(The following was written by Patrick Knight, Director, Client Deliverability, and myself.)

When you send out an email campaign, you need to know how many of your subscribers actually took the time to click on your message and open it. This measurement is called the “open rate.”

The open rate compares the number of people who opened an email message to the number who did not. It’s a percentage of the number of messages “delivered.” An open rate is dependent on a number of different factors. It could be affected by aesthetic reasons, or it could reflect your data management, which in turn may have to do with deliverability issues.

For instance, if your email is blocked by Yahoo!, and the majority of your subscribers have Yahoo! email addresses, the open rate for your email campaign may be disproportionately low.

On the aesthetic side, an open rate is influenced by things like the subject line, sender identification, HTML rendering (such as how the email is show on a mobile device), bulk folder delivery, relevancy of content, and timing of send.

Sometimes a message might be reported as having been opened multiple times. This may happen for a number of reasons. For example, email clients such as Outlook render HTLM within the preview pane, so that each time the user scrolls through his or her inbox and passes your message, it will count as an open. This happens because each time the user previews the message, the user is actually requesting the embedded image from your server, resulting in the report of an open. Ultimately, this would be counted as multiple opens versus a unique open.

Unique opens are somewhat like total opens. The important difference is that only one user is being counted or reported. For example:

• User #1—opens email 2 times.
• User #2—opens email 4 times.
• User#3—opens email 4 times.

This makes a total of 10 opens. However, there are 3 unique opens.

Whether or not emails are opened consistently is largely based on sender reputation, relevancy, and other factors mentioned earlier. Although open rates render inconsistencies, email is very much about building a relationship with your subscribers. As you achieve this through relevant content, setting and honoring expectations, creating trust with your brand, and following best practices, email open rates tend to increase. (more…)

Bankruptcy, falling revenues, decreasing patron counts: These offer just a glimpse of the tough realities casinos are facing.

The casino marketer today must deal with a unique problem set. To triumph in these times, it becomes necessary to open up new channels. Many marketers who are after high ROI and quick ramp-up times are turning to mobile as the solution. To those properties who haven’t added a mobile component to their plans: Be warned. The time is now.

Fitch Ratings, a credit research firm, has seen casino revenue drop 2.5 percent, with no recovery in sight for the next few years. To counter this, casinos that implement mobile programs are seeing returns on their investment up to nearly 30 percent. Because of this success, mobile seems like a perfect fit for casino programs.

mobileStorm is an expert in the distinctive problems that face casinos—and has developed a whitepaper that specifically discusses applying SMS/text programs to the casino industry. “How the Casino Next Door is Getting Ready to Kick Your A**: Why it’s Time to Get Real about Mobile in Casino Marketing” is available for download now! It covers topics like:
• Types of programs casinos are running now
• Ideas on applications of SMS for one’s property.
• Why mobile is so relevant for this industry.

As a low-cost medium, SMS/text programs provide a viable alternative to traditional channels such as direct mail, and also provide increased response.

Whether you are ready to implement a mobile program, or just want more information, download mobileStorm’s newest whitepaper here: How the Casino Next Door is Getting Ready to Kick Your A**: Why It’s Time to Get Real About Mobile in Casino Marketing.

For other white papers, go to this page.

To view the press release:
http://www.mobilestorm.com/press/new-mobilestorm-whitepaper-sms-marketing-not-a-crapshoot-for-casinos

Shaneli Ramratan, Director Of Marketing, mobileStorm

(The following comes from Patrick Knight, Director of Client Deliverability for mobileStorm.)

In the world of email, bought lists are pretty common. Buying a list is not against the law per se(CAN-SPAM never specifically states it); however it’s not such a safe bet since it’s not necessarily clear how these lists are compiled. In many cases they contain addresses that were collected by third-parties who use pre-checkboxes, `and or contain harvested, spam traps (old addresses used to monitor and identify spam activity) and invalid addresses (addresses that are no longer active and bounce).

Contrary to what many marketers think, purchasing lists is not very cost effective, when you consider the facts. Anywhere from 80-90% of these lists have data that is useless. Not to mention the costs marketers incur by having to resolve issues as a result of using these lists.

There is never a time when you should send messaging to people who didn’t opt in. The question to ask your self is …Did these people request to be on my list? Do they expect to receive emails from you, have you sent emails to these people before. The main point here is consent.  These people did not give you permission to send them messages.

Those marketers who do buy lists run serious risks. Beside the fact these people never sign up to receive your messages, even if you were to perform a permission pass campaign you run the risk of hitting spam traps, and in the end, it’s just not worth the risk.

 A sender’s reputation is based on measuring many variables including, spam trap hits, number of complaints, and invalid addresses.  As mentioned, many of these lists contain addresses that affect these variables negatively which can hinder if not ruin a good senders reputation.

Ultimately, good senders can end up being listed by major blacklists.  IP addresses used to send messages in some cases can be permanently blocked.  Furthermore, subscribers who have given permission to receive messages will most likely not receive it because of blocks place on your IP. It may also take a significant amount of time and resources to repair your reputation. If utilizing an ESP this can also cause collateral damage to your provider.

Recently our CEO has given a number of webinars on mobile coupons. All this brought something to mind–or stomach, I should say–as I was thinking of what to have for dinner last night: Restaurant coupons.

In a down economy it’s not hard to believe that people are eating out less and less–43 percent less, according to a recent survey from ComPsych Corp, a Chicago-based provider of employee assistance programs. So it would seem natural that restaurateurs would start some form of discount or coupon campaign. The most surprising thing to me is that many of these are coming in the mail.

As a proponent of mobile/SMS/text message marketing programs, I find it hard to believe that eateries aren’t keeping up with the hype in the marketing industry, and aren’t sending incentives to a patron’s cell phone. Why is there that hype? Because mobile incentives are effective.

It appalls me that more restaurants don’t take advantage of the opportunity they have. I would eat out far more often if I was to receive mobile coupons. All I would have to do is pop out my cell phone and give my server a special code or barcode to scan.

I personally guarantee that the cost to send out such coupons alone beats the printing costs of all those annoying color fliers that consumers like me get in the mail. Add in the high redemption rate of such vouchers, and restaurants should realize that mobile coupons offer the best ROI in a time when diners are hard-pressed to leave their own kitchens.