Here is an example of what can happen. You start testing subject lines on your test plan, then within a few weeks you think you have some interesting results, but when you put them into action, repeating the success of the winning versions does not happen. The outcome? We need to test subject lines every single time to be sure of finding a winner and loser.

Another example is in testing pre-headers. You realise the email works better without it. Adding a pre-header just adds clutter and distraction from the main call-to-action. So if this is the case what other clutter can we remove? Immediately we might decide to change our test plan to see what else we can take out to reduce clutter.

One test not only gives you some answers, but it tells you what is next to test. You don’t need to go into the effort of writing a test plan.

So why do we do it still? Perhaps because we think it is the right thing to do. Google email marketing best practice and an ‘email guru’ will tell you a testing plan is one of the top 10 things to do, and Google is never wrong! Also, we feel we need to show management that we have a plan.

The best solution is to maintain a wishlist of things that might make a difference to your email programme and are worth testing, but don’t put a single date or order of priority on it. That way we still have something to show we are thinking about it, but we let the outcomes of our testing tell us what we should do next.

Now that MVT rather than just A/B testing is becoming available it makes it quicker to pursue your test ideas – no longer are you restricted to one test a month to keep results reliable, now you can go full throttle and test as much as you can create. As far as MVT is concerned, a testing plan simply adds bureaucracy and a hurdle to getting stuff done.

So next time someone asks you to write a test plan, you now know why you should tell them it is a pointless activity.

The above will no doubt be a familiar scenario for many who have commented on an acquaintances status or someone you know, without knowing most of their friends. The mass of irrelevant ‘comment’ emails that follow are pretty frustrating, causing many users to turn notifications off. Although turning off notifications would stop the flood of unwanted emails, it would also stop you being notified of comments you would be interested in.

Facebook have attempted to address this frequency and relevance issue and have announced the following:

Whilst the debate into the optimum frequency of send is normally applied to marketing emails, brands need to consider this issue even if they are ‘just sending notifications’ and ‘not trying to sell anything’.

Facebook is trying to sell its users something – a place to spend time whilst online. As such Facebook need to treat all emails as marketing emails and ensure they contain more relevant notifications at an appropriate frequency.

All users are different however and wish to be notified of activity to varying degrees.  It is good to see that Facebook is directing users to their preference centre, where users can decide the exact type and frequency of emails they receive – something all senders can learn from.

Facebook’s new found respect for its users is likely down to the emergence of its first main competitor in recent years: Google+.

For more information on the optimum frequency of sending emails, read Choosing the right email frequency by Sean Duffy.

Listen to a podcast of the Interview for some useful insights into email marketing topics ranging from customer relationship strategies and design tips all the way through to email analytics, the recent data breaches effecting the industry and the what the future may hold for email marketing.

You can view this and other digital marketing podcasts at www.targetinternet.com

If you would like to discuss any of the topics covered in this podcast please get in touch.

To celebrate the start of the new football season, we have created a league of the marketing emails sent by football clubs from the Barclays Premier League.

Read on to see if your team are going to make it into Europe, settle for mid table mediocrity or get relegated.

Click on the thumbnail images to view the emails in full.

1) Everton

Everton find themselves on top of the league with their well designed, content rich newsletter. The striking hero shot and lead story will keep fans coming back for more. Calls-to-action are impactful without being too crass and content blocks are well organised, making it easy for readers to consume the various different messages.

2) Sunderland

Close runners up – Sunderland, produce a tidy newsletter with many of the plus points of the Everton email and a few more besides. Text to image ratio is good, including free text article headers, meaning that fans will be able to read email content before downloading images (always nice to see that). It also contains a “match pack” providing fans with useful information on the upcoming fixtures, including a travel guide and how the “Black Cats” faired on previous meetings between the two teams.

3) Arsenal

The Arsenal newsletter is very simple and uncluttered. The one column structure makes for easy reading and the absence of any garish adverts makes you feel the Arsenal marketing team care more about building good relationships with it’s fans as opposed to simply monetising the email. There is however a well placed call-to-action for the clubs online video player.

4) Tottenham

The Tottenham newsletters are very long, but contains a good mix of news, game highlights, products from the club shop and eye-catching social links. Although there is a lot of information contained in this email, it is still quite easy to read through, using a simple grid layout to good effect.

5) Chelsea

Although I am not a huge fan of the Chelsea emails, there are a lot worse examples in the league, so they make 5th spot by default. Their placement of imagery makes it difficult to know where to start reading first. Their content is too reliant on “match reports” and lacks any articles fans would actually be interested in reading.

6) Fulham

The Fulham newsletter looks like a badly formatted Word document, more than a promotional email from a club playing in the richest football league in the World. With a bit more attention to detail it has the makings of an email the Fulham fans would really enjoy receiving. Their hero shots on the other hand are of a good standard.

7) Aston Villa

Aston Villa send shorter emails than any other team in the league. These emails should prove successful in achieving click-thrus on desired links, as they often only contain two calls-to-action and not much else. These emails are 100% image, but if fans download the images they are presented with a pleasant looking email.

8) Man Utd

The Man Utd emails contain too much information and I doubt fans would read even half of it. It does contain some nice features however, such as a Q&A session with a different Man Utd player each issue. The Man Utd marketing team should do a bit more testing, as half the images fail to show in Gmail and this has been the case for a number of months now.

9) Liverpool

Liverpool used to send out a newsletter with the standard links to highlights, match reports and so on, but the only time fans seem to receive emails now, is when the club want to get some money out of them. This is short sighted, more needs to be done to nurture relationships with subscribers.

10-18) Stoke et al…

Nine of the twenty teams in the league (Stoke, Blackburn, Bolton, West Brom, Wigan, Wolves, Swansea, QPR and Norwich) send out the same generic emails, generated from the back end of their almost identical websites. It obviously does not matter if Stoke’s emails are almost identical to Swansea’s, but the lack of effort is evident and this will likely be reflected in the responsiveness of their respective subscriber databases.

19) Man City

No email sign up form can be found (by me anyway) on the Man City website, so it does not look like they are utilising email any more. This is a real shame because if their emails were anything like their website, they would be great.

20) Newcastle

Although Man City do not send emails, they are saved from bottom spot because sending no emails is better than sending the sort of emails that Newcastle send. Newcastle fans must feel rather used and unvalued, when they receive emails from their club, only to find it contains no information at all about Newcastle United, but is simply trying to sell them cheap electricity. Shocking!

The season has only just started, so there is plenty of time for teams at the foot of the table to turn things around.

The bill is aimed at bad senders and spammers but it will affect anyone who is using electronic messaging for marketing in or to Canada.

What is FISA (Bill C-28)?

FISA, the Fighting Internet and Wireless Spam Act (Bill C-28) introduced by the Canadian government in May, 20101, will establish important new requirements for anyone using electronic messaging for marketing in Canada.

FISA will apply to any form of electronic message sent for marketing purposes (referred to as a “Commercial Electronic Message”, or “CEM”), including: email, SMS, instant messaging and social media/networking.

FISA also addresses Internet marketing challenges such as malware, phishing, pharming and other Internet threats.

Does this affect me?

Anyone sending a CEM (Commercial Electronic Message) to or from Canada is subject to FISA. Canadian and international organisations sending to Canadians are required to comply with the bill.

Who a marketer can send mail to

Marketers can send email to anyone who has given explicit consent. Consent may also be implied in one of the following circumstances:

1. There is an existing business or non-business relationship between the sender and the recipient of the message
2. The recipient has published their address in a conspicuous manner, and the message is related to the recipient’s professional capacity;
3. The recipient has provided their electronic address directly to the sender, and the message is related to the recipient’s professional capacity.

Explicit consent exists when the recipient provides the sender permission to send messages.

What needs to be in all email messages?

• The identity of the person who is sending the email message.
• If the email is being sent on someone’s behalf other than the sender, the name of that person needs to be included.
• Company name
• Company contact information
• Easy method of contacting the sender of the message
• An unsubscribe mechanism

What marketers need to do to accommodate recipients who wish to unsubscribe

Marketers must maintain clear and conspicuous unsubscribe procedures within the email and honor requests for unsubscribing within 10 business days of the request.

Marketers must also provide a method for email recipients to easily contact the person(s) responsible for sending the message. This method must be active for 60 days from the day the email was sent.

Please click the following link to get your copy of ‘The Marketer’s Guide to Applying FISA’