Car enthusiasts are likely familiar with Top Gear, a BBC television series that tests whether vehicles live up to their manufacturers' claims via outrageous stunts, races and epic challenges —like building an amphibious car, or converting a sedan into a space shuttle. “How hard can it be?” the hosts ask before...

“It is not worth-while to try to keep history from repeating itself, for man's character will always make the preventing of the repetitions impossible” – Mark Twain Back in 2013 Alchemy Worx published a thought piece on the impact of send volume, send frequency on open rates – almost always negative....

One of the recent topics on the Only Influencers email discussion group is whether to resend marketing emails to non-openers. (To read this or any OI past discussion, consider becoming a member of Only Influencers. If you are a brand, you might even qualify for a free membership.)  The benefits are...

There’s the textbook ‘right’ way to structure an email marketing program, but you can often meet your initial business goals with much less: fewer email messages, reduced cost and not as much lead time. Here’s a case study in how to build your email marketing program in an agile fashion, prioritizing...

“Hey Paul...how do you buy email tech?” If I had a dollar for every time I heard it, I’d be retired. Now, this seems like a super simple question, but in reality, it has many layers. I have thought a lot about the right answer in the wake of the GDPR-shift...

Sometimes the best way to share ideas is through dark humor, I expect this will hit a nerve with different people in different ways. Some might say, “OMG- YES”, some may say “WTH? - what are you talking about”, yet the reality is with all the vendor choices and aggressive sales...

Around this time last year, I asked you all to think differently about email marketing, to envision "marketing as helpful customer service, not a means to an end." In other words, to build your email marketing around creating a better customer experience – Customer Experience Email Marketing. CX Email Marketing is...

This month, I am loving the latest piece of email marketing from the LA Galaxy soccer team. Utilising the uncompromisingly confident personality of Galaxy player Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Check it out:

If a tree falls in the woods, did it actually make a sound? If your marketing emails don’t land in the Inbox, will anyone ever see it? Delivering the right message, to the right buyer, at the right time will help get your email opened and, hopefully, convert a prospect to...

We’ve all watched CPMs for email drop dramatically over the last five years.  But it seems that no matter how low CPMs go, marketers keep pushing for lower pricing. If this keeps up, it won’t be too long before ESPs will have to pay marketers to send their emails in order...

One of the interesting developments in Martech has been the emergence of the ESP-centric marketing stack. Companies start off as email service providers then – because they have PII – start to say things like “wouldn’t it be great if we got customers to put ALL of their touchpoint efforts under one roof…let’s start gobbling up companies!” Companies then spend a lot of effort developing PowerPoints and videos that show a multi-touch, multi-channel customer marketing effort with customers so happy that it’s a no-brainer to buy into the vision.

Marketing and product are different but complimentary teams in any business. As an employee and now as a consultant, I’ve seen first-hand how the balance between them can help or hinder an organization. Read on to learn how to determine whether your company leans more toward marketing or product, and how...

Marketers are reeling in a post-GDPR world. Use of our most vital tool – data – has been restricted. At the same time, 62% of consumers are demanding personalised experiences as standard. Something that’s impossible to produce without customer data. These two opposing pressures are making some marketers very worried. This doesn’t only affect the UK either, it affects every business. If you only have a single customer that is based in Europe, GDPR rules apply.

Having recently re-entered the job market (and thanks to Bill for the complimentary announcement here), I found myself looking back on the most recent phase of my career and realizing how much it has broadened my perspective on what mar-tech and ad-tech mean. You might know me as the pretty face...

Marketing automation is wonderful. It’s taken so much of the hard work away from marketing departments that it’s tempting to sit back, relax, and let the software run the show.

But let’s not forget that marketing automation isn’t there to replace human marketers. It’s there to enable them. The software can only work with what you give it, and it can only do what you tell it to. So it’s easy to make mistakes!

Here are three of the most common issues to watch out for when using marketing automation:

On rare occasions Only Influencers publishes an article so important to the future of email marketing and its stakeholders that we label it "Must Read". Todays rebuttal, written by Kath Pay and Tim Watson, of a recent CNBC article is one of those rare occasions.

I spend a lot of time speaking at conferences and events, which gives me the opportunity to talk with email marketers across the country. While the cities may change, I often hear a similar refrain: I’m understaffed and undervalued. People in my organization give very little attention to the email program .Every year I am continually tasked with growing lists and the program while budgets remain flat and patience amongst stakeholders wears thin.

It’s so prevalent in the industry that it’s become a running joke. When someone asks what the best, highest, fastest, most impactful tactic or strategy is? We say, “Let’s test it!” Not sure how to show your team that your brilliant idea is the right way to go? Better test it.

RFPs have real consequences for your company, and possibly for your job. Here’s a list of 4 of the most common mistakes we’ve encountered when being be hired to salvage an email RFP.

<Pick up microphone>

In my February blog post for Only Influencers, I asked you, "How strong is the state of our union?" My own answer was ambivalent.