listen to the full (40-minute) interview, head over to Jeff’s site.

A few things They talked about:

• Why every page of your site may be a list-building opportunity
• What happens when you ask for too much information in a signup form
• An example of how email segmentation can help raise sales
• Things you can split test on your signup forms and in your emails
• Factors that affect average open rates

Popularity: 4%

I know. You watch the reads and the clicks… and you measure by ONLY that. Rough.

Even when people are not opening and clicking on your emails, they are having a future lift impact due to the branding that takes place in the inbox. Studies have shown with larger travel brands that if they remove the email marketing in controlled selected groups, those groups were less likely to book with them when they were in the market to purchase. It is about being “there” and not just when people are “in market” to purchase. As you might never know exactly when that time is for everyone.What does this mean or have to do with you? Well it has to do with two things.

Frequency and Consistency. Right there they are out on the table for all to see. Well…. do you have them? Does your email program have them? And if you do… are they enough? How do you know?I ask as I see so many brands and campaigns racing to get content out or smaller groups saying let’s just do a quarterly newsletter or one when we have something to talk about. Really? Now that makes sense to you, the internal company, but does that make sense to everyone else that has subscribed and is looking to hear from you? Not at all.

Why is it always on your terms? If you are not building touch points into your program that keep your name on the minds of your customers and prospects in a positive and resourceful way, then you just lost. As if you are not top of mind they are just going to go to the site that was most recently telling them that they might be the place for them. So how do you do this? Well each site/brand/blog/etc has things that can be used. Everyone has content that can be leveraged. Everyone in email marketing needs to learn how to be a story teller.

That is what we are. If you are not a good story teller, you need to be. They can keep audience engaged, listening, wondering, thinking and waiting for the next line. Don’t you want your email programs to have that effect when you are not getting the reads and the clicks?So why are you always concerned about your immediate sales? Sure someone is always in market somewhere, but you need to be ready to build a relationship first. You need to be able to tell a story.

You need to be engaging not once, but all the time.Grab a good book and notice how the story telling goes. Even better, go to iTunes, look up Podcasts, and listen to a few of my favorites at THE MOTH (an event in LA and NYC of storytellers).

See how they keep you there, engaged, waiting, wanting, and ready to close when the time is ready.

Popularity: 3%

Just a friendly reminder for you to check to make sure your the images in your email have HTML “alt” tags, which displays a text description when the image does not display. Here is why… 

Need I say more? Well yes, I will say more. I have been on Reebok’s list for quite a while. The reason the images were blocked is because they changed the email address used for email.  That removed the inbox whitelist I had previously setup.  While they do have a link to “If you can’t read this newsletter, view the HTML version online”, with no ability to see anything referencing email content, why should I click that link? Because of the subject line?This leads me to another topic: Image only emails - Why? With all of the chatter from ESP’s and the Blogosphere on email rendering and conversion increases from well designed/coded emails, why do people still do it?  I will tell you why, because it is easy. It takes time to code email for optimal rendering. In an image only email, you can create a unique and dynamic experience.  But is that going to pay the bills?Make sure that your designers are aware of the complexities of the inbox BEFORE they start designing.

Popularity: 7%

 The Nigerian con-artists that once littered your inbox with wire transfer requests have upped their game and infiltrated Facebook. Karina Wells, a Google employee in Australia, had logged on for a little mid-afternoon poke and wall post action when she received a message from what appeared to be one of her friends claiming to be stranded in Nigeria and asking for money to purchase a plane ticket home. The scammer’s use of the term “cell phone” instead of the more common Australian phrase “mobile phone” tipped off Wells (apparently the whole unexplained excursion to Africa didn’t quite set off the alarm) and she contacted authorities. The incident represents a growing trend of cybercriminals moving to the 2.0 world and, despite assertions from Facebook that “only a small percentage of Facebook users have been affected by recent attacks,” the social networking site still plans to boost its security systems. And a little common sense reminder: your friends are far more likely to end up penniless, without a ride somewhere like a bus stop or the mall, but likely not in west Africa.

Popularity: 7%

After ripping apart some poor email examples, I think it’s high time we point out someone who’s doing an email newsletter right.I’ve been getting emails from travel planning site Kayak.com for a couple weeks. In each issue I’m impressed by their email savvy, from content to design to the little extras that make me so likely to use them to plan my trips.

Why do I like Kayak’s emails — both as an email marketing guy and as a subscriber — so much?

Examples of Kayak’s Emails

Before we go any further, take a look at 2 issues of their email newsletter that I’ve received:

(Click the above images for full-size versions.)

What do you think of them? Here’s my take:

They Build a Relationship, Rather Than Going For the Hard Sell

As a member of several frequent flyer programs, I get emails from a number of airlines. I also get emails from time to time from other travel sites where I’m a member.

Rather than pushing for a sale right away, Kayak keeps my attention with great content.

I’ve never received an email campaign from any of them that tries to connect with me. They’re just so… all-sell, all-the-time, all about price.

Kayak, on the other hand, doesn’t scream at me about the latest deals.

Their emails sell the idea of traveling. Each section gets me excited about a destination, as if the emails were made up of postcards from friends who were visiting each place.

And even though I’m not usually looking to go anywhere, I often click through just to see what it might cost to take a trip. Just for fun (when was the last time your email campaign had subscribers going to your website just for fun? Try it.).

They’re Well-Designed and Easy To Read

This is exactly the kind of email that comes to mind (for me) when someone asks for an example of a “Light HTML” email message.

They cleverly separate each section with a header (the destination name).

They provide navigation at the top of the email to each section/destination, and each section has a link back to the top.

Navigation is text, not images, so it’s even useful with images disabled.

They distinguish their own content from sponsored content/ads by using lightly shaded backgrounds. Interspersing shaded sections with the main content also makes the email seem shorter than it actually is.

They put their logo in the upper left-hand corner of the email, so it appears in the preview pane, and they keep it small enough that it doesn’t get in the way of other content at the top of the email.

They’re Targeted To Me

And oh boy, is it easy to see what a trip might cost.

Did you see what they did in the sidebar? They put links to “cheap flights from Philadelphia.

When I signed up they asked me what my home airport was, and they’re using that to get me from reading their email to making a purchase. The links even go to a flight search page that’s pre-filled with Philadelphia as the departing airport.

With what is really just basic segmentation and personalization — nothing difficult or complex — Kayak makes a smooth transition from inbox to web.

They Encourage Communication

Look at the footer of the email.

Rather than hiding behind a “do not reply” type of address and using email as a way to talk at me, they tell me they want to hear from me!

What’s especially great about this is they give me multiple ways to contact them:

The link in their email goes to a feedback form on their site.

Unlike the company in our email footer example a while back, they send from an email address that forwards to their help desk, so even if I reply instead of using their feedback form, I can still get in touch with them.

Anything Else?

I feel like I’m rambling a bit here, so I’ll turn it over to you.

What did you like about these emails?

Or didn’t you like them (and if so, why not)?

How do you feel you can apply these tactics to your own email marketing campaigns?

Popularity: 9%