http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com Tue, 29 May 2012 15:12:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-marketing-industry-statistics/which-email-services-are-your-subscribers-using-2/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-marketing-industry-statistics/which-email-services-are-your-subscribers-using-2/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 01:06:27 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=2237 In my last post I discussed the importance of previewing your HTML emails in various webmail services and email clients before delivering them. On that subject, I thought it might be interesting to take a look at email market share statistics. Knowing exactly which email services your subscribers are using is a huge time saver [...]]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-marketing-industry-statistics/which-email-services-are-your-subscribers-using-2/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/email-preview-tools-and-why-to-use-them/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/email-preview-tools-and-why-to-use-them/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 15:41:35 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=2062 One of the most frustrating issues that arise for email marketers is when their HTML emails are displayed incorrectly in the inboxes of subscribers. Images can get blocked, paragraph spacing is deleted, and various other errors occur that distort even a carefully crafted email. This can hurt response rates and even lead to unsubscribes.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/email-preview-tools-and-why-to-use-them/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/spam-filters/blacklists-what-to-do-if-youre-on-one/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/spam-filters/blacklists-what-to-do-if-youre-on-one/#comments Wed, 11 May 2011 14:00:47 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=2032 A while back I wrote about how to avoid spam filters, but what if you end up on a blacklist? Here's what you need to know: Email blacklists, also known as blocklists, are a common way of reducing spam. If your mail server has been blacklisted, some email you send may not be delivered. Internet service providers like Yahoo, AOL and Comcast use third-party blacklists as a starting point. To this they add feedback they’ve received from customer spam complaints.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/spam-filters/blacklists-what-to-do-if-youre-on-one/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-content/1988/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-content/1988/#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 14:00:33 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=1988 I recently reviewed the book Clout: The Art & Science of Influential Web Content by Colleen Jones for Newport Interactive Marketers. It discusses strategy and best practices for planning and creating digital content. Lots of practical information and helpful real-life examples. You can watch the review below and read a sample of the book in PDF format or HTML.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-content/1988/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/1962/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/1962/#comments Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:00:01 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=1962 As a follow-up to my recent posts about the best way to use images in your emails, I thought I’d offer some suggestions on where to find royalty-free stock images online. In addition to photographs, these sites sell illustrations, video, audio and more. I use them for photos and illustrations to include in my HTML email designs. Below is a list of some of the best sites and some practical info about them.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/1962/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-content/why-use-alt-text-with-images-email-marketing-best-practices-part-4/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-content/why-use-alt-text-with-images-email-marketing-best-practices-part-4/#comments Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:56:23 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=1847 First, what they are: “Alt” text, short for alternative text, is the text that appears in place of an image when it’s not viewable. Its main purpose is to briefly describe an image to someone who is visually impaired via a screen reader. (Screen readers read all of the text on a page, denoting lists, links, headlines and ALT text in images.) A secondary purpose, however, is to describe an image to someone who cannot or chooses not to view images in their browsing device or email client. Most importantly, though, marketers who don’t use alt tags accordingly risk lower open and click-through rates because recipients might decide not to display images or act further. Below are some guidelines to follow when using alt text in your HTML email layouts.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-content/why-use-alt-text-with-images-email-marketing-best-practices-part-4/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/image-usage-email-marketing-best-practices-part-3/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/image-usage-email-marketing-best-practices-part-3/#comments Wed, 30 Mar 2011 15:00:18 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=1803 An email, just like any other piece of marketing material, looks better when it’s got appealing images in it. However, since email clients and personal settings vary, you can’t control how the email displays to the user in all cases. Here are some guidelines to keep in mind to ensure that your email not only looks fantastic, but can be delivered and viewed effectively by your subscribers.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/image-usage-email-marketing-best-practices-part-3/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/spam-filters/color-email-design-best-practices-part-2/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/spam-filters/color-email-design-best-practices-part-2/#comments Mon, 21 Mar 2011 14:00:44 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=1794 The colors you choose to use in your HTML email design can affect its readability as well as the amount of visual appeal it has to your subscribers. Color invokes emotions (whether or not we are aware of them) and while it’s difficult to generalize about taste, there are a few general guidelines to keep in mind. There are several factors to consider when selecting a color scheme: contrast, consistency, quantity, and possibly even gender.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/spam-filters/color-email-design-best-practices-part-2/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/fonts-email-design-best-practices-part-1/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/fonts-email-design-best-practices-part-1/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2011 14:00:44 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=1778 There are four main elements of the design of an HTML email: typeface, color, images, and layout. While there is much variation and experimentation in email design, industry professionals generally agree on a set of basic principals. It’s important to note that while following these guidelines can improve results, they are, in fact, merely guidelines. The behavior and preferences of your mailing list is unique and should be studied in order to truly optimize communication between you and your customers. This is the first of a series of four blog posts that will discuss email design best practices.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/email-design/fonts-email-design-best-practices-part-1/feed/ 0 http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/click-through-rate/a-word-on-email-marketing-benchmarks/ http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/click-through-rate/a-word-on-email-marketing-benchmarks/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 14:00:28 +0000 Katherine Gagliano http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/?p=1768 It can be very disheartening to review the performance report of your first email campaign and discover that your email only had a 32% open rate or 9% click-through rate. That is, until, you find out that the industry average is much, much lower. Suddenly you’re singing from the highest mountain instead of hanging your head. Of course, the opposite scenario is entirely possible as well—you may find that your results are lower than average. Below is an overview of some current benchmarks that may be useful towards setting realistic expectations and goals for your campaign.]]> http://www.amplifymarketinggroup.com/blog/click-through-rate/a-word-on-email-marketing-benchmarks/feed/ 0