Simms Jenkins is chief executive officer of BrightWave Marketing, an award-winning email marketing services firm specializing in the strategic optimization of email marketing programs. He has extensive relationship and interactive marketing experience on both the client and agency side. Jenkins has led BrightWave Marketing in establishing a large and diverse client list, including top-tier brands such as ACS, BellSouth, California Casualty, CoreNet Global, Lowe’s, Sports Illustrated, and Ted’s Montana Grill, as well as leading advertising and marketing firms.
Jenkins is regarded as one of the leading experts in the email marketing industry, and the expertise of both Jenkins and BrightWave clients have been recognized and featured by a range of prominent media outlets, including Bloomberg and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jenkins and his column for iMedia Connection, a leading interactive marketing and media publication, have been called one of the top 21 information sources for email marketers. In 2007, Jenkins facilitated a major industry partnership as BrightWave Marketing and The Email Experience Council joined forces to launch EmailStatCenter.com, the first centralized online repository of statistics and research specific to the email marketing industry.
Prior to founding BrightWave Marketing, Jenkins headed the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) group at Cox Interactive Media, a unit of media giant Cox Enterprises. Jenkins serves on the eMarketing Association’s board of advisors and is a board member of Atlanta Interactive Marketing Association (AiMA). Jenkins is a graduate of Denison University in Granville, Ohio, and resides in Atlanta with his wife and two sons.
Jenkins’ company website is www.BrightWaveMarketing.com and his website for the book is www.TheTruthAboutEmailMarketing.com.
Praise for The Truth About Email Marketing
“It’s refreshing to see an author address specifics instead of gloss over generalities that can be boiled down to one sentence. Simms’ book debunks the top email marketing myths in a readable and logical fashion.”
Tad Clarke, Editorial Director, MarketingSherpa Inc.
“Anyone interested in maximizing their marketing budgets should stop what they are doing and read this book. Simms' deep experience in email marketing is widely evident in this very insightful and fact-filled book. Great insight into an area of marketing that is often overlooked. Plus, its a fun, easy read...especially for us marketers!”
Jeff Hilimire, President, Engauge Digital
“Simms has a great knack for simplifying the complex world of email. From the novice email marketer to the email aficionado, The Truth about Email Marketing provides insight and thought-provoking content that all of us can use in our email and online marketing efforts.”
Aaron Kahlow, CEO & Founder, Online Marketing Summit
“Simms Jenkins expertly outlines a series of useful Truths to ensure effective and highly optimized, permission-based email marketing programs. Take advantage of Simms' battle scars and set yourself on a direct course that unleashes the power of this important marketing channel.”
Sam Cece, Chief Executive Officer, StrongMail Systems
Everything you must know to utilize email marketing in your corporation or small business!
- The truth about recession-proofing your business with email marketing
- The truth about measuring results and improving promotional and newsletter campaigns
- The truth about email marketing versus spam
This book reveals 49 proven email marketing best practices
and bite-size, easy-to-use techniques that get results
Email marketing is one of the most incredibly powerful yet misunderstood marketing channels of the business world. While many companies practice email marketing, few get it right. Industry expert, Simms Jenkins, provides a set of best practices to help you assess and refine your strategy and tactics. Your organization can gain much from new and proven approaches to email marketing: strengthen customer relationships, create loyalty, and build trust and awareness. The result is increased responses in sales, leads, registrations, and more.
IntroductionIntroduction
"What helps people, helps business."
—Leo Burnett, advertising legend
"Trying to assess the true importance and function of the Net now is like asking the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk if they were aware of the potential of American Airlines Advantage miles."
—Bran Ferren, Chief Imagineer, Walt Disney Company
Email marketing is one of the most incredibly powerful yet misunderstood mediums of the marketing world. Nearly all businesses and consumers utilize it, whether it is to send or receive content and offers.
Email marketing is a unique communication platform that blends both art and science while delivering value to the subscriber's inbox. While many companies practice it, few get email marketing right. It is part of our business landscape that requires constant grooming. Change is the only constant.
I've been working in the interactive space for over ten years. During this time, I've seen a great deal of money thrown into questionable business models and unproven companies and executives. I've also seen a lot of really bright people take chances in their careers and launch game-changing companies.
Email emerged as the "killer app" of the Internet age. While there is certainly more competition for buzz and mindshare today, email still is the bread and butter of any online user experience. In telling The Truth About Email Marketing, I had to make a lot of hard decisions about what to include and what not to include. I hope this book provides a range of key email marketing elements that will appeal to and educate a wide audience.
This book should be the kind that sits on your desk and is referenced, earmarked, and highlighted rather than passively read. My aim was for this to be a guide in your email marketing adventure. Whether you are a seasoned professional email marketer or are brand new to the topic, this book is for you.
Now back to the two quotes at the top of this section. They both speak to me in different ways. How they speak to email marketing is revealing as well.
My biggest complaint about email marketers (and often marketing in general) is a fundamental one. Entire strategy and email campaigns are often driven by achieving internal marketing goals, rather than bringing compelling and helpful information to their subscribers who gave them one of the most important things one can provide in an online world: permission. If we remember to focus on the subscribers first, the business goals will follow.
Email marketing has changed, as the Internet has, in a dramatic fashion. And I'm just talking about in the past six months. It's quite challenging to wrap our heads around the impact of email marketing in its short history. There are many levels to how email marketing has changed businesses and consumer habits. Nevertheless, we can clearly demonstrate email's ongoing effectiveness and develop and follow a set of core best practices that will ensure that effectiveness continues into the future. Hopefully, this book can help you along the way in this endeavor.
Just as the Wright brothers had no idea how their invention would impact the future aviation industry, many of you marketing professionals are shaping Internet history.
© Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.
Introduction ix
Foreword by Mark Brownlow xiii
Part I The Truth About Why Email Works
Truth 1 Email is a powerful marketing tool 1
Truth 2 Permission-based email marketing is not spam 5
Truth 3 Email marketing is extremely cost-effective, targeted, and measurable 9
Truth 4 Email is stronger than ever 13
Part II The Truth About Email Budgeting and ROI
Truth 5 Don't be cheap: email cuts other costs, so invest in it 17
Truth 6 Using email ROI to guide your budget 21
Truth 7 Keeping your email program alive when budgets are cut 25
Part III The Truth About Organizing an Email Department
Truth 8 Deciding to outsource or bring in-house 29
Truth 9 Finding the right partner 33
Truth 10 Getting the ball rolling with your email marketing partner 37
Truth 11 What makes a good email marketing manager 41
Part IV The Truth About Customer-Focused Email Strategy
Truth 12 How to be relevant 45
Truth 13 Making your first impression count 49
Part V The Truth About Creating and Growing a List
Truth 14 It is not easier to ask for forgiveness 53
Truth 15 How to create an email list 57
Truth 16 Using lead-generation tactics to build your list 61
Truth 17 Complement email list growth with search 67
Truth 18 Keep a clean list 71
Truth 19 The benefits of a robust preference center 75
Truth 20 Get more from your email list 79
Part VI The Truth About Best Practices
Truth 21 Length and your call to action 83
Truth 22 Creating an email newsletter 87
Truth 23 Establishing the right email frequency 91
Truth 24 Personalization 95
Truth 25 Segment lists for more targeted emails 99
Truth 26 Great Subject lines drive a strong response 103
Truth 27 Consider the From line 107
Truth 28 Test, test, test 111
Truth 29 Maximizing system-generated and automated emails 115
Truth 30 Use your signature line 119
Truth 31 Top to bottom advice for better emails 123
Truth 32 Audit your email program annually 127
Part VII The Truth About Getting into and Optimizing the Inbox
Truth 33 The basics of deliverability 131
Truth 34 Understanding rendering 135
Truth 35 Creating email campaigns for mobile devices 139
Part VIII The Truth About Measuring Email Performance
Truth 36 Know your email metrics, part 1 143
Truth 37 Know your email metrics, part 2 147
Truth 38 Remarketing for results 151
Part IX The Truth About Privacy and CAN-SPAM
Truth 39 Understanding the CAN-SPAM Act 155
Truth 40 A closer look at spam 159
Truth 41 The varying levels of permission 163
Truth 42 What your privacy policy should cover 169
Part X The Truth About Automated Email
Truth 43 Create a meaningful welcome message 173
Truth 44 Creating an unsubscribe process 177
Truth 45 The right (and wrong) ways to monitor replies to your email campaigns 181
Part XI The Truth About B2B and International Email Programs
Truth 46 Delivering on business-to-business (B2B) email campaigns 185
Truth 47 Best practices for international email efforts 189
Part XII The Truth About Where Email Is Headed
Truth 48 The impact of social media on email 193
Truth 49 The future of email marketing 197
References 201
Acknowledgments 204
About the Author 206
Appendixes (on the companion Web site only)
Appendix A Recommended sites, newsletters, and blogs
Appendix B Glossary
Appendix C Useful statistics
Publisher: Pearson Education
Distributor: Pearson Education
Publication Date: 07-31-2008
Pages: 224
Measurements: 8.5in X 5.5in X 0.492in X 361gr
