MindComet

Passing it Along

Viral campaigns are all the buzz.  However, before your start sending out messages with the intention of being forwarded to friends, consider the following:

Message Clearly:

This goes without saying for any email marketing message, but it is especially important if you want your message passed along.  Complex messages make it difficult for people to understand.  A delay in the decision-making process may prevent someone from acting on your message or even forwarding it to their friends.

Make a Suggestion:

Too often email marketers set up viral campaigns and fail to ask recipients of the message to share it.  Let them know you want them to send it to their friends.  Include a link or other tools such as the ability to send to their IM list. Be sure you are making every effort to enable your viral marketing campaign.

Analyze Results:

Your viral campaign is alive and it will either continue to grow or it will begin to crumble.  If it is growing, pay special attention to make sure it continues to move smoothly.  If issues arise, by staying on top of it, you can work to quickly identify and solve the problem.

Thinking through the small details of your viral email marketing campaign, will help you achieve the desired results.

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Posted by MindComet on Aug. 28, 2006

Will Spam Complaints be Reduced?

The Call is coming from email marketers for changes to the major ISP email interfaces, especially Yahoo! and AOL. With the addition of the unsubscribe button to Microsoft’s Windows Live Email Interface, the new free e-mail service replacing Hotmail, marketers would like a level playing field with the other ISPs.

Microsoft is the first email box provider to answer email marketers’ calls in the beginning of August 2006 by including an unsubscribe button in its interface so consumers will be less likely to mistakenly report permission-based commercial e-mail as spam. Microsoft’s unsubscribe link started appearing two weeks ago, replacing the report-and-delete button on some e-mails in Windows Live.

Consumers frequently use the Spam reporting buttons rather than unsubscribe to prevent mailers’ messages from arriving even though they agreed to receive the messaging. In a recent survey, nearly 79% of consumers admitted that they have hit the “spam” or “junk” e-mail button to get rid of e-mail they don’t want. Nearly 37% do it as a way to unsubscribe from things they had asked to receive. Every complaint counts as a black mark against the sender. Numerous complaints can result in ISPs blocking email from a sender. The new Windows Live unsubscribe button will not register as a spam complaint, according to Microsoft.

As long as email arriving at Microsoft with a valid list-unsubscribe function - a line of code that allows ISPs to automatically forward unsubscribe requests back to the sender - and the sender passes Microsoft’s internal “reputation” test determining the sender is not a spammer, the unsubscribe button will appear.

Without the valid list-unsubscribe information in the header, emails will receive the Spam complaint button.

The product is currently in beta and could change.

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Posted by MindComet on Aug. 14, 2006

It Never Hurts to Ask

Your website has a great viral component that is currently spreading like wildfire.  Congratulations.  You have managed to generate a lot of buzz and drive some traffic to your site.

As a best practice, you should be asking for an email address from the sender, but are you asking if they are interested in receiving future communications from your company?  The sender has made it to your site and thinks your viral component is worthy enough to forward.  They might also be interested in what else you have to say, whether it is promotions, sales or general information. Include a box to be checked for those attracted and follow up with a Double Opt-In Message. Even if you don’t currently have an email marketing campaign underway, you may (you should!) in the future.

Additionally, as a part of the forwarded message, ask the receiving friend if they are also interested in receiving information from your company.  It never hurts to ask and you will be building a sizable database of interested subscribers.

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Posted by MindComet on Aug. 08, 2006