When you work in the email space, you take a different perspective on your inbox. I receive email for very different reasons than others in my life. I subscribe to just about any email I can, because I like to see what people are doing. More specifically,  how marketers are targeting their customers, leveraging data, addressing rendering challenges and motivating recipients to open, among many other things.

But "normal" people just don't do that. They subscribe to a specific email because they want it – at least they thought they did. So I thought I would ask the real email subscriber in my life, my husband, what he likes and doesn't like about email – this is what he said (ok, I've paraphrased some, but this is almost what he said):

The Bait and Switch
So, apparently people actually subscribe to email because they expect or want something – go figure, huh? But once they get "it" do marketers continue to deliver value? So my hubby tells me that often times he subscribes for something specific, but if the subsequent emails don't grab him right away then he unsubscribes. Yes, you heard me right, he actually does click the unsubscribe link.

The Fine Print
But he can't click the unsubscribe link if he can't find it – and he actually does look for it. This leads us to the second thing that annoys him about email – ok, it's a life in general thing, but it's prolific in email – the fine print. Now that we have kids, the closest he's getting to Vegas are the emails he gets in his inbox – and nothing drives him more crazy than a great subject line and headline about getting free nights at a great hotel – only to open the message to find that there isn't a snowball's chance he can go. It would just take too long to filter through the legalese.

No Real Point
My better-half tells me that we email marketers have seconds to get to the point otherwise he closes the email. Which in and of itself isn't news – but what surprised me was that he's actually pretty fickle. If we don't make our point quickly in this email – he isn't opening the next one either – or the one after that, or the one after that. He's stubborn…

No Images (Not our fault, but he doesn't know that)
So this was the very first thing he said – and as long as we've been together and all the time I've been working in the space – I was sure he knew this, but he did not. AOL, take note, my husband does not like that you suppress his images by default. The funnier thing for me was that he couldn't figure out why images rendered for Zappos,  but not for Mandalay Bay. He has no recollection of adding Zappos to a safe-sender list, but clearly he did. So in his mind, the issue was with Mandalay Bay, not AOL.

But rest assured, he doesn't dislike everything about us. There is one thing he loves about email and that is Zappos. He's an uber-fan of everything Zappos, but here's a lesson to integrating your customer service calls with your email programs. After an issue he had with shoes he ordered for our son, he called and spoke with someone who was very friendly and helpful and took care of correcting the order issue. He was happy with the customer service he received, and he moved on to other things. A short hour later, he received a coupon for a discount off his next purchase – as a way to say "we're sorry for the recent issue with your order."

So learn from his man-crush on Zappos – sometimes doing something nice goes a long way.

 
- Kara Trivunovic
Senior Director of Strategic Services
StrongMail

Have we all become puppets? Being an email marketer, I realize the question itself is not overly popular – but it is something many of us struggle with. As owners of the email programs, many marketers I speak with express the acknowledgement of needing to send fewer, more valuable email communications; however, that admission is always said with the anticipation of the "but." And a big "but" it is! "BUT, my executive team (business owners, advertisers, take your pick) insist that we send more email, against our recommendation."

This statement, while expected, never ceases to amaze me. Have we really become an industry of puppets? Are experts no longer hired for their expertise and knowledge to create, drive and manage the best email program a brand can hope for?  Have we been forced in to a "yes-man" role? Ugh. I don't like the sound of that at all. Can't we just find a way to co-exist – a little compromise here and there? As we move in to 2010, I share with you my Email Hopes for the New Year:

• Mastery of the Basics
  There are so many things we could talk about here, but we really need to take a step away from the new and shiny email "toys" and really get good at the basics. If you have a 7% open rate, I don't think that plugging a video in to your email campaign is going to help. Clearly – you need to think about why you only have a 7% open rate and what you can fix about your email approach or strategy to improve. Poor program performance isn't going to make anyone happy – not you, not your boss, not your advertisers, and certainly not your customers.
  
• Send Less, More Relevant Email
  Achieving relevance is often a daunting conversation for marketers because it means having to dig deep in to data, that you may or may not be able to access. Are the days of asking customers what they want really gone? Do we have to rely on behavioral data to get relevant? Sure, it is definitely the "holy grail" dream, but it you can't get your hands on that information then why not just ask. Some of the most successful program optimization efforts I have seen with clients are those that asked some very specific questions around products/brands that were then applied to the email program. If you don't know, try asking – instead of guessing.
  
• Have a Real Email Plan
  Do you have a 2010 email calendar? If you said yes –you are in the minority. Just like other marketing efforts, you should have a 2010 email calendar denoting messages you intend to communicate with your customer-base throughout the year. Even the best laid plans have to be revised based on things happening in the market, but accounting for those outliers becomes more manageable when you have the other communications planned. If you do not have a 2010 plan, I beg you, at least make it your first quarter goal to build one. I promise that the work you do on the front-end will really help to drive the vision through the organization the rest of the year – at least it should.
  
• Make Your Email Social
  While socialized email was a new topic for email marketers in 2009 – it is definitely something you need to pay attention to and determine how it may enhance your email programs and brand as you move into 2010. It isn't going anywhere, so you should start considering ways to test and integrate it with your email marketing efforts. Just like anything else, social components have a place in your email communications and don't necessarily have to be leveraged in every communication – but determining how it could benefit your business and your email program in the coming year is definitely something to be mindful of.

As you all enter in the holiday-state-of-mind, be ready to enter Email 2010 head on. Stand your ground, sell the email vision/strategy through the organization, be ready to compromise a little (but don't give up) and most of all, have a real plan. The best way to be the expert within your organization and to get the attention and support of your decision-makers is to paint the picture – long-term considerations and all.

Happy Holidays everyone! Go get 'em!

- Kara Trivunovic
Sr. Director of Strategic Services
StrongMail