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My 2012 Short List of Rising Email Stars
For the last couple of years I’ve posted My Short List of Rising Email Stars. The first year had most coming from the client side of email, and last year from the vendor side. I like patterns, so this year it’s back to mostly client-side email marketers. Once again I’m drawing the line on email marketing rising stars as less than seven years in email marketing. In year’s past I’ve had the opportunity to work with several of the rising stars; this year most have caught my attention by their activity in the email space.
And so, without further gilding the lily, (more…)
2012 International Email Vendor Features & Functions Guide Now in Development
2012 marks the third year for our annual Email Vendor Features & Functions Guide. This time we’ve expanded our survey to near 300 data points, with over 30% including the average user skill level to implement those features and functions.
Other changes for 2012 include combining our North American and European editions into one really big International Guide, and we’ll be offering a separate Small Market Edition featuring vendors specializing in the smaller markets, too. For 2012 we’ll be breaking out vendors by their targeted markets to set the boundaries for apples-to-apples comparisons, keeping in mind that most vendors won’t be limited by those boundaries. The on-premise solution break-out will be back, joined by other break-outs that include full-service, vertical markets, and automation.
So what else is new for 2012?
The Consequences of “Appending” Email Addresses & Controlling the Conversation
I can’t believe that it took over a year for the tired old canard of “appending” (a pretty word for “buying”) email addresses to subscriber data to come back around.
Why do I say “subscriber” rather that “customer”? I think it’s pretty safe to say that if someone makes an online purchase they’ll be submitting their email address along with their purchase order. And just to get it out of the way now, submitting an email address when placing an online order is not a default subscription to receive promotional (or if we want to get all “legal” about it, “commercial”) messaging.
Before I get distracted by a host of tangential nuances, let me get back on topic…. consequences.
The Differences Between Email Deployment Vendors
One of the questions we often get before engaging on an email vendor evaluation and selection is, “Where do you draw the line in determining what makes an ESP a small, mid-market, or enterprise vendor?”
Our standard response is, “You can find that in our Email Vendor Features & Functions Guide“, but since we’re already here I’ll just share that part with you now….
The REAL Definition of Social Media
Last week, I read a brilliant post by Jim Ducharme titled, “EMAIL: What’s in a name?” where he defined the word email. I loved the acronym approach he took as it really got me thinking about what’s behind my baby, social media. In contemplating the realities of my everyday job and my personal testaments, I’ve come up with my own list. Without further ado, here’s my take on defining social media:
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