Disqus - Latest Comments for MarkBrownlow

Re: RoundTheWorld 2014/15 — Hawaii, Teil 1

Mark Brownlow — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 11:52:19 -0000

Die Reise und Bilder sind wunderbar! Freuen uns sehr für euch. Ich hoffe aber, dass Englisch jetzt auch in der Praxis als Arbeitssprache verwendet wird? ;-)

Re: Three simple CTA tips for your next email

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 02:54:08 -0000

Thanks Ryan. I'm often surprised how much small changes can affect outcomes. At the same time, sometimes we need to make bigger changes to see really big, sustainable improvements. It's all about not settling for the status quo!

Re: Three simple CTA tips for your next email

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 02:52:04 -0000

Yes, agree: "know your audience well" is the foundation on which customisation (and copywriting) builds.

Re: Three simple CTA tips for your next email

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 25 Aug 2014 02:50:24 -0000

Thanks Kenneth. I find it easy to set-and-forget CTAs and a little reminder about simple tweaks to try out keeps me on my toes.

Re: 4 ways to use a preheader in your marketing emails

Mark Brownlow — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:40:49 -0000

I once challenged retailers to do that just to see what would happen, but not heard of anyone who tried it. Different reading habits catered for, plus some use preheader for the admin stuff. I'm not arguing one way or the other, but I've seen it work and I've seen it not work. Hence the last paragraph in the post.

Re: 4 ways to use a preheader in your marketing emails

Mark Brownlow — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:28:28 -0000

Thanks for sharing - great to hear you're getting positive results!

Re: 4 ways to use a preheader in your marketing emails

Mark Brownlow — Fri, 07 Mar 2014 14:27:39 -0000

One man's turd is another man's manure. The alt trick gets you the inbox text, but with a "clean" header. A displayed preheader has its own value (or not, YMMV) outside the inbox, especially if you're incorporating links.

Re: What if Santa was an email marketer?

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 13:16:43 -0000

Very good Jordie! And they really should rename blacklists as naughty lists.

Re: What if Santa was an email marketer?

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:23:58 -0000

Well 3pm here is 2pm there, so everyone's right ;-)
Thanks Kath and an early Merry Xmas to you!

Re: What if Santa was an email marketer?

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 09:19:18 -0000

Exactly - is Santa mailing on his own behalf or running a list rental operation? Beers on me when we get the chance to discuss all this in person!

Re: What if Santa was an email marketer?

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 07:54:52 -0000

That's a valid point - it makes little sense to optimise for opens because they're already very high. I think Santa does need to assess his true goals. You could argue that his key metric is actually the delivery rate. Now I'm wondering if we should distinguish between delivery rate and under tree delivery rate.
I'm also wondering how much sender name will impact perceived value of the contents?

Re: What if Santa was an email marketer?

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 07:37:17 -0000

Nice Tim! Though I'm going to have to argue that open rate is a more acceptable metric for Santa than for everyone else. As it reflects actual behaviour, it could be used to evaluate gift wrap tests, for example. Though opens may of course be impacted by gift tag copy, so we'd have to keep that identical between test groups.

Re: 7 email marketing myths that may surprise you

Mark Brownlow — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 01:57:49 -0000

Thanks Stephen - appreciate the kind words. Mind you, Alchemy Worx really deserve the kudos for the original infographic...

Re: 7 email marketing myths that may surprise you

Mark Brownlow — Tue, 29 Oct 2013 16:48:40 -0000

Agree James. Many recommendations are based on scenarios or averages that may not fit your particular situation. As you say, testing is important. Thanks for commenting!

Re: How email marketers should react to changes to webmail services

Mark Brownlow — Tue, 08 Oct 2013 14:31:22 -0000

Hi Robin,

Great to hear from you. There's a raw wind blowing over at my blog, but I have a monthly home here. Yep, I think one thing folk forget is that most of the email overload is not through opt-in commercial email. UK DMA stats show that half the people signed up to lists are getting no more than 3 such mails a day on average.

Re: Neal Schaffer on Social Media Strategy and His New Book: ‘Maximize Your Social’

Mark Brownlow — Thu, 26 Sep 2013 07:15:58 -0000

Interesting to hear Neal talk about leaving personal preferences behind and viewing different social networks as tools for a job. Have to agree from a business and corporate perspective. A lot of commentators seem very emotionally attached to particular networks or approaches, leading to overly defensive reactions and a lack of objectivity. Loved Neal's very objective, results-oriented approach.

I find it a trickier issue, though, when you are both an individual and the business (i.e. one-person show). For example, I'm pretty sure I *should* do more on Facebook and equally sure I *don't want* to! Conflict!

Re: Mark Brownlow on the Art and Science of Email Marketing

Mark Brownlow — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 02:39:04 -0000

I like that line of thought! It's a classic example of where sense prevails over hype. While people were arguing about social OR email, others were finding simple, yet effective, ways to get the two working together to help achieve overall goals.

Re: Defined. The correct length for a subject line.

Mark Brownlow — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 13:14:39 -0000

Really like this article! For many reasons, but not least for the HHGTTG reference. There's a little subset of the world that KNOWS 42 is the answer to everything. Best time to send email? 42 ;-)

Re: 5 ways to improve your email marketing in 2012

Mark Brownlow — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 03:18:34 -0000

Interesting Tim. Combine that with the nudge affect observed with email and you usually have some convincing numbers for more investment.

Re: 5 ways to improve your email marketing in 2012

Mark Brownlow — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:28:18 -0000

Couldn't agree more Chryso - thanks for the kind comment.

Re: 5 ways to improve your email marketing in 2012

Mark Brownlow — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 14:27:17 -0000

Hah, yes! Guilty as charged. "Little tweaks" I think I meant to write.

Re: People Who Inspire and Challenge Me

Mark Brownlow — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 09:46:18 -0000

Andrew, I nearly missed this what with the New Year and a heap of work. Anyway, I'm crawling briefly out from my desk just to say how honored and humbled I feel to have such kind words said about me and the blog. Some really great folk on your list and, of course, you should add yourself, too: the industry is a much better and dynamic one with you in it.

Thanks again and a Happy New Year to you and yours and to all at Trendline Interactive.

Re: What Makes Good Online Marketing Content?

Mark Brownlow — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 04:07:06 -0000

Thanks for continuing the discussion Jim. I see your last paragraph as a call to arms. We've become so embedded in functional optimization and technological thinking that we continually lose sight of the fact that people are...um...people.

Re: Nerds, Dorks, Geeks, and Cool Dudes

Mark Brownlow — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 10:07:00 -0000

Should I be concerned that I just assumed I'd be a dork, nerd or geek and didn't even bother reading "cool dude"?

Re: Return Path - Good News, Bad News: My 2009 Predictions

Mark Brownlow — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:13:46 -0000

Love those predictions Matt.

I will just be a bit curmudgeonly and suggest that neither mobile, mobile email nor social networks will make the progress (in terms of marketing use) that many would predict / like to see. Mobile marketing has been the "next big thing" for a few years now and it still hasn't really happened. But I would like to be proved wrong.

Other possibilities:

1. Certification (!) will become increasingly important.

2. There will be a growing cleft between the email marketing haves and have nots. Those with the skills and resources to apply top tactics to stand out in a world of more email and lower attention spans. And those without.

3. ESPs will develop easier and better tools to help the have nots catch up

4. People will still buy email lists and wonder why they don't work.

5. At least one new technology/medium will be described as the death of email. But won't be.

Whatever, exciting times ahead...