Margaret Farmakis says, ““Intellectuals solve problems; geniuses prevent them.” When Albert Einstein relayed this very wise message, he was decades removed from a world of computers and email marketing. However, Return Path email geniuses still follow this simple principle, helping clients prepare for problems before they occur. Blacklisting can be a major roadblock to inbox placement, so Return Path recently published an ultimate guide to blacklists to share research on blacklisting trends. The following highlights can help you channel Einstein and prevent blacklistings before they’re... [...]

John Sherer says, “According to the data from Referral Squirrel, on average, 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact with a prospect. To me, this can mean one of two things: Sales reps are sending far too many useless follow-up emails to prospects. Sales reps are maintaining healthy relationships with prospects before closing. If the former is true, I’m here to change that. And in either case, all of us in Sales need to do a better job of connecting with our prospects in valuable ways. We can’t selfishly send “just checking in” emails at completely... [...]

John Sherer says, “On average, 80% of sales are made on the fifth to twelfth contact with a prospect — according to the data from Referral Squirrel. To me, this can mean one of two things: Sales reps are sending far too many useless follow up emails to prospects. Sales reps are maintaining healthy relationships with prospects before closing. If the former, I’m here to change that. And in either case, all of us in sales need to do a better job of connecting with our prospects in valuable ways. We can’t selfishly send “just checking-in” emails at completely... [...]

Cezar Kolodziej says, ““Give us your email address and we’ll give you great deals.” These seductive words charm millions of customers every day eager to get a good deal from their favorite retailer. Unfortunately, soon after signing up for these deals, the emails often hit the junk mail folder, never to be seen by the intended recipient. With Millennial preferences changing, perhaps it is time to evaluate our digital marketing strategies. Instead of replicating the wheel by sending the same kinds of email messages to mobile devices, we should get a little smarter about how we are direct... [...]

Ginny Soskey says, “I hate to make you suspicious, but there’s someone on your team you shouldn’t always trust. Don’t take this the wrong way — they’re good at their job, but sometimes, they’re just wrong. What’s worse: They don’t even realize that they’re wrong. Do you know who I’m talking about? It’s you. It’s me. It’s literally every person ever. So don’t feel bad — especially because there’s a way to tilt the odds in your favor so that you’re right more often than not”. How to... [...]

Pete Prestipino says, “Despite the obvious benefits, email marketers haven’t adapted to consumers increased mobile usage.  YesMail’s Q1 Benchmarks (released in mid-May 2014) revealed that even though there is a 21 percent positive difference in click-to-open rates for emails with a responsive design, only 1 percent of marketers surveyed send responsive emails exclusively (44 percent use RD in less than half of emails, while 31 percent don’t use RD at all in their emails). “Adopting responsive design is a crucial email best practice that enables marketers to engage... [...]

Christopher Ratcliff says, “What needs to be done to bridge the gap between ordinary email marketing and best-in-class email marketing? I’ll be taking a look at our recent report, Bridging the Gap in Email Marketing, written by Morag Cuddeford-Jones and in partnership with Pure360, in which interviews were conducted with digital marketing professionals across a range of businesses, exploring the challenges and opportunities for marketers who are committed to taking their use of email to the next level. As the report reveals through its interviews, to ‘go up a level’ in email marketing... [...]

Pete Prestipino says, “Despite the obvious benefits, email marketers haven’t adapted to consumers increased mobile usage.  YesMail’s Q1 Benchmarks (released in mid-May 2014) revealed that even though there is a 21 percent positive difference in click-to-open rates for emails with a responsive design, only 1 percent of marketers surveyed send responsive emails exclusively (44 percent use RD in less than half of emails, while 31 percent don’t use RD at all in their emails). “Adopting responsive design is a crucial email best practice that enables marketers to engage... [...]

Rachel Sprung says, “Years ago, I would have been shocked to receive an email that said “Hello Rachel,” but today it would shock me to see an email thatdidn’t greet me by my first name and feature content tailored to my individual interests. But with all the information we marketers know about our contacts … it’s very possible that we can over-personalize emails. No one likes a creepy marketer. There are some questions that marketers needs to ask themselves when personalizing. First, how does personalization improve your email marketing? Second, where’s... [...]

Bridgette Darling says, “Email remains the most important communication channel for marketers as they look to engage with consumers and drive revenue. Not only is email a preferred channel by consumers, it allows marketers to communicate at a fraction of the cost. However, there are challenges related to email that marketers must face to maximize impact from the channel. A major challenge for email is that it is not cost prohibitive. While this is a positive, it also means that mistakes don’t seem to have a hard cost, making them easy to ignore. In addition, many marketers still abide... [...]