Opt In Email

By Mike Capuzzi

If you’ve ever stared at a blank computer screen or sheet of paper when you sat down to write a marketing piece, you know how challenging it can be to get started.

Starting a marketing campaign from scratch each and every time is tedious and not a great way to leverage time and creativity, which is why most successful marketers build and maintain a marketing swipe file.

Personally, I have several large boxes in my office where I keep my print swipe files and my marketing radar is always on – looking for new things to add – which might help me in the future (just yesterday I received a cool piece of mail from a credit card company and it’s an idea I’m definitely going to swipe for my marketing).

I also maintain a set of folders on my computer hard drive where I collect and store online marketing examples, like emails and web pages.

I use these swipe files to generate ideas and spark creativity. Sometimes I use the materials for to get ideas for my copy writing, but regardless of what I need to accomplish, by simply maintaining a healthy swipe file of both print and web materials, I can beat the blank page blues.

If you haven’t been keeping a swipe file, here are several ideas to help you get them started.

Offline Marketing (print) – study the mail you’re receiving each day and be on the lookout for unique and creative ideas that grabbed your attention. Read magazines and newspapers and pay attention to the advertisements. Again, you’re looking for examples that catch your attention. Pay particular attention to headlines and eye-catching ads.

Recently I took home several ads, from the SkyMall catalog that you find on every airline flight, because the headlines were so good.

When you attend tradeshows or marketing events, don’t just walk through the vendor area – look for marketing ideas you can use in your business.

Online Marketing (web) – watch for email headlines and emails that grab your attention. Either print them off or store them in a folder on your computer. I like to use SnagIt from TechSmith to capture web sites, opt-in pages and sales letters. SnagIt take a picture of the entire site – no matter how long it is – and I use it many times throughout the day to build my digital swipe file.

The bottom line is to ALWAYS HAVE YOUR MARKETING RADAR SET TO ON!

Finally, one last point I feel it’s important to make – swipe files should be used for inspiration and to spark creative ideas. I do not recommend simply copying large chunks of a sales letter or squeeze page and using them verbatim in your own business.

Mike Capuzzi is a marketing strategist, author and speaker. Since 1998, he has been helping entrepreneurs and business owners improve their marketing and response rates. He’s the inventor of CopyDoodles, software for adding handwritten notes and hand-drawn doodles to your marketing for increased readability and response. Visit MikeCapuzzi.com for more information.

By Dennis Dayman

For anyone who ever thought international borders don’t exist on the Internet – think again. Current privacy legislation in the EU is causing quite a stir and carries the potential to influence marketing activities worldwide. The e-Privacy Directive, which mandates that companies acquire “explicit consent” for the use of tracking cookies, is slated to take effect in late May, and a “right to be forgotten” bill, in terms of online activities, is well on its way to following suit. So what does this mean for marketers as well as consumers?

The EU’s e-Privacy Directive should be nothing new to marketers. It simply emphasizes practices and principles marketers should have been following since the beginning – clarity and transparency. The value of tracking cookies is obvious for marketers. Cookies allow data to be collected on a consumer’s behavior and then marketers use this data to appeal to that person’s particular interests. There’s no reason, however,why this process should happen in the shadows. In the US, most companies already provide ways to opt-in for more targeted information at all stages in the user experience, as well as offering easy ways to opt-out at any time. Simple formatting changes including opt-in boxes, and clear disclosure statements will likely be enough to appease the directive’s requirements that users be fully aware of the information being collected through cookies and how that data impacts the content they receive.

For consumers, however, the directive may result in more noticeable changes. As the use of tracking cookies will fall under tighter regulations, some organizations will still try to skirt the rules and find alternative ways to acquire consumer information. The new law, for example, doesn’t address the use of data collected through web browsers, which can be completely accessible depending on a user’s browser settings. As a result, Internet users will have to be much more mindful of their overall security settings. Consumers may also see longer, more complex privacy and security check lists which bury disclosures and permission options in fine print. 

The “right to be forgotten” bill – though only in its infancy – poses a much greater impact on global marketers. Fundamentally, the act intends to ensure a user’s data stored on social networking sites, like Facebook, can be completely erased should the user wish to terminate his or her account. The hitch is that the bill will hold companies like Facebook – despite being based in the US – accountable for any privacy abuses for users in the EU. On a broader scale, this means that not only will organizations need consent to collect user data, but they will also have the capacity to completely clear that data at any time at the user’s request. Furthermore, the bill aims to shift the requirements for privacy compliance from the location of the organization, to the location of its customers.

Nevertheless, for consumer privacy, the bill would be a major step forward. The “right to be forgotten” would empower users in the EU to hold any company, website, online service, or other entity – regardless of where it’s headquartered – accountable for any unwanted use or withholding of personal data. Instead of solely government-enforced sanctions, users themselves will also have the capacity to sue offending parties.

Marketers need to be aware of these upcoming privacy and security laws as they may have a critical affect on global campaigns. Companies conducting business online must know the privacy laws and regulations for the nations in which they operate – there will be grave consequences for those who do not obey these laws.

Dennis Dayman has more than 17 years of experience combating spam, security issues, and improving email delivery through industry policy, ISP relations and technical solutions. As Chief Privacy Officer at Eloqua (www.eloqua.com), Dayman leverages his experience and industry connections to help the company's customers maximize their delivery rates and compliance. Previously, Dayman worked for StrongMail Systems as Director of Deliverability, Privacy, and Standards, served in the Internet Security and Legal compliance division for Verizon Online, as a senior consultant at Mail Abuse Prevention Systems (MAPS), and started his career as Director of Policy and Legal External Affairs for Southwestern Bell Global, now AT&T.

Photo by planetaryvisions