November 2009 Entrepreneur's Forum:

Email Marketing for Startups

Topics:

• Defining the right objectives for your startup's email marketing strategy. What is email marketing good for and what is it not good for? Why not use a blog or Twitter?
• Email marketing success stories: pure-play email startups (Daily Candy, Thrillist, etc) non-email startups with successful email strategies
• Platform selection
  • Types of email platforms: installed products vs hosted serivces; open source vs. commercial; CRM-based, events-based, etc.
  • Platform survey: Phplist, ConstantContact, iContact, MailChimp, Eventbrite, Salesforce, etc.
  • Considerations: Integration (with your website platform, CRM system, e-commerce system, etc)
• Message volume: How much is too little? How much is too much?
• Message content: Combining compelling content with a marketing call-to-action.
• Automated/transactional content: Integrating content generated on your website with your email campaign. Managing technical concerns (email platform API) and user experience concerns.
• Analytics: What are the most important metrics in email marketing. How do you know if your newsletter is a success?
• How how to build a valuable list. Tuning content, format, features, and scheduling to maximize growth and virality.
• Email marketing consulting: Services offered by email consultants. When to hire a professional for vs. DIY. How to evaluate email marketing consultants. How to determine ROI.
• Regulations: What is CAN SPAM and how do we ensure we're compliant? Other regulations to be aware of?

Moderator:

• Maisha Walker, President of message medium and e-commerce columnist with Inc. magazine

Panelists (alphabetic order):

• Greg Cangialosi, CEO of Blue Sky Factory
• Neil Capel, Founder and CEO of SailThru
• Lisa Klieman, Vice President, Business Development at Innovyx, Inc.
• Adam Rich, Co-founder and Editor-in-chief of Thrillist