For the first time since 2001, we’ve had a clent request an email campaign via a list broker. They wanted us to identify the right list from the right broker/organization, find the right email software and track via their web analytics. Since we used to do this all the time (before our name was SEOmoz), I felt relatively comfortable jumping back in to the act… until I spent a few hours muddling it over last night.
With the speed of change in SEO, design, programming and online marketing over the last four years, what chance is there that the email marketing landscape looks anything like it once did? Time to look for some resources:
Via del.icio.us (email+marketing)
- Constant Contact – Big name in the industry, and their tour, while a bit dry and overly long, explains the process fairly well. They’ve also got a sizable hints and tips section.
- Zookoda – With a Web2.0 look and a specific appeal to bloggers who want to run small campaigns, Zookoda looked attractive, but it’s probably not right for this project (good to have in the back pocket, though).
- Campaign Monitor – The appeal is to email “designers” who need software that can deliver their elegant work. I like their blog, where they actually test flash inside major email clients for user experience.
- Copyblogger – They’re going on my late night reading list. It’s a well-written blog all about email & blog marketing with a focus on persuasive copywriting and something about the look and feel tells me they know what they’re talking about. I also recognize the site, probably from being pointed here by another blog I read (more positive re-inforcement).
- Chris Baggot – The quote on the top of his blog reads “Email is the greatest marketing tool in history. If used properly, nothing is more personalized, inexpensive, interactive or easier to execute.” The rest of the blog appears equally engaging.
- Jakob Nielsen on Incompetent Email Marketing – It’s from Halloween of last year, but it’s one of the few articles of his I can actually get behind.
- Email Marketing Statistics & Trends – One of the best I’ve come across so far. EmailLabs gives me delivery rate by ISP, time of day email users check their mail, and more. A fantastic find.
Via Google (email marketing)
- ClickZ Email Marketing Articles – It’s a brand I know and trust (mostly), but I can’t find an article I love in there… I’ll have to surf back historically.
- The rest of Google’s results are just companies who offer email marketing services. I’ve got plenty of these to review already, and I trust del.icio.us taggers far more than Google’s algo to deliver me into good hands.
Hopefully this glance into my short, short version of web research is insightful. For searches like this, you can see why I think del.icio.us and other social tools are going to become new methods of primary navigation for the masses in the years to come. And, with a bit of luck, there’s some email marketing resources above that you’ve found valuable.
Are there any big ones I’m missing? Companies you love to work with? Resources you think are worth reading? And, last, is it just me, or has email marketing not changed much over the last 4 years?
