Over the years I’ve worked with companies who admit to me that they’ve purchased data at one point or another. Let’s face it, as bad a practice as it is, people and companies still think they can succeed in email marketing with purchased lists. As part of the cleanup process, I start to ask questions about the list. Who did you buy it from? How were the addressees collected? Are...
Earlier this week I posted about the increased amount of B2B spam I’m receiving. One message is not a huge deal and I just delete and move on. But many folks are using marketing automation to send a series of emails. These emails often violate CAN SPAM in one way or another. This has been the law for 13 years now, I find it difficult to believe marketers are still unaware of what it says...
Word to the Wise has joined the i2Coalition. Today they posted our introduction to their blog. Why did we do it? Email, and online spaces, are so important to modern life. We shop, bank, communicate, play and interact online. The internet has facilitated everything from political revolution to coffee dates and international friendships. Steve watched the Berlin Wall fall from his college dorm...
Companies are always trying to find new ways to use and abuse email. My mailbox has been rife with mail from companies trying to sell me stuff for my business. It’s been interesting to watch the new ways they’re trying to get attention, while not honoring the most important rule of email marketing. Marketing Automation The advent of “marketing automation” has added a new...
Most deliverability problems don’t start where many people think they do. So very often people call looking for deliverability help and tell me all about the things they’re doing to reach the inbox. They’ll tell me about content, they’ll tell me about bounces, they’ll talk about complaints, engagement, opens and clicks. Rarely will they bring up their list source...
Dear Laura, Can you help me understand the Microsoft SmartScreen filter? I’m working on a new project and we’re not able to get to the inbox at Microsoft. Our SNDS/JMRP health is great, not a problem that we can see, but when we contact the support team we’re told we’re being flagged by SmartScreen. It seems impossible to try and find any information or ways to rectify this issue...
We’re more than halfway through April. Good: Taxes are finished. Bad: Wait? We’re well into Q2? How time files. With that realization, it seems like it’s a good time to share some of the places and events I’ll be at in May. Salesforce Connections in Atlanta, GA. May 10 – 12. I’m a panelist for Deliverability Unplugged: How to Stay out of Email Jail and Other...
I saw a post over on LinkedIn today. It was from an ESP, talking about their simple tips and tricks for getting into the inbox. The laughable bit was half the “tricks” had nothing to do with getting to the inbox, but rather were about enticing people to open the mail once it’s gotten to the inbox. There are no “tricks” to getting to the inbox. There used to be some...
One thing that catches me up with clients sometimes is their own spam filters block their own content. It happens. In some cases the client is using an appliance. The client’s reputation is bad enough that the appliance actually blocks mail. Often these clients have no idea they are blocking their own mail, until we try and send them something and the mail is rejected. Typically, the issue...
I had a bit of a interesting Friday. I was so glad it was finally the weekend. Saturday we did a bunch of errands, including go visit our servers. See, we’ve been upgrading infrastructure to implement a second type of backup system. Saturday we were doing the last set of upgrades so we could install over the weekend. Yes, we do all our own networking and racking. Saturday evening Steve is...
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