email | Internet Marketing Blog

Social media claims more of our attention. But email's not dead yet.

In the battle for our digital attention, social media appears to be winning. According to Nielsen, social networking is now the most popular activity online.

In contrast, email now occupies less of our time online than gaming. But rumors of its demise are greatly exaggerated. The email is still alive and kicking.

by Meghan Keane 02 August 2010 23:20pm 11 comments

Start Me Up! A profile of Lymbix

This week on Start Me Up we’re looking at Canadian company Lymbix, which deals in connotative software for email, and has been causing a media stir lately with their latest product Tonechecker.

This connotative software helps measure the tone and impact of words used in emails and other communications.

We spoke to founder Matt Eldridge to find out more…

by Matt Owen 26 July 2010 11:55am 2 comments

Inactive subscribers: silent but deadly to email marketers

Email marketers' lives just got even tougher with the recent changes to the Windows Live Hotmail user experience, which enables users to better organise their inbox.

The changes include the addition of a trusted senders icon to prevent phishing; the ability to "sweep" or automatically file "grey/gray mail," email that subscribers signed up for but no longer want; and the use of one-click and time-travelling filters, which remove messages that reach the inbox but are later discovered to be from senders with a poor reputation.

by Margaret Farmakis 20 July 2010 11:32am 0 comments

Back to the future: how email is helping build profitable internet startups

In the age of Facebook, Twitter and blogs, one might think that social media is a far more important to startup success than, say, email. But a new generation of startups, many of which are lean and achieve profitability early on, are proving that email can be a powerful contributor to success.

In a blog post entitled "Email Newsletters Are Still A Serious Business", startup entrepreneur Jason L. Baptiste details how email is an important ingredient for an impressive group of upstarts, including Groupon, the group buying site that investors have valued at more than $1bn, Help a Reporter Out (HARO), which was recently purchased for a rumored eight-figure sum and Thrillist, which is reportedly on pace to do more than $10m in revenue this year.

by Patricio Robles 07 July 2010 12:01pm 5 comments

Case Study: Pet Place's bid to double its newsletter audience

PetPlace had a familiar problem last year. The pet information site had a popular newsletter that resonated well with advertisers and readers. Like every content creator, they wanted more viewers. But they didn't want to sacrifice engagement.

by Meghan Keane 02 July 2010 16:05pm 0 comments

Mobile internet stats roundup

I've come across a few stats on mobile internet usage this week, so I've decided to gather them together in one handy post.

I've also added a selection of mobile statistics from our most recent Internet Statistics Compendium...

by Graham Charlton 16 June 2010 12:44pm 4 comments

Are Apple's emails really the ‘best ever’ email marketing?

I was inspired to write this post by a recent tweet I saw in reference to the iPad launch email stating that it was the “best email marketing ever," when the email was in fact pretty mediocre.

Then when I looked at some of the other Apple emails I had received, I realised they could also do with some improvements so of course I had to throw some suggestions into the pot..

by Marc Munier 26 May 2010 10:00am 14 comments

Email marketers: are you creatively compliant?

Whilst websites adapt every day to be as accessible and usable as possible, email hasn’t quite benefited from the same level of attention in this area. Instead, marketers have frequently chosen to ignore these developments in all other areas online and continue to do things the way they always have.

Email as a marketing channel is being creatively abused like no other, and it is time for change.

by Philip Storey 18 May 2010 09:38am 10 comments

Smart marketers — and consumers — are looking for deals outside of search

Online, good search engine optimization is a priority for many businesses. Except for those that don’t want search engines to find them. And when it comes to e-commerce, there are plenty of companies that are working against Google’s efforts to make online shopping an efficient experience.

For companies that trade in deeply discounted merchandise — like Gilt, Groupon and Living Social — avoiding the crawl of search engines is part of the business model. Their discount deals don't last long enough for effective SEO. Furthermore, smart marketers are training consumers to be on the lookout for deals, often outside of search.

by Meghan Keane 17 May 2010 19:04pm 5 comments

Breathe new life into email marketing

Whilst social media tends to attract much attention at the moment, the savvy marketing professional understands that success lies in using the best digital marketing mix and not over focusing on one channel.

Email marketing remains an important component, but what can be done to raise our game and generate even better results from this established and proven marketing tool?

by Ed Stivala 12 May 2010 10:08am 1 comment