Kerstin Baker-Ash

The Case for Maintaining E-Mail Marketing Databases Separately

Sometimes, e-mails come along that you know are spam from the start. They advertise irresistible money-making opportunities and performance-enhancing drugs (usually with a "1" in place of "i"), but they are never personal and most are caught by ever-improving spam filters. Not this time.

I got an e-shot this morning which I can only think is a mix-up with some e-mail marketing I had been signed up for. They expressed that they were sorry I was unable to attend IFSEC 2008 and, as a valued security professional, would like to learn why I wasn't there. I, as a non-security professional (value to be determined), would like to know why they thought I had signed up for IFSEC in the first place and why they think I'd be interested in going to IFSEC India, so I wrote them a little note to the e-mail address they requested feedback to. Although I am beyond flattered to be considered a valued security professional, I do think that it might be worthwhile to make sure you pull from the right database.

E-Shots 101: If you manage multiple e-mail marketing campaigns through a central server, make sure you don't risk the database opting out by sending a poorly targeted and slightly confusing e-mail.

IFSEC India looks pretty cool, by the way. I wonder how I can work that into my conference schedule? :)

Sidenote: every e-mail is marked spam if it comes from outside the company, but it doesn't go into the spam folder unless it really might be spam. This one didn't come into the spam folder.

Holiday Recap - The Condensed Version

Ola everyone! It's been a packed couple of weeks, with some time off for good behavior and a presentation at SES Toronto. I want to do an entire post recapping a great two days at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, so I'll leave that for later.

We had a plan going to Canada this year, which involved trying to relax as much as possible, see some family and then relax some more. We got off the flight, cleared customs (after a lengthy Q&A session with, I assume, a new customs officer who asked me to not only recite my parents' addresses but my entire family tree and their whereabouts in Canada) and drove straight to the cottage. The mosquitoes are bad this year - so much so that they seem to have forgotten my unappetizing flesh (summers spent being bitten in Muskoka used to have a great effect, they didn't like the taste) and instead ate me alive. I had about thirty bites on my legs and arms in total, but my husband fared far, far worse; on one leg alone we counted thirty-three, and that was below the knee. It was also nice to be back at the place we were married - nearly three years ago. Wow. The garden path is still there, as is my family's sign for it - they think my husband is a saint; I agree!

My grandmother's family came from deepest, darkest Europe in the middle of the 19th century, so it's neat to see things that they've built or contributed to during their time in Canada. We visited the road named after them, as well as the war memorial where my grandmother's cousin has his name. There's something wonderful about connecting to your roots, and I count myself very lucky to have my grandparents as tour guides.

We were able to take in a little wine tasting in Niagara while we were in Southern Ontario. Inniskillin is our old standby, but we also tasted at Pillitteri and Cave Springs. Unfortunately, we're good kids and don't import more than our limit allows, so we only have two bottles to show for it. If you know of an Ontario wine importer in the UK, please let us know - my first name at this domain. I'd even be happy to do a blog post about it for gratis - these Brits don't know what they're missing!

'Tis the season to get married, fa la la la la, la la la la. We had the pleasure of attending the first of three weddings this year, this one in Maidstone. The weather was fabulous, we got to schmooze with family and friends and it was a great party. We'll be back in Kent in three weeks for another wedding and another chance to wear a hat. English weddings are wonderful.

Stay tuned for a blog dedicated to the fantastic show at SES Toronto, including a recap of a great Twitter session from Lee Odden, Dave Snyder and Chris Winfield. Definitely my favorite session of the conference, so thanks for that!

We had a great holiday, but it's nice to be home. Until next time, Canada.

Vacation Time

Wee! After a weekend of paintballing and other birthday madness, we're leaving London tomorrow to fly to Toronto. I'm originally from Toronto, and try to get back often enough to see family, friends and spend some time relaxing at the same place my family has been spending summers at for three generations; Loon Lake. It's a very special place - we were married there in 2005, and we now both have great memories of breaking the cardinal rule of no jumping from the top of the boathouse into the lake. I still get yelled at, no matter how old I am.

I'll be polishing up and putting the finishing touches to my presentation for SES Toronto, but I get to do it at my favorite place in the world. Expect to see more than a few mosquito bites when SES comes to town on the 17th.

This blog will be a bit light on the updating - one of the best and worst things about our cottage is that there isn't a lot of modern technology. It's wonderful to be disconnected, but for a connected gal like me, it's worth a few days of withdrawal symptoms. Thankfully, there's a Wi-Fi cafe in Gravenhurst called Oliver's, so I'll be able to get online should the need arise.

See you at SES!

Philanthrophic Fridays: Ben Farrant Memorial Cyclathon

As the first in a series of first-Friday-of-the-month posts about charitable causes, I thought it would be appropriate to kick things off with an event that is very close to my family's heart. The Ben Farrant Memorial Cyclathon takes place as a part of the annual Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic, covering 200 miles in just two days and raising money for the Wellspring Foundation which endeavors to transform a generation of Rwandans struggling after being born in the shadow of genocide.

Why this particular cause? Ben was an wonderfully spiritual human being, a philanthropist, a charity worker and an avid cyclist; most importantly, he was a loving son, brother and grandson. He was my cousin, partner in good-natured "crime" and cottage fort building buddy.

Shortly after graduating from university, Ben embarked on the trip of a lifetime with five of his best friends from school (they called themselves the "Safari Six"), traveling through war-torn parts of Africa and even scaling Kilimanjaro. Rwanda changed Ben. It was almost as if a switch was flipped when he came back to Canada; he wrote that the atrocities and oppression deeply moved him, and resolved to be a part of building a better future for Rwanda's children. Over a late night cup of tea at his house in Vancouver, he told me how charged he felt to go back there and make the difference he knew the country needed. A couple months later, Ben was back in Rwanda with the Wellspring Foundation, using his skills as a web guru, builder (those sessions at the cottage fort must've helped!) and cameraman to not only construct a future for the kids over there, but to document the progress that the country was making towards reconciliation.

Through e-mail updates from Rwanda, Ben shared the progress Wellspring was making in Kigali - it was a mix of humor and insight; he really touched the lives of people there, just by being himself. Ben was training for the Seattle to Portland Bicycle Classic when he was struck in Langley, British Columbia. At 25 years old, Ben was compassionate, loving, and contributed positively to a cause greater than himself. The Ben Farrant Memorial Cyclathon will raise money for Wellspring's educational efforts in Rwanda, and shape a future generation of Rwandans committed to peace, stability and dialogue.

For more information, please visit the Facebook page, or donate directly to Wellspring in honor of an amazing person who accomplished so much in such a short time on Earth. Twese Hamwe is the motto of the ride, which Ben's sister and brother-in-law will be participating in this year, and it means all together in Rwandan.

All together, Ben. See you on the finish line.

My Un-Opinion: Is Social Media Better Suited to PPC or SEO?

This discussion has been popping up all over the industry, and has recently become a buzz topic at work. I wanted to generate some external conversation into who "owns" the social media landscape in an agency setting. It's a bit like a discussion of two job candidates; who's better suited for the job, and who's space can this easily slot into.

The Case for SEO

User-generated content on blogs and social networking sites are a goldmine for keywords and the direction of any SEO campaign. Social media is scalable as well; small stuff on Twitter can snowball into a group on Facebook and a video on YouTube, with users doing the content generation for you. Companies can get keyword-rich sites with quality backlinks - an easy-ish way to increase traffic, conversions, etc etc by using free brand advocates. Score one for SEO.

The Case for PPC

Paid models for Twitter Applications such as ThinCloud are making it easy for people to get exclusive eyeball access to hundreds of thousands of users, using a bid system (sounds like PPC, eh?). Expect to see a bid auction system emerge for a myriad of social media feeds soon - there’s a reason for $15 million round c for a certain social media app. Comcast, Dell and Southwest Airlines are just a few of the big-name companies using Twitter now - and they haven’t even monetized it yet. Expand your horizons; sooner or later, pay-per-click auction systems are coming to a social network near you, so it pays to get in on the ground floor of PPC. I'm talking about new, funky technologies and applications mostly - Facebook, Bebo and MySpace have been monetized for display and PPC for years.

Obviously, the comedy third option is that nobody "owns" social media and it belongs between the realms of PPC and SEO. I have a feeling that one segment is going to have to stand up and take greater ownership of the landscape though - I'm just a bit biased. Then again, we have search marketers completely devoted to social media now - maybe it's a pillar of its own?

Managing Accounts for Multiple Markets

It's a daunting task, managing multiple markets' PPC accounts. Different languages or dialects, different perceptions of the same brand and even time zone issues within the same country can affect what should be a straightforward account management structure. The importance of treating each market differently is vital in ensuring that your campaigns succeed in a competitive and global market.

After managing a couple of multi-market campaigns for continental Europe, it's easy to say that account structure needs to be different for each country because of the language differences. Sure, some aspects of structure should be the same, but multi-language markets behave so differently in terms of tastes and brand popularity. Germans love a little town called Ortona on the Adriatic coast in Italy which is just down the road from Pescara, but it might be a tough sell to English tourists: knowing that the Brits prefer Pescara over Ortona can make a huge difference in budget allocation and strategic targeting for a successful campaign.

What about multi-markets where only one language is spoken? Doesn't every English-language campaign behave pretty much the same? It's the same language, right? Try advertising a Ute in the US, or an SUV in the UK. If you've got the latest, greatest wrinkle-free pants and want to expand into Europe, people will wonder why you bothered to alleviate the rare issue of ironing your unmentionables. Simple answer: language still counts when you're managing multi-market English campaigns as well.

So how do you go about structuring multi-market PPC accounts? Firstly, take a really good look at audience demographics. It might seem pretty elementary, but it's the first stumbling block of a lot of account expansions. Feel free to use a similar skeleton structure, but understand why people in each market are searching for you, and tailor your account for a "big guns" vs "small fry" approach. Don't be afraid to geo-target for different areas of countries as well. What works in Scotland might not work in Wales, and your ad copy should reflect regional differences where practical. Many people have experienced ad copy success in one area of the United States where they experienced failure on the opposite coast. While I'm not trying to paint all Arizonans and Floridians with one big shuffleboard-playing retiree brush, consider that a snappy creative might work better in California or Massachusetts where a more informative one works in Snowbird territory.

The best advice for everything is to test. Test geo-targeting, test different ad copy for different regions, and know what you're selling for different markets. Use common sense. And don't assume that the same account structure will work across multi-markets: it might make your job easier for reporting, but think about reporting successful results rather than carbon copies of the same account. In the end, don't market trousers as pants to Brits in the same way that you wouldn't market band-aids as plasters to Americans, and you're halfway there.

Happy multi-targeting.