, but only if there are important changes.
2) Create a confirmation strategy, a personal message the next time I touch one of their channels – speaking with a person at the airport, call center, direct mail or even inbound email.
3) Use very specific subject lines – something like, Information, offers, and confirmations for xxxxxx2162. Adding my frequent flyer number to important updates would get my attention.
4) The content in the email should be dynamic, and they should leverage different sections of the email – a newsletter approach with sections on upcoming trips, important city information, current point balance and partner offers (instead of separate emails.)
5) The newsletter sections should include landing pages that coax recipients into different sections; they have already gotten me to a portion of their site… why not keep me there with destination images/ information, special offers and/ or partner offers specific to the destination? Keeping these pages simple and clear would inspire additional time and click-through and could house their own ads.
6) All messages should encourage an account log-in.

These are just a few ideas that could transform the airline’s communication strategy – creating an interactive dialogue would be so much more effective than just throwing out a bunch of offers…

Don’t Give Up

Let me tell you a little about my friends…
Daryl tracks the opens on his emails – he knows what subject line intrigues the recipient. For the recipients who didn't open, he tries to coax them into his online store with a different invitation. He keeps tab of their interests, gradually trying to convert browsers into repeat browsers and ultimately into buyers.

Michelle sells a consumer product – she sends a nice email to those who have abandoned their shopping cart offering them an incentive to complete the checkout. Not everyone bites but her diligence helps increase the bond with the customer. Those who expressed interest in her product but didn't purchase are put into a special category for additional follow up.

Jeff markets various financial services to his customers – businesses and individuals – offering car loans, college loans, small business loans, home loans and financial planning. It takes a lot of trial and error to learn what his customers want, but Jeff knows that if he’s patient and clearly makes his offer the customers will eventually come around.

Mark invites future brides and grooms into stores to help them build their wedding registry, these soon-to-be couples create wish lists of preferences. Typically, couples receive about half of their wish list; so Mark invites them back to complete their purchases through a special incentive. Not everyone buys everything, but Mark keeps tabs and ensures that his future marketing (across channels) is based on the captured preferences.

Take a lesson from my friends, sometimes marketing is a waiting game and your best luck can turn up by remaining persistent.

How To Launch an Email Program

Let's say you're a small business (or even a larger business for that matter), and you've been collecting emails for sometime now, but you've done nothing with them. Now you have a sizable database of email addresses, and you're ready to start sending. How should you proceed?

First of all, you need to consider where and how you collected these email addresses. You need to make sure that you're compliant with the current CAN-SPAM regulations. Were they all truly opt-in? Are these addresses based on some transactional relationship you have with the customer? You need to be sure that you're following the legal regulations in contacting these customers via email.

Once you've cleared that, you'll need to consider how long you've had these addresses. Are these people who signed up months or even years ago, but have not received one email contact from you since signing up? Will they remember that they signed up, or will they view this message as unwanted and unnecessary? If this is the case, you need to make sure that you re-engage the customer effectively.

A great example of this was a recent email I received from my car dealership. This is the first email I've ever received from them; and honestly, I can't tell you when I signed up. However, the introductory email read as follows:

Dear Philip,
Thank you for being our customer and for taking a moment to read this promotional email. We value your time and truly respect your online privacy. Therefore, we would like your permission to communicate with you by email.

We are introducing our eVIP Program.

We would like to invite you to become an eVIP so you will receive special service, parts and accessory discounts only offered to our eVIP's. Should your vehicle be under a safety recall we could notify you via email very quickly.

Every email we send will allow you to opt-out and stop all future emails from coming to you from our dealership. We are confident you will enjoy the savings and special offers we will be making only to our eVIP's.

If you prefer not to receive any email from us, please click below to be removed.

We appreciate your time and again, thank you for your business!

James Engel
General Manager
Saturn of Columbia - SC
736 Saturn Parkway
Columbia, SC 29212
803-732-6500

This message did a good job addressing my concerns for privacy and that this was not spam, telling me I could opt out of this or any future emails. Even better, the mail showed me the value of being part of the email program, outlining what types of messages and communications I can look forward to as well as my "eVIP" status. This laid an excellent groundwork for future communications.

The last step is the hardest - once you've started, you can't stop. You're setting your customer's expectations that they will receive communications from you, so make sure to stay in touch on a regular basis. If you allow significant time to lapse before communicating with them again via email, then you next "email launch" will not be successful. Much like the boy who cried wolf, people won't pay attention to what you have to say.

List Revival

Faced with lackluster sales, a multi-channel cataloger offered its catalogue file an incentive to shop. Buyers were offered a coupon for one level, non-buyers were offered a little more of an incentive – they made a huge splash promoting the offer, beginning with a direct mail piece including an access code and expiration date. Recipients went online, entered the code, filled out a couple questions and were emailed the coupon code.

After the coupon was redeemed, shoppers received a series of emails asking for additional preference information, feedback on the purchase channel and product feedback – the typical email included two or three questions.

Overall impact was phenomenal; before the list revival project, their email list was 20% of the catalogue file, they averaged less than 5% open rates and had dismal click-through. Following the project, the cataloger had more than doubled their email list, quadrupled their open rates and had click throughs that were through the roof. The data from the survey series resulted in better segmentation, targeted messaging and a boost in overall sales.

Following the email survey cycle, the cataloguer sent an additional, random survey to 1,000 new customers – findings showed that these new customers felt they were part of the club and received offers that were exactly what they wanted.

Maybe you’re not ready for a total revival, but you could easily begin to survey shoppers and create the necessary dialogue – remember our push for interactive conversations?

Why Sign Up?

One of the exercises Sundeep and I have incorporated into our regional Panel of Peers workshops is the Why Sign Up? Q&A, we ask attendees to submit good reasons why someone should sign up for email campaigns. Here are some of the top submissions; feel free to borrow – but make sure you personalize and involve your team, it’s the only way to give the reasons life:

From two B2B Suppliers:
– Learn about useful products relative to your industry
– Learn how our products can save time and money
– New product announcements
– Industry news and events
– Keep current on upcoming events

From an Apparel Company:
– Exclusive promotions
– Sneak previews to collections
– Fashion advice

From a Specialty Foods Company:
– Our emails include offers and useful content – all towards feeding your passion
– Tested, proven recipes to add to your collection
– Quick links to new products, ideas and articles

From a Software Company:
– Industry news, updates and regulations
– Case studies and whitepapers
– Product updates and new services value

From a B2C Cataloger:
– Be the first to see new products before they appear in the catalog
– Read the stories behind our products and artisans and to see the economical impact on the regions we buy from

The financial intuitions took a slightly different approach; here are suggestions from three different groups:
– Go Green, Get Green – sign up for our emails and eNewsletters to get your information faster, save the environment and earn cash incentives.
– Tips and tricks to stretch your money
– Secure messaging in the privacy of your home
– Personalized to your preferences

Again, feel free to use these for your sign-up process; just consider a couple additional points:
1) Validate the reasons every quarter – clarify and to adapt to changing market requirements
2) Use the points to educate your teams – front-line employees for certain
3) Tailor to you, after all the reasons are as unique to you as your program

Just a Sandwich

I had a long layover at the Cincinnati airport earlier this week, so with close to three hours for lunch I opted for an established restaurant rather than the fast food. After a decent wait for a table, I had decided exactly what I wanted and ordered as the server showed me my table. Unfortunately, they were out of the soup I chose, so she had to return – I ultimately gave her my order three times… but it was still wrong.

As I ate my food, I observed others walking into the restaurant – all waited to be noticed before they were seated. Many waited over five minutes and some had to wave to the bartender to get noticed. I was amazed; it would seem that there would be a greater since of urgency since the patrons had a limited amount of time before their flights.

This repeated “disconnect” reminded me of emails received from certain companies – as you all know, I receive a ton of emails and constantly sign-up for new lists. Seems like one in ten of emails go nowhere, I’ll click on a particular item and be taken to the company’s homepage or the process will time out. In theory, the offer should lead you to details about the offer… the wait staff should acknowledge their patrons, get the orders right etc.

Pay attention to the segment you are targeting, make sure your emails work. If necessary, send to fewer people or trickle distribution to avoid your servers being overwhelmed. It seems pretty basic, but it fails so often. So keep the basics together… and don't get your heart set on the potato soup.

Hands in the Fishbowl

I recently heard of a retailer who had a little bad luck with the law due to a group of overzealous employees. Assigned the task of growing their email lists, the employees of a couple franchises decided to approach local restaurants and offer the manager one of their gift certificates in exchange for the email addresses in their “Win a Free Lunch” fishbowl. See the issue – there was a nice boost in terms of emails collected but the recipients never asked for the solicitation, so there were a lot of complaints, unsubscribes and quite a bit of good will to remedy the situation once everything was sorted out.

Although I admire their enthusiasm, maybe it would have been better to have those employees approach the local area restaurants for a co-branded fishbowl. The concept is the same, but the offer includes the opportunity to win lunch from the restaurant and a gift card from your business. Put together the associated collateral; subscribe page and a co-branded welcome email to reinforce the benefits of the program. From this point, you can operate independently until you’re ready to announce the winner… and may we suggest notifying by email too?

Exactly what I Want

I recently ate at Noodles & Company, I walked into a packed house and stood in line trying to figure out what I wanted. There were so many options – not counting the option of creating my own dish. (For those who know me, it’s a struggle for me to decide on the “perfect dish” – I often order more than one and/ or eat off of Reagan’s plate.)

I ordered one of their standard options, Indonesian Peanut Sauté, but with a few tweaks. I sat at a table overlooking the kitchen and watched their eight employees – two cooks, two cashiers, two busing tables and the other two running food. I wasn't the only customer who was impressed, their employees were so helpful, offering suggestions and helping people choose their meals. Almost everyone ordered something customized, which wasn’t a problem. Once the order was placed, they handed out order numbers but got your name and greeted you when they delivered your order. It was a wonderful dining experience, superb food, excellent service and tons of variety.

Their personalized touch is a lesson for email marketers. Typically when I first sign up for emails from a company there’s a sense of curiosity about the offers I’ll receive, the more targeted and personalized they become, the more I like it. I love for the company to personalize, to interact regularly and dive deeper through surveys.

Overstock.com does an excellent job on making offers relevant to your past browsing and purchases – their offers are tied to their web analytics so when you visit a category on their site, the products included in the email are ones you’ve viewed. The more you click, the more they know, purchase data is added into the mix and you’re coaxed to create O-Minders – reminding you of special events (that include gift suggestions.)

Other companies are on the opposite end of the spectrum, I signed up for emails from a coffee company after purchasing three of their blends. I filled out the paper survey (included in the shipment) telling them which of the blends I liked and didn’t. Unfortunately, I don’t think the results were incorporated into their marketing mix, because I still get the same emails targeting their top blend (which I liked the least)… why ask if you aren’t going to use the information?

Service In Action: Email Review

According to a recent Marketing Experiments survey, a typical landing page visitor spends only five seconds on the page. This means your chance to further inspire the person – who clicked – on a portion of your email is pretty small.

So how do you stand out, inspire more click throughs and maybe convert someone in those five seconds? It’s a complicated engagement model that relies on brand recognition, perceived value and phenomenal creative – join tomorrow’s Service In Action call (2:00 PM EST) for one of our most popular discussions. Give your opinion on email examples in our The Good, The Bad & The Iffy session, this is your chance to learn from the best and avoid the some mistakes from the rest.

Look forward to hearing you on the call!

Privacy Policy

When was the last time you read your Privacy Policy? My recommendation is to treat it like a dairy product, keeping it fresh eliminates a world of problems. Here are a few points to help you update or overhaul:

1) He Tells a Friend… She Tells a Friend – Many subscribers worry about residual signups as a result of enrolling; alleviate this concern by stating that you don’t send unsolicited messages, SPAM or unwanted email. State that you send transactional information and messages you believe will benefit the recipient. If there are partner sign-ups (i.e. your parent company), list them.

2) You’re Outta Here – Detail your unsubscribe policy, state that recipients may unsubscribe by clicking a link or by mailing, faxing, calling or emailing a request. Include an escalation path and state the number of days it may take to fulfill requests, this covers you in the event that you’re not processing the unsubscribe requests immediately.

3) Hey, look over there! – If you link to other sites (in your emails or from your site) note that you do not (cannot) control the content on that site or their Privacy Policy. Also state that you will try your best to provide the recipients the best possible information.

4) Pay Up – If you accept credit cards, detail your process or Secure Socket Layer (SSL); state whether or not you are PCI Compliant and how you protect the information both internally and externally (then make sure you do).

5) Keep Current – Tell users how they may update information through your site or other channels.

6) That’s the Law – Inform recipients that while you will make every attempt to keep their information private, you are legally obligated to assist in certain processes and under certain situations you may need to disclose their “private information” to comply.

7) Here’s my Card – Be sure to provide contact information, an address, phone number and/ or an email address – regularly audit the process to make sure it’s working.

8) Here Ye, Here Ye – Include notice that there will be updates and tell them how you will let them know about these changes – be careful, because if you tell them you will notify them in writing, you have to. The easiest way to do this is to state that you will list the changes on your site and provide a 30 – 45 day notice before the changes to privacy policy go into effect.

9) Keep Current – One of the top considerations is the “freshness” of your privacy policy, review the policy every quarter (minimally) and update it with the statement: THIS PRIVACY POLICY WAS LAST UPDATED ON DATE. This keeps your policy current… regardless if anything else changes.

10) Legal Eagles – Remember these are global suggestions, your company has hired experts to protect you… use their expertise!

répondez s'il vous plait

The topic for today’s post came to me around 3:00 AM. I presented in Toronto yesterday and from all accounts they have had unseasonable weather, reaching the mid-sixties since Wednesday. It’s been very pleasant outside, but inside has been a different story, apparently the heating and air are centrally controlled in my hotel and the venue for yesterday’s event – this meant that the halls were heated (although warm outside) and the in-room controls were worthless (unless you wanted more heat.) So I had to sleep with the window vents open to cool the room, typically not a problem except the hotel was very close to the Toronto Airport.

Despite requests (other guests included) they were unable/ unwilling to turn on the air conditioning. So at 3:00AM while I was flipping channels, it came to me that like the hotel’s inability to flip the switch is similar to how some companies approach their email marketing.

Remember when the TSA changed the guidelines for liquids, gels etc.? Some of the airlines were able to send an email to their passengers alerting them of the changes and advising them to pack accordingly (three ounces or check their baggage). Others were unable to be as flexible; their campaigns were planned out months in advance and as a result they were a couple days off the mark. As a marketer it’s important to plan ahead, coordinate the multi-channel connection BUT still have the flexibility to meet the immediate demands… do you have the ability to turn on the AC?