MarketingSherpa Blog

As you may recall, MarketingSherpa’s launching a podcast for you this fall, and I’ve contracted a audio logo specialist Michael Whalen to create our intro music-snippet. (See link below to my first podcasting info column.)

If you’re considering testing a podcast, too (seems like nearly everyone in the Net cognoscenti is, although we don’t have results data quite yet on effectiveness), I’ll keep you updated here on our progress.

First step: Develop an audio logo creative brief

Just like any other campaign, you need to hand your creative team a brief that guides them on your brand identity and goal. I’ve found these are always far harder to write than one might expect. You need brand perspective to do a half-decent job, and being client-side, my perspective is perhaps warped. (Reason why market research firms and ad agencies’ services are critical in today’s world even if you’ve got a full creative team in-house.)

Anyway, here’s the creative brief questionaire form Michael asked me to fill out so he can determine what MarketingSherpa’s brand “sounds” like.

If you need an audio logo for your own podcast (or tv/radio ads) maybe you’ll find it useful, too.

1) How is your company perceived in the marketplace? (big, small, cool, traditional, fun, forward thinking, etc.)

2) How do YOU perceive your company? Is it the same as your answer to #1?

3) Do you think your audio ID should support or work against this impression(s)?

4) Who is your “typical” audience member or customer? (demographically, sense of their tastes, etc.)

5) Should the audio ID appeal to your audience’s taste or should it only support your company’s image? (see Question #1)

6) How will your podcast be formatted? (length of program, how many “chapters,” music for top, middle and end)

7) Should your audio ID be a new composition or do you want to use an existing piece of music? (Warning; existing music = $$$)

8) If you want an original composition, should the music be thematic (think 20th Century Fox logo) or environmental? (Imagine Entertainment)

9) Whom at your company will be decision makers in this process? Will your audience help (voting, etc.)?

10) Do you have a budget for this audio ID? (budgets can range from zilch — barter or trade — to tens of thousands)

By the way, in case you missed it, here’s my first column in this series, which includes a link to Michael’s site and info for podcasting newbies:

‘The Brave New(ish) World of Audio Logos & Podcasting’ http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3049 (Open access)

Before the Internet, press releases were very important sources for the press. I knew many journalists who spent most of their days reading, reacting to (and sometimes rewriting) them.

But now that releases are available directly to the public via Net news portals (Yahoo News, Google News, etc.), I strongly suspect most journalists have stopped religiously reading PR. After all, a good reporter’s job is to dig up news and insights that the public doesn’t already have at their fingertips.

So, last week when I was in a meeting with Bob Evans, CMP Media’s Editorial Director and Senior VP, I asked him point-blank, “Do reporters read press releases anymore?”

“In some cases releases can still be helpful for short quick online news items,” he told me. “But mostly, if everyone’s got it on Google News, what’s the point? I may use a phone number or a stat for a bigger story, but press releases are not the response devices they used to be.”

How do you catch reporters’ attention in the Internet age? Here are five suggestions Bob and I discussed.

#1. Blogs

If you’re pitching a trend story (which Bob says many journalists love), try including links to several independent blogs to back up your assertions. Helps prove you didn’t invent the trend just to get your CEO quoted, and there’s some genuine audience interest in the topic. Also better than citing a direct competitor’s story (few journalists get ahead by writing me-too stuff).

You can also use an internally produced company blog to garner some press attention. Bob said, “It could function as effectively or more effectively than a press release right now. However, canned contrived, controlled messages will draw very little interest.”

Bob strongly recommends you allow and actively encourage interactive blog replies. If a reporter sees an active — non-edited — discussion attached to blog posts, they’re much more likely to respond. Best postings would be from your marketplace.

#2. Trade show meetings

Online news deadlines mean reporters don’t have time anymore for convivial dinners and hour-long briefings with your company execs at the show. Bob suggests three new tactics:

– 1/2 hour breakfast meetings before the day’s deadlines hit.

– 30-45 minute “walk the floor together” invites. Your CEO walks the show floor with the reporter (who has to anyway) pointing out trends, etc.

– Work your party (harder). Position a press greeter at your party doorway and have the greeter personally lead incoming journalists to various execs they should meet. Reporters may only have 30 minutes or less per party — don’t waste their time making them mingle on their own.

#3. Customer stories

Bob says the reason why many clients turn down “Would you let us do a case study on you?” requests is that companies aren’t marketing the idea from the client’s perspective.

His suggestion: Explain to your client how the story could help their PR efforts by positioning them as a leader. Reassure them it won’t take too much time, and no secrets will be given away that could hurt them.

Another idea: position a series of less in-depth client interviews for a trend story. Perhaps several clients are using your product or service in an unexpected way that’s not been covered in the press.

#4. New and underexposed executives

In bigger companies, the PR department is often more of a gatekeeper, the “NO” department, than a story-enabler.

Bob suggests that whenever you have to say “no” to a CEO interview, try offering a substitute. Perhaps there’s a new exec on board, or someone who’s fascinating but underexposed.

#5. Ads

Neither Bob nor I would ever suggest there should be a quid pro quo between ads and media coverage. However, reporters surf the Web just as much (or often much more) than your typical prospects. The more they are exposed to your ads, the more likely they are to keep your brand at the top of their mind. After all, they are humans.

That means increased press coverage may be one of the extra add-on benefits from an ad campaign. How can you measure it? That’s one to ask your PR department.

What does the term “Direct Mail” mean to you? Increasingly I’ve found that if I’m talking to a marketer aged under 35, they assume it means a campaign delivered via email.

This redefinition of a very old term is so prevalent, that I’ve learned to add the word “postal” or “snail” when discussing direct mail in our research interviews.

So, if I ask, “How is your direct mail program performing these days?” chances are the marketer will start talking about email. Instead I have to say, “How is your direct postal mail program performing?” And often I have to predicate that with, “Do you do any postal mail campaigns?” Sadly many marketers reply, “Oh no, only email.”

Why is it sad? Because endless reams of research show relying on a single media to reach your prospects and customers is bad marketing. The Internet and email are wonderful, grand, fine. But, I’m increasingly having to remind folks, they are not the only ball game out there.

Some prospects and customers won’t respond to email or Web campaigns. Either they’re too hard to reach that way (think email filters and rising PPC costs), or it’s just not their preferred method of receiving and/or responding to offers.

The old question in DM 101 camp used to be “How many response channels should I put on my reply cards?” (Answer: Every single one you can so you include all prospects’ fave methods of communication – mail, fax, phone, etc.)

The new question in DM 101 camp should be, “How many channels should I get my message out in?”

If you can only afford email alone for part of your list, then rely on it only for your least profitable names (plus perhaps those names that are proven repeated email responders). If a name on your house files has high potential ROI, invest in multiple media to reach them.

What should DM stand for? Direct Marketing of course, in as media agnostic a manner as possible.

Sponsor: New! Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ All-new Search Benchmark has 210 charts of useful data so you can compare your campaigns to the “norm”:

– Cost per click – Average click rate – Conversion rates – How much marketers really budget for search – Optimization vs PPC results

3,271 search marketers revealed real-life results data to MarketingSherpa’s Benchmark Guide for you: http://www.sherpastore.com/c/a.pl?1150&p.cfm/2166 Or call 877-895-1717 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like just about every other online publisher out there, we’re considering launching a podcast. (A podcast is a sort of audio blog – an Internet radio show that listeners can tune in to from their computers or download to their iPods. Link to more info below.)

I’ve been super-itchy to launch a Sherpa podcast since last winter … but aside from our already insane schedule growing Sherpa, I’ve held back because we don’t have an audio logo yet.

An audio logo (AKA ‘sound identity’ or ‘sound logo’) is that little bit of music that you hear at the start of a TV show, or branded radio show, or even a brand jingle played in advertisements. In just a few seconds, the listener hears the personality of the brand. And, since it’s audio, your musical logo can actually have greater marketplace impact than any graphic logo ever does. Audio has more of a *gut* impact than many visuals do.

I started researching audio logo makers and discovered there are some firms who create sound identities for big consumer packaged goods companies. They run focus groups, do loads of research and you’ll end up paying tens of thousands for a tidbit of sound. But it’s higher impact than another tidbit of sound would be.

However, there wasn’t anyone out there who created tidbits for wanna-be podcasters who need an audio logo to start and end podcasts with. So I called my friends at Audible.com who are iPod sound experts and asked them to recommend a few composers.

Enter Michael Whalen. He’s an independent film score composer who’s worked a lot for PBS and National Geographic. I loved the clips on his site. So, I bugged him — would he consider starting a podcasting logo division for folks like me with reasonable (aka limited) budgets? Definitely yes! Michael has launched it. You’ll find a link to his new podcasting logos site below.

Over the next 60 days I’ll bring you notes on the whole process of how we’ll go about creating the podcast and companion audio logo. Plus you’ll get to vote on which logo you like the best.

I’m so excited!

BTW: No, I’m not getting any sort of kickback for mentioning Michael. I’m just honestly enthusiastic and thought you’d be, too.

Six useful links related to this blog

Michael Whalen’s new Podcasting Logos site: http://podcastinglogos.com

About Michael Whalen: http://www.michaelwhalen.com

Podcast inventor Adam Curry’s site for podcasting wanna-bes: http://www.ipodder.org

American Music Center’s ‘On Hold’ program inspired by famed sound logo creator Eric Siday: http://www.amc.net/grants/Siday

MarketingSherpa Article: 7 Marketing Tips for Podcasts, Blog Ads, and RSS Feeds http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3042 (Open access until Aug 11)

Anne’s second column on this topic: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3064 (Open access)

Sponsor: New! Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005 ~~~~~~~~~~~~ All-new Search Benchmark has 210 charts of useful data so you can compare your campaigns to the “norm”:

– Cost per click – Average click rate – Conversion rates – How much marketers really budget for search – Optimization vs PPC results

3,271 search marketers revealed real-life results data to MarketingSherpa’s Benchmark Guide for you: http://www.sherpastore.com/c/a.pl?1150&p.cfm/2166 Or call 877-895-1717 ~~~~~~~~~~~~

MarketingSherpa is headquartered in Rhode Island, which makes getting to New York meetings a pain, but at least we all live near the beach.

Last Tuesday evening, I was strolling down First Beach in Newport admiring the sunset when I came upon an amazing sand sculpture of a beach-bound family in a Volkswagon Beetle. It was obviously created by an artist, which made sense because Newport sometimes sponsors art at the beach.

But, when I stepped closer to admire it, I discovered a little placard bearing VW’s logo and the slogan ‘Drivers Wanted.’ This wasn’t purely art; it was an ad.

I’m used to planes flying over the beach trailing ad banners — generally for liquor. But hadn’t seen sand ads before. I laughed, how clever! Maybe I should write about it for Sherpa….

Then, yesterday evening as I was strolling down another local beach, I saw another big sand sculpture. Even from a distance, it was quite obviously the most incredible sand castle ever. However, this time I didn’t step closer to admire it.

Instead I felt myself shuddering. I feared discovering a corporation had sponsored this “art.” I didn’t want my innocent delight in the sand, sunset, birds, and waves besmirched by commercialism. It was profoundly distasteful.

All the way home, I wondered, how can we as marketers continue working in a world where nothing is sacred. Where college students line up to have ads painted on their foreheads. Where you can’t ever get away from someone trying to sell you something.

Then it hit me — what makes ads work is highly targeted relevancy. If you send me an ad, via my preferred medium, about something I’m deeply interested in, it’s not an ad anymore. It’s a useful alert. I’m grateful and excited to get the message.

Example: sending a miniature railway enthusiast a note when the newest caboose is ready.

However, it’s easier as marketers sometimes to shout more loudly and wave our arms around in the mass market then to build and manage the database marketing systems that a truly relevant campaign requires.

Example: a simple text email offering discounted child helmets to parents who bought a new bike for their kid in the past 36 hours will work better than a singing and dancing rich media video superimposed over the world’s largest parenting Web site.

The point: without advanced targeting systems, useful CRM, and excellent database marketing, we’re stuck in a nightmarish future where ads take over the earth like cockroaches. A world where everything’s a promotion and everyone’s eyes glaze over because who wants to be bombarded with crud 24×7?

Ok, rant over.

Sponsor: New! Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005
~~~~~~~~~~~~
All-new Search Benchmark has 210 charts of useful data so you
can compare your campaigns to the “norm”:

– Cost per click
– Average click rate
– Conversion rates
– How much marketers really budget for search
– Optimization vs PPC results

3,271 search marketers revealed real-life results data to
MarketingSherpa’s Benchmark Guide for you:
http://www.sherpastore.com/c/a.pl?1150&p.cfm/2166
Or call 877-895-1717
~~~~~~~~~~~~

MarketingSherpa is headquartered in Rhode Island, which makes getting to New York meetings a pain, but at least we all live near the beach.

Last Tuesday evening, I was strolling down First Beach in Newport admiring the sunset when I came upon an amazing sand sculpture of a beach-bound family in a Volkswagon Beetle. It was obviously created by an artist, which made sense because Newport sometimes sponsors art at the beach.

But, when I stepped closer to admire it, I discovered a little placard bearing VW’s logo and the slogan “Drivers Wanted.” This wasn’t purely art; it was an ad.

I’m used to planes flying over the beach trailing ad banners — generally for liquor. But I hadn’t seen sand ads before. I laughed, how clever! Maybe I should write about it for Sherpa.

Then, yesterday evening as I was strolling down another local beach, I saw another big sand sculpture. Even from a distance, it was quite obviously the most incredible sand castle ever. However, this time I didn’t step closer to admire it.

Instead I felt myself shuddering. I feared discovering a corporation had sponsored this “art.” I didn’t want my innocent delight in the sand, sunset, birds and waves besmirched by commercialism. It was profoundly distasteful.

All the way home, I wondered, how can we as marketers continue working in a world where nothing is sacred. Where college students line up to have ads painted on their foreheads. Where you can’t ever get away from someone trying to sell you something.

Then it hit me — what makes ads work is highly targeted relevancy. If you send me an ad, via my preferred medium, about something I’m deeply interested in, it’s not an ad anymore. It’s a useful alert. I’m grateful and excited to get the message.

Example: sending a miniature railway enthusiast a note when the newest caboose is ready.

However, it’s easier as marketers sometimes to shout more loudly and wave our arms around in the mass market then to build and manage the database marketing systems that a truly relevant campaign requires.

Example: A simple text email offering discounted child helmets to parents who bought a new bike for their kid in the past 36 hours will work better than a singing and dancing rich media video superimposed over the world’s largest parenting Web site.

The point: Without advanced targeting systems, useful CRM and excellent database marketing, we’re stuck in a nightmarish future where ads take over the earth like cockroaches. A world where everything’s a promotion and everyone’s eyes glaze over because who wants to be bombarded with crud 24×7?

OK, rant over.

I was worried that my blog last week about copyright theft (link to read it below) would spark a storm of folks posting nasty things about MarketingSherpa or my (assumed) naivete about the safety of any content on the Web.

Instead the opposite happened. Loads of you wrote (and even called) to say you had been worried about the same problem. Here’s some useful advice and hotlinks:

-> Add a formal copyright line and Terms & Conditions

At the very least, add copyright info to your published content. (See links below to copyright info for bloggers and publishers.) And don’t make the almost universal mistake of forgetting to update the year in the (c) date at the bottom of your Web pages annually.

But, don’t count on formal legal language on your site to dissuade theft. For example, I got a note from the folks at WorldWit saying their email discussion group postings appear to be routinely stolen and posted online by another site, apparently for AdSense revenue, despite WorldWit’s explicitly worded terms and conditions saying it should not be done.

-> Slim down your RSS feeds

Reader Elise Bauer of Elise.com wrote in, “Many bloggers release full-text RSS feeds, making it extremely easy for others to automatically lift their entire article. TypePad blogs, for example, release full-text RSS feeds by default, exposing their owners, often unknowingly, to bot theft.

“Who wants to spend their time trying to track down all these instances? Better to release just an excerpt in RSS. That way aggregators point back to your site, driving traffic to your site instead of stealing your content.”

-> Embed an “invisible” copyright line in articles

Reader Dave Stein of HowWinnersSell.com said he’s fed up with people stealing his articles “left and right.” He notes, “Most of the time a phone call will shake up the offender. I’ve actually made a friend or two who didn’t realize their lower-level people were stealing this content.”

He added, “One of the tricks I learned is to embed ‘(c) 2005 – Dave Stein – all rights reserved’ in white-colored font in the article. At least it’s easy to prove to an offender that they’ve pirated stuff. Plus, since I’ve keyed that string into Google Alerts, I can find out whenever someone posts it with or without permission.”

-> Ask for a hotlink

Reader Brian Cha, author of Email Marketing Resources blog, noted, “As I’m sure you already know, your page will rank higher in regards to search engine optimization when other sites link back to yours. So instead of trying to fight blog thieves, write some guidelines on how articles can be used (in regards to copyright) to help out those who legitimately want to spread the good word.”

So, perhaps we should add a note to all MarketingSherpa articles saying “If you like this article, please link to it *instead* of copying it. Thanks.”

-> Include preferred attribution lines

Reader Mary Schmidt of Schmidt & Associates notes, “Personally I’m all for people taking my content – just as long as they attribute it to me.”

So, if you are writing articles or blogs hoping to get noticed and perhaps land clients for your main line of business, then you should try putting a formal attribution and re-use line at the end of each item posted online. This might start, “Yes you may reprint this article/blog entry, as long as you include the following bit of text….”

(Of course, since MarketingSherpa is *not* a consultancy or marketing company, this would not apply to our articles. We’re solely a publishing company and our articles are our product, rather than being marketing vehicles for something else we offer. So naturally, copyright protection takes on a different urgency for us.)

-> Tell Google in writing if someone steals your copyrighted materials

As I noted last week, one reason some people steal others’ content is because they want to get Google AdSense revenue with content-rich pages without the effort of actually writing content.

To that end, many sites I’ve seen appear to be using automated bots to scrape content from other sites and then post hundreds, even thousands of pages online with AdSense listings. I’m not going to accuse any sites in particular here, suffice to say it’s a quickly increasing problem and loads of folks in the online publishing community have been noticing it.

Here’s what Barry Schnitt in Google’s PR department said in response to my query about this problem:

“Copyright violations are against our policies. We ask that the owner of the copyrighted material comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the text of which can be found at the U.S. Copyright Office Web site: http://lcWeb.loc.gov/copyright/) and other applicable intellectual property laws. In this case, this means that if we receive proper notice of infringement, we will forward that notice to the responsible Web site publisher. To file a notice of infringement with us, you must provide a written communication.”

My take on this? It’s not awfully reassuring. Google seems to want to put the policing ball in the copyright owner’s corner despite the fact that few of these stolen content sites would exist if it were not for AdSense revenues.

Plus, he didn’t comment at all on my second question, which was in essence, what about policing those sites — known in the industry as “Google Spam” — that post such short snippets of scraped content that they don’t actually break copyright law. They dance around the law and usually present no real value to the visitor.

Again, these sites are a burgeoning cottage industry that appears to be wholly funded by AdSense revenue potential.

My advice: if you are investing in an AdSense ad program, watch your metrics very carefully (separately from your AdWords ROI). Also consider the brand image implications of your ad showing up on automated bot sites. Do you want to be visibly sponsoring cruddy Web pages?

Until such time as Google decides to police more rigorously the sites ads appear on, buyer beware.

-> Five useful hotlinks about copyright and blogging:

#1. US copyright law explained in fairly clear English for bloggers with common questions (Thanks to reader Alan Herrell who pointed out this link in his Raving Lunacy blog) http://www.eff.org/bloggers/lg/faq-ip.php

#2. Official copyright info site from US Federal Government http://www.copyright.gov

#3. Copyscape — Quickly see if any Web page tracked by Google search is copying content from a particular page of your site or blog: http://www.copyscape.com

#4. Example of what appears to be an automated bot site that collects snippets of content from blogs and sites without adding any additional value/commentary, for the sole purpose of Google AdSense revenue (thanks to reader Tom Hespos of Underscore Marketing for sending in this link): http://www.ad-agency.your-information-source.com/blog/

#5. Last week’s column on Blog Copyright Theft http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3032

Every Friday afternoon I take a few minutes to do a quick Technorati or Feedster search for our company name. It’s the equivalent of doing a Google search on yourself, only in this case you discover what millions of bloggers are saying about you.

At first, it was a sort of guilty pleasure. There’s that tingle of excitement when you discover a favorable mention in a blog. Sometimes of course it’s criticism, which is slightly painful but always worth learning from.

But more recently I’ve begun to see an ugly trend emerging.

Bloggers have begun cutting and pasting the entire text of our articles in their blogs. Sometimes it appears as though they wrote the article, sometimes they give a little credit “from MarketingSherpa.” Either way, I have to contact them with the following little cease-and-desist note or risk losing the intellectual property that our company is built on:

“I’m glad you like MarketingSherpa, but please remove this article from your Blog. By posting an entire article, you are breaking copyright law. You are essentially a thief, stealing content it cost us hundreds of dollars to create. You can certainly write your own commentary or summary of our article and link to our site for your visitors to see. Thank you.”

I’ve noticed these thieves come in two distinct colors — the first are genuine fans. They are so psyched about an article they decide to cut and paste it under the misconception than it’s a “compliment” that a copyright owner won’t mind.

I appreciate the compliment, but just because a product is an article rather than a shirt or widget, doesn’t mean you can take it and give it away without the owner’s permission.

The second group of thieves are profit-driven bloggers who are generally seeking Google AdSense revenue. They publish as many blogs as possible populated with lifted content and sit back to collect commission checks from Google on ad clicks. Some have created automated programs that suck up content from around the Web and post it without need for a human editor.

Worried publishers are forming task forces now to begin to address this threat. Ideas include limiting bots’ site access and requiring registration. In the end, more walls go up around the Web and an atmosphere of distrust reigns. Too bad.

Sponsor: New! Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
All-new Search Benchmark has 210 charts of useful data so you can compare your campaigns to the “norm”:

– Cost per click – Average click rate – Conversion rates – How much marketers really budget for search – Optimization vs PPC results

3,271 search marketers revealed real-life results data to MarketingSherpa’s Benchmark Guide for you: http://www.sherpastore.com/c/a.pl?1150&p.cfm/2166
Or call 877-895-1717
~~~~~~~~~~~~

What I Told the PC World Reporter About Phishing and Marketers

“Can phishing emails make people miss or deliberately delete messages they would otherwise want to receive from businesses?” asked Andrew Brandt, Senior Associate Editor PC World, when he interviewed me last week for an article. Three factors made me say “Yes”:

#1. Open rates are slipping unexpectedly. Open rates for HTML campaigns to house lists from legit mailers had been holding fairly steady for the past couple of years. Now, according to data from both MarketingSherpa and Doubleclick’s separate research efforts, opens are sliding down faster than expected. (How much depends on your niche, frequency, and deliverability savvy.)

#2. A June study by Lyris Technologies revealed 100 consumers were likely to mistake legit messages (even from big brand-name companies) as phishing scams if they were badly laid out text-only or had HTML code errors (happens more frequently than you think).

#3. I automatically delete the dozens of emails I get per day “from” financial institutions and the world’s fave auction site without looking at them because I assume these are all scams. And I bet you may do the same.

Brandt’s next question was, what can legit emailers do to make sure their messages aren’t mistaken as phishing? Here are my quick tips.

Tip A. Maintain higher quality production values

Consumers expect scam-artists’ messages to feel amateurish with typos, reply addresses that no longer work, and improperly rendered images (because perhaps they had to switch servers in a hurry).

Make sure your HTML email is coded properly by passing it through the validator at
http://validator.w3.org and check that whoever is serving your images will have them up on time and for a good long time — such as weeks, not just days.

Plus, take a good look at your text-only version. Never ever let your email department autocreate it based on your HTML content. Text layout must be handcrafted separately for readability and appeal.

Tip B. Consider protective software for your customers

When we were interviewing Secure Computing’s marketer Shelly Maley for our top Case Study this week (see below), she explained one of their products can protect your customers against phishing by changing their passwords in some automated fashion. I don’t pretend to understand this technology but hey, why not sic your IT department on the idea?

MarketingSherpa reader, Shira Steinberg, wrote in to tell us her company has invented another solution that adds “simple visual cues” to your Web site so folks know it’s legit. Again, I don’t understand this stuff, but if you like to research tech, the company name is Green Armor.

Tip C. Test alternate and mixed delivery methods

If the email message is critical either to your bottom line or because you are legally obliged to deliver it, then you can’t rely on email alone anymore.

Try multi-channel campaigns — If consumers see matching messages from a variety of sources (such as your new print catalog cover and a matching email campaign), they’re more likely to assume it’s legit email and more likely to respond.

Also, set up a program to automatically switch consistent nonopeners (or for text-only, consistent nonclickers) to a completely different media, such as print.

You should also proactively contact top accounts and key prospects via phone, postal mail, or on-screen pop-up, to see what the problem is. Perhaps the address is bad. Perhaps their filter is confused. Perhaps they want off your list.

Plus, consider offering alternate electronic delivery methods such as desktop apps, downloadable toolbars, RSS feeds, IM alerts, SMS alerts, etc., to your best customers. But, if you do, build in above-average reporting from the start so you can track usership on an account basis.

Good luck! P.S. Here’s that Case Study on Shelly Maley’s marketing: http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=3025

This weekend, my email in-box practically exploded under the weight of incoming queries, concerns, and mailer debates about two new US state email laws that have come up pretty much out of the blue.

On July 1st, new child protection email laws go into effect in both Michigan and Utah. I’m not a lawyer, but here’s my rough take on the facts thus far.

— Individuals who are minors (under 18) or who give minors access to their email accounts (i.e., parents) and live in UT or MI can add those email addresses to a registry in the appropriate state.

— Institutions such as schools can add their entire domain to the registry.

— No “commercial” emailer can send a message that contains anything illegal for kids to view or use to even a single recipient on those registries. This includes messages about alcohol, tobacco, porn, gambling, and prescription drugs.

— Plus, your message can’t hotlink to a Web page that contains info about anything illegal. So, if your link goes to USAToday.com and there’s info about tobacco on that page, then you might be breaking the law. (This angle is what worries mailers the most.)

— The laws are in effect regardless of whether you’re a permission mailer. If an individual requests to be on your list, you still can’t mail any illegal content to them nor link to any illegal content.

Both laws are fairly vaguely worded, leaving details open to interpretation. So knowing how to obey isn’t easy. (Can you say “Bad Law?”) And no one has any idea how forcefully the states will go about stopping mailers who mess up.

The key is, because of this vagueness, the laws at this time affect nearly every mailer in the US who either:

A) Mails content only suitable for adults, or

B) Hotlinks to a Web page that might contain an ad, an article or perhaps even just a hotlink to content that’s only suitable for adults. (And some argue that could be Yahoo’s home page, what with links to personals, etc.)

I’m working to put together a special report on these new laws for our next issue. This could be a hue and cry about nothing, or it could turn into a huge pain for otherwise legitimate mailers.

In the meantime, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Sponsor: New! Search Marketing Benchmark Guide 2005 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
All-new Search Benchmark has 210 charts of useful data so you can compare your campaigns to the “norm”:

– Cost per click – Average click rate – Conversion rates – How much marketers really budget for search – Optimization vs PPC results

3,271 search marketers revealed real-life results data to MarketingSherpa’s Benchmark Guide for you: http://www.sherpastore.com/c/a.pl?1150&p.cfm/2166
Or call 877-895-1717
~~~~~~~~~~~~