Goodmail CertifiedEmail Blog

The Inbox (Finally) Becomes Interactive

The evolution of the inbox has now turned into a revolution.  After a tough and still ongoing battle with viruses, phishers, scam artists and online predators, email is finally catching up to the highly interactive and rich media environment of today’s Web 2.0.

Email 2.0, as we refer to it at Goodmail, has taken off in a number of ways, which for email marketers translates into greater levels of engagement and more opportunities to build strong relationships with your customers.  Taking advantage of the best Email 2.0 has to offer.

Here are some of the most important forms of email integration that offer you new ways to incorporate interactivity into your email campaigns:

Social networks
One of the most effective methods for building strong relationships with your customers is by integrating social networking into your email campaigns. Your email messages can include requests to be followed on Twitter, Facebook (“likes”), etc.  Many ESPs offer tools that allow your recipients to easily share and track your email content with their social networks. 

One of the more popular uses of social networks for email marketers is email exclusive coupon codes.  Once you email the code to your customers, they will (very actively) publicize them to their friends, social networks and popular discount-following sites such as Deals.woot!, SlickDeals, and RetailMeNot.  It’s a buzz generator and an easy win for retail senders.

Rich media content
With the popularity of online videos, it’s natural that consumers also expect to see rich media content in email.  By incorporating audio and video content into your messages, you can create engaging campaigns that deliver an exciting, interactive experience for your customers.  The technology available today also allows you to stream live video content such as breaking news and sports, or offer exclusive movie premiers and product demonstrations. 

Datran Media (one of Goodmail’s partners) is one ESP who took advantage of this technology recently in an award-winning campaign for PGATOUR.COM.  Looking to liven up the email inboxes for millions of golf fans, PGATOUR.COM embedded streaming video in the body of their email messages so fans could watch live(!) coverage during the TOUR Championships.  The results were astonishing.  Video-embedded email increased their click-through rates by 142%.

Commerce applications
You can make your email work for you in ways you might not have ever thought possible. 
Embedded commerce applications allow email recipients to perform actions, like paying a bill or tracking a shipment, all within their inboxes.  The ability to perform these functions, particularly the payment of bills – is a win for all: senders receive payments much more quickly and consumers don’t need to navigate to another site to pay their bills – they can do it right from within their email.

Inbox interactivity helps increase client engagement.  Try it in your next campaign.  You’ll be very pleased with the results.

Mary Byrne
VP of Sales, Marketing & Client Services

Exciting times to be an email professional

For the last couple of years, my colleagues at Goodmail and I have been on a mission - determined to advance email into the 21st century. Our catchy motto was that at the same time the web moved from "Web 1.0" to "Web 2.0," email moved a couple of steps backwards.

In "Email 0.7," as we dubbed it, delivery is spotty, images are blocked, trust is nonexistent. Our CertifiedEmail product addresses these issues: by guaranteeing delivery of valuable email messages, displaying images and enabling links by default, and by placing a trust mark next to trustworthy messages, we began to restore trust in email.

But we didn't stop there.

Remember your excitement the first time you used Google Maps and you could actually pan and scroll the map using your mouse? If applications can live in web pages, why couldn’t they live inside email messages? The answer is security. The very same technologies that enable cool functionalities can also be used by malicious senders to harm users. To protect their customers, ISPs routinely block each and any active component embedded in incoming email messages. As a result, email remained moored in the 1990s.

But what if ISPs could enhance the user experience and enable advanced functionalities with full confidence that their users won't be exposed to security risks?

Goodmail developed technologies, based on its flagship CertifiedEmail platform, that can do just that.

Over the last few months, Goodmail lead an industry initiative to leverage its unique enhanced email technology, and to introduce interactivity and "Web 2.0" capabilities into email. The interest we generated is enormous, the response from the email ecosystem electrifying, and the very large partners who have so far participated in the initiative extremely gratifying.

These are exciting times for the email ecosystem, Goodmail, and for me.

Daniel T Dreymann
President and Co-Founder
 

Is Your Brand Safe?

Last week, clients of one of the nation’s best email service provider were notified that when recipients clicked on links in their email messages, they erroneously encountered a phishing warning. The cause was a false positive listing in an anti-phishing filter maintained by Google. Google incorrectly filtered one of the ESP client’s legitimate emails and then implemented a broad block on multiple client domains from that ESP.

Those on the receiving end who clicked on the links in the affected emails may at first have been surprised to see a phishing warning in a message from a brand they know and trust. Consequently these recipients may no longer open email from the once trusted brand and/or they may now tag those messages as spam.

ISPs and anti-phishing services offer little assistance in this type of situation. Their primary concern is protecting users from phishing and malware attacks through the strong filters they have implemented. Therefore email marketers and ESPs need to be diligent in their monitoring practices.

The tough reality here is that, as an email marketer, you can do everything right, follow all the rules and best practices, do appropriate research, planning and execution, and things can still go wrong – things are not within your immediate control.

Senders can avoid this type of issue altogether with Goodmail’s participating ISPs by using our CertifiedEmail solution. Once Goodmail accredits the sender, participating ISPs will check for the CertifiedEmail token in the email message before any other processing, filters or inspection happens. When the CertifiedEmail token is validated, the email message then takes a different path to the inbox, bypasses all ISP filters (content, phishing, volume, etc.) and delivers messages directly to the inbox.

Daniel T. Dreymann
President and Co-Founder

The Art & Science of Customer Engagement

It is always a great pleasure when I have the opportunity to meet and interact face-to-face with Goodmail partners and clients.  I recently had the occasion to meet up with one of Goodmail’s ESP partners, Cheetahmail, at their Client Summit in New York City.  Over 500 Cheetahmail clients were also in attendance, which gave me a chance to have some very educational and compelling conversations with many of our current and potential customers.

It comes as no great surprise that many of the conference presentations and breakout sessions revolved around the popular topic of social media and its impact on email marketing.  Keynote speaker and book author, Nicholas Christakis, offered his insights on human beings’ gravitation toward social networks and how those influences shape specific aspects of our lives.  Forrester analyst, Shar VanBoskirk, also gave an interesting presentation on integrating email with social media.  She focused on ways social media can enhance email campaigns, expand reach, leverage influencers and drive list growth. 

Now, as I reflect back on the conference, I am reminded of the event’s theme – The Art and Science of Customer Engagement – which I think is an appropriate way to view email marketing.  Being an effective email marketer requires both a distinctly formulaic approach, mixed in with imagination and creativity. 

Mary Byrne

VP of Sales, Marketing & Client Services

Sustaining Email's Effectiveness

Email is ubiquitous; some would say too much so.  Even with overcrowded inboxes, email campaigns continue to be a very effective marketing tool.  Yet, that effectiveness is being threatened everyday by the ongoing prevalence of Internet scams and cyber attacks that have continued to erode consumers’ trust in email.  

This is where Goodmail comes in.  Goodmail’s flagship product, CertifiedEmail, allows brands (i.e. retail, e-commerce, banking, media) to send email messages with cryptographically secure tokens to ensure authenticity.  Messages are marked with a blue ribbon envelope icon in the inbox, to visually signal consumers that the email sender can be trusted and the email is safe to open.  CertifiedEmail also guarantees 100% delivery of opt-in email messages, and the links and images are turned on automatically, yielding significant campaign effectiveness and higher ROI.

 I’m very pleased to have recently joined Goodmail because I believe its technology is both valuable and critical to sustaining the effectiveness of email marketing in light of today’s online threat environment.  Goodmail is also a company that possesses far reaching industry partnerships, and continues to experience very high levels of growth and momentum.

One of the more intriguing aspects of joining Goodmail is how easy it is to see the direct impact CertifiedEmail has on the bottom line for senders. When prospective customers first try our services, it’s quick and easy for them to do a direct side-by-side comparison of CertifiedEmail to non-certified email. And what they find, aside from the 100% guaranteed delivery to the inboxes of participating ISPs, is an across the board increase in opens, click-throughs, and revenue per email. When I see companies such as StubHub experience a 36% increase in ticket sales, or The Territory Ahead see $18 in additional revenue for every dollar they spend on CertifiedEmail, or Overstock.com see a 22% jump in revenue per email, it’s very gratifying to know that Goodmail is providing a product that so clearly and positively affects a company’s bottom line.

 Perhaps even more exciting is that Goodmail has also implemented the technology necessary to bring Email 2.0 to the forefront and take email messaging to the next level.  Email 2.0 offers a substantial opportunity to improve end user experience by delivering streaming video and other rich content directly into the inbox safely and securely, making the inbox experience much more interactive. 

 Looking toward the future, I see email becoming even more interactive.  Consumers will be able to pay bills and complete e-commerce transactions directly within their email and without leaving their inboxes.  This translates into added convenience for consumers and added revenue for senders.

 As Goodmail continues to lead the way I want to thank all our customers and partners for your business and welcome your input about your strategies, campaigns or ways in which you are leading the way. 

 

 

Eric Monderer

SVP, Corporate Strategy and Business Development

MAAWG 19th General Meeting

Recently, I had the privilege of attending the 19^th General Meeting of MAAWG (Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group) in Barcelona, Spain. MAAWG does a lot of important work bringing members of the messaging industry together to combat spam, phishing, viruses, and other abuses of messaging. MAAWG aims to address these problems on all fronts through technology, industry collaboration, and public policy, so we at Goodmail Systems are very proud to be a founding member of MAAWG, working to make messaging safe and secure for all.

The General Meeting in Barcelona was well attended by respected industry professionals from many nations, further proving to us that there is broad international interest in preventing messaging abuse. No country or company can combat messaging abuse on its own; defeating spam and phishing requires a collaborative effort across all geographies. It was great to have visual proof of the support of MAAWG and how seriously people are taking this matter.

The three-day meeting included important sessions on email authentication, best practices for troubleshooting delivery problems, senders abuse reporting processes, and comparisons of email marketing practices in both the United States and Europe. Email marketing can be such a cost-effective tool for businesses, and has the ability to offer Web 2.0 functionality on a personalized basis directly within the email message, including video and commerce; But to make that happen, we must all work together to restore trust in email through best practices and tools such as CertifiedEmail.

 

Daniel T. Dreymann

President and Co-Founder

SF INET

Last week I had the pleasure of giving a presentation at the INET conference in San Francisco.  This was an event organized by the local chapter of the Internet Society as part of a global series of conferences that brings together groups of experts to discuss some of the important challenges facing the Internet today and in the future.

It was a very enjoyable experience being part of a panel of knowledgeable and respected industry professionals.  Some of the presenters included ICANN chairman, Peter Dengate Thrush, Jim Fenton from Cisco, Alex Deacon from VeriSign, and many other well-respected industry experts.  We were also fortunate to have a great turnout of enthusiastic participants who offered their opinions on how we can make the Internet a better place.

For my part, I discussed the very prevalent issue of improving trust in email. Today we have what is getting close to a cybercrime epidemic, plaguing the online world and eroding consumers’ trust in the Internet.  Brands are also at risk with the number of hijacked brands growing at an alarming rate.  So much of cybercrime today is committed via email phishing attacks and malware propagation, and that’s something Goodmail is working to fight.  I also shared what I hope is a bright future for email, where we can safely merge today’s email with the dynamic rich content of Web 2.0.

 

Daniel T. Dreymann

President and Co-Founder

 

Internet Privacy and the Future of Email

Recently we witnessed yet another round between the federal government and leading Internet moguls surrounding the topic of online privacy.  The eruption was triggered by Facebook’s recent announcement that they were releasing new tools that would allow users’ information to be distributed more widely across the web.  Sen. Charles Schumer and three other senators called the Facebook changes a betrayal of trust.

 Inside the email community our focus on spam has kept us from paying more attention to other important issues, like security.  And now online privacy has become a big issue on consumers’ minds, which actually gives the email world a chance to shine by showing its unique value.

 Online privacy policies are often very complicated, so much so that only a few people really take the time to read them.  But in the email world, we have the ability to enable business-to-consumer communication without spying on users for their identities, demographics or preferences.  Instead, we can make sure senders have permission to email end users.  We monitor to make certain that users (whether they recall it or not) have explicitly asked for the email and if they change their minds or are disappointed by the content, they should be removed from the list immediately.  Additionally, and of equal importance, we scrutinize the complex privacy policies before we certify senders.

Legitimate email offers straightforward relationships between consumers and businesses, and companies like Goodmail are watchdogs over those relationships.

 As a smart person once said, the future of the Internet is not about relying on sophisticated spying methodologies, but rather on the willingness of consumers to share their interests with businesses.

 Working with our ISP partners, Goodmail is creating trust in email.  Protecting consumers’ privacy is an integral part of our mission.

Greening Your Message

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, four million tons of direct mail is sent to the dump every year. The USDA Forest Service reports that even though all the trees that are cut down for the production of direct mail are replaced, there are still 100 million trees cut down for the production of bulk mail. This equals approximately one whole tree for every family in America.

Yikes!  That’s a lot of trees.  It’s also a lot of wasted paper.  Over the past few months, I’ve been looking at a number of companies that offer innovative email applications. Specifically, solutions that reduce the cost of client communication yet increase the value of the message; solutions that are green friendly.  Solutions that provide an email alternative that compliment Goodmail’s core technology and vision – of trust in email with 100% guaranteed inbox delivery, with images and links rendered.

Last Monday, Goodmail launched CertifiedEmail SecureDoc  with our partner Striata. Striata is a global leader in Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP).  They’ve spent the last 10 years helping companies go paperless – with a deep understanding of the paperless environment and its challenges.  We are all very excited about the potential of this partnership.  We’ve teamed up with the best.

Next week, Goodmail will be exhibiting at the BAI Payments Connect conference in Kissimmee, Florida.  Those of us based in New York are looking forward to a short respite from the snow – but we are also thrilled to have the opportunity to engage in discussion around our new solution.  If you are coming to BAI – please stop by – we’re in space 313.

Mary Byrne

VP of Compliance Product Sales

Bring More Value To My Email

NACHA - The Electronic Payments Association, estimates the average household receives 20 bills and financial statements monthly - each including envelopes, statements, support documents and often return envelopes.

WOW, that’s a lot of paper -– but it’s not landing in my mailbox.  I’m a Green Queen.  I went paperless years ago.  All of my bills are paid online.  My financial statements sit on a variety of bank and brokerage house web portals.  My daily New York Times and Wall Street Journal arrive each morning on my Kindle and the books I read come to me the same way.  Email of course, is central to my paperless status as most of my business and personal communication is done via email.

I’m amazed and pleased to see the progress of email over the years.  The quality and content for both marketing and transactional email continues to improve.  I do wish that there were more of an effort to allow me to engage/act within the message though – instead of continually being sent to a company’s web portal.

For example, last month I received an email from my wireless company – letting me know that my bill was ready to view on the portal.  I read the message, clicked out with the intention of paying the bill when I had a free moment.  Well, as luck would have it – I simply forgot.  About 10 days later I received a phone call from my wireless company – reminding me that I had to pay the bill now!

Hrumph.  Ok, I dutifully headed right for the portal and paid the bill, but what if the company had allowed me to pay the bill, right from the email they’d originally sent?  Payment would have been received promptly and there’s one less thing on my to-do list.  Convenient, easy, efficient.

And it could also be secure. At Goodmail we are working closely with our clients and partners, to create solutions that continue to expand the use of email with a keen eye on security and deliverability, and going green with much less paper.  Stay tuned!

Mary Byrne
VP of Compliance Product Sales