Jan. 1, 2023 – Put this date in your calendar and circle it in red. It's the day the second major state law governing consumer data privacy and security goes into effect, and it will likely affect your company's operations.
I'm talking about Virginia's Consumer Data Protection Act – commonly referred to by its acronym CDPA, which sounds like two other major data laws, the CCPA (the California Consumer Privacy Act), and GDPR, the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation.
If your company revamped its data policies to comply with GDPR, CCPA or both, you're probably in a good position to comply with CDPA. If not, you now have 8.6 million more reasons (that's Virginia's estimated population as of 2020) to get your data processes, procedures and policies in order. Like CCPA and GDPR, Virginia's CDPA has many implications for marketers.
In this post, I'll present a general introduction to CDPA, how it compares with CCPA and GDPR, and what you need to...
Do you remember where you were at the end of last year’s Q1? Of course you do! The world had just been thrown off-kilter by the global pandemic, and marketing and customer analytics professionals were doing their best to respond, adapt, and (in many cases) pivot to help their organizations survive.
As we shift our focus to the second quarter of 2021, there are many lessons from the past 12 months that will help marketers navigate the current reality. In an effort to anticipate what the rest of 2021 might bring, below are my predictions for marketing and customer insights for the months ahead.
Focus on First Party
Privacy regulations, like GDPR and CCPA, and the demise of third-party cookies have shifted marketers to focus on first-party data (along with zero-party and second-party) over third-party data. In a recent Merkle study, 88% of marketers said that collecting first-party data is a priority for 2021. Marketers will adopt digital initiatives for collection, build...
Marketers shape their email strategy by asking questions. Many companies ask if they send too many emails—and often assume that they do. This is most likely based on a slew of reports and research studies asking questions along the lines of “Why do you unsubscribe from email?”
It’s a fair question and, through our experience, we’ve found that people almost always cite frequency as one of their main reasons for unsubscribing.
With that information in hand, email marketers tend to assume they do send too many emails. But this survey question is extremely generic, lacks context, and therefore can be misleading. For all we know, the respondents could be referring to the average email from the average company.
However, ask the same exact users which companies do the best job communicating with them through email, and they're likely to list a company that sends them more than one email per week. In fact, we find that companies who send subscribers emails multiple times...
“Dark Mode” is gaining momentum in the email space. Android Authority found that 81.9% of tech-savvy users are using Dark Mode some or most of the time they view their devices, and that number will increase as others begin to adopt it.
This overview explains what Dark Mode is, why it is trending and how to set up your email so you can give your readers the best possible experience when they are using Dark Mode.
The case for Dark Mode
If you want to leverage the full value of your email program, you should set up your emails to look and function well on devices that have activated Dark Mode.
On a device like a smartphone, tablet or computer, Dark Mode is a display setting that changes user interface colors. Instead of showing dark type on a light or white background, it automatically switches to light type on a dark or black background to make viewing easier in low light. Dark Mode can...
PRESS RELEASE
This acquisition uniquely positions Trendline to help Fortune 500 companies transform their email marketing programs.
AUSTIN, Texas – April 22, 2019 – Email consulting and professional services firm Trendline Interactive today announced the acquisition of Canadian email agency Inbox Marketer, further strengthening Trendline’s strategy, data management and analytics service offerings.
“Forward-thinking organizations are embracing digital transformation, and email is the digital channel they look to first,” said Morgan Stewart, CEO of Trendline Interactive. “While new technologies allow marketers to connect with customers in increasingly personal and relevant ways, marketers also need to deploy the right people and processes to fully leverage these tools. Inbox Marketer bolsters our ability to identify quick wins and implement strategic solutions that drive digital marketing transformation.”
Trendline and Inbox Marketer were both recognized as email industry leaders in the most recent Email Agency Buyer’s Guide from analyst firm The Relevancy Group, with Trendline receiving top honors in strategy and analytics, and Inbox Marketer receiving the highest scores...
With 2019 already in full swing, we've compiled a list of our top-read articles from last year. Check them out below to see what others were reading and how they improved their email programs in 2018.
1
What is a Deliverability Audit?
A deliverability audit takes time. It’s thorough and requires ample analysis. Read more about what should be looked at in your email program and how Trendline can help.
2
Optimize Before You Strategize
Read about how our Operations Consultants at Trendline help enterprise clients transform their email marketing programs with an actionable strategy and uncover process efficiencies.
3
How Much Does it Cost to Hire An Email Marketing Agency?
Whether you go the retainer route or opt to work on a per-project basis, working with an agency is a highly collaborative endeavor. Read more about the benefits of an agency. Though email boasts the highest ROI of any digital channel, it only works when done correctly—and collaboratively.
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Get the Attention and Investment Your Email Program Deserves
I spend a lot of time speaking at conferences and events, which gives me the opportunity to talk with email marketers across the country. While the cities may change, I often hear a similar refrain: I’m understaffed and undervalued. People in my organization give very little attention to the email program. Every year I am continually tasked with growing lists and the program while budgets remain flat and patience amongst stakeholders wears thin.
Email has been around for so long that there’s a perception that it’s easy — that it just chugs along without much oversight. The reality is that email marketing is the offensive line and without it other parts of the marketing department don’t shine. Whether it’s 5,000, 5 million or 50 million people, email has a huge influence on your brand. So how do you get people to understand that without a stellar offensive line, the quarterback can’t pass, the...
Fear & Placement Go Hand In Hand
One of the greatest fears for organizations that have a substantial email program is that of list attrition and stagnated growth in the subscriber base. List attrition happens when subscribers issue a spam complaint, their addresses bounce, or they “naturally” unsubscribe. A “natural” unsubscribe occurs when the subscriber takes the time to find the link, clicks on it, and proceeds with whatever unsubscribe process the company has put into place.
Companies view the unsubscribe as a threat and a failure to the long-term viability of the program. Truth be told, some companies are just plain scared of subscribers leaving their list, because someone in the organization believes that bigger lists are better. Over the years, the common practice by organizations is to place the unsubscribe link at or towards the bottom of the email. Some make it clearly visible while others find ways to hide it, either in the legalese, via a smaller font, or,...
It seems that people have been preaching the testing thing for quite a while now and Trendline is in complete agreement with a majority of the crowd when it comes to testing. In fact, as an agency, we have seen some sizable gains in our customers KPI’s when a disciplined and doable test plan is adhered to. Once an organization gets to see positive results of creating and executing against a test plan, they literally become addicted (in a good way) to wanting to always beat the new control. However, there are some organizations that struggle on just where to start. If you are one of them…..read on.
A basic and effective test calendar is as hard as you want to make it. However, there are four elements that should be included in even the most basic of calendars.
A Hypothesis
The first step to building a beneficial testing calendar is clearly defining what you’re hoping to learn and achieve for each test....
Top 10 Things Marketing Automation Customers Need To Know about Email Deliverability
1. You’re probably not alone on your IP address
Since the volume of email sent by B2B marketers is often much lower than retailers or other B2C sites, marketing automation providers often spread the usage of their Email IP addresses across multiple clients. As a matter of fact, most marketing automation subscriptions default to a shared IP. Consider checking with your provider on the costs associated with a dedicated IP address for your company, otherwise, your deliverability could be impacted by the bad practices of the other companies on the same IP.
2. More volume is not always better
Major B2C ISPs and webmail providers publish the volumes that they accept on an hourly basis. Unfortunately, B2B senders don’t receive that information. Many B2B networks and mail servers can handle small volumes and don’t have dedicated mail server administrators. This makes it difficult to send a large amount of volume to these B2B networks....
