The DMA Reputation Registry is LIVE!

Authentication is an important component in creating a better and more secure email universe. Unfortunately, just say the word “authentication” and most email marketers’ eyes glaze over. It sounds technical. It sounds boring. It sounds hard.

And yet it’s important. While there aren’t any ISPs today that are blocking email solely because the server isn’t authenticated, it is absolutely one of the factors that influences deliverability. Unauthenticated servers are more suspicious. Over time we believe it will become an increasingly important factor and it is even possible that some receivers will outright block any email that isn’t authenticated.

Because of this the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) made a smart (and bold!) statement when they required all member companies to authenticate their email. They knew it was the right stand to take for the industry.

Of course creating the requirement did not make it easier and the DMA knew that it would need to provide members with educational resources and innovative tools and services to get the job done. If legitimate companies aren’t authenticating their email it is almost certainly because they need help, not because they don’t think it’s important.

Which is why last summer Return Path announced a partnership between the DMA and Return Path to create a registry to help DMA member companies verify the authentication of their email streams. The goal of this registry is to help DMA members quickly and easily determine whether or not their mailing IPs are authenticated. If they aren’t in compliance, the registry gives DMA members the information they need to fulfill the authentication requirement.

And it is now live! …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

DMA, RETURN PATH LAUNCH EMAIL REPUTATION REGISTRY

December 16, 2008 — The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), in partnership with Return Path, a leading deliverability and email reputation services provider, has launched a Web-based Email Reputation Registry giving member companies unprecedented access to third-party data about their email programs. The registry makes it easier for DMA’s 3,400 member companies to increase the integrity and value of email marketing and in doing so, reinforces the Association’s efforts around self-regulation in the digital marketing arena.

“Millions of marketers around the world depend on email to communicate with their current customers and to reach new ones, and that is why it is essential that email is viable and trusted,” said Senny Boone, DMA’s Senior Vice President, Corporate & Social Responsibility. “Authentication plays a major role in ensuring trust in the electronic marketplace because it lays a framework for legitimate email marketers to be identified. DMA’s Email Reputation Registry, which will provide authentication verification, is a major step towards preserving email as both an important tool for marketers and a vital communications and commerce channel.” …

Tell me more

Categories: News View Comments

How Non-profits Can Profit from Email Marketing Even in a Down Economy

With the global economy in a tailspin, marketers are increasingly being asked to do more with less. As a result, email has never looked better when it comes to delivering a high ROI for your marketing investment. Why? Minimal sending costs, instantly available performance metrics and the potential for huge revenue, relationship building and branding gains.

There may be one industry in particular where email could and should, play an increasingly important part of the marketing mix: charitable organizations. After all, nonprofits have always relied on the generosity of others and are now doing so in an environment where people have less and less to give.

In fact, a recent article in the NonProfit Times cited a study by the Direct Marketing Association Nonprofit Federation (DMANF) showing that more than two-thirds of non-profit executives plan to change their marketing strategy because of the economy. Why? The study showed that …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Episode #3 of Reputation Radio is LIVE!

Our new episode of Reputation Radio is available now on iTunes.

In this episode we interview Ken Takahashi about mobile marketing in the Asia Pacific region and the implications for U.S. marketers as mobile continues to grow here. Then, in our Cool Email Idea segment …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Targeted Email Sightings: Alive and Well in Cyberspace

It’s a bit tricky to optimize email in this current environment. On one hand, with all of our marketing budgets under incredible scrutiny, email has taken center stage as an economical and high ROI channel. All that attention means temptation to just send more and more – but of course that has penalties in spiked complaint rates, lower deliverability and exasperated subscribers.

On the other hand, consumers and business professionals are holding tight to their dollars and cents – and retailers, travel companies and even B2B marketers are responding with all kinds of great deals and discounts. “Can we just please send an email for every new deal?” you may be hearing from your brand and product managers. Yikes – that just increases the frequency and lowers the relevance for everyone.

Combined, the effect is that the inbox is even more crowded with great deals. I sorted my personal account by subject line this morning and the first 300 messages started with “50% off.” Wow. We aren’t in Kansas anymore, Toto.

All the more reason to offer three cheers for Sears Holdings, J.C Penney, Target and Gap (and Sears agency Ogilvy) for sharing their email targeting success stories with the Wall Street Journal (subscription required).

The Journal reports that …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Our Daily Email Challenges

It’s gorgeous weather (well, except for that nasty, cold snow squall that hit us yesterday afternoon) here in Park City, Utah and the Email Insider Summit is in full swing. Energy is high, especially after the first day of fabulous content that got us all talking and challenging each other. As a programming committee member, I can give huge insider props along with my heartfelt thanks to David Baker of Avenue A Razorfish who put this program together.

Here’s some of what we are all talking about…. and you can read my and others’ blog posts from the event at Mediapost Live. If you are on Twitter, there are a number of us tweeting throughout the event – just search for #eis (my Twitter profile is SAMRPath).

Stephen Geer of Obama for America reminded us all that we have to balance risk and reward when we make deliverability (and revenue opportunity) decisions every day. No question the Obama team reinvented campaigning in the US. Email was a critical component of both communicating the message as well as driving action. For Geer, frequency and complaints went hand in hand. Frequency seemed to win. His answer, “We knew that we could survive a certain amount of churn (fatigue combined with deliverability failures) because of our list growth.”

Same for all of us. How much frequency is too much? …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Return Path's Anniversary: Nine is Fine

On Saturday Return Path celebrated its ninth anniversary. I hope you’ll indulge me a bit as I go ahead and admit that I am biased, of course, but that I think this year may be our best yet.

A few highlights …

Tell me more

Categories: News View Comments

The (Possible) Future of International Spam Laws

After more than a decade of fits and starts, fear and doubt, lies and lobbying, legislative attention towards spam now seems to arrive in regular waves. Our friend Dennis Dayman reports on deliverability.com that a new law has taken effect in Israel, requiring (in short) opt-in — and so according to the International Herald Tribune, Israeli marketers were rushing to re-confirm questionable subscriptions before the deadline this past Monday. In Canada, Internet law expert Michael Geist lambasted his government for continuing to fail to pass any anti-spam legislation, four years after he and the National Task Force on Spam — which also included our own Neil Schwartzman — strongly urged them to take immediate action. And this week at the Internet Governance Forum in Hyderabad, I’ve heard representatives from more than a dozen governments from all over the world discussing not whether “cyber crime” legislation is necessary, but rather how it should be formulated to fit their local legal standards and culture.

Even in the United States, with both foes and supporters of the incoming administration waiting to learn what President Obama and his staff will do, there are clear signs that …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Cool Email Idea: Fun Transactional Messaging

What: Fun transactional messaging

Who: CD Baby

Why we love it: Who says transactional messages have to be boring? CD baby’s order confirmation email does a superb job of celebrating the purchase. By using their unique voice and incorporating a bit of humor, they are effectively building …

Tell me more

Categories: Commentary View Comments

Expanding Our Global Footprint

Raymond Gannon
Business Development Manager

As we continue to grow internationally at Return Path, we have joined ETIS, the global IT Association for Telecommunications. ETIS is a European organization which brings together the major telecommunications providers in Europe to share best-practices, create benchmarking data and form discussion groups on important technology issues.

I’m excited to be a part of this group and I believe that our participation …

Tell me more

Categories: Return Path View Comments