The Art of the Subject Line
Back by popular demand!
It has been a year since Epsilon shared with you the fundamentals of subject line creation and testing. The Art of the Subject Line reviews findings from our analysis of more than a billion emails, instructions on how to build or fine tune your subject line testing program, and specific proven subject line factors that have worked for our clients that are a must to consider testing for your own email marketing program.
A Deliverable Email Address Does Not a Relationship Make
Does anyone else lament the commoditization of "friend" amid our socially connected, digital lives? I can like you on Facebook, follow you on Twitter, subscribe to your email program and join your community.
But that doesn't mean I want a relationship.
And that is a problem for marketing and sales people. There are lots of ways for people to connect with brands, but there are not many actual connections. Consider these stats from a national e-commerce retailer with a social forum on its website:
Finding the Right Channel Combination: What Drives Channel Choice
Marketing By The Numbers
The meteoric rise of Facebook may make for a good Hollywood movie script, but savvy marketers know the reality of today's marketplace is as follows: For the receipt of marketing communications, consumers continue to rely on proven sources such as brochures, flyers, newspapers, friends and family as they gradually start to integrate new sources that include online forums, blogs and mobile.
Six years after the launch of Facebook, North American consumers in the valued 18-34 year-old demographic prefer by a wide margin to learn about marketing offers via postal mail and newspapers rather than online sources such as social media platforms, according to national survey research from ICOM, a division of Epsilon Targeting.
Long Live the King?
According to new research from The Nielsen Company, though Email has long been the king on home computers, it's shifting quickly to social networking and online gaming. Americans spend 36% of their online time communicating and networking across social networks, blogs, personal email and instant messaging, up from15.8% just a year ago (43% increase)...
Click here to read the full article and see the charts.
Holiday Planning 2010
The holiday months are traditionally marked as the top potential revenue earners of the year. Now is the time to prepare to make the 2010 Holiday Season exceed expectations.
Email Dominates Mobile Web Time
Social networking has become such a staple of online activity in the US that, according to Nielsen, internet users spent more time on social networking sites and blogs than doing any other activity in June 2010. Games, which came in second, took up less than half as much time.
Social Network Emails Fall Foul of Spam Filters
Emails from social networks are marked as spam 100% more often then those from other sectors, and in the case of Friends Reunited, one in four of its emails failed to reach the inbox.
According to Return Path, the deliverability issue is partly a result of spam complaints from recipients, which suggests that social networks need to take a closer look at the issue.
As Batman Needed Robin, Social Media Needs Email -- Or Is It The Other Way Around?
History is littered with partnerships that transformed their genre. Would Fred Astaire have made such an impact upon the world of dance without Ginger? Would Apple be where it is without the camaraderie of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak? And would Jack Bauer in "24" have been able to pull of what he did sans Chloe O'Brian?
Study Says Social Media Leads as Communications Channel
Americans are spending an increasing amount of their Internet time on social networks, which is cutting into their use of such older channels of digital communications as email and the viewing of portals, according to a new study from Nielsen Co.
Article: Using Email Marketing to Boost Social Presence
A majority of email marketers are now making efforts to integrate social media into their campaigns. An April 2010 survey by interactive and email marketing agency eROI found that two-thirds of US marketers were doing so, and June 2010 research from StrongMail, a provider of email and social media marketing solutions, put the number who had integrated social and email, or planned to this year, at 71% worldwide.
But the vast majority are still focusing on the basics rather than more sophisticated techniques for integration.
Study: Emails, Intranet Top Company-to-Staff Communications
The communication vehicles organizations most commonly use to engage employees and foster productivity are email and company intranets, according to a new study from the International Association of Business Communicators and human resources consultancy Buck Consultants.
According to the groups' second annual “Employee Engagement Survey,” which produced 900 respondents, 83% of companies use email to engage with their own employees, and 75% post communications on their internal intranet systems.
Study: Social Media Takes On Email
What sucks Americans' time? Social networks top the list, followed by online gaming, according to a study released Monday by The Nielsen Co.
Recharging Credit Card Marketing to Meet Evolving Consumer Expectation
Create one-to-one conversations and long term relationships with your customers.
Lead the charge! According to a recent study by Epsilon, more than half of consumers surveyed were unsure of what credit card company they were going to use when opening up a new account. This represents a huge opportunity for credit card marketers to engage these undecided consumers.
Holiday Trend Report 2010
Merry Marketing Tips
According to Epsilon’s Holiday Trend Report, creating a unique experience for customers across multiple channels will help marketers break through the clutter during the 2010 holiday season. Based on analysis of the 2009 holiday season, the research examines channel-specific trends, days of the week and weeks that were best for reaching consumers and how these trends compare to previous years.
Tips for multichannel marketers as they plan for the 2010 Holiday Season:
Nielsen: Marketers Not Making Most of Boomer Demo
First, the definition of a Baby Boomer: born between 1946 and 1964. That is an 18-year span of people who have recently retired or who are pushing toward retirement now. Most own their homes, are affluent, they are adopting new technology and they're involved. With community, with family, with churches and associations.
And don't forget, they are purchasers. Nielsen points out that:
• Boomers spend 38% of the total consumer package goods dollars
• Still, CPG brands only allocate 5% of their budgets to boomer-targeted ads





