2007 PR & Thought Leadership Opportunities

Attention Email Marketing Gurus: Datran Media wants to hear from you! With 2007 shaping up to be another big year for the email channel, Datran Media has more opportunities than ever to promote our clients success. PR opportunities range from straight-forward case studies that you can utilize to attract new business relationships, conference panel participation, white paper inclusion, press releases, editorial coverage, Forrester Research webinar inclusion and ongoing opportunities at the Email Sender and Provider Coalition (ESPC), Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), Direct Marketing Association (DMA), Email Experience Council (EEC) and the Authentication and Online Trust Alliance. (Formerly the Authentication Summit)

Not sure how to tell us about your success? Here are a few pointers.

First, send me a quick email about what you think you are doing well and/or describe a recent email marketing success story. Upon review, I’ll be in touch to ask a few questions and to discuss potential opportunities. We can then work together with our respective PR peers and collaborate on the most appropriate marketing touch point. It’s that easy.  I look forward to hearing from you!

The two nearest-term speaking opportunities available are:

March 4-6, Miami, Marketing Sherpa – Seeking email marketers that have outstanding triggered messaging campaign stories.

April 18-19, Boston, Authentication and Online Trust Alliance Summit 2007 – Seeking brand marketers to share thoughts regarding authentication and reputation.

Email Marketing Helps Boost Any Affiliate Program

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, I was thinking of writing about the perfect pair; two entities that together symbolize a perfect unity.  Since so many people are already writing about Brad and Angelina, I thought I’d focus on email marketing and affiliate marketing.  Together, these two marketing vehicles are a match made in heaven.  And you won’t see email slinging insults about affiliate marketing on the cover of Us Weekly anytime soon. 

Many marketers with affiliate programs dedicate much of their time on web sites. But web sites aren't the only places to conduct an affiliate program. While they are an important component of affiliate marketing, web sites can only generate a limited amount of traffic and sales.  In fact, it is estimated that between 80% and 90% of affiliates make little or no money from standard affiliate programs.  However, using email marketing can be an effective way to drive increased revenues from an affiliate marketing program.

With email, marketers can send auto–responders and follow-up on leads.  It represents the first step in building a long term relationship with a customer.  Email is also the ideal media for acquiring new customers and sending relevant up-sells -a major benefit for affiliate marketers.  And, relevant up-sells are based on what email can tell you about a customer so you do not have to worry about damaging the business relationship with useless offers.  Email autoresponders are the perfect example of how consumer response can "pull".  For more information on the “push and pull” aspect of marketing, be sure to check out Datran Media’s VP of Media Services, Jason Oates, recent article in iMedia Connection.

Email messages can be optimized based on user interaction.  Multi-variable testing increases the performance of the messages. Finally, when it comes to measuring results, understanding email performance is easy to do.

Affiliate Shoppers Earn More and Spend More

Not only will email help you boost your ROI from affiliate marketing, but in general, you will be connecting with consumers that represent a more qualified demographic than the Internet shopping audience as a whole, according to a new study conducted by comScore Networks.

The study revealed that affiliate shoppers are 17% more likely than the average Internet shopper to have an average household income greater than $75,000. Affiliate consumers also were 43% more likely to convert online than consumers directed by other referrals, defined as all activity that did not come directly to the merchant site or arrive via affiliate link. 

So if you are looking for an easy way to drive leads, conversions and sales, think about leveraging the power of email in conjunction with an affiliate marketing program.  To learn more about Datran Media’s own affiliate network, visit NetMargin today or contact us to speak to an affiliate manager.

Email and affiliate marketing: my pick for Valentine's Day's perfect couple.

Q: "I've noticed that I have a growing list of people who either do not open or do not click on my emails.  How can I address the inactive portion of my list?"

A: Thanks for the great question to kick off 2007. Just because users are ignoring you doesn't mean you should ignore them.  Dealing with inactive list members is a constant struggle for all email marketers.  The longer a member goes with out opening your emails the more likely they are to mark your messages as spam.  Therefore it is important to monitor inactive users and proactively reach out to them before they do any damage to your reputation. Here are a couple of ways to deal with inactive members.

First, set up a triggered message for users who have ignored the last 2-4 messages (depending on your mailing frequency) with a subject line like "Do you still enjoy our newsletter?" and a message letting them know that they are valued list member, update them on some highlights that have been featured in past emails and give them the option of unsubscribing. 

Secondly, vary your offers.  One of the main advantages of working with a list management company like Datran Media is that these messages are targeted based on performance attributes, thus increasing the possibility of making you money again.

If you’d like to learn more, Datran Media would be glad to discuss how you can leverage our expertise to outperform your email marketing goals and get your messages opened, read, and making money for you.   Contact us at 212-706-4817.

Send your questions to askanexpert@datranmedia.com. If we answer it, we'll send you a FREE Datran Media t-shirt!