Ho Ho Or Ho Hum: Some E-mails Miss the Mark By Beth Negus Viveiros Up on the laptop, Click, click, click. Some missives inspired sales, While the others didn't stick. ...

Lazy PR People, or Improper E-mail Appends? By Tim Parry Sometimes I groan when a press release comes across my inbox. But I'm not about to go all Chris Anderson on the public relations people who send me things of no relevance to my publications....

Blocking PR People – At Long Last, Lazy Flacks Get Their Comeuppance By Len Stein You think Len Stein, the president of New Rochelle, NY-based Visibility Public Relations, is angry about Wired magazine editor-in-chief Chris Anderson's "had enough" moment, which involved posting the e-mail addresses of the PR flacks who fill his inbox with irrelevant press releases daily? He's not....

Special Delivery: E-Mail Marketers Look Ahead To 2008 By Ken Magill (Direct) Speak to e-mail marketers for any length of time about their craft, and sooner or later the topic of deliverability will come up. This year's e-mail roundtable was no exception as four top e-mailers outlined what they see as having the biggest impact on the industry in the last year and going into 2008. ...

Rolling Strikes: Who says the word "free" doesn't work with e-mail? By Ken Magill (DIRECT) Brunswick Bowling and Billiards has turned an offer of an hour of free bowling in return for e-mail contact information into a database of almost half a million e-mail addresses. Some managers say the database has helped them meet their sales goals for the year. ...

Call it E-RFM: Traditional Metrics See New Life in E-Mail By Ken Magill (Multichannel Merchant) Recent developments in e-mail marketing are creating new possibilities for an old set of direct marketing metrics: recency, frequency and monetary value....

Moving Pictures: Animation Makes E-Mail Come to Life By Amy Johannes (Promo) When Lake Champlain Chocolates wanted to boost holiday sales, it launched an animated e-mail. Sales jumped 49%. The chocolate maker, which operates a store in Vermont, has discovered new ways to make graphics in e-mails work. ...

Database Guru Hughes Eyes E-mailers By Ken Magill (Direct) Arthur Middleton Hughes thinks he may be able to teach e-mail marketers a thing or two. And he could be on to something. ...

E-mail's Image Problem: Should DMers Worry About Image Suppression? By Ken Magill (Direct) Developments surrounding blocked e-mail images and links have been causing a great deal of consternation among marketers lately. Experts, however, say the growing trend is nothing to get confused or worked up about....

See You in December: E-Mail Helps Ski Resort Stay in Touch By Ken Magill (Direct) Just because winter is over doesn't mean the marketing has stopped at luxury ski resort operator Intrawest. The firm stays in touch with skiers even during off months through a CRM program in which e-mail messages are tailored to their profiles. And, as is the case every May, its marketing department is busy promoting summer products and activities. ...

Metrics Mess: E-mail Marketers Still Lack Meaningful Ways to Measure By Ken Magill E-mail marketers lack standard definitions of fundamental metrics. Worse still, most don't measure anything meaningful at all about their e-mail campaigns, according to two recent studies....

Please Join Us: Automation Helps Group 1 Boost Webinar Effectiveness By Beth Negus Viveiros Like many marketers, Pitney Bowes Group 1 Software has shifted a significant portion of its promotional efforts online. An automated lead management suite from Eloqua is helping Group 1 make the most of prospects gathered through efforts like an e-newsletter and Webinars. ...

Most Maligned Metric: A New Look at Open Rates By Ken Magill The open rate is one of the most cited, and yet derided, metrics in e-mail marketing. And both for good reason: On the surface it seems straightforward enough, but it's impossible to measure accurately....

Unsubscribe? It's a Matter of Trust By Joshua Baer Since its inception, the unsubscribe link has had its share of ups and downs related to consumer trust. With privacy and spam concerns at an all-time high, it's important to examine the truths behind the myths and take steps to restore user confidence....