Monday, October 3, 2016
Lying on Behalf of a Colleague: HealthLeaders Media
Email Marketing: What's Really the Issue With Confirmed Opt-In?
It's been an interesting couple of weeks in the discussion surrounding confirmed opt-in (COI) and the direction that the industry is headed. I wrote about the inevitability of confirmed opt-in becoming the standard at some point in the future. The discussion began with a rash of Spamhaus listings, which were supposedly generated from a list bomber. We didn't discuss the merits of how the “list bomber” got the Spamhaus trap addresses, whose anonymity are key to their credibility.
We didn't talk about how the “list bomber” targeted mainstream marketers who used larger ESP's. We didn't talk about just how Spamhaus knew exactly which marketers to list. I bet you didn't tell Spamhaus if you were hit by this. You can draw your own conclusions from what's been written, and also what hasn't been written. It was also interesting timing for this to “randomly” happen just before the holiday period.
So, it's out there, and one could argue that this was a concerted effort on behalf of someone to drive senders to this practice. The funny thing is that COI isn't even a radical concept anymore. Think about when you purchase or sign-up for many programs these days. You get a please confirm your email address, confirm your subscription, or confirm your preferences message right away.
Companies do this for the security of their customers. They don't want to send your information to the wrong person, just because someone made a typo. COI is already a common email practice. You sign up for a Gmail account, and you have to confirm your email address. Nobody sees that email and freaks out, it is standard operating procedure.
Pradeep Mangalapalli, Director of Deliverability Operations, wrote a post last week which highlighted some extensive metrics that we pulled from across the marketing universe (Not just Oracle, we looked at senders regardless of ESP). We found that these campaigns perform at a very high level. Open rates are high, and read rates are also very strong. The spam complaint rate for these types of email is almost zero.
That's because we understand that for the most part, these messages are now part of the expected back and forth conversation with someone we are doing business with, or interested in receiving information. Affiliate marketers have been confirming permission for years, because they were trying to avoid those previously mentioned complaints.
If you are a marketer who doesn't want to do COI right now, that's fine. But I would encourage you to ask yourself (and your team), what are you really afraid of? We've established that consumers understand the process now. That wasn't the case 3 or 4 years ago, but it's basically mainstream these days. I would propose that the real issue isn't the actual COI, but a fear that you are going to lose subscribers.
If that is really the case, it is not because of the COI itself, but some other probably more important issues. What does it say if you think 75% of your subscribers won't click a link in an email whose only purpose is to protect your security?
Maybe they don't know they were “signing up” for your program. Is the user afraid they are going to be bombarded with email they don't want? Is it the fact that you aren't converting 100% of address to your list? Just because you have an email address doesn't mean it wasn't faked, made-up, mistyped, or is a valid address at an account they will just never check.
Would you want an ATM card that didn't have a PIN number, or a credit card where you didn't have to verify a signature? There's a reason why you have to activate a credit card you receive in the mail. You activate it so in case it falls in the wrong hands, there's a step required before that shopping spree. Clicking a link is so much easier.
If you fall in the category of “scared of confirmed opt-in” I would suggest you look a few levels above a simple email. Why would your customers not trust clicking a simple link that protects them and you as a sender from many dangerous elements?
The answer is most likely not the confirmation email, but something else that is probably already costing you money. You can wait until something like CASL comes along and freak out about the “changes” you must make at the last minute, or just fix the leaks today.
Another thing you could do is download Email Deliverability: Guide for Modern Marketers to find out how to achieve email deliverability that really delivers.
Doll Therapy May Help Calm People With Dementia, But It Has Critics
Hugging a doll can soothe an upset toddler, and some say it can do the same for people with dementia. But critics say this form of therapy infantilizes adults.
Novel Mitral Valve- Cinching Device Slashes Backflow Without Surgery (CME/CE)
How to Successfully Become an Online Brand Publisher [Infographic]
How to Become a Better Search Marketer with Effective Communication
Our job as search marketers is to provide the best results for our clients (both internally and externally). In order to provide the best results, we need to effectively communicate the value of everything we do. An effective communicator will be able to show the value of a search strategy/tactic to get the most out of a program for all parties included.
The search team needs to work together with the rest of the marketing team to educate them on potential risks or wins during any changes in strategy. Search engine optimization should be viewed as a part of the overall marketing strategy and cannot be a standalone solution. Instead, SEO can help all areas of marketing when done correctly. With that mindset, SEO needs to be a partnership between the search marketers and clients.
Education: One of the forgotten jobs of Search Marketers
When people use to ask me what I do for a living, I replied that I am a SEO Analyst/Marketer. I was typically followed up by a blank stare to which I needed to explain that I made things get found online, mainly via Google and Bing. People generally understood the context of my job is, but sometimes thought it is overly complex on the execution. Rather than me showing the execution part of my job, I learned that I need to educate each person. For many years, I thought that the execution of SEO tactics was the most important part of my job. Instead, the communication and education aspects of my job are the most important.
Educating people on search optimization differs based on the audience you are talking to. For example, decision makers will want different information than a developer. Most decision makers don't care about the how, but rather the why and overall strategy. The decision makers need to hear the information that reassures them that the campaign is worthwhile. On the other hand, developers and webmasters need more information about how to execute the deliverables. Many developers understand what SEO is but still need help on understanding more in-depth tactics or technologies that impact results. It is our job as search marketers to educate everyone on the SEO aspect of online marketing.
New search technologies are constantly being created and we need to stay on top of how to implement and/or advise not to implement. SEO is about guiding the ship for the rest of the team, so we need to not just focus on the SEO side of things. Rather, it is our job as search marketers to help everyone else keep their job.
How to effectively communicate
There are many ways you can effectively communicate with your clients whether they are internal or external. There are four main areas to effectively communicate with your clients.
#1 – Show Results in Relation to Money and Priority
Key stakeholders and decision makers typically do not want to see vanity metrics about keyword rank, sessions, or page views. Instead, show key stakeholders conversions with money associated to each goal. It is more impactful to show your client that your search marketing efforts brought in an additional $50,000 than 20,000 sessions.
On top of showing results with money tied to it, prioritize the actions you deliver on so that they make the most sense for the client. A developer should devote their resources on the items that will hold the highest return on investment.
#2 – Touch on Goals and Results Often (Be Actionable)
The best part of showing results with money tied to it is that those type of results are actionable. Actionable results will help you build off of your previous successes into new campaign ideas and efforts. Also be transparent about what you are seeing with the results. Educate the client when discussing goals and KPIs for websites to get the most value out of the campaign.
#3 – Show Understanding of the Current Situation
As mentioned earlier, don't be too focused on the SEO side of things. Analyze the whole marketing strategy to find areas that SEO tactics can help enhance the visibility. Search marketers also need to understand how much effort and resources are needed to implement recommendations. Websites will always need maintenance, so the list of “actions” will always be there. Provide recommendations to clients or development teams that will be the easiest for them to implement. You can become more effective as a search marketer by understanding the whole marketing strategy.
#4 – Ask a Lot of Questions
Always ask your clients more questions to understand any potential changes. Asking multiple questions when communicating with your client will provided additional information that could come into use at a later time. There has been multiple situations of when a client mentions that they changed the design of a priority page. Design changes may impact the organic visibility for multiple pages so by asking more questions we were able to educate the client on making the change.
There are multiple times that small information and marketing updates are not communicated to the whole team. Ask questions constantly to know as much as possible about what is going on with the company. Afterall, SEO needs to be a partnership with the whole marketing team.
Become A More Effective Search Communicator
In order to be a more effective search marketer, you need to be an effective communicator. Communicating the benefit of the search campaign is priority number one. Communicate in a way that is actionable and easy to understand.Stay on top of new technologies and updates to the search industry to educate your clients.
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With Google Home looming, Amazon launches 100+ spots in new Alexa ad campaign
Please visit Marketing Land for the full article.
