As I rolled into work this morning, I logged into my Gmail account to see what random emails came in over the 6-hour window of time I was sleeping. Lo and behold....a message was sitting unread in my inbox.

The message was from “AIM Member Message” and had the subject line “What’s New with AIM?” If I wasn’t the type of person who opens every email (if only to critique them from a best practices standpoint), I would have “junked” this one immediately. Who is “AIM Member Message?” Why not “AIM” or “AOL Instant Messenger?” If you are going to have a terrible From name, at least wow me with the subject line, right? “What’s New with AIM?” Boooooooring.

Two strikes for AOL before I even open the message. But, again, I open everything. Maybe they were banking on that fact. Maybe they didn’t really spend any time thinking about the From name or subject line. Maybe they don’t have a dedicated team of email marketers who are thinking about email as a strategic tool. Maybe it’s a combination of all three or “none of the above.” Who knows? Either way, it’s not a great start.

Did I mention that I can’t remember ever receiving an email from AOL (not in my Gmail account anyway)? So my next question (zinger) is how did they get my email address? Followed by...why the random, seemingly out-of-the-blue email? Oh right, they wanted to tell me “What’s New with AIM.” Too bad I don’t care or more importantly, never asked to be emailed by AIM. Good thing they put the disclaimer in fine print in the footer.

Now...to the message. On first glance, a decent design for images off. Three text links—one “Find Out More!” followed by two “Start Now!” At least the valuable disclaimer/opt-out shows up with images off.

Moving onto the message with images on, I realize there are several key calls-to-action that are now viewable. So much for a nice design with images off. First off, apparently this is the AIM Newsletter. Who would’ve known? What *is* the AIM Newsletter anyway? A weekly message? Monthly communication? Whenever-they-feel-like-it email? Looks like they want me to download AIM. Funny thing is that I already have an AIM account. In fact, I’ve had one since AIM first launched sometime in the late 20th century. AOL collects a ton of data (I assume). Shouldn’t they have already known that little tidbit? How about segmenting the list...targeting emails?

Continuing down below the fold, it looks like they want me to “start using [my] free AIM Mail Account.” Again—been there, done that. My AOL username dates back to the dial-up days of 1995.

Finally, at the very bottom of the email—well below the fold—I get some neat new information: Mobile AIM! Yes. I can now access AIM on my mobile device. I guess it’s about time to purchase that smart phone. I’ve been told they are pretty cool.

Unfortunately, I’m no longer shocked or surprised when a multi-billion dollar company does not understand the basics of email marketing. In the email ecosystem, industry experts often get dinged for hammering “email marketing 101.” Marketers shout, “We get the fundamentals. Show us the new stuff!” But then...we get emails like the one from AOL/AIM/AIM Member Message.

Thanks AOL for keeping our jobs easy....

—DJ Waldow of Bronto Software

I rented a car from Enterprise for the May 2008 Email Insider Summit on Captiva Island in Florida. Enterprise has been my vendor of choice for the past 5 years because of their incredible customer service and comparable prices. As far as I’m concerned they are ozone layers above the rest.

However, as an email marketing account manager at Bronto Software for the past 3 years, I’ve evolved into a consumer with a critical eye toward marketing—email marketing specifically. I think about email all the time and am always fascinated on how companies communicate and execute on their email marketing campaigns. Enterprise was now on the clock. So...sit back, buckle up, and read on to learn more about my Enterprise email experience.

Half asleep due to boredom, I muddled through the normal car rental stuff—license, car model/size, etc. Then, after I signed away my life (and declined the optional insurance) the Enterprise guy asked me for my email address. Suddenly, he had my full attention. Of course, I asked why he needed my email and what he would use if for. Very politely, Mr. Enterprise informed me that they send out occasional updates on Enterprise specials. Sign me up!

I was immediately impressed that not only did he overtly ask for my permission, the salesman also began to set some expectations (frequency). It would have been hard to set content expectations in that particular venue, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

When I arrived at my bed & breakfast on Captiva Island and found a wireless connection, I checked my Gmail for the Enterprise welcome message. D’oh. Strike one. No email from Mr. Enterprise. Good thing my expectations for welcome messages were pretty low. A recent study by Return Path showed the dismal results on welcome messages (60% of companies surveyed didn’t bother to send one!).

The good news? The very next day, Enterprise sent me a confirmation email. Yay! The from name was “Enterprise Plus” (okay) and the subject line read “Activate your Enterprise Plus membership” (love)—clear and to the point. The message with images off was not so great, but that’s a post for another day. Images on was pretty good, not great, but at least it gave me a few opportunities to activate my account. Not bad, Enterprise. My faith in their email marketing program was returning.

I figured I’d put them to the test...see what happened if I did *not* confirm by clicking “Activate Now.” So I opened the email, but didn’t confirm. In fact, I didn’t even click on a link. Lo and behold, one week to the day later, Enterprise sent me another email. I know what you are thinking (and what I was hoping): A reminder to confirm my interest in their email marketing campaign. Nope. This one came from “Enterprise-Rent-A-Car” (makes sense) and the subject read “David, speed your way to savings from Enterprise” (okay), but the content (Enterprise Regular Email.jpg) had nothing to do with activating my account. It was just the normal Enterprise email. Actually, the call to action offered me at 15% discount on NASCAR.COM Superstore. Okay, I’ll admit, I am going into year #2 in a Fantasy Nascar league, but come on Enterprise! You didn’t really know that. Then...on June 10th, another Enterprise email. It was the exact same email - same subject line, same copy, same offer (Nascar.com), with a different From Name (Enterprise Plus). In case you forget, at this point, I have still not confirmed my opt-in.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. In order to grow your email marketing list, take advantage of all opportunities to ask future and current customers: Enterprise nailed this one.
2. Send a Welcome Message immediately (set proper expectations around content and frequency). Enterprise bombed this one.
3. If you are going to send a confirmation email, make sure you receive an opt-in BEFORE sending more email. Enterprise was so close, but missed it.

—DJ Waldow of Bronto Software

*Earlier this week, Enterprise sent me a reminder email about my reservation for my Connecticut trip. Hmmm.

The answer…
11% --> Double opt-in (have to check an unchecked box and respond to confirmation email)
26% --> Confirmed opt-in (have to check an unchecked box, plus they receive a welcome email allowing them to immediately opt out)
22% --> Single opt-in (have to check an unchecked box)
22% --> Negative opt-in (have to uncheck a pre-checked box not to be opted in)
20% --> Opt out (are automatically opted in and have to opt out to get off your list)

Are you surprised by the results? Share your comments below.

Also, visit the eec homepage to answer the latest Two-Click Survey question:
Which channel does email have the most synergies with?

-->See more Two-Click Survey Results.

Since moving from Rochester, N.Y., to Durham, N.C., almost three years ago, I’ve gained a new appreciation for the month of March. March Madness in the Triangle (Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill) is just that—absolute madness. From the Duke-Carolina rivalry, to the ACC Tournament to the Big Dance, this is truly basketball country.

When the email to join “Bronto’s Online NCAA March Madness Bracket Group” landed in my inbox, I immediately went to CBSSportsline.com to register. CBS Sports made me work a bit to actually register as a new user (not good). Fortunately, as one who spends their day advising clients on best practices, I knew where to look.

Once I clicked on the super-small link “Register Now,” I was redirected to the registration page. I absolutely love this landing page.

1. An appropriate number of fields. Too many scares subscribers away, too few and you get a large list of uninterested subscribers.

2. Tips. Mousing over the lightbulbs provides clear instructions on how to fill out that particular field and/or a brief snippet of why they are asking for it.

3. Opt-in. Yes! Someone did it the “right” way. I say “right” because there is not really a right or wrong way, just a bad/good/better. What I love about this opt-in is that none of the boxes are pre-checked (a true opt-in), there is a brief description of what to expect (content, frequency), and a preview of an example. Brilliant!

That said, this is what happened when I clicked on “Preview an example” for the Product Updates. After hitting refresh three times, it eventually brought me to the intended preview page. I know what you are thinking...temporary hiccup with the connection. I thought the same thing, so I tried it the next day. Same result. (not good).

4. Optional Special Offers. Partner/third party/co-registration emails are always tricky. Personally, I think they have no business in the world of “best practice email marketing,” but I understand why they are used. If you are going to offer them, let subscribers opt-in and keep them separate. Well done.

Once I hit submit, a flurry of emails from CBS Sportsline began to fill my inbox (email #1, email #2). A bit of overkill if you ask me, but I forgive them. Anyway, that’s fodder for another post.

By the way, I’ve got UCLA winning it all in one bracket and Kansas in my other (neither are popular picks in my office).

—DJ Waldow of Bronto Software

A debate raged in a meeting last week that I'd love your ideas and feedback on. We were talking about the duplicity found in so many permission practices—particularly in ecommerce sites.

Yes, I know that duplicity is strong word. But consider that most retailer email programs are opt-in—until you buy. Then, it's either a pre-checked box on the checkout form—easy to miss and decidedly opt-out—or worse, it's a notice buried in the fine print. Since these folks are buyers, they are by nature pretty active with the brand and products, so there isn't a huge penalty for this practice in ISP complaints or unsubscribes. In many cases, these buyers are sometimes the most active folks on the file.

So what is wrong with that? I say nothing, if the marketer is clear about it. They no longer have an opt-in permission file. Don't claim it in your promotions or when dealing with ISPs on deliverability. Worse, subscribers have no input into the frequency, content or value of the program—which is easily corrected.

I'd feel a lot better about these practices if marketers also sent a very clear welcome message and gave these buyers some control over their inbox. There was some heated debate that these buyers should be permissioned in via a double opt-in mechanism after the purchase. Personally, I feel that is not necessary if the marketer follows best practices for confirming the subscription with a welcome message that arrives instantly and provides both clarity around the program pace and content and a chance for subscribers to quickly unsubscribe or change preferences. The welcome message is also a great opportunity to encourage another purchase.

Double opt-in (sometimes called confirmed opt-in) is the highest level of permission. Double opt-in will ensure that your subscribers are more actively aware of your program (but not that they will be active—you still need to create relevant, compelling subscriber experiences), but it also pretty much guarantees that you'll have a smaller file. Small but active is a pretty good deal, but it's hard to sell internally. And I think many marketers still resist anything that reduces the size of the file. If you offer any marketer a million records that are untargeted vs. 100,000 very targeted records, most of us will go for the million every time.

We are ever hopeful, we marketers. Someday, we think, that person just might want my product! I can't let go of the opportunity to remind them I'm here, even if they will ignore my email messages.

So what do you think? Is it important or a mandate that marketers double opt-in these buyers?

For purposes of discussion, here is what I'm using to define the four permission levels:

1. Opt-out: The assumption is that you are on the file, until you unsubscribe—usually a pre-checked box or use of a customer file/
2. Single opt-in: The subscriber actively requests to be on the file—usually an un-checked box.
3. Confirmed (or validated) opt-in: After requesting to be on the file, a confirmation email is sent.
4. Double opt-in: After the initial request, a confirmation email is sent requiring a second action to be placed on the file.

—Stephanie Miller

Every week the EEC adds new content to its Whitepaper Room. Here are the latest additions:

Chad White: Reportlet - Division of Permission
Opt-ins do not extend across divisions or to partners.

*Have a whitepaper you’d like to contribute? Email it to whitepapers@emailexperience.org.

Is it just my imagination or is there a resurgence in CAN-SPAM interest in the news recently? Between the INBOX session on “Getting Email into the Inbox,” where we chatted on a couple-few issues related to what being CAN-SPAM compliant really means, to press coverage by Inc.com selecting a CAN-SPAM-compliance monitoring solution for a “Best for… Making sure your outbound mail works” award, it seems there’s a surprising increase in interest in this topic. I checked with our own support team and lo and behold…higher volumes of questions last week about what it means to be CAN-SPAM compliant. It’s gotten so bad our email policy director has taken it upon himself to write a white paper enumerating what it means and, more importantly, what it does not mean to be CAN-SPAM compliant.

Frankly, I find this all rather odd.

Odd because CAN-SPAM compliance should be called what it truly is…ineffectual legislation from the one part of our industrial economy that is least likely to produce efficient policies—the government. I hear folks intimate this all the time. CAN-SPAM compliance is the most negligible form of email marketing compliance that you can actually do. If you are building a program and infrastructure to effect CAN-SPAM compliance as your only goal, then by all indications you will essentially appear to be a spammer. You may ask yourself why that is, and while there are many reasons, it basically comes down to permission. CAN-SPAM doesn’t require permission from the end user while the industry at large does.

Congratulations! You won’t be able to get your email delivered but your CAN-SPAM compliance will be beyond reproach.

There are a great number of checklist items that EEC members in aggregate will advise people to do for effective email marketing. Certainly CAN-SPAM compliance is on that list. But always remember that this is very basic stuff that you simply have to do. In the way of a simile, it’s like going out on a first date. You know you need to perform a set of personal hygiene acts. CAN-SPAM compliance is akin to just brushing your teeth and throwing cold water on your face. If you hope to get a second date or even a phone call, you need to put your best foot forward. The latest threads and a bit of cologne might be in order. Aiming for the bare minimum shouldn’t be your goal and that is what CAN-SPAM is—the bare minimum.

—J.F. Sullivan

I spoke at INBOX and Internet Retailer in the past five days, and at both events heard smart marketers say, “Why do readers unsubscribe/ignore/complain about my emails? They opted in!”

The answer is that permission is not forever. Subscribers opt-in and then promptly forget about their actions. It’s not unusual to see a high number of complaints and unsubscribes on a Welcome Message. Nor is permission a panacea. Opt in doesn’t replace relevancy and keeping your promises.

To that end, here are a few key moments in the subscriber experience when permission should not be assumed:

• When you add a new content set
• When you launch a new product/press release, etc.
• When you haven’t emailed in a really long time (like more than 3 months)
• When you “find” an old file that hasn’t been used (maybe ever)—yes, this happens all the time!
• When you’ve already sent more email this week/month than you promised.