When Your From is Done: Updating Your From AddressPart II

In March 2010, I had a similar article to this about updating a From address. Here is another example of updating ones From address. 

There comes a time in most email marketer’s life that the email address he or she sends from needs to be changed.  This change might be warranted because of an IP update, a change to a new email marketing service provider, a hosting update, for ascetic purposes, or other reasons.

When a change like this must be made, what should be done? Two of the most critical goals are, one, to do your best to be sure deliverability does not suffer when the new email address is used and, two, that subscribers recognize that the email is from you and do not hit the spam button.  After a thorough white listing process what’s next?  Do you alert your subscribers about the new email address, if so how?

Diapers.com recently tackled this issue.  In their case they were updating their ‘from’ email address, diapers@diapers.messages4.com, to the easier to digest diapers@baby.diapers.com.

This retailer of all things baby sent an email to their subscribers explaining that to better serve them they are making some ‘technical upgrades’ to their website including changing the address that they send email from.  The message requests that the subscriber does one of three things.
 

1. Right click on the from address with the email, select "add to contacts."
OR
2. Right click on the message before opening it, select "add to contacts" or "add to people I know.
OR
3. Click "add to address book" from within the email next to the from address.

This message is clear, simple, and sincerer.

One update that Diapers.com should make to their creative, however, is add the new email address to the header of the email.  Here is a good example from Current Catalog.



This way the subscribers will be more conscious of the change since it is in the top of the creative and top-of-mind.

Here is the creative from Diapers.com.  The subject line is: We're updating our email address‏




Here is another example. This one is from Kenneth Cole.
The subject line is: Add our new email to your address book

When Your From is Done: Updating Your 'From' Address

There comes a time in most email marketers' lives when the email address he or she sends from needs to be changed. This change might be warranted because of an IP update, a change to a new email marketing service provider, a hosting update, aesthetic concerns or other reasons.

When a change like this must be made, what should be done? Two of the most critical goals are:

• Do your best to ensure that deliverability does not suffer when you begin sending from the new email address.
   
• Make sure subscribers recognize that the new 'from' address is you and do not hit the spam or unsubscribe button in error.

After a thorough whitelisting process, what’s next? Do you alert your subscribers about the new email address, if so how?

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (MFA) recently tackled this issue. In their case they are updating their ‘from’ email address, 'mfamail@mfa.org, to info@email.mfa.org. The reason for the switch is not made clear in the email creative — nor does it need to be. However, the new email address does contain some similar characteristics as the original but uses 'info' before the '@' instead of 'mfamail.' The 'info@' handle is more accurate and widely recognized than 'mfamail@.'

MFA sent this email prior to using the new email address. This is smart for a variety of reasons:   

• This allows time for subscribers to update their contact list with the new email address prior to the new address going live.
   
• Sending information about the new email address while still using the old email address should help with deliverability once the new address is used. It is less effective to send a change-of-address email using the new email address because there is a chance that some recipients never see the email due to spam filtering.
   
• MFA is also following a best practice by asking their subscribers to add their email address to their safe senders list (i.e. address book) in the header of the email.  Adding this to the footer text would also be a good idea.
   
• MFA is also wise to limit the creative message to just the email address change — this eliminates the possibility of such vital information getting lost among clutter.

Here is the creative from Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  The subject line is: "Our e-mail address is changing"

Little Wonders Can Lead to Big Success- Part 2

A 'little wonder' is a seemingly insignificant action or event that eventually has a large impact on your long-term situation. In the second installment of this two-part series, Jordan Lane looks at some email little wonders — simple ways to improve your email programs — and the key benefits from each of them.

Like diligently saving pocket change, there are some easy additions you can make to your email campaigns that can bring large rewards in the long run. Yesterday we looked at two tips for improving your email header text. Today we'll look a third piece of your email header, as well as some straightforward technologies that can bring long-term success.

Ask to add the 'from' address to the safe sender list

Email marketers live and die by their deliverability rates. Often times, getting one's emails into the subscriber’s inbox consistently is a victory in and of itself. Once an email has been delivered successfully, it is important to do what one can to ensure that future emails will also be delivered. By respectfully asking subscribers to add your sender address to their address book (white listing), marketers not only improve deliverability rates but also help ensure that future deliverability rates stay high. In many cases subscribers will gladly white list an address. Like the hosted version and mobile device link, it is a good idea to place the from address white listing request in the header of an emails. It might be beneficial to test the placement of the white listing request, hosted and mobile version links in the header. Does placing the links on one line or multiple lines produce better results? I'd recommend testing this out. Marketers may also want to consider also placing this reminder in the footer as well as the header of the email.


Link to social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Digg, and Twitter

Social networking sites are all the rage these days. What started out primarily as a place to keep in contact with friends and family has now become an important opportunity to reach customers and potential customers, maintain a positive reputation, and to create an interactive and powerful online presence. Allowing subscribers to post content from your email campaigns on their social networking sites (or to post information on your social networking site!) can result in huge benefits for email campaigns.

Consider this: the life of a single email does not usually last longer than a couple weeks. Usually this is true because when an email has been sent but not opened, a subscriber is less and less likely to open it as time passes. However, when that same stagnant email is placed on a social networking site it can take on a viral life of its own. Once good content gets legs it can travel far and wide. So get Tweeting, Facebooking, Digging and MySpacing!

Using animated GIF images in mailings

An animated GIF file is a graphic image that moves. This could be a flashing or spinning icon, or letters that magically get larger, for example. Technically, an animated GIF is a single file that is created to display various images in a specific order. Animated GIFs are most frequently used in web ad banners, but there has also been a recent surge in the use of animated GIFs in email. One interesting use, beyond flashing letters or moving icons, is creating what looks like a video embedded in the email content. These “videos” present a visually unique and impressive message, and when used effectively, create visually engaging emails that deliver a “wow” factor that stagnant images cannot. To really catch the attention of email openers, be sure to place the most interesting animated GIFs above-the-fold.

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So there you have them — our email little wonders! With the proper use, tracking, testing and reporting, you will eventually reap the fruits of your labor. And remember, little things can make a big difference!