PR NEWS (which I, completely coincidentally, worked for for 5 years in the ’90s) just announced that now they are accepting nominations for their annual awards, due June 1 (doesn’t that seem lightyears away?) Yes you can nominate your own firm, yes there’s a category for Best Web Campaign, and no I don’t think it costs to enter. To get the complete list of nomination categories, along with an entry form, email aurban@pbimedia.com
Wow several hundred of you have already taken the survey I published this morning. Thanks!! I’ll be posting some comments about results here for you when the survey is over. In the meantime, please be reassured that when we say that we’ll be offering an HTML version of the newsletter soon — that does not mean the text-only version will ever go away. It’s great to hear that so many people prefer text — I do too.
Which brings me to an important point for ezine publishers — HTML vs. text-only preferences are not about what the readers’ email systems can actually read. They are about what the readers themselves prefer to see on their in-box screens. And boy do people have strong preferences! You may get higher ad clicks short-term with HTML, but I’ll bet you get longer lifetime open- rates and readership if you let people who want text, get it easily.
Is your company planning to redesign the Web site this year because it looks “old”? You really should pop over to this useful article by Nua Founder Gerry McGovern first, because he explains when a redesign is a bad idea. As someone in the midst of a redesign myself, it certainly made me think.
Shame on you American Express!!! I just got a new card, and was initially psyched to see on the little “How to Activate This Card” sticker on the front that you can now activate your card online. But then I noticed that right under that, the sticker says “or Call from your home phone for added security” which pretty much implies that the Internet isn’t secure. Since research shows the reason why many folks *still* don’t buy online are fears about security, allaying such fears are a major concern to online merchants. So basically Amex is slapping online merchants in the face.
Anyway I went online to activate, which is a much harder process than it is on the phone. You have to give your current address, your previous address, your driver’s license number, your SSN, your birthday … screen after screen of forms. After plowing my way through all of that, the last REQUIRED question was for my email. And directly under the box, was the following text, “Providing your e-mail address to American Express will allow us to send you e-mails to service your account and inform you of benefits, offers and services that may be suited to your needs. Please see our Privacy Statement for details and to set opt-out preferences.”
There was no opt-out box on the page. You are forced to opt-in to get your card activated online. And then if you have time, dig deeper into the site to figure out how to opt-out again. What a big whomping example of Worst Practices in Permission Marketing.
A Sherpa reader just wrote in, “Have you written any articles or had any case studies on HTML vs. text on the b-to-b side?”
Yup, we’ve been asking every B2B emailer we talk to that question for two years now. The consensus is that HTML works far better in terms of clicks… HOWEVER, it’s dangerous to use in B2B if you’re trying to reach certain audiences —
– Anyone with a Lotus email system — Lotus gives a mistaken impression that it can read HTML and so the MIME message it shows is the wrong part… pretty awful. Lots of Fortune 1000s use Lotus.
– Anyone using Groupwise email software from Novell — a similar problem. Also larger orgs
– Anyone whose IT/MIS dept has made the unilateral decision to block or strip HTML to save their system space — happens more than you think
– Anyone who uses PDAs to read stuff (which often also give false results to MIME so it’s gobbledegook)
InfoCommerce Report, a monthly newsletter “for and about people who are building a new industry — one that merges database content with digital distribution” has a fun free map offer on their Web site. The 11×14″ map shows how the content world fits together … from owners to syndicators to Web portals. Their site is built using frames (arrrgh) so I can’t give you a direct link, just go to the home page and look for the map link on the left nav bar.
However, I was alarmed by one thing today — InfoCommerce Report emailed me a survey link to 8 “easy” questions. Aside from the fact that the questions are not easy (remind me to do a special report on user-friendly surveys), one in particular made my hair stand on end, “HOW VALUABLE WOULD IT BE FOR YOUR COMPANY . . . to find and capture Web-based information on people, including job title and email address?”
OK that would be what spammers do. Harvesting email addresses online is unsavory to say the least, selling them to others as part of your business model is beyond slimy and possibly illegal in some states and countries. I know we’re all urgently trying to find ways to make more money with content these days. But that’s no excuse.
http://www.infocommercereport.com/
Another award you can enter to win — Line56 magazine is looking for nominations for the “Top 56 E-Business Companies.” You can nominate yourself … or a friend. Deadline is Jan 31st. Results will be published in the magazine in May.
Also, Rising Tide Studios (the folks who do Silicon Alley Daily) just extended their deadline for nominations for the Top 10 Online Advertising Campaigns of 2001. New deadline is Friday January 18th and it looks like it’s free to enter. Plus, you can see who’s already entered at the nominations form too – which is kinda fun.
I recently asked Vince Errico, Schwab’s VP eCommunications, a former direct mail marketer at American Express, how email and direct mail are different. He said,“Email is not just a cheap form of direct mail. It is not! And if you treat it that way, you will alienate the customer and you won’t be able to get that customer back. Once they say, ‘Don’t email me anymore’, you can’t email them anymore. Stricter laws are coming into place with email than for physical mail.
“Also, if you treat email just as a cheap form of direct mail, you’re missing the most important aspects of brand building in a way physical mail can’t. You’re missing the interactive aspects of email, the ability to allow customers to try something right then and there on the spot.
“A lot of direct mail rules don’t apply to email. Things like choice. In physical mail you want to offer people as few choices as possible because generally speaking more choices depress response rates. In the email world that’s not necessarily true. Customers have expectations online that they don’t through physical mail. They are used to interacting with Web pages. You should be able to offer them their choice of customizing the experience they’re about to have with you. In the end that’s what’s going to close the sale.”
SEO expert Barbara Coll just emailed over, “I’m too excited to keep it quiet any longer. Any minute now Google will be rolling out a new Pay-per-click product that will replace the current CPM-based AdWords on the right hand side of the results page. This will be a self-serve service for now and is definitely just in beta. This is going to affect a lot of people’s listings. I recommend everyone review their own listings before February 1st to understand the impact to the clickthrough numbers. “ She plans to be one of the first in line to test this new service. To hear about her results, subscribe to her free newsletter.
A lot of ezine publishers have told me, “Oh we’ll never have to be audited like magazines are, because advertisers can count their clicks and see the results.” Nice dream, but I kinda doubted life was gonna stay that way forever (especially when it comes to trade pubs that sell ads based on job title and buying responsibility.)
Anyway, Nick Maranda over at BetterGolf.net just emailed me their announcement that they are “the first company in the world to have an electronic “magazine” or “newsletter” circulation audited.The audit was performed by ABCi, which is the Interactive branch of the Audit Bureau of Circulation.” The audit confirmed the ezine has 856,000 opt-in subscribers. Nick’s hoping the audit helps position the ezine more credibly in the eyes of traditional magazine advertisers, some of whom found the ezine’s growth rate of more than 800 new opt-ins each day “difficult to accept.”
For more info on BetterGolf’s biz, check out our year-old-but- good Case Study on them. http://www.bettergolf.net
A lot of ezine publishers have told me, “Oh we’ll never have to be audited like magazines are, because advertisers can count their clicks and see the results.” Nice dream, but I kinda doubted life was gonna stay that way forever (especially when it comes to trade pubs that sell ads based on job title buying
responsibility.)
Anyway, Nick Maranda over at BetterGolf.net just emailed me their announcement that they are “the first company in the world to have an electronic “magazine” or “newsletter” circulation audited.The audit was performed by ABCi, which is the Interactive branch of the Audit Bureau of Circulation.” The audit confirmed the ezine has 856,000 opt-in subscribers. Nick’s hoping the audit helps position the ezine more credibly in the eyes of traditional magazine advertisers, some of whom found the ezine’s growth rate of more than 800 new opt-ins each day “difficult to accept.”
For more info on BetterGolf’s biz, check out our year-old-but- good Case Study on them.
http://www.bettergolf.net
http://inspirations.marketingsherpa.com/barrier.cfm?contentID=1064
