"Here’s what’s on the 2015 “to-do” list of these top marketers, and should probably be on yours as well."

The practice of marketing has long searched for the ideal, one-to-one, marketer-customer communication channel – one that would allow two-way conversations and deliver masses of critical customer information back to the marketer. For marketers everywhere, this would be the marketing “Holy Grail.”

How to Maintain Consumer Confidence and Trust When Selecting a Mobile Program Provider.

Vendors that focus on the acquisition of email addresses have been shamed for too long. Admittedly, the email acquisition space is rife with vendors of ill repute, and plenty of people have lined their pockets with the money of marketers hoping for a quick way to grow their prospect databases. This does not mean, however, that ALL acquisition vendors or all email acquisition practices are bad!

Last year was a big “rethink” year for email, after clawing its way back into the limelight as the reigning champion of digital marketing. Mobile email penetration peaked in 2013 igniting marketers’ need to gain insight on how this growth was influencing their email programs. Inbox Marketer’s behavioural email data showed major shifts in device usage and consumption patterns, underscoring the need for new strategies in the design and development of mobile optimized email.

Last week I had the opportunity to speak at an Atlanta Interactive Marketing (AiMA) event on must-have marketing automation tools. Marketing is about getting the attention ofthe people who matter most to your business, and what makes it possible to reach these people is the data we have about them. No matter how you compile it, the data you have about customers is what drives your automation. What I wanted to share at this event was that, regardless of which automation platform you use and which processes you have in place, your automation efforts will never be as effective as they could be if you’re not automating the data that drives these processes. Marketing automation isn’t complete without data automation.

“You are all the same”, the words uttered by brands to ESPs, the words that ESPs don’t like to hear.

But is it true?

So here’s some advice for brands to answer this.

Dela Quist is the Founder of Alchemy Worx 1. How did you get started in Email Marketing? Before becoming involved in the digital world my background was in publishing and advertising. In other words, using content to provide marketers with an opportunity to showcase their products and services to our readers....

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the letters “RFP”? Chances are it isn’t something good—unless, of course, you work at The Relevancy Group. We love RFPs and helping our clients manage the process and get great deals. But for the rest of the email world on both the buy side and the sell side these three letters come with a lot of baggage. Why is that?

I have a confession to make - I’m a tech nerd. I love how technology is constantly evolving, getting smaller, faster, bigger, smarter, easier, and everything in between. In fact, I’ve had my new Samsung Galaxy Note 4 for all of 48 hours and I am still flying a cloud of nerdtastic awesome!

It’s holiday email season! Right about now is when I start having a hard time managing my personal email – there are quite a few brands in my inbox and while I really do want email from the companies I enjoy, the volume is at times unmanageable and causes me frustration. I know my family and friends feel the same way. How can marketers make sure they are maintaining their brand reputation and inbox placement, while at the same time sending what’s needed to help companies reach their holiday goals? Here are some reminders on how to send smart email and maintain a good sending reputation that will carry you into the New Year.

Tim Watson is the Founder of Zettasphere. 1. How did you get started in email marketing? My first experience of email marketing was a little unorthodox. Little did I know it was the first step into many years of email. And it’s a secret I've never shared until now. Back in...

I wanted to share a big announcement we made this week with the Influencers. We’ve built a new and easy way for email marketers to create responsive email directly from their design files. It is available today within agileEMAIL (our flagship agile marketing solution) and Inkbrush.com, (a new, hosted email design and coding tool).

I have the pleasure of working with some truly talented people. But just because you’re good at designing crisp logos or iconic product packaging or gorgeous posters doesn’t mean you know a thing about designing for direct marketing. It’s completely different. And lately, I’ve had the dubious pleasure of having to tell some of my most talented colleagues that they stink at email design.

If email isn’t your number one priority, it’s time to shift gears and focus solely on email.

Design stunning, fully responsive emails without the need of any HTML or CSS coding knowledge!

Tink Taylor is Founder and COO of dotDigital Group PLC. How did you get started in Email Marketing?  Via being a windsurfing instructor! I’ll explain… I started my career as a computer programmer working for an organisation in the UK called Sequent Computer systems that were later acquired by IBM.  During...

Spamtraps are considered by many as the gold standard in proving that someone is a spammer. Secret emails/honeypots/blackholes are the canary in the email coal mine- heretofore absolute proof that you’re a bad actor in the war against spam. We’ve all been taught to believe that spam traps can only end up on your list if you’re mailing old/dead addresses and/or purchasing lists.

Getting customers to opt-in to email communications is a priority for many companies as a means to increase revenue. However, email also serves its purpose as a fantastic cost reduction mechanism when converting customers to go paperless. Now, companies are looking for ways to get their customers to convert from paper bills to eBilling. What better way to do that, than to send email bills instead? In this blog post, we’ll focus on getting consent via email, to maximize customer take up of email as a billing channel.

How did you get started in Email Marketing? I was working for American Express and I had been eyeing the digital side of the business for a few years, but it was still really tiny. Finally, in early 2000 they started to grow the digital team and I jumped at the...