It’s easy to play ostrich with email. We can spend all kinds of time upfront on email design and copywriting, refining subject lines and calls to action, crafting strategies and offers, but in the end, it’s what happens at the inbox that really matters. And we need to pay attention. Sure, we still have all the time required upfront on the design and offers, but we also need to spend a lot of time looking at […]
You’re looking at our 600th blog post. Yes, the Whitelist turns 600 posts old today. We have been blogging on email solutions and issues for four years now, striving to educate, inform and entertain. The result? A massive library of content you can turn to at any time. If you’re ever stumped by email marketing challenges, try searching this email marketing blog for answers. You’ll find links to other industry experts, our own hard-won email expert insight, […]
Are you ready for a change and looking for a new job in email? Do you need to add an email expert to your email marketing team? Email Jobs is the site for you! There you can post a job and search resumes if you’re an employer, as well as post your resume and look for jobs if you’re an employee. Don’t think this site is limited to email service providers and the like. Email Jobs is […]
As your email expert bloggers, we constantly remind you to test, test and test again. Even if it’s only a simple, basic A/B split test, we encourage you to run it. If you’re new to testing, keep in mind you need to test a factor that will allow you to do something different (i.e. better) the next time around. For example, testing a subject line is good, but be sure to do it in a way […]
Oh my. Just when you think you’ve seen everything as an email marketing vendor, you get surprised. Shocked even. Just when you think every marketer under the sun has at least some inkling of email marketing best practices and list building, along comes a shocker. Here’s the shocker I just experienced: being forced, literally forced, to hand over an email address to a company I did not know at all. While on Facebook, an ad to […]
It might be 2012 but there are still marketers emailing like it’s 1999. Yes, the quantity over quality approach to building in-house email lists is still going strong. I know, because I am perusing the emails in my inbox and I see plenty from companies who added my name to their list without asking. These are companies I purchased from as a consumer, or downloaded a whitepaper from as an email marketing consultant. In either case, […]
One thing to love about the email marketing industry is the plethora of advice and information! One thing to watch about the email marketing industry is the plethora of advice and information! Often the well-meaning email expert offers great advice based on first-hand experience. That advice has real value! But lacks any caveats. In the past week, I have seen two examples of this: 1) an article claiming that five lines of text in an email […]
Both your subject line and headline play critical roles in getting people to open your emails. Once you’ve mastered the From line and got their attention that way, next up is your subject line. If that peaks their interest, your Preview Pane and headline are next in line for keeping them moving right along into your email. That makes the words in your subject line and headline critical. So why use words your customers don’t use? […]
OK, I am coming clean: I am a Pinterest neophyte. It seems I am slow to get the hang of it, but get the hang of it I must because at least once a week I see an article on marketing with Pinterest. And it is the job of the email consultant to stay not only on top of but ahead of email marketing trends. With that in mind, I’ve been pondering Pinterest’s place in the email […]
A few days ago, we talked about adding triggered automated emails to your email marketing program as an incremental improvement that can add up to a big boost in email marketing ROI. Our second suggestion was incrementally building your list. Today’s incremental improvement? Our third suggestion is simply this: Be clear. Some might call it being bossy. Okay not bossy, really, but clear on what it is you want someone to do. Too many emails are […]
