Obsessed with Open Rates? Stop it; Focus on Feedback Loops
Mar 11, 2008 2:53 PM, By Ken Magill
Marketers should obsess over e-mail feedback loops—reports some inbox providers and anti-spam entities offer on who’s complaining about a sender’s e-mail—the way they do open rates, according to Ben Chestnut, co-founder of e-mail service provider MailChimp. ...

Stupid Media Watch: Do Reporters Ever Think?
Mar 11, 2008 2:44 PM, By Ken Magill
When I was editor of the trade newspaper iMarketing News, I was forever telling reporters that the most important tool they had was their common sense. “I can clean up your writing, but I can’t think for you,” I often said. ...

E-mail List Prices Drop, Databases, Masterfile Prices Up: Worldata
Mar 11, 2008 8:37 AM
Business-to-business e-mail list prices fell by an average of $2 per thousand, while consumer e-mail lists dropped by $3 per thousand, according to the Winter 2008 List Price Index from Worldata. At the same time, databases and masterfiles, public sector lists, and attendees and members file prices edged up. ...

Stupid Marketer Watch: They’re Kidding, Right?
Mar 4, 2008 12:39 PM, By Ken Magill
And from the completely-screwed-up-priorities file comes one particularly glaring statistic in JupiterResearch analyst David Daniels’ e-mail buyer’s guide released yesterday: 70% of e-mail marketing executives said deliverability features and services are their No. 1 consideration when selecting an e-mail service provider. ...

Use Lead-Gen Tactics on Blogs: Baggott
Mar 4, 2008 12:31 PM, By Ken Magill
It’s not enough just to have a company blog, or blogs, said Chris Baggott, the former chief marketing officer of e-mail service provider ExactTarget, in a recent interview. In his current gig as founder of Compendium Blogware, Baggott recommends using company blogs to increase the odds of the company appearing in organic search results and then following up with fairly standard online lead-generation strategies that many companies miss. ...

Stupid Title Watch: SVP Thought Leadership and Market Strategy?
Mar 4, 2008 12:18 PM, By Ken Magill
OK, so I made the thought-leader title up. But it wouldn’t surprise me if someone out there holds it. Is it just me, or are titles in the e-mail marketing industry getting somewhat out of control? ...

Florida Probes 'Free' Wireless Content Offers
Mar 3, 2008 8:37 AM
Having won a settlement with AT&T; Mobility, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum is now setting his sights on Verizon, Sprint/Nextel, Alltel and T-Mobile. The state will “initiate investigations” to determine if customers of those firms are being charged for “free” third-party services, McCollum’s office said Friday. ...

Virginia Supreme Court Upholds Spam Conviction
Mar 3, 2008 8:35 AM, By Ken Magill
The Virginia Supreme Court has upheld the nation’s first felony anti-spam conviction, it was announced last week. In November of 2004, Jeremy Jaynes was convicted by a jury in Loudoun County Circuit Court on three counts of violating Virginia’s Anti-Spam Act, which was passed in 2003. ...

Silverpop's O'Gorman Promoted to SVP
Feb 28, 2008 7:55 AM
Elaine O'Gorman has been promoted to senior vice president of marketing an product strategy at Silverpop, the e-mail service provider announced yesterday. ...

Road Runner Blocking Images by Default
Feb 27, 2008 8:24 AM, By Ken Magill
E-mailers can expect to see their campaigns’ open rates continue to fall, as Road Runner has become the latest Internet service provider to turn images off by default. ...

Prankster Pollutes Obama’s E-mail List
Feb 26, 2008 1:14 PM, By Ken Magill
A Prankster—or pranksters—has apparently been signing up anti-spammers’ e-mail addresses along with fake, off-color names to Barack Obama’s e-mail list. As a result, people have been getting personalized messages from the front-running Democrat presidential candidate calling them rude names. ...