Center for Media Research - Daily Brief

Email MArketing

"The "From" Address will become the most important factor in determining the initial success of an email program in 2005. In terms of relevancy and growing relationships, the "From" Address should reflect a person, not an institution.

Organizations are faced with three significant drivers that are forcing consistent control and compliance in 2005:

• One central view of the customer to cut down on the number of emails sent to customers from various departments throughout the organization through batching.

• Integrated content management systems will become critical to minimize content liability.

• It will become critical that systems monitor compliance with lists, bounces, filters and everything else associated with managing blacklists complying with the rules of various ISP white lists.

• Because most organizations don't have the resources in house to manage the constantly changing complexities of email marketing software, they will begin to outsource their email to professional email service providers."

ExactTarget Company Press Releases: "2005's Top Email Trends Predict Significant Shifts for Marketers"

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Measuring the Brand Blog
Part two of an article about measuring blog marketing charting big brand usage of blogs and how smaller enterprises can use them to build their brand and maybe even bring in customers and make sales.

The article sets out rigourous methods available to measure the effectiveness of blogs but ends with a quote from Rubel that seems to sum up general attitudes to many forms of onlne marketing:

"There's no standard for measuring corporate blogs, and the impetus to track them is still weak. Rubel confesses he isn't applying his proposed measurement methodology to his own blog. "I don't have the time," he said. "But I kind of feel like it's been working." "

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emarketer.com

Branding grabbing online advertising budgets: "According to a survey of media executives conducted by Deutsche Bank in conjunction with MediaPost, 41.8% of online ad budgets in Q4 2004 were allotted to branding efforts, while 15.3% went towards search marketing and just 10.3% went towards e-mail. "

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marketingsherpa.com : Practical News & Case Studies on Internet Advertising, Marketing & PR

A must read for all involved in online marketing: "2005 AD:TECH Study Results -- Internet Marketers Reveal What's Working, What's Not, & 2005 Budget Plans"

Abstract:

At 32%, for the second year in a row "Web site revamps" received the highest number of votes as the tactic that respondents said they'd "increase spending substantially" in. Only 3% of respondents said they would not spend anything on Web revamps, and 4% said they'd decrease spending from last year.

What else won a "substantially increase" spending vote?

SEM budget 24%
Custom landing pages 20%
Online ads in general 16%
Email campaigns 15%

And, here are the loser tactics for 2005 budgets:

Wireless 67% not budgeted/2% decreased budget
Branded desktop app 59% not budgeted/3% decreased budget
Rich media 39% not budgeted/6% decreased budget
Behavioral targeting 38% not budgeted/3% decreased budget

For most tactics (aside from the top two above) folks intended to keep spending "about the same" or "increase a bit."

The article also lists;

1) What works by %- "great results" and what doesn't - "disappointing results" - titled "Top and worst performing online ad tactics of 2004"

2) 2005 budgets -- where marketers will increase spending

3) Interactive agencies' futures - In house or outsource

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Forbes.com: Fastclick Taps Into Hot Online Ad Market

Non -search engine related online advertising is not an area I have paid much attention to as my brief was always SEO related with GS being the main marketing person but as all other marketing should sing the same song I will post about anything that comes my way....and which Totaltravel could possibly either buy or sell..

Forbes reports that "After years in the doldrums, the online advertising market and investor appetite for Internet IPOs have both recovered. Fastclick.com Inc. is hoping to take advantage of both trends. "

Fastclick "buys and sells ad space on more than 7,500 Web sites and works with advertisers to maximize the effect of their marketing campaigns." Forbes reckons that their USP gives them an edge over competitors :

"Fastclick's business model - especially its technology for deciding which ads to place on which Web sites put the company in a strong position in an industry that is poised for explosive growth"

They are set for an IPO having been in profit the last 3 years:
"Fastclick has been turning at least small profits since 2001. In 2003, its most profitable year to date, Fastclick's operating income was $5.81 million on revenue of $28.7 million. In the first nine months of 2004, Fastclick reported operating income of $4.68 million and revenue of $39 million"

The article has more detail about their technology, ad network and financials.

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Book Excerpt: The Quiet Revolution in E-Mail Marketing

Bill Nussey of Silverpop "identifies ways companies can extend their brands and win the customer loyalty battle through a process he describes as Customer Communication Management - a long-term, overarching strategic view of email that companies must adopt to establish clear enterprise policies and strategies - a necessary step to avoid email misuse and ultimate damage to brand value.

How will naïve email practices negatively affect my brand?

How can I coordinate permission, frequency and preferences across the divisions in my company?

Has my company dealt with CAN-SPAM properly? How about state and international legislation?

What can I do to maximize deliverability?

How much of my email program should I outsource? What parts are best done internally?"

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Overlay ad format as annoying as pop-up ads Revolution Web Site

"Web users find the overlay ad format as annoying as pop-up ads, according to new research...The three formats that have the most impact are MPU (messaging plus unit), Skyscrapers and the expandable banner, according to the research"

I find overlay ads even more annoying...especially when the "close" link is deceptive or almost impossible to find...

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Survey Names Dotomi 2005's Most Promising Company in the Internet Space

"Founded by the creator of Instant Messaging, Dotomi changes the way marketers communicate with their customers by creating a one-to-one messaging channel on the Web. Dotomi Direct Messaging(TM) transforms traditional ad banner space into a personal message window, which empowers marketers with the ability to deliver personal, timely and relevant content to individual consumers...

the only company offering this level of one-to-one marketing in the ad banner space. Dotomi is privately held, with headquarters in Boston and offices in New York and Tel Aviv. For more information, please visit http://www.dotomi.com or call 617-399-5000."

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