MindComet

Videos In Email…  How Many Times Do I Have To Tell You!?

It’s been long debated the best way to go about implementing videos into email.  Well, I’ll come right out and state the obvious: it can’t happen.

BUT there are cool and creative ways to execute videos in email.  The simplest thing to do is to take a screenshot of the video, making that clickable which will lead the user to a landing page.

To take this a step further, take a screenshot of the video BEFORE it plays, with the opaque play button.  This will entice the user even more, which will lead more traffic to your site.

Also make sure you add a text link within the email for users who can’t view images.

Another quick and effective way to portray that there’s a “video” in your email is to take a number of screenshots to blend together to create an animated gif.

Until email clients across the board can support flash, this is pretty much your best bet to get your audience to watch your videos.  If you ever come across any company that claims they can do this, they’re liars.  Straight up.

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Posted by MindComet on May. 21, 2008

CAN-SPAM Act Updates

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has updated the rules in the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 as of May 12, 2008.  The updated rules include the following:

In a multiple-advertiser email, a single advertiser can assume the role of sole “CAN-SPAM sender.“ The Final Rule issued by the Federal Trade Commission establishes that, when there are multiple advertisers in single email, a single advertiser can assume the role of sole CAN-SPAM sender if (a) the advertiser meets the requirements of “sender,“ as defined under the CAN-SPAM act of 2003, (b) is the only advertiser identified in the “from” line, and (c) complies with all of the other original sender requirements imposed by the Act, including the requirements surrounding a “valid physical postal address.“
Senders must provide recipients with an easy, unburdened way to unsubscribe from a commercial email. Specifically, the Federal Trade Commission requires advertisers to allow consumers to opt out of subsequent commercial email messages from that advertiser without requiring payment, information beyond the consumer’s email address, “or any other obligation as a condition for accepting or honoring a recipient’s opt-out request,“ including requiring a consumer to visit more than a single Internet Web page.
“Person” will be defined, for purposes of CAN-SPAM, as an individual, group, unincorporated association, limited or general partnership, corporation, or other business entity.
A “valid physical postal address” has been defined as “the sender’s current street address, a Post Office box the sender has accurately registered with the United States Postal Service, or a private mailbox the sender has accurately registered with a commercial mail receiving agency that is established pursuant to United States Postal Service regulations.“

Download the complete final rule here: PDF

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Posted by MindComet on May. 14, 2008

An Unsubscribe Alternative

It’s pretty much a standard practice to always include an “Update Your Preferences” and “Unsubscribe” link in every single email you send out.  I, like most users, usually click on unsubscribe links more often than update your preferences links… and it’s usually due to one of two things: irrelevant information or my inbox is being inundated, with way too many messages being sent my way from one company.  But there is an alternative to offer:  an “email me less frequently” option. This will lower your overall send totals, but it will retain your house list size.

J. Crew does it.  They do it well, too.  The page below comes up when a user wants to unsubscribe.  The entire unsubscribe page’s emphasis is on receiving less email, but still keeping you in the loop.  Levi’s is a perfect candidate for an option like this.  I receive about 3 emails a week from them on average and I’ve been tempted to opt-out before, but their online discounts are just too hard to pass up.  Point is, no one needs to get emails from ANY company 3 times a week.  It’s just way too much.

So if you’ve seen any other companies utilizing this tactic, comment below!

Thanks to Denise Cox via Tamara Glen for pointing this out!

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Posted by MindComet on May. 13, 2008

Our New Blogroll

If you take a gander under the “MindComet Links” section, you may notice a new addition to our blog.  The “Blogroll” features our most beloved email marketing-related blogs, which we try to visit on a daily basis.  I’m sure it will continue to grow, so be on the lookout for new additions!  If you also author a blog touching on issues surrounding the email marketing world, give us a shout and we just might be able to set up a link exchange!  Comment below or email us directly!

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Posted by MindComet on May. 12, 2008

The Litmus Test

If you’re managing email campaigns and you’re finding it difficult / time-consuming to properly test and QA your emails, consider this handy tool: Litmus.

Litmus delivers screenshots of what your email (or web page) looks like in every major client.  They currently test on the following platforms:

• Outlook 2007
• Outlook 2003
• Outlook 2002/XP
• Outlook 2000
• Gmail
• Hotmail
• AOL Mail
• Yahoo! Mail
• Lotus Notes 8
• Lotus Notes 7
• Lotus Notes 6.5
• Apple Mail 3
• Apple Mail 2.1

It’s a quick and convenient way to make sure that your email is rendering correctly across all clients.  It’s relatively cheap too!  Only $18 for a day’s worth of use, $55 per month for unlimited tests (ideal) and $185 a month for unlimited tests as well as 10 user accounts.

They have a blog that’s worth checking out.  They update it consistently with all of their updates and integration options.

If you’re currently using this, please comment below!  Share your thoughts!  We’d love to hear what you have to say.

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Posted by MindComet on May. 08, 2008

DPI Settings With Outlook 2007

The geniuses over at Bronto have uncovered yet another flaw with the always problematic Outlook 2007.  By testing to different computers using Outlook ‘07 at the their office, there were always glaring inconsistencies with two specific machines.  Yet, the two computers that always had issues would always break in their own special ways.

Through diligent research, it was determined that the two computers had separate DPI (dots per inch) settings.  The default DPI setting on Windows machines is 96.  One of the computers was set to 120 DPI (the large setting) and 82 DPI (a custom setting).  The former would blow out the images, causing breaks and the latter would shrink the images also causing rendering flaws.

Basically, only Outlook 2007 (and not any other desktop email client such as Thunderbird) will break any email with a setting other than the standard DPI setting of 96.

This doesn’t sit well with me considering that no matter how meticulous you are when testing emails it still might end up broken when it reaches some users’ inboxes.  The only remedy that comes to mind is to spread the word and awareness through Email Standards Project.  If there’s enough outcry from the community maybe, just maybe, developers will wise-up and listen.

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Posted by MindComet on May. 05, 2008