Chris Baggott's Email Marketing Best Practices

Compendium Blogware Update

I just wanted to update everyone on what's happening with Compendium Blogware (www.compendiumblogware.com)

Obviously, if things were lousy then I'd keep my mouth shut about it, but the fact is things are going great.  We are now up to about 22 employees and are looking for 7 more if you know anyone...

Our client list has grown to about 150 and our bookings are basically doubling every quarter. The product works really well and our clients are getting some very tangible results.   Check out one of my favorites:  http://blog.wilderness-voyageurs.com/blog.php/wilderness-voyageurs

Inbox 2.0 - Long Live Email

I just read Scott Dorsey's debate with Robert Scoble in the Business Week Debate Room.   The title of the debate was:

E-mail Faces Deletion: Web 2.0 applications such as Twitter will unseat simple electronic mail as the No. 1 business communications tool. Pro or con?

I thought Scoble made a great case in favor of some of the Web 2.0 technologies that do in fact help overcome some of the weaknesses in email.  Obviously, since I'm now in the Corporate Blogging Software business, I feel strongly that technologies like Blogging have a strong place in any Corporate Marketing Mix.  The debate continues in both Scoblizer and in the blogs of folks such as Lisa Barone over at BruceClay.com. 

In full disclosure, I was a co-founder of ExactTarget and as such have a vested interest in the success of email.

My point goes to support Scott's comment on "Inbox 2.0" and is driven from relevance and data.

The problem with email through out it's history is the abuse by organizations who looked at the medium as "Cheap Paper".

In that light, these people replicated an broken Reach & Frequency advertising model by applying those same Mass Marketing tactics to Email.

This is changing quickly.  The beauty of email as a marketing tool is the ability to leverage data and deliver the right message to the right people at the right time.   

I may be brand-loyal to Goodyear Tires, but their product isn’t the type for which I would subscribe to their RSS feed or visit their site very often.  If they want my business they have to recognize who I am and the best time to send me any communications.  To be successful they have to pay attention to me. Know how I buy.  Know when WINTER COMES where I live.  Or how many miles I’m likely to drive so they can send me the right product reminders...the sort of thing that can be done brilliantly with the right combination of strategy, creativity, email & data.

Beyond face-to-face or the telephone, email is the only way to have a dialog, an actual one-to-one conversation in a medium that is almost universal.

It's been abused for sure...but the profits from email abuse are diminishing....and market forces are driving email marketers to become much more timely and relevant.

What's happening with this Blog??

Contrary to what you might be thinking, this blog is not dead :-)

As I've mentioned, I started a new company, Compendium Software.  We are open for business and happy and excited to demo our new Corporate Blogging Software to anyone who would like to see it.   Just send me an email chris@compendiumsoftware.com

I'm also actively blogging on Blogging Best Practices and the many benefits of Corporate Blogging on my Blogging Best Practices Blog.......Geeze; a little keyword stuffing there??  lol

Anyway, Check it out and don't give up on this blog yet....we are going to reignite it soon.

Chris Baggott

Good day for Relationship Marketing

Why is it a good day?   Because I opened my email this morning to two great articles:  One from Email Insider from MediaPost and one from Forrester (subscription required)

The following are direct quotes:

Personality Goes A Long Way Posted May 10th, 2007 by Chad White 

 

"I’ve been reading Chris Baggott’s newly released book Email Marketing By the Numbers: How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level, and one of the things that got me thinking was the advice “Be human.” Chris says, “People don’t fall in love with institutions… Your chance of landing in a great relationship increases exponentially when you show a human side.”

With that in mind, I decided to see how retailers do when it comes to injecting humanity into their emails.....

Okay, so how human are retailers? Not very. By my estimation, about one in six major online retailers tracked via RetailEmail.Blogspot regularly has a person with a name telling subscribers something. That was my threshold for being human — the person needed to have a name that was mentioned in the email. So models don’t count, and copy that sounds very conversational doesn’t count, either.

There’s an even smaller group of retailers that almost always has a human voice in its emails. That group consists of the Sportsman’s Guide, which always carries a folksy message from Gary Olen, the founder of The Sportsman’s Guide; TigerDirect, whose emails are signed by Carl Fiorentino, the very enthusiastic president of TigerDirect.com; and Crutchfield, whose emails are signed by Bill Crutchfield and regularly feature pictures of staff members with products.... Read the entire post here

So Follow that up with a new report by Forrester analyst Mary Beth Kemp.  The title of the paper is "What the Long Tail Does For Relationship Marketing"  Now you need to be a client of Forrester to read this report, but hopefully they won't sue me for clipping one germain item:

....Although email marketing is embraced by 93% of marketers, emails are still not up to standards. In Forrester's annual review of email programs only one of the 63 reviewed passed our test, mostly due to lack of customer centricity. 

Generic blasts of email newsletters, too often the online relationship marketing silver bullet, are not dialogue-building tools. Nor is simply substituting emails for direct mail the right approach. Forrester recommends building email conversations to guide customers through the consideration and purchase cycles. Relationship marketers can use their data skills to understand how and which consumers are using social media and in which way — and then tailor tactics for reaching them.

Gold Jerry, Gold!!

Other Email Blogs I Read

I wanted to introduce you to another great email blog...RetailEmail.Blogspot.   And NO, I'm not just plugging them because the liked my book...

What's cool about this focus is it's specifically looking only at Retail Email and pointing out what they do well or poorly.  Good specific examples....

Over the weekend I was reading Chris Baggott’s newly released book Email Marketing By the Numbers: How to Use the World's Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level. One of the things that got me thinking was the advice “Be human.” Chris says, “People don’t fall in love with institutions… Your chance of landing in a great relationship increases exponentially when you show a human side.” I think Crutchfield does a particularly good job of doing this, and this email is a perfect example. Not only does Crutchfield have a little note from Bill Crutchfield in every email, they regularly feature pictures of staff members and customers in their emails. This email also includes an article on how to take better pictures with your digital camera. Providing advice and customer service is extremely human. Although many major online retailers are adopting this way of thinking, there are still quite a few that would rather hide behind their product assortments and continue to engage in faceless mass marketing.   Read More....

Email Marketing By The Numbers Released!

Well we did it!  Finally, the book that many of you contributed to is available.  I hope you are as proud of Email Marketing By The Numbers  as I am.

Something like this has never been tried before.  When the publisher, Wiley, first came to me I resisted.  The reality was that I had been working on a whitepaper asking the question:  Are Business Books Relevant in the world of Blogging?

Since most authors have blogs before books (Think Chris Anderson and the Long Tail) does anyone really need to read a book any more to get the authors ideas?

What I proposed was a "Compendium" of lot's of ideas.  Not just mine, but include as many people in our industry that wanted to participate.  Call it "Book 2.0"  if you don't choke laughing :)

Anyway, this is the first time something like this has ever been attempted and you will notice some rough spots.  But like all things new, this will get better over time and hopefully represent the beginning of a new hybrid between print and online publishing.

So the next task is to make this a commercial success.  Wiley judges 'success' in this type thing as 10,000 copies sold. 

That seems like a low bar, but it depends on how much work we are all willing to put in to promote it.   

I've set up an Amazon Affiliate link which you can access:   Please use this link if you are posting on your blogs. 

I've not done this before, but apparently it kicks back 5%.   I'm hoping we collectively can blog, email and generally promote this book as well as point people to this link.   I'm not sure how we'll use the money, but it belongs to all of us so we can decide when we have something there to decide about....perhaps a donation in all our names, or a big party at some industry event.

At any rate, thank you so much for your participation.

ExactTarget Hunts for CMO

Lost in the shuffle of my new startup Compendium Software, was the fact that ExactTarget needs a CMO.  You won't find a listing online so the best way to recommend someone is to email Scott Dorsey directly.

Ken Magill wrote a little blub about it yesterday:

Wanna move to Indianapolis? ExactTarget’s Chris Baggot stepped aside in February as chief marketing officer to pursue a new venture and the Midwestern e-mail software concern is looking for a new CMO.

And no, Baggot apparently hasn’t left “to pursue other interests,” or “spend more time with his family,” as the cliché press releases always say when someone gets bounced out on his rear end. Baggot is actually, really pursuing another interest—a corporate blogging technology provider called Compendium Software—and will remain a shareholder and member of ExactTarget’s board.

Which, of course, begs the question: Is the new CMO going to have Baggot breathing down his or her neck? Not so, according to ExactTarget’s CEO Scott Dorsey.

“The CMO will have complete free reign,” Dorsey said. “We are looking to hire someone at a very senior level who will have full control over branding, demand generation and all the elements of a sound marketing strategy.”

Dorsey said ExactTarget is also looking to expand its international business, which currently accounts for about 5% of the company’s sales.

He added he realizes he may have to look outside the immediate industry.

“We have feelers out in the industry and out in the broader software-and-services industry, as well,” said Dorsey. “We’re most likely going to be hiring someone with strong software-and-service experience, but perhaps from a different field than e-mail marketing.”

Since the company was founded in 2000, it has reportedly grown to almost $20 million in annual revenue. According to Dorsey it has 225 employees, 20 of whom will report to the new CMO.

And yes, the new CMO will have to live in Indiana. “We believe it’s important to have someone in this type of strategic role based here in Indianapolis,” Dorsey said. “We’re hoping that we’ll be able to entice people to our wonderful city.”

ExactTarget is not involved in Baggot’s new venture, according to Dorsey.

Baggot also has a new book coming out this week available on Amazon.com: “Email Marketing by the Numbers: How to Use the World’s Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level.”

Best practice in emailing a blogger

So here is another good example of how to solicit a blogger:  A personal note on top of an apparently mass email.  I know Scott, I respect him and think the Cha Cha project is pretty cool so I support people trying it....  Good lesson.

Chris,
Here's a note that I'm sending to some of my contacts.  I'm always interested to hear your thoughts and reactions.  And I'd love to get your help getting the word out broadly.  Let me know if you have ideas and interest in helping get that job done.

I hope your new venture is going well!

Cheers,
Scott



I hope all is well with you!  I've got a BIG favor to ask.  Would you mind trying out my search engine, ChaCha, for the next month or so and give me feedback on your experience?  I think you will be impressed if you simply use it for your normal searching needs.  ChaCha has been featured in the NY Times, USA Today, Business 2.0, CNBC, Good Morning America, and other media.  See www.chacha.com/info/press <http://www.chacha.com/info/press> .

I've been using ChaCha myself since it launched last Fall and find it to be as good as Google (or Yahoo) in most situations and often better than Google when I need extra help from a "guide" (a search expert) who is at your service instantly whenever you need assistance.  (for example, when I was looking for a videogame for my boys for Christmas, my ChaCha guide found me the "good stuff" very rapidly... it would have taken me much longer).  We're getting great feedback that ChaCha is saving people a lot of time sifting through too much irrelevant information provided by the "first generation" search engines (i.e. ones that give millions of results in a split second, which isn't particularly useful).

ChaCha is like having a Free "VIP Service" at your fingertips!   You can try ChaCha out by clicking on this link:  http://try.chacha.com/?rid=142 <http://try.chacha.com/?rid=142>       Creating this search engine is where I've spent most of my time this past year.  I'd really appreciate you downloading the toolbar (and/or making it your homepage).  And, please let me know what you think of it after a few weeks!

I really appreciate it.  (and please feel free to pass this note along to anyone you know who might be willing to help out)

Warm regards,
Scott

Your Help Needed Please

My cousin is a young filmaker in LA....which means he is hungry. 

He has a music video that he has a good chance of winning a contenst with.   Can you please hit the link below and vote for him?  His name is Matt Johnston.  Someday you will be telling people...."oh yeah:  Matt...sure I helped make him famous."  :-)

Pass it on to your friends & family too!

Hey everyone,

I need your vote!  The band Ozomatli had a music video contest that I
decided to enter.  They just chose my video as one of the top three videos
and have posted it on their website to let the fans vote. So please click on
the link below and vote for the MATTHEW JOHNSTON video. It only takes a few
seconds to vote.   

http://www.ozomatli.com/site.php?content=Video_Contest

Please spread the word.  I think there is only a couple days of voting and I
would love to win this.  Hope all is well!

Thanks!

Matt

The right way to email a blogger

Now, this seems like the right way to email a blogger.  Simple, personal.  It's from the blogger himself not some agency (like you are so important) and there is a benefit to me.

So in this case, I'm happy to link to http://personalbrandingblog.wordpress.com