I had a number of very good talks with folks at the Email Innovations Summit earlier this week. I’m still digesting it all. It’s clear that getting to the inbox isn’t a solved problem. Around a decade ago I figured that the explosion of complaint feedback loops would make my job obsolete. That more data would mean anyone could manage delivery. That’s not the case for a...
Quick Vegas trip review
Made it back from Vegas late last night. It was a great trip, even though I wasn’t officially attending the conference. I did get a chance to see old friends and meet some new people. The Women of Email board had our first in person meeting and we’re working on some exciting things over the next few months. Our mentor program is well underway and we have been placing speakers at...
Malicious email terms defined.
Legitimate mailers need to distinguish themselves from spammers. One important piece of that is knowing what spammers do. SendGrid has put together some information on common scams and techniques spammers use to get email delivered. Some of these terms, like doxxing and swatting, are not specifically email related. However, they are used against people who are fighting abuse on the Internet...
Responding to complaints
I sent in a complaint to an ESP earlier today. This was mail from a major UK retailer to an address that is not used to sign up for mail. It’s part of an ongoing stream of spam related to UK services and products. I believe most of this is because one of the data selling companies has that address associated with someone who is not me. I did explain I believed this was a purchased address...
Vegas next week
All of you attending the Email Innovations Summit in Vegas, I’ll be around during the conference. Not attending or speaking this year, but I have some meetings with folks scheduled. I will also be around for the session arranged by the Women of Email presents “Rumpelstiltskin Marketers” There’s no arguing that necessity is the mother of invention. That’s why it’s wise to look to...
March 2017: The Month in Email
It’s that time again… here’s a look at our last month of blog posts. We find it useful to recap each month, both to track trends and issues in email delivery and to provide a handy summary for those who aren’t following along breathlessly every single day. Let us know if you find it useful too! As always, I wrote about email filters. It’s so important to recognize that filters aren’t arbitrary...
Doing email right
Over on the MarketingLand website, Len Shneyder talks about 3 companies (Uber, REI and eBay) that do email right. In there he shows how the companies use email to further their business goals while understanding and meeting the needs of their customers. Meeting the needs of recipients is the way to get your mail to the inbox. Send email that your users want, and they will tell the ISPs when they...
OTA joins the ISOC
The Online Trust Alliance (OTA) announced today they were joining forces with the Internet Society (ISOC). Starting in May, they will operate as an initiative under the ISOC umbrella. “The Internet Society and OTA share the belief that trust is the key issue in defining the future value of the Internet,” said Internet Society President and CEO, Kathryn Brown. “Now is the right time for these two...
News in the email space
Various things happening in the email space recently that are worth mentioning but don’t have enough to justify a whole blog post. Verizon announced a new umbrella company for the AOL and Yahoo media properties, including things like Engadget, Huffington Post. Based on the various press articles I’ve seen this doesn’t appear to affect the email handling for either set of domains...
Fraudulent signups or spam?
This morning I got spam from a major data broker / ESP / credit reporting agency claiming I’d signed up on some college website. In the UK. To check my credit score. Uh. No. No I didn’t. Of course, it’s very possible someone did use my email address when signing up for something at a UK university. They probably got a t-shirt or free pizza out of it. But that doesn’t...