Sender's signature as scanned image

There is one email marketing "tradition" I found at my new firm which I am finding strange.

All marketing emails sent from client managers include a .jpg of individuals' scanned signatures.

Apparently, this is supposed to make the email seem "more personal". Well, I am all for personalising communications, but this seems to be a very bizarre way of getting there.

A signature can help make a printed letter or invitation appear more personal, since the sender must have spent at least several seconds physically signing it. It is pretty obvious they didn't do that to the screen version!

I don't think a .jpg of a scanned signature is fooling anyone - especially in the end of of emails that are blatantly one-to-many rather than one-to-one .

Additional crazy aspect is our current email marketing CRM add-on not allowing dynamic content creation - resulting in multiple variants of each template being created manually to incorporate different individual signatures. Madness!

We could really spend our time more efficiently by trying to improve our client segmentation and tailoring email content accordingly. This is what makes email communication truly personal in the end of the day.

Structuring information for business event invitations on HTML emails

Today I was reviewing the structure and hierarchy of information for our HTML event invitations. Business sponsors of events tend to think that absolutely everything is relevant. Some of them would include several screenfuls of text if only we'd let them.

But of course we can't. Clutter kills impact, and people never care as much as we'd like to think. So we need to be as brief as possible.

So - what are the key points when it comes to invitations? The only information which needs to be featured prominently and "above the fold" is the absolute essentials:

1. Event title - should be descriptive enough to give recipient some basic idea of the event's nature. This should be reflected both in the subject line and prominently within the body. We want all of our recipients to read this line, but some of them will then "drop off" immediately, as they may be simply not interested in the topic...
2. Date/time/location - this key logistical information should also be immediately visible, to save the trouble of reading further for those recipients who may be interested but are unable to attend.
3. Optional - additional brief description. If you think it will add value, expand your descriptive text, but keep it very brief and ensure it only covers really key selling points, for example, if one of your speakers is a star.
4. Call to Action - RSVP. This is the most important part of the email, and it should stand out compared to other elements.

I think this is it! Everything else is optional in my opinion, and should be kept apart from this main section.

The next layer of information which is frequently included to invites is logistical details such as the programme, venue address/map.

But I think these are only really relevant to those who accept the invitation, so they should be segregated from the main invitation area. Alternatively, they could be housed on a separate landing page and hyperlinked to the invite email. Finally, you could try including them on a separate confirmation email sent to those who RSVP'd as attending.

ESP vs CRM add-on

At the moment we are not using any standalone email marketing tools. Instead, there is an email marketing add-on module within our Oracle-based CRM.

It is a little clunky, and functionality is quite limited compared to most specialised tools. However, the major advantage is seamless data integration - all tracking information goes direct to each client's record in the CRM.

I think this is very important. I am going to see if there is anything we can do to improve the add-on's current functionality, rather than abandon it for a new tool.

We are awaiting a more enhanced version in December this year, and I should be able to see a demo of it in the next several weeks. It also turns out that our internal CRM support team can make further tweaks if required. Overall, I am quite optimistic about its potential.

Technology develops much faster than people's mindsets

The pace of technology development is much faster than corresponding changes in the technology users' mindsets.

One example is the still relatively low spread of teleworking. Some industries have been quick to catch on, but in London offices of major banks and financial corporations it is still not the "done thing", especially for those who are very focused on career progression (and most people are).

I think there really is little rational reason for this. It will be interesting to see whether attitudes shift once senior management positions start getting filled with the younger generation, who grew up with the internet and all the freedom it can enable.

Some financial companies don't believe in marketing at all

Marketing in the financial industry has many unique aspects to it.

Products and services are highly specialised. They are not always fully understood by the customers or general public - or, indeed, by the creators of the products, as the latest crisis demonstrated.

Some companies which operate in the B2C sector, such as large retail banks or insurance companies, make a lot of effort with their marketing and communications. Others, especially those serving institutional and high-net-worth clients, believe in sales but not necessarily in marketing.

It gets especially tricky for the hedge fund industry, as there are strict regulations on who they are allowed to market and sell their products to. By contrast, their investment process is not really regulated at all (although this may soon start to change), so marketing restrictions protect regular ("non-sophisticated") investors who may fail to fully appreciate risks associated with hedge fund products.

However, I do believe some types of communications and marketing activities could work really well, especially in the online environment.

Product-related sales-oriented stuff wouldn't cut it anyway. To be of value to people at the awareness/consideration stages, content should be more generic and educational in nature. Regulations on this type of materials aren't as strict. And we certainly have enough people who can generate and explain interesting complex ideas.

Apparently, some companies are beginning to catch on - check out this Web Ink post about Putnam Investments.

First post - what is this blog about

I started a new job this month. The company is a large London-based hedge fund provider, and my role focuses mainly on email marketing.

My big task for the next several months is to review all existing email marketing, develop a new strategic framework and make recommendations on any required changes to our tools and methodology. Interestingly, I am also the only person who does the actual execution of marketing campaigns.

There is a lot to do but I am really looking forward to it. This is the first time in my career to "own" my own major area of marketing activity. I decided to share my experience and progress in this diary as I go along.