Gene Carr's Patron Technology Blog

Can't read your own meeting notes?

I'm fascinated with new technology and the creative spirit of how new products are developed. It's not often that something comes along that seems so simple an idea that one wonders why it didn't come out sooner. 

Here's one that's getting a lot of press today, and in case you didn't see it, I wanted to bring it to your attention. The product is called Livescribe and it's basically a computer in a pen. At first glance you might not think this is that interesting an idea (as I didn't) but when if you watch the little animated demo here I think you'll you'll see that it has really powerful implications for those of us in business, even though this demo is all about an academic application.

I can't tell you how many times I can't  read my own notes after an important meeting!  This might be the answer. If you're in a creative mood, this ought to make your jaw drop just a bit.

The NY Times Does SPAM Well

I want to call your attention to an article in today's edition of The New York Times which describes the complexity of getting your legitimate e-mail delivered properly and not inadvertently marked as spam.

You'll need an account to read the article which is called When They Say You Are a Spammer.

The article talks about the importance of vetting your e-mail vendor to make sure that they take e-mail delivery seriously. We've taken e-mail delivery seriously for years and have done extremely well in this regard. Our delivery is typically at least 10% higher than the industry benchmarks, due in large part to the fact that we monitor our e-mail delivery constantly, take immediate action to resolve delivery issues (as is so colorfully described in the article) and are part of the "Sender Score Certified" program mentioned at the end.

My World Was Flat

Sometimes the speed that the Internet is changing our world is best memorialized by seemingly trivial events. Let me tell you what happened to me yesterday.

I'm writing this from Paris where I've been for the past few days on a quick holiday combined with a few business meetings. I was on the Metro and noticed a few people talking on their cell phones. This impressed me, so I pulled out my Samsung Blackjack and noticed that I had three bars! (I have one of those GSM phones which works both in the US and abroad.)

So, I did what any self-respecting techie would do, I logged onto the Internet! And, since it was Sunday, I figured I'd do what I do every Sunday -- I read The New York Times. And, between the George V station and Chatelet, I read a fantastic Times Magazine article about Al Gore. And, then, of course, I checked my e-mail.

As I got off the train I just stopped in my tracks. I realized that the description of the wired world we're now living in, that Tom Friedman described in The World Is Flat,  had just come true. The distance between my New York life and Paris France suddenly disappeared.

Even though I work in the technology business and think of myself as living on the cutting edge, this was a pretty awesome experience.

It reminds me yet again, that we're still witnessing the very beginning of this amazing technological revolution - one that changes the very nature of how communicate with each other (and market to our patrons) in fundamental ways.

BSO Idol: The Pops Goes YouTube

As long as we're talking about the Boston Pops, did anyone notice the *real* PR coup last week? In one fell swoop they have leveraged the power of the Internet and the concept of American Idol -- and in the process made themselves more cool than cool.

It's a simple idea -- that costs them basically nothing. It's called POPSearch. They have posted a competition to sing with the Boston Pops online. You apply by uploading a video to YouTube and then people will vote for the winner. Assuming that Howard Stern doesn't get wind of this, this should be an amazing PR event as well as a totally hip way to reach out to a bigger audience.

So, how about all the orchestras in America trying this? How about with classical music, not just pops? How about auditions for Hamlet, or Nutcracker for that matter? Sure it's a trick - but it's a darn interesting one, and a PR generator at that.

Since arts organizations are trying the latest thing - here's a totally simple idea, that's hip, Democratic, and free!

Just Added: New Marketing Session at Upcoming Conference

I've just been given a hot inside tip: on the heels of its impressive PR coup last week, the Boston Pops has been invited to present a last-minute session at a renowned upcoming arts marketing conference. My insider - who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing nature of the story's spin - says the newly added session details will include:

How to Spice Up Your Opening Night: Fighting for Subscribers

The Boston Pops marketing & PR department will share with you the origins and wildly successful techniques of its impressive newest marketing scheme. Far from the disgraceful 'pops patron faux-pas' that some of the orchestra's detractors have posited, last week's widely-covered press coup turns out to have been meticulously composed and choreographed, and this session will provide the tried and true techniques you can bring back to your own orchestra, such as:

* Brawler recruitment - how to find that exact look – referred to by those in-the-know as "brawny-artsy"

* Tips to prepare brawlers for post-brawl interviews - maximizing camera time while still appearing morally outraged

* Maestro choreography - how to prep your conductor to strike just the right pose of “slightly haughty shock, perfectly nuanced with a strong sense of dignity and a good-natured, anti-elite twinkle in the eye.”

In addition, there will be a guest speaker from the WWF to talk about upcoming plans for a new series, "Wrestling with Webber."

Well, OK – Not!  But, seriously folks -- the BSO Pops thing was not the end of the world. Some in the industry are all aflutter and looking aghast at this event last week, but I find the whole thing rather amusing. First, the press reaction only reveals in dramatic fashion the highfalutin opinion the general public stlll has of classical music - and we're talking the Boston POPS, right?  And second, anyone want to guess whether the Pops ticket sales will go up or down as a result? My vote is up.

(for those who missed it: here's what happened.)

E-mail Marketing Wins again

I'm loving E-marketer these days, because it seems they are making my case better than I could ever do.

Take a look at this chart. It shows the results of a recent study of promotion-oriented marketers and shows the relative importance these folks are placing on e-mail marketing.

I feel like we in the arts are a little bit too much "flavor of the month," and this month it seems that it's all about myspace, youtube, and podcasts. That's what's passing as the sexy stuff these days.

But, you know what? I've been saying that E-mail is the the real thing for years.

And every day I have more and more proof.

Quick and Easy vs Thoughtful and Efficient

E-mail marketing is maturing as a discipline and with that comes a dilemma. The chart to the right demonstrates what I've been saying (and a lot of people have been saying) for a long time: when you segment your list, target your mailings and test various approaches, you'll get better results.

This seems almost self-evident, since e-mail is nothing more than a form of direct mail, where targeting and segmenting and testing is a way of life.

The dilemma is how to get this message out to our industry in a way that marketers will swallow. What frustrates me is that just because the execution of e-mail marketing is quick and easy compared to print, most marketers seem to want the entire experience of e-mail marketing to be quick and easy.

"Heck I'll blast everyone with this e-mail" is a lot quicker and easier than "let me segment my list, write different copy for different segments and test some subject lines."

As it matures, e-mail marketing in the arts must move from a "quick and easy" mentality to a "thoughtful and efficient" mindset. E-mail marketing can't be thought of as great because it's fast and cheap. It needs to be great because you can get better ROI than any other marketing technique you can use.

The evidence is in. Can you help me spread the word? 

E-mail Delivery Case in Point

One of the most vexing aspects of e-mail marketing is the fact that a lot of legitimate e-mail gets blocked by ISPs by mistake in their effort to control Spam. As a result, we spend huge amounts of time and resources making sure all our clients' mail gets into the inbox and our delivery rate is typically 95% to 100%.  It's a process that involves 4 people on my staff, who work with our superb partners at Return Path, the industry leader in e-mail delivery and hygiene.

I thought I would offer a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes by quoting a blog posting from George Bilbrey today, who is the VP & GM Delivery Assurance Solutions at Return Path that I just read.

This story is particularly interesting because he's writing about two huge brands in our country, showing the e-mail delivery is a problem everyone has to focus on. Last week, I did a seminar in North Carolina, and someone raised her hand saying that she was determined to continue using Microsoft Outlook to send her e-mail. I think this post is really instructive, as it makes the case as to why you need to use an e-mail provider. IT also underscores the importance of selecting a company that has an excellent e-mail delivery track record, and one that can talk with you about what they do about it. If you're going to take e-mail marketing seriously, delivery is a big deal.

I'm quoting George here:

It's comforting to think of deliverability as a problem you can solve and be done with. And, in some cases, that can seem to be true. We have many clients that went from so-so inbox placement rates to nearly 100 percent across the board and, for the most part, stay there every campaign. But it takes work for that to happen.

The rules of the deliverability road can change without warning. Smart marketers must be prepared to react to those changing rules to ensure their delivery rates remain high.

Such was the case for one of our favorite clients, Overstock. We have been working with them for some time and brought their inbox placement rates up by 11 percent -- they are typically near 100 percent for every campaign. Then, in November, a sudden drop in their deliverability at Yahoo! raised alarm bells.

Yahoo! was having problems with large volumes of spam that caused it to slow down all email. As a result, some legitimate mail was getting inadvertently blocked. A change in sending strategy to Yahoo! was all it took to get them back to 100 percent. But, making those changes takes the dedication to watch for problems, and the willingness to fix them quickly.

We're hard at work dealing with problems like this one every day. It's good to know we're not alone.

1,000 Thanks

I'd like to take a moment to share some news that we're very proud of. Last Friday, our company reached a milestone, signing on our 1,000th PatronMail client. As you may know, we've been at this business for 5 years and started out as pioneers, spending our first few years convincing skeptics that e-mail marketing was worth their time and investment. The message has clearly worked and over the past two years, our growth has been dramatic. Today, our clients are now sending about 3 million messages per week through PatronMail.

To all of you who are PatronMail clients, I'd like to thank you for your support. Every day we try to innovate and to lead the arts field in the area of web marketing, and if we're not working with you yet, I hope you'll give us a call (or send us an e-mail!).