When healthy discussions take place in the Email Industry, they tend to give birth to new ideas.  Collectively, we reinforce these ideas by sharing them with our peers through blogs and commentary.  One such discussion covered the collection process of email addresses.   Specifically, the topic was discovering more efficient ways to streamline the collection process among disparate legacy collections systems (many of which have been in place for years).  Morgan Stewart of ExactTarget delivered an excellent piece recently, aptly Three Rules for Email List Growth and Simms Jenkins of Brightwave Marketing penned two articles on ClickZ that may interest you.   Those articles inspired me to share a few thoughts on “future” list growth strategies; enhanced and accelerated through financial institutions.

 

The size of your list matters, but so does the quality.   And as your budget to grow your list increases or decreases, finding ways to replace unsubscribed addresses becomes more important than ever, because you run the risk of lower returns from your email channel.  To potentially erase these deficits, we must create ways to replenish lists with sterile data and accelerate list growth.   Economically speaking, with respect to list sizes, a sustained upward/downward trend in list sizes may be a key economic indicator of the overall health of the email industry. 

 

That said, financial institutions carry vast amounts of data on users’ purchase behavior.  Your institution knows how often you travel, which retail stores you frequent, and how much you spend annually at your favorite restaurants.  Additionally, they keep track of your verified email address.  Because financial institutions collect this type of data, the list growth challenge may be overcome by forward-looking credit card companies, who in my opinion will eventually become chief suppliers for approved merchants who seek to build a permission based opt-in list of highly relevant verified email addresses. 

 

Financial Institutions, key to buoyant List-Growth

 

The term co-registration makes me want to cringe, given that sometimes the collection process may not often deliver the desired results for the merchant in terms of relevancy.  The challenge here is often that new subscribers generated through co-registration agreements;  are not as engaged with your site/brand/products/services as someone who signed up at your own site.  But if you are fueled by enhanced engagement, automation, clean data and profound relevancy, then imagine this:

 

When you receive your credit card statement via email, you will immediately link to a list of approved merchants with whom you have conducted business. These merchants have already applied, were approved, and gave explicit permission to the credit card company to collect and confirm opt-in email addresses on their behalf.  When subscribers receive their monthly transactional statement, they can navigate to a dedicated landing page that is devoted to approved merchants based on past purchase behavior.  The list of approved merchants will be featured, and subscribers will be asked to indicate whether they wish to receive incentives and/or immediate benefits from any or all of them. When you check a box next to a certain merchant, you give your financial institution the right to send your email address directly to your selected merchant to begin a welcome series, confirming the original incentive.

 

This type of list growth strategy is advantageous because of its relevancy, engagement potential, high credibility, and verifiably clean data.  By registering people through an established, credible online identity (financial institutions), this method not only propels the email collection process, but ensures highly relevant and actively engaged subscribers. Merchants will be able to better assess cadence if their delivery messages resonate with subscribers, because subscribers generally respond favorably from merchants they’ve recently conducted business with.

 

Application Process for Merchants

 

Invitations will be sent to pre-approved merchants by Financial Institutions.  These approved merchants will enter into a partnership with the credit card company and will pay the credit card companies a fee, either for each email address collected, or perhaps a performance based annual fee.  Approved merchants may also be given the option for priority placement on the master merchant opt-in preference page during the collection process. 

 

Whenever a subscriber checks a box, the financial institution will forward the email address to the merchant.  If the consumer chooses to use a different email address, a verification of that email address will the responsibility of the financial institution, thereby ensuring that the merchant receives clean data.  For example, let’s say you shopped at Nordstrom three times last month, and also purchased an airline ticket with the same credit card.   Assuming Nordstrom and the airline are approved merchants, and based on your activity with the card over the past month, you may see a list of these merchants organized either by how often you shopped, or by the amount that you spent.   If you don’t already receive email newsletters from your preferred merchants, the option will be made available to subscribe by merely checking a box. I envision that some financial institutions may have several approved merchants for you to select.  If, for some reason, you have previously opted-in to receive newsletters from your desired merchants, the option to subscribe will be unavailable (“grayed out”) and the next most relevant merchant will be accentuated.

 

Of course the consumer will have the option to “opt-in/out” of the entire process.  For instance, consumers may be able to choose an option like “don’t offer me any information on 3^rd party email.” In addition, policies for “safeguarding” merchant applications will vary among financial institutions.  Financial institutions will need to exercise diplomacy in their efforts not to disregard merchants who operate purely as brick and mortar businesses.  By the same token, institutions must not exclude merchants who conduct all their business online. 

 

Merchants, Financial Institutions, and Consumers Benefit

 

As is often true in life, all the parties involved with email list growth wonder, “What’s in it for me?”

 

For approved merchants, along with faster list growth, verifiable data, and higher subscriber engagement, various elements provide the potential for optimal relevancy.  Clean data and better engagement lead to higher inbox placement rates, which links to better ROI.  In addition, with list attrition hovering at 30 percent, this method of email address collection is a great way to accelerate list growth for high profile merchants. 

 

For financial institutions, this is one more level of data that they can harness to profile consumers.  Additionally, it offers a significant revenue stream, based on any number of revenue models, regardless of whether financial institutions charge an annual fee or a “per email address” fee.  The question that credit card companies must consider is “Which financial model will merchants feel most comfortable with?”

 

For consumers who don’t yet receive emails from merchants that they frequent, these emails can become a great way for them to capitalize on incentives.  I think incentives can come in a couple of different formats.  Wouldn’t it be great if merchants offered an immediate rebate on their portion of the bill?  So, upon signing up, you’ll receive an immediate credit of $10.00, for example.  Or better yet, give the consumer the option on incentives.  For example, receive an immediate rebate of $10.00 now or get 20% off your next purchase.  Whichever option the consumer chooses, the merchant will send a welcome message confirming that the subscriber has opted in and to receive the chosen incentive.  Being informed of special offers from their favorite merchants will entice subscribers to “opt-in.”

 

The performance of any list growth and retention strategy depends on the quality of data.  The better the data is organized, and the more closely it aligns with the content generated by the merchant, the better any retention marketing program will perform.  Fine tuning your lists and using “reputable” co-registration techniques will generate more revenue from segments.  Using sophisticated list growth strategies such as these prevents email delivery from deteriorating and will have a dramatic lift on engagement. 

 

Questions: What about joint accounts?  Credit Card legislation? Is the concept too reminiscent of Big Brother? Which merchants get invited first?  Which financial institutions will step forward?  These are the questions that will need to be addressed as advancements in email list growth processes mature.

 

Further acknowledgements to Matt Vernhout  of Thin Data for his “smackdown” before publication.   

 

As always Terms and Conditions may applyJ 

 

Fred Tabsharani

Port25 Solutions

@tabsharani

Whether there are dozens or hundreds, the email messages that arrive daily in your inbox vie for a share of your time and attention.  Because of persistent issues with spam, messages face continued scrutiny.  In order to appeal to subscribers, messages must be authentic, carefully crafted with a specific purpose in mind.  The question is, what kinds of messages will catch subscribers’ attention and resonate with them?

 

One type of authentic email messaging is laced with charitable goals and good intentions. Subscribers find the idea of charity emotionally appealing, and they will gain satisfaction when they know that proceeds from purchases of your product or service will ultimately benefit other human beings in need.  The wisdom of partnering with a charity and creating inspirational messaging cannot be overstated.  Charity-related messaging has a proven positive effect on overall brand awareness which transcends generic “sales event” campaigns.

 

The Higher Purpose

 

Buried deep within every organization is a sense of purpose.  That sense of purpose is a voice that reverberates through the minds of conscientious employees.  The voice should be a constant reminder to an organization which perpetually asks, “What is the higher sense of purpose for our company?

 

Created by Dr. Abraham Maslow more than 50 years ago, a sense of purpose is the highest form of self-actualization. Creating email messaging with a higher sense of purpose and aligning your emails with a charitable organization will allow you to develop intimacy with your subscribers.  Advancing, the focus is no longer on a conversation with your subscriber, but instead, there is a deeper connection because both brand and subscriber are working together to reach a common goal associated with a relevant charitable organization.

 

Respected Subscribers = Fewer spam complaints

 

By respecting your messaging, you respect your subscribers.  Rather than bombarding them with mundane “30% off Campaigns,” inform them about noble endeavors, events and/or goals your organization has genuinely organized with your charitable partner. With consistent focus on your charity, the spotlight moves away from your subscribers and gravitates toward your organization’s higher purpose.  In turn, your subscribers will naturally have a higher sense of loyalty and respect toward your brand. Cultivating this type of relationship between your subscribers and your brand will undoubtedly reduce spam complaints and have a positive effect on deliverability.

 

Case studies show that when companies link a purchase to a charitable contribution, awareness increases dramatically.  As subscribers become aware of your charitable intentions, the fewer spam complaints you will receive.  In turn by activating Social Media as an extended channel, brands will dramatically enhance the overall awareness of your efforts by offering greater exposure and endorsement. Charitable efforts yield emotional stories which ignite passion for brands.

 

Play Host and Connect Emotionally

 

Let’s recall that abundance comes from good feelings that result when each encounter in the universe is based on good intentions.  When an organization plays host to a charity, your brand is developing a higher esteem for itself. By extending appreciation toward the charity, your brand becomes a conduit between your subscribers and the charitable organization.  The intention of giving allows your brand to communicate via email on a higher frequency than competitors who are not linked to a charitable cause. Imagine when a few of your subscribers donate directly to your charitable partner through a direct link from your email.  What ensues is a mutually beneficial negotiation with your charitable organization which will actively pursue recipriocation because your subscribers made direct donations, attributable to your brand.

 

The Impact of Charitable Marketing

 

Besides the increased brand awareness, and impact on credibility and consumer perceptions, charitable marketing has also proven to help the bottom line. There are numerous case studies on charitable marketing, but one stat that stands out above the rest is this:  In a recent study by Cone and Duke University found that 87% of consumers said they would switch from one brand to another comparable brand based on its association with a charitable cause.  Also, when consumers were aware of a given company’s charitable efforts, they consistently rated the company more highly in terms of trust, endorsements, bonding, and innovation.

 

So, what’s the best way to align your brand with a charitable organization? Ask your subscribers!

 

The opportunity exists further to develop greater intimacy with your subscribers simply by surveying them? Whittle your list to four and ask your subscribers, which charity they would like your brand to be associated with?  Again, by allowing your subscribers to choose the charity, you are empowering them to make significant decisions about the future of your organization; which is the highest form of respect.  

 

This article was inspired by Melinda Krueger of Ogilvy One.

 

Fred Tabsharani

Port25 Solutions, Inc.

@tabsharani

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They say curiosity killed the cat. Apparently, no one is saying that loudly enough to stop consumers around the globe from clicking on spam.

Nearly half (43%) of email users in North America and Western Europe say they have knowingly opened or accessed spam – including clicking on links or opening unknown and potentially dangerous attachments, according to a new global consumer survey  from the Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group (MAAWG).  Of those who open spam, about half (46%) did so intentionally – to unsubscribe, out of curiosity or out of genuine interest in the products being offered.  This is consistent with findings from the same study’s 2009, but not an increase in such behavior.

The  2010 MAAWG ‘Email Security Awareness and Usage Report’ was released yesterday (March 24, 2010).   Consumers were surveyed in North America and across Western Europe with a variety of questions from computer expertise and savvy, to their preferences of email.

Several of the findings are both shocking and disturbing.  Consumers seem generally unaware of the consequences of their actions, and a painful percentage continue to click on spam, knowingly, instead of deleting it immediately. Such actions help explain the gargantuan increase in botnet presence on the Internet and zombie’d computers continue to steal millions of bits of personal and confidential business information as a result.

Clearly, we as an industry have an opportunity to do more education for end users of email.  Several of us at Return Path will be working with the good folks at MAAWG and other industry associations to develop programs that we hope can be embraced by marketers as well as mailbox providers and anti-spam professionals.  We'll keep everyone informed of ways to participate.

In other findings, four out of ten users responding to the survey do click the report spam button (39%) or move spam to their junk folder (44%).   One in five say they report the message to the sender, if it’s recognized as a legitimate company.   These findings are pretty consistent between North America and Western Europe.  Younger users both consider themselves more experienced in terms of email security, but also more likely to engage in risky behavior like clicking on spam. 

Marketers know full well the pressure on response rates from the excess clutter in the inbox.   However, users who responded to the survey say that they use the senders’ name (73%) and the subject line (67%) to identify spam in the inbox.    Respondents also say that unusual language, the content of the email, the “from” name or address, and spelling mistakes and poor grammar are signs that an email may be spam.  This is true in all six countries included in the survey, although respondents in Spain and France are less likely to rely on these factors.

Email marketing is still a great opportunity and users surveyed do find marketing messages valuable.  They are just not as welcome as other kinds of personal email.  When asked about what various types of email they prefer, one-to-one communications still rule the roost. Messages from friends and family were ranked as ‘extremely or very important’ to 82% of respondents, but marketing email was only rated similarly by 15% of those surveyed.  Another 32% did view marketing mail as ‘somewhat important’.

Consider these findings in context with our shared goals:  To ensure that valued messages reach the inbox and unwelcome messages – especially the dangerous ones – do not.   Marketers, email service and technology providers, mailbox providers and security vendors all share this goal.

Please take a look at the full survey, and share your reactions and thoughts in the comments section below.

(Thanks to Neil Schwartzman of Return Path for his co-authorship of this post!)

In Inbox Reserve parts one and two, we discovered how socially centric preference centers and subject lines will lead to dramatically higher engagement and lower spam complaints. In part III below, we'll identify challenges that are inherent with acquiring a subscribers social data points and what the benefits are to your brand once harnessed.

Challenge:  Develop a Preference Center Marketing Program

The challenge for today’s brand marketer is to find ways to seductively charm subscribers to fully or partially divulge their social media credentials through an intuitive preference center.  Some subscribers will immediately acquiesce, while others will be more sensitive and allow the brand only a partial glimpse into their social networks.  For example, B2B focused subscribers may prefer to provide only credentials of their LinkedIn network and not necessarily Facebook or Twitter.  Future preference centers will allow you to prioritize which social networks you want linked to a given brand.

For this concept to work, marketers must demonstrate to subscribers the value of this initiative. Those subscribers who opt-in will glean more value and insight through their network associated with a given brand, because knowing what transactions are taking place with their social networks is in most cases desired.  Once brands amass these nuggets of data; designers, engineers and email marketing specialists will collaborate to produce instinctive methods of engagement while furthering your brands credibility.

Brands must take a proactive approach with subscribers to induce them to release this essential data.  A strategic marketing program targeted towards this master preference center with strong calls-to-action should be integrated into your marketing mix.  This marketing program should primarily focus on the features, benefits and value of updating socially centric preferences.

 

Emphasize Value and Benefits

One way to galvanize a brands subscriber base is to highlight reasons “why” updating your preference center is so valuable.  In your email marketing program, dedicate sends that emphasize the real value of managing and sharing social media credentials.  Market your preference center through other channels as well. Read Stephanie Miller's stellar post on why earning permission is divine.

Future marketing programs for updating preference centers should illustrate value–based notifications of activity within a subscribers given network: For example, in the email message itself give subscribers the option to choose from a host of alert notifications such as:

• Alert me when a member of my network makes a purchase from this brand
• Alert me when a member of my network signs up to receive newsletters from this brand
• Alert me when a member of my network reviews a product from this brand

This type of socially centric messaging will echo well with subscribers and will develop an affinity not only your brand but just as importantly your preference center.  These notifications will go "prime-time" and will replace the current generic “marketing messages” we currently receive.  Messages of this nature could be an excellent resource for winning back dormant subscribers.  

Furthermore, your subscribers might want to be immediately notified if a person from their network reviewed a nearby restaurant?  By giving your subscribers “night-vision” into their social networks, brands will have a simpler time summoning subscribers to release this coveted information.   Benefits to brands include far fewer defections from list segments, increased engagement, an awakening to dormant subscribers and significantly fewer “spam complaints.”

Immediate Benefits to the Brand

Credibility- As discussed throughout this series, socialized messaging of this nature provides a more intimate user experience.  It permits a subscriber to feel that the message is about their social ecosystem first and about the brand second.  It authorizes subscribers and their network to indirectly promote your brand, through a more relaxed conversation. 

Reduced Costs- Socialized messaging, will significantly reduce a brands’ overall operating expenses, because of a higher engagement index, fewer spam complains and better inbox placements rates.  Socialized messaging will increase sender reputation which reduces message handling costs including more relaxed human filtering steps with a given brand.  

Validation through Engagement- The ability to quickly connect with your peers before clicking the purchase button will soon be the “de facto” model for how to validate a purchase through a given brand. Acquiring validation from your trusted network means that an emotional and financial investment has been made on behalf of your friends and colleagues.  With a swift chat session with members of their network, your subscribers will discern information about a featured product/service, which accelerates immediate gratification for the purchaser.  Building a subscriber centric brand will add considerable value to your existing customer base and through crosshairs will magnify brand integrity.  Your feedback on this series is valued.

Fred Tabsharani

Port25 Solutions, Inc.

@tabsharani

As outlined in Part I of Inbox Reserve, “Why Email must Reverse Engineer Social Now,” future engagement metrics and delivery patterns will be based on how subscribers’ social networks interact with a given brand.   Disclaimer: The strategies outlined below are congruent and/or complementary with advanced “opt-in” best practices.  It is safe to say that behavioral targeted messaging may not achieve the same level of granular social activity that a contemporary preference center would.

Inbox Reserve II: Socialized Subject Lines

Using fresh social data points gathered from an advanced preference center, future marketing based messaging will place your friends’ names or actions in the subject lines of emails associated with a given brand.  These personalized subject lines are a key tool for increasing your brand’s ability to engage subscribers, dramatically increase open rates and manufacture a better delivery reputation.  When you have targeted promotions that build value around this concept, connoisseurs of your brand will flock to this preference center.  Once there, they can opt-in to receive real-time notifications (or weekly digests, if they prefer) that tell them when members of their social ecosystem have taken “definitive” action involving a given brand.  Moreover, once permission is granted, subscribers will also see their friends’ images dynamically inserted into a well-designed email creative. They’ll be able to click on the images and ask their friends’ opinions of a product before making a purchase.  Here are two “plain” examples of future subject lines based on social activity within your network:

·         Real-Time-Notification:   Mark from your network just purchased     Sees Candies at 30% off…

·         Weekly Digest:              14 members of your network purchased                                      Sees Candies? Find out who!

Inbound, highly transparent subject lines of this nature are inherently credible. Their success further supports the theory that curious subscribers are also the most engaged.  Informed subscribers who choose to receive these types of messages are far more likely to engage because these notification are about your network first and the brand second.  Therefore, these subject lines seem more valuable and relevant to the subscribers.

Ever get a notification from Facebook that a certain friend of yours commented on your status?  You are much more likely to react positively to that message as opposed to a “brand first” subject line offering you a product at 30% off.   Moreover, you are less likely to click the “report spam” button because you are more loyal to the people in your network.

Reduced Spam Complaints

The most compelling reasons for brands to earn network permission from subscribers is that it dramatically reduces spam complaints.  Socialized email notifications are important because they prioritize a subscriber’s network first and the brand second. First, it’s far more palatable for a subscriber to open an email message with a friend’s name in the subject line and a friends’ picture in the creative because it creates a perception of relevance and allows for a far more customized experience. For example, if I were a subscriber and received such a message, I would probably refrain from clicking the “report spam” button because my main focus is on my network.  Secondly, personalized subject lines will cause your open rates and engagement index to skyrocket, enhancing your brand’s deliverability reputation.  ISPs will take notice of reduced spam complaints and brands will begin to see a higher inbox placement rate, resulting from more positive actions taken with this type of email. 

Notifications and creatives of this nature are packed with relevancy.  Testimonials from members of a social network will influence subscribers’ purchasing decisions, which will drastically diminish the chances of a user clicking the “report spam” button.  The benefit is increased engagement, as network buddies chat about potential purchases. This leads to more delivered mail to the inbox.  Second Disclaimer:  It’s important that we try not to associate this concept with Facebook page suggestions, simply because there is a monetary investment element in place here.  Members of your social network invested quality time in making a determination about a product or service and gave explicit permission to opt-in and receive exclusive messaging of this type.  So, it’s unfair to be skeptical because of earlier social media spam-related growing pains. 

In Part III of Inbox Reserve, we'll discuss the challenges brands will have in leveraging an advanced preference center and share some of the immediate benefits to any given brand; which include added credibility, reduced costs and subscriber validation. 

Fred Tabsharani

Port25 Solutions, Inc.    

@tabsharani

 

   

I'm amazed that what is probably the largest data breach in email marketing history has gone largely unnoticed by the email marketing community. Suppression lists get stolen all the time, but I've never heard of an ESP getting hacked and compromising the subscriber lists of all of its customers. 

I haven't seen a single article about it in any of the trade magazines not to mention that TechCrunch usually loves to cover this sort of thing. A few bloggers have talked about it (here and here) and Al Iverson wrote a short post but I'm surprised how little it was covered by the mainstream press. Maybe its due to the timing right before the holiday?

At the end of December, AWeber says their database was hacked by an "overseas organized group" and some, if not all of their subscribers started receiving Viagra spam and other unsolicited email messages. AWeber is an email service provider that claims 65,000 customers. Each of their customers uploads a list of email addresses, so AWeber probably holds tens of millions of unique email addresses.

According to the AWeber blog, they had vulnerabilities in their software that allowed a malicious hacker to gain access to the database containing the email addresses. It's unclear if they got the whole database or just part of it (and probably impossible to know for sure). AWeber assures us that its all fixed now. 

I'm not sure that a customer reading AWeber's description would get the right idea or understand the significance of what really happened. 

AWeber points out with little red flags all the things that were NOT stolen, and make a laundry list of everything they can think of. Pointing out that no "from email addresses" or "website URLs" were stolen seems to be really grasping at straws - maybe they thought that by making the list of NOT bigger it would draw attention away from what was really stolen.

They also point out that the spam being sent to your customers isn't being sent from AWeber, so it won't hurt their deliverability. I'm sure that's comforting for AWeber, and I'm sure its a common question their customers might have - but the way its written downplays the primary issue that their email list was stolen.

They lost the subscriber lists. That's the most valuable thing they have! If I were a customer of theirs, I'd much rather that they lost my credit card number than lose my list of subscribers. I can cancel my credit card - but I can't ever get my email addresses back from the foreign criminals and everyone else they sell it to. Those users can never unsubscribe now - they will just get more and more spam until they switch to a new email address.

The criminals can now sell those email lists on the black market over and over. The problem is likely to get worse over time as each generation of the list gets resold. This is a Pandora's box that can't be closed after you open it.

I have a unique OtherInbox address that I gave to AWeber when I signed up to try out their service a few years ago. I haven't received any email at that address since it was first used. But in the past week it has received 5 messages with various subject lines and the same NSFW body showing the before and after images of a penis enlargement device. 

You know what I haven't received? An email from AWeber notifying me that my email address was compromised. I guess they think that posting it to their blog is enough. But considering that none of the owners of the email addresses that were stolen even know who AWeber is, its pretty unlikely that they would be reading the AWeber blog. I don't think it is adequate notice.

Fortunately, because that email address was only given to AWeber, I can just Block that one email address and be done with it. But if they had your work email address, there is nothing you can do to fix it and it is just going to get worse over time.

If AWeber was the secret service, this is like having the president get shot on their watch. Complete failure to protect their most important asset. I don't have anything against AWeber and have always respected them - but I don't see how we can let this one slip under the radar. Customers need to have higher expectations of their Email Service Provider and consumers have to higher expectations of the companies they purchase from. 

If I were AWeber, I would be groveling to my customers and begging forgiveness, not pretending that it wasn't a big deal. It seems like their attitude is all wrong - their original blog post didn't even have an apology to their customers, it was added afterwards. When I ran SKYLIST and UnsubCentral, if for any reason I felt that our service had not lived up to the expectations we set with our customers I compensated them in some way (a month of free service at a minimum).

If you are an AWeber customer, you should probably consider sending notice to your own customers who were affected by this, the way that ProBlogger did and Seesmic did.

If you are an Email Service Provider, you need to make it clear to your customers that this is NOT something that is acceptable or expected to happen. You need to make it clear to your customers that their subscriber lists are safe and are not going to get hacked.

If you are a salesperson at an Email Service Provider, you should be calling up AWeber customers. Email Data Source can probably show you a list of them.

The preference center is a highly intriguing, untapped resource for Email Marketers and could be used in a variety of ways.  It has the potential to establish critical ground rules with both newfound and dormant subscribers.  When subscribers are awarded mission control to continuously manage their preferences, the amount of information that marketers can glean is truly unlimited.  During last week’s Email Insider Summit, Greg Cangialosi spoke about a “master preference center” which, in essence, puts the subscriber in complete control of different online messaging streams.  Additionally, subscribers would be able to divulge their social media and mobile credentials within the preference center.   By adding social media and mobile to the preference center, users garner an added benefit: they can proactively engage with your subscribers within the “online” marketing channel they prefer.  As Jeannie Mullen points out in her recent Web 3.0 column, subscribers now receive emails through a plethora of online channels. Optimizing the preference center will make for a more satisfying subscriber experience.

Balanced Online Messaging

When it comes to email, we understand the basics. How often do you, the user, wish to receive emails?  What email format do you prefer? However, to get to the next level of online messaging, we need to move beyond basic queries and product of interest questions.  The key to reaching the next level lies in adhering to your subscribers’ wishes and preserving a “balance of online messaging.”  To achieve the goal of balanced messaging, give subscribers social media and mobile preferences as well.  For example, subscribers may prefer to utilize Twitter for customer service inquiries, while other subscribers may choose to receive more “entertaining” messaging via Facebook.  I envision a preference center design, where subscribers can populate a matrix of radio buttons or checkboxes and choose the type of messaging and preferred online channel.  Tweetdeck's latest version is a good example, where the "notifications" tab allows clients to choose the level of detail on each type of message stream.  Perhaps in the future, we'll see more formal messaging dispatched through email instead, which underscores why the vision of a master preference center is so significant.    We’ve learned that subscribers engage with brands through various different online and mobile channels.  Engaging them through their preferred method will pique their interest and ultimately entice them to orbit your brand successfully.

Mini Surveys in the Preference Center

If we continue to explore the potential of a well-structured preference center, we will discover a way that marketers can induce a higher level of participation, intimacy and engagement.  To do this, marketers can devise a “mini survey” (just one or two questions) that updates regularly with relevant and timely questions.  The survey would be integrated into preference center itself.  By adding a mini survey to poll your subscribers, you’ll increase the attributes for a given record in a database, and thereby allow future messaging that is more detailed relevant to your subscribers’ needs and interests.  We learned last week that FedEx has 144 attributes associated with each subscriber.  FedEx utilizes this wealth of information to tailor their marketing to the needs of individual subscribers, which will increase intimacy and engagement.

When your subscribers develop their profiles via the "mini survey," they become "active" subscribers.  In doing so, they give you permission to ameliorate their experience with you even more.  By asking leading questions that will result in a more profound relationship, you will allow your subscribers to modify their behavior and attain a greater degree of engagement with your brand.  Leading questions can invoke a higher level of brand awareness, and the use of time sensitive questions will enable you to increase that level of engagement with your brand sooner rather than later.  For instance, pose questions such as, "How likely are you to purchase from us the holiday season?"  Or, something along the lines of "Do you anticipate making a purchase from use within the next 90 days?"  (Make sure to phrase questions in a sensitive manner, so that they will not alienate your subscribers!)  Questions like these effectively create a sense of urgency and may give you greater insight as to what types of promotions you can successfully "initiate" with each active subscriber.  

Detailed Information: A Prerequisite for Customized, Detailed Messaging

Now, if a newly active subscriber has been dormant since immediately after answering your leading questions, you should take steps to re-engage that subscriber.  When this situation arises, you have a valid excuse to send a re-engaging or “reminder” email with a single survey question that will lead the subscriber to a preference center landing page, without necessarily prompting a smattering of complaints.  A strategy you might consider is utilizing  the preference center as the landing page of choice when formulating re-engagement campaigns. In that case, installing follow up questions there can help you in your mission to engage subscribers.  Using these methods should significantly reduce your spam complaints in the event that the subscriber chooses to end your relationship.

Inevitably, preference centers will get more sophisticated over time, and as Morgan Stewart of ExactTarget quoted Amazon’s chief scientist, who opined, “The future of marketing is based on how we enhance the digital experience of a subscriber and provide more detailed messaging by asking the subscriber for more detailed information.”  You may wonder, “How can I ask my subscribers for more detailed information without seeming intrusive and drawing spam complaints?”  If that is your question, preference centers hold the key to a successful mission with your subscribers. 

 Fred Tabsharani

 Port25 Solutions, Inc.

@tabsharani