• by daniel.c , Melinda Krueger , December 27, 2005

Ah, the New Year--a time for reflection and resolution. It's a good time to think about how you are going to improve your e-mail program in 2006. Here are my resolutions to get you started.

1. Create at least one great viral campaign. Brainstorm with representatives from all disciplines from creative to technical and come up with something so interesting/funny/unusual that it will get passed around for months to come, while casting a lovely glow on the brand.

2. Develop a voice. Toss out the cleansed, generic corporate-speak and find the right voice for e-mail copy. It will be amusing but not offensive, inclusive but not sanitized, clever but not silly.

3. Report by consumer as well as campaign. Understand how customer groups--new and old, profitable and marginal, interactive and inattentive, loyal and indifferent--differ from each other and interact with e-mail and Web sites. Use this information to convert the less desirable to the more desirable.

4. Be polite. Welcome and thank subscribers; don't send a canned response or no response when a personal response is possible.

5. Fight for the brand by improving the e-mail user experience. Find the right way to get clients/managers to understand that consumers are not waiting for the latest information from them, but are always using the WIIFM (what's in it for me?) filter. Get them to invest in e-mail that is welcome in the inbox in order to build the brand.

That's it: short and sweet but ambitious. Wishing you a program to be proud of in 2006!

Melinda