Superb internet marketing community & FREE industry reports (no catch!)

I wanted to draw you attention to a FREE resource for those of you who want to benefit from a community of the world’s digital marketing and ecommerce professionals. Econsultancy exists to help its members “sharpen their strategy, source suppliers, get quick answers, compare notes, help each other out and discover how to do everything better online.” I have to say that it is a great source of independent advice and insight on digital marketing and ecommerce.

imho there’s no shortage of marketing opinion online, but being ten years and with 71,000 marketers Econsultancy is pretty special.  Bronze membership is FREE and there is more info here.

These are complimentary reports you get for free upon joining (there’s another 20+ too!).  Great, er, value!

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Online PR Industry Benchmarking Report

By Michelle Goodall and Aliya Zaidi, December 2008

Overview Authors: Michelle Goodall and Aliya Zaidi Pages: 35 Features: Survey-based research about the Online PR Industry, with expert input from respected industry commentators.

Digital Outsourcing Survey Report

By Econsultancy, December 2008

This report, produced in association with Lemon Digital Production, is aimed at agencies who are interested in the business case and challenges associated with outsourcing digital work.

SEO Supplier Showcase November 2008

November 2008

Online Customer Engagement Report 2009

By Econsultancy, November 2008

The third annual Online Customer Engagement Report has been produced in partnership with cScape. This research is based on a survey of 1,300 respondents carried out in September and October 2008.

Email Marketing Briefing – November 2008

By Econsultancy, November 2008

This free, 12-page briefing contains a write-up of an E-consultancy roundtable on Email Marketing held in autumn 2008.

Comparison Shopping Engines Survey Report 2008

By Econsultancy, October 2008

This DoubleClick-sponsored research is based on a survey of retailers and agencies carried out in August and September 2008, with the aim of understanding more about the use of comparison shopping.

Paid Search Marketing Supplier Showcase October 2008

October 2008

Paid Search Briefing – October 2008

By Econsultancy, October 2008

This free, 12-page briefing contains a write-up of an E-consultancy roundtable on Paid Search.

Affiliate Marketing Briefing – October 2008

By Econsultancy, October 2008

This free, 11-page briefing contains a write-up of an E-consultancy roundtable on Affiliate Marketing.

Measurement, Analytics and Optimisation Briefing – October 2008

By Econsultancy, September 2008

This free, 12-page briefing contains a write-up of an E-consultancy roundtable on Measurement, Analytics and Optimisation.

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The Services Econsultancy Provide:

Reports: Econsultancy is an award-winning online publisher of reports covering best practice, user experience benchmarking, market data, supplier selection, template files, trends and innovation aimed at internet professionals who want practical advice on all aspects of e-business.

Training, Learning & Development: Econsultancy operates a highly popular training division, used by the world’s leading brands for staff education, both in-house and via public courses. We provide training across all areas of digital marketing and ecommerce and at all levels from accredited one day courses to formal qualifications including diplomas and a Masters in Digital Marketing.

Events: Econsultancy hosts over 100 events a year, including conferences such as the Online Marketing Masterclasses, Future of Digital Marketing and Digital Cream as well as regular Supplier Showcases, Roundtables, the annual Innovation Awards and a range of social events.

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Free memberships of marketing clubs, and online resources are ten a penny.  You just have to surf, or browse LinkedIn groups to see that.  But Econsultancy is very different.  I’d highly recommend you join if you are an internet professional who wants practical advice on all aspects of e-business.

Filed under: Affiliate Marketing, Analyst, Analytics, Blogging, Branding, Business, Buzz, CRM, Customer Experience, Design, Direct Mail, Email, Events, Media, Mobile, Online, Planning, Research, SEO, SEO / SEM, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media, Strategy, Usability, User Generated Content, Viral, Web, Web2.0, digital, marketing, technology, web 2.0 , development, ecommerce, Econsultancy, Events, Free, learning, reports, Strategy, training

Fail. Oh, the irony!

Fail

Oh the irony.  Ouch.

Filed under: Direct Email, Email, Fun, marketing , Direct Mail, Fail

Earning a living, in appalling rendering conditions

For all the email marketers out there – earning a living in appalling rendering conditions – This is for you.

Hat tip to the author Mathew Patterson.

You may also want to check out, or join the Email Standards Project.

Filed under: Design, Direct Email, Email, Fun, Google, Media, Yahoo!, digital, marketing, technology , CSS, Email, email marketing, gmail, Google, html, marketing, semantic, standards, web design, Yahoo! Mail

Find your brand spam

I had an interesting email exchange with Seth Godin a few days ago – in response to this post.

During this brief exchange Seth wrote, “I hate email.”

It turns out one of my email replies went straight into his spam folder. And he felt awful a couple of days later, because having retrieved the item and having read my message, he knew he would have replied sooner – given the chance.

But Seth ‘hates email.’

Of course, in reality he might not. Seth hates ‘Spam’ and the effect it has had on his email use. And his reputation. So much so, that it might have made him say (and think) the wrong thing.

For B2b brands there is a lesson here. Someone somewhere might well be ‘hating’ your product or service due to something that you have no control of. The best B2b marketers will try their darn’dest to find the unrelated ‘Spam’ that messes or cloggs up their brand – and look to fix it.

As for email? It turns out the real Killer App (for productivity and collaboration) is actually Spam. What a shame. I am sure innovation pays a price.

Filed under: Direct Email, Direct Mail, Email, Ideas and Riffs, ideas, marketing, technology , innovation, seth godin, Spam, Email, BBC, Killer App, Productivity, collaboration

Out of Office

In an era of ‘On Demand’ service and the continued blurring between ‘work’ and ‘play’, is it wrong to put up an Out of Office notice on your email these days?

I am beginning to think most people display far too old fashioned notices – and hide behind them.

I am out of the office from x – x with limited access to email. I will return your email on my return.

I guess it is up to each individual, but please. No access to email? An increasingly unlikely story.
If you are that way inclined, say it as it is;

I am on vacation and taking a break from work and emails. If appropriate I will return your email on my return. If your matter is urgent contact x on x who can help you in x business hours.

For the rest of us how about:

I am on vacation. I will be accessing my emails from time to time but don’t expect an instant reply this time. If your matter is urgent contact me on Mob: xyz.

I really think it is time to cut out the crappy Out of Office email shenanigans. What’s the worst one you have received?

Filed under: Customer service, Direct Email, Email, Fun, Ideas and Riffs, ideas, marketing , Email, On Demand, Out of Office, service

Please help

Sport Relief

(I should apologise for bringing you here by illicit categorisation and tagging, but I won’t. You might have wasted just 10 seconds. Hopefully you will make the choice to change someone’s world in less than a minute).

Filed under: 2.0, ACL, Adobe, Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, Analyst, Analytics, Apple, Awards, BBC, Blog, Blogging, Blogroll, Books, Branding, Business, Buzz, CBS, CIM, CRM, Charity, Colour, Computer, Computing, Conversational marketing, Conversion, Cool, Corbis, Customer service, Data, Deloitte, Design, Direct Email, Direct Mail, EMI, Email, Entertainment, Entrepreneur, Events, Experiential, Facebook, Fairchild Semiconductor, Forrester, Fun, Gartner, Google, IBM, IODA, IT, IT Planning, Ideas and Riffs, Illusion, Imagery, Influence, Infrared, Job, Keywords, Knee, MIT, Mac, Measurement, Media, Microsoft, Mobile, Music, News, Online, Online Video, Open Social, PC, PR, Planning, Power 150, Printing, Public Relations, Punchstock, Quotes, RSS, Religion, Remarkable, Research, SEO, SEO / SEM, SPARQL, SQL, Salmon, Scene7, Search, Search Engine Optimisation, Second Chance Tuesday, Second Life, Semantic Web, Sinclair, Social Graphs, Social Media, Social Networking, Software, Sony BMG, Spam, Spectrum, Strategy, Surgery, Survival, TV, Tattoo, The Orchard, Tim Berners-Lee, Twitter, Usability, User Generated Content, Viral, Viral Coefficient, Virtual Worlds, WIFI, WIKI, WOM, Warner Music Group, Web, Web2.0, White Paper, Wired.com, Wordpress, Xerox, Xuuk, Yahoo!, YouTube, ZX, blogs, bob, copywriting, digital, dotcoms, garfield, iStock, ideas, illustration, last.fm, marketing, ogilvy, permission, photography, podcast, sport, startups, stock photography, technology, trust, venture capital, verge, web 2.0, webmasters, wi-fi, word of mouth , 2008, Advertising, Age 5-14, Animals, Anime, Announcements, Answered, Art, Articles, Barack, Basketball, Bible, Big, Big Questions, Blog, Blogging, blogs, Books, Business, Charity, Children, China, Christianity, Church, clinton, Club, Comedy, Commentary, Community, Crime, Culture, Current Events, Daily, Democrats, Design, Economics, Economy, Education, Election 2008, Elections, Eliot Spitzer, English, Entertainment, Environment, Events, Faith, Family, Fashion, Fiction, Film, Food, Friends, Fun, Funny, Games, God, Government, Health, Hillary, Hip-hop, History, Home, Humor, ideas, India, inspiration, internet, Iraq, Islam, Jesus, John McCain, Journal, Kids, Leadership, Life, Links, Love, marketing, Marriage, Me, Media, Misc, Miscellaneous, Money, Movies, Music, Musings, My Life, Nature, News, Obama, Opinion, Parenting, penguin, People, Personal, Philosophy, photography, photos, Physics, Pictures, Poems, Poetry, Political, Politics, Pop culture, Prayer, Projects, Psychology, Questions, Quotes, Race, Ramblings, Random, Rants, Recipes, Reflections, Relationships, Religion, Research, Review, Reviews, School, Science, Sewing, Sex, Shopping, Society, Software, Spiritual, Spirituality, Sports, Stories, Stuff, technology, television, The Page, Theology, Thoughts, Travel, trends, TV, Unanswered, United states, Update, USA, video, Videos, web 2.0, Welcome, Women, work, World, Writing, YouTube

Outgoing only

I am sure everyone has received one of these before:

This is an “outgoing only” email address. If you ‘reply’ to this message by simply selecting the reply button, we will not receive your additional comments.

Sounds like a wasted opportunity to start a conversation if you ask me.

Seth Godin reminds us that if you think interacting with customers is expensive, driving costs down is a good thing, and getting people to go away is beneficial – you’re probably toast.

Filed under: CRM, Customer service, Direct Email, Email, Ideas and Riffs, ideas, marketing , CRM, Customer Relations, Email, Ongoing only email, seth godin

The opt-in hokey cokey. In out, in out….

I am flabbergasted. OMG! I’ve never had an email requesting I re-opt-in to email correspondance, after previously opting out.

Here’s the email in full. Obviously received, read and deleted. The only thing left? A stain on their good name.

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From: xxxx (Intl Vendor) [mailto: xxxx]
Sent: 26 November 2007 09:55
To: xxxx

Subject: xxxx Global Relationship Survey

Hi xxxx,

I hope that you are all well. Every year xxxx sends a Global Relationship Survey to all Customers and Partners. We would like you to have the opportunity to provide important feedback regarding your ongoing experience and relationship with xxxx. Currently, you are suppressed from receiving any communications from xxxx and therefore we will be unable to send you this survey. It would be much appreciated if you could please take some time out to complete this survey as this is your chance to have your say and make ecommendations for future changes.

The survey will be sent early next year but we are collating the data sample now. If you would like to take part in the survey please could you reply to this email saying CONFIRM and I will update our records to say that you are willing to receive email communications from xxxx. (Please note that by doing this you may receive other marketing material from xxxx). Granting us your permission will be a huge help in our survey, but will also ensure that we keep you updated of relevant events, offers and product launches.

Thank you for your support and I hope you will take part in the survey.

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Some people and some companies just don’t get it. And believe you me – this company is as BIG as it gets in the IT sector.

Filed under: Direct Email, Email, ideas, marketing, permission, trust , email marketing, marketing, opt-in, permission

Mr. and Mrs. Average

See how you compare with the UK’s IT and Business Decision makers in these Silicon.com surveys.

Do you think a business blog can be a good way for companies to communicate with their customers?
View Results

What is the biggest expenses claim you’ve ever made?
View Results

When you are on holiday, how often do you check your work email?
View Results

How long have you been with your current mobile phone provider?
View Results

How do you interact most often with your boss?
View Results

How many emails on average do you get in your inbox per day?
View Results

How would you describe your normal stress level at work?
View Results

Who is in charge of IT risk management within your organisation?
View Results

Would you be happy to go through biometric security checks in airports?
View Results

Have you ever visited a virtual world?
View Results

How much time in the office do you spend using social networking sites each week?
View Results

By 2015, your working week will be…
View Results

How often do you work from home?
View Results

Are you worried about potential health risks associated with using wi-fi?
View Results

Filed under: Blog, Blogging, Business, Computer, Computing, Direct Email, Email, IT, Measurement, Mobile, Research, Social Media, Virtual Worlds, WIFI, blogs, marketing, wi-fi

Now available as an email

By popular request, you can now subscribe to this blog by email. Powered by Feedburner,  an email simply shows up in your inbox once a day. It is the same low, low price as the regular blog,  but a bit more convenient for the easily forgetful, or the very busy marketing or technology executive.

Filed under: 2.0, Advertising, B2B, Branding, Business, Direct Email, Email, Planning, Strategy, ideas, marketing

A brief history of spam

“Damn Spam”, The losing war on junk e-mail, by Michael Spector of The New Yorker

Filed under: Data, Direct Email, Direct Mail, Email, Spam, marketing

The Debate: “Has digital media usurped traditional B2B channels”

B2B Marketing, in partnership with Mardev, will be hosting its 6th event, as part of the B2B Marketing Great Debate series on September the 18th -  “Has Digital media usurped traditional B2B channels.”

Be part of the new media debate and get inspired insight into current thinking behind the new integrated mix; and then network with your peers, both client side and agency with champagne and canapés.

What’s to debate?

Direct mail has long been the mainstay of B2B communications, but is the combination of a plethora of digital media channels and recent upheavals in the postal system sounding the death knell for this medium?

Is post being marginalised by cheaper, quicker and more versatile forms of online marketing?

Or is mail about to enter a new golden age where it finds new forms of relevance for B2B marketers?

• Listen to the expert panel comprised of the Royal Mail, CommuniGator and Lyris and other industry experts, on the future of B2B marketing channels and then have your say!
• Will traditional marketing be replaced with pure digital, will they work with an improved integrated approach, or will Digital’s ROI diminish over time, with so many messages competing for the one desktop?
• Draw down from expert advice as well as gaining insightful options of the future of the B2B marketing media

The agenda:

16.00 Registration – Tea & coffee
16.30 Welcome: Joel Harrison, Editor, B2B Marketing [Chair]

For the motion:

17:40 Lee Chadwick, MD, CommuniGator
17.55 Andrew Robinson, MD, Lyris

Against the motion:

18:10 Antony Miller, Head of Media Development, Royal Mail
18:25 Nick Martin, MD, Mardev
17:40 Q&A – Debate opened up to the floor
18.15 Champagne & Networking
19.15 Event closes

Tuesday, 18 September 2007, 4pm to 7:15pm, English Speaking Union, Mayfair. £95 per delegate place. Call 020 8652 4569 to book your place

Filed under: 2.0, Advertising, B2B, Blog, Blogging, Buzz, Direct Email, Direct Mail, Email, Events, Experiential, Ideas and Riffs, Measurement, Online, Planning, SEO, SEO / SEM, Search, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media, Strategy, Viral, Web, Web2.0, ideas, marketing, web 2.0, webmasters, word of mouth

FREE Event: Online Marketing 2007

Online Marketing 2007, (26-27 June) brought to you by NMA and Marketing Week, is one of the only UK events to bring together experts and suppliers covering every element of online marketing all under one roof, over two days. It’s now in its third year and the show promises it’s bigger and better than ever, moving to a new venue in the process – the Business Design Centre, Islington, London.

From SEO to PPC, blogging to podcasting, accessibility to analytics, email, affiliate and mobile marketing, online ads and integration, the show tackles all the challenges surrounding online marketing and offers advice on the latest developments. Find out how to make interactive marketing and advertising campaigns work harder for your money.

It’s a good event to meet exhibitors from the entire online market – an invaluable opportunity to discuss your needs with leading suppliers and industry experts, face to face.  And offcourse there is a (paid for) educational conference programme.  This is often where there is real value.

Here’s some quick links:

• Register Now!
• Conference
• FREE Workshops
• Google University (Want to know more about the Google missions and how it can help your business? Book to attend the free Google University and hear from Google staff in the know!)

You can also attend free workshop sessions at the Search Arena, NMA Arena and Online Advertising Arena……perhaps even getting dedicated advice to suit your specific needs in the process?

Its always good to take a day out of the office once in a while.  Perhaps the 26th or 27th June is the ideal time?

Filed under: 2.0, Advertising, Affiliate Marketing, Analytics, Blog, Blogging, Branding, Buzz, Customer service, Design, Direct Email, Direct Mail, Email, Experiential, Fun, Measurement, Online, Online Video, PR, Planning, Public Relations, SEO, SEO / SEM, Search, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media, Software, Strategy, Usability, Viral, Web, Web2.0, ideas, marketing, web 2.0, webmasters, word of mouth

80% of 1990s Usability Study still holds true

As Web usability testing enters its 14th year, it’s worth asking how early results have held up to recent user research.

10 years ago, Jakob Nielsen wrote an article on the changes in Web usability from 1994 to 1997. A few of his original findings were no longer valid a mere 3 years after they were issued. But most of the 1994 guidelines hold true in 1997 — and they’re still correct today.

As Neilsen explains, considering how primitive websites were in 1994, it’s striking that most of these initial usability guidelines remain valid for today’s sites. It’s even more impressive when you consider that the Web currently has 120M sites, and his very first study tested only 5 sites with 3 users. This tiny, exploratory study’s outstanding outcome and endurance is testament to the power of qualitative usability methodology.

Read the Full piece.

Subscribe to Neilsen’s Alert Box Newsletter

Filed under: Blog, Blogging, Design, Direct Email, Direct Mail, Email, IT, Ideas and Riffs, Measurement, Online, Planning, SEO, SEO / SEM, Search Engine Optimisation, Social Media, Strategy, Usability, Web, Web2.0, blogs, copywriting, ideas, marketing, web 2.0

The Science of Email Marketing Creativity

There is no denying that marketers are continually pushing the creative envelope when developing campaigns that are both meaningful and influential to their target audiences. Email marketers, however, need to be even savvier. A superb creative is not enough to guarantee success in a medium where the audience is under daily bombardment from competitor brands, where the risk of blacklisting is high and where you can never be quite sure how your creative will render in the email providers viewing pane.

Antonio Ferrara, Strategic Services Executive at Premiere Global Services explains in a piece for Technology Weekly the science behind the creativity of email campaigns. Using the elements from a tried and tested creative scorecard, he looked at the factors that need to be considered to ensure that an email campaign has the desired impact. I’ve pasted it below for you all to enjoy in full, but please be aware that none of this is my work.

(By the way mad.co.uk delivers business insight to professionals in marketing, media, new media, advertising and design, and I believe their eNewsletter is well worth subscribing to)

Enjoy!

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A general rule of thumb

One of the most important facts that email marketers need to be aware of is that the majority of people consume their emails from within the reading pane of their inbox. Whether they open the email or not will be greatly influenced by what they initially see in the pane. This is an important fact because the size of the pane is much smaller than the full screen of say a webpage (about a third of the size), greatly limiting the area in which an email marketer has to make an impact. It is worth stating this rule upfront as it has a bearing on a number of the elements described below.

Logo placement

Many brand guidelines would have you place the logo somewhere along the top right hand corner of any branded communication. The challenge here is that if people are viewing your email in their reading pane in most cases the top right hand side of the message would be cut off along with the logo. Ensuring that the logo can be seen in the viewing pan is important because, of the vital role it plays in confirming that the email has come from a trusted source.

Image Vs HTML Text

Traditional direct marketing wisdom would push many a designer to overlap the image of the communication with text; in many cases ‘the offer’ itself. Image suppression in emails is now the rule rather than the exception meaning that it is not images that people see on viewing their emails but a box with a red x in it. Therefore if you follow the DM code, not only will your image be suppressed but your carefully crafted text as well.

Dimensions

Once again the reading pane is far smaller than the size of the average computer screen and whereas this does not really affect the vertical length of your message as people are happy to scroll down it is important that people do not have to scroll right as it is not something they are not used to.

Call to action and its placement

The call to action is possibly the most important part of your eMarketing and also the one that is most easily lost. eMarketers will do well to remember to make this a prominent part of their design. It should stand out, be above the fold if possible, so as to make it into the reading pane, and by no means should it appear within an image, where it could be suppressed.

Content

Once you have caught the attention of your reader it is vital to keep them engaged. If your email is too long you may lose them, too short and you run the risk of not engaging them in the first place. It is also important to take a moment to consider the language you are using and the way that it is formatted. There are some urban legends out there but it is true that if you use words that have a pornographic connotation, a classic example being erection, you will probably fall foul of spam filters.

Links

With the effectiveness of open rates as a measure of campaign success diminishing, it is important to look to other methods of gauging the success of your campaign. Links are still the bread and butter of email tracking and give a clear measure of the most popular elements of your offering. Ensure that links are only used where relevant and that they lead directly to the information on your site and do not just point to the home page.

Above the fold design

Understanding on how people consume information presented on screen is progressing everyday and can be utilised to optimise the effectiveness of your creative. Studies into eye patterning show us that the majority of people’s time is spent at the top of the screen and then drops off substantially the further down you go. This is important for two reasons. First we can use this knowledge to realise that our key messages need to appear towards the top of the page and second that we must employ tactics to influence people to track further down the page. This can be done using colour, information that fades in and out and also a links index so that people can jump to the information that is most relevant to them immediately.

Filed under: B2B, Design, Direct Email, Direct Mail, Email, Ideas and Riffs, Measurement, Online, copywriting, ideas, marketing