E-mail Marketing in a Web 2.0 World

Shar VanBoskirk - Social computing
Shift in the way corps and users interact

Online users:
34% watch other video
next popular is buying from other consumers
29% read blogs
11% write blogs

Trust source:
83% believe friend
75% reading review somewhere
69% actual website

Open e-mail
#1. Recognize sender, agreed to get e-mail from, about service I'm interested in, something friends or family might like, subject line is personalize (that one's low)

Shift to social computing is a shift in mindset.
Use e-mail to learn about your customers -- what are they saying about your brand? How are they saying it? What are they saying to you?
Don't just push info to them.

E-mail us. E-mail a friend.
Include social activities in your e-mails: polls, surveys, voting
-let's you know which social capabilities you should take large scale
Choose either email or RSS or IM or mobile alerts
Include video or audio casts in e-mail.
E-mail as mini-blog or community site -- Reader's corner.
Format emails for mobile access
Email to confirm stuff
Email can perpetuate cross-channel customer conversation... like you go to the website, then leave stuff on the page, e-mail follows up on it

Eamon O'Neill
Bluestreak
My Maps -- TripTik -- share with others. Consumer pulling vs. marketer pushing information
Rss Feeds can be personalized with Web 2.0 -- (possibly subscribe just to certain categories of blog?)
Follow-up e-mails include the personalized RSS feeds that the user created -- instead of checking on certain boxes when signing up
Instead of refer-a-friend, more of an involve-a-friend. You decorate a room then show it to your friends...
Also, person on site searches with keyword. You can follow up with e-mail regarding that keyword search

Increasing responses:
1. Providing exclusive content -- only if e-mail user
2. Providing a utililty -- like stock tips, weather alert via e-mail
3. Humor - joke, cartoon -- must be regular part of program

Start with slow introduction when you subscribe -- say how to get off spam filter, that you'll be sending video, etc etc
Separate prospects from regular customers
Also keep track of people who don't respond (maybe ditch them from mailing list?)