Non-Line Blogging

Sorry about the cryptic post title, but I have just seen a video on YouTube from those clever chaps at Lyris.  It seems they have jumped on the "car scrappage" bandwagon and have come up with an interesting proposition for email marketers.

 

If I've got this right, Lyris will apparently buy the last 3 months of your existing email service provider contract in exchange for a shiny new Lyris broadcast contract.  The assertion is that this will transform you from a marketer driving around in a clapped out banger to a successful business professional oozing confidence and success.  I'd beg to differ.

In my humble (12 years email marketing) experience its not the technology you need to change but the mindset of the marketing team, and even more importantly, the organisation.  Pretty much every ESP can do the same thing, from dynamic/conditional content, synchronisation with upstream databases and downstream analytics through to split run testing and delivery management tools.  Yes, the Lyris system has recently been souped up with the Email Labs engine under the bonnet but it really does the same job as 50 or so other platforms for marketers who just want to get from A to B.

They are losing sight of the fact that email marketers just don't need all the bells and whistles that are designed into the average platform.  To use another motoring analogy, Mercedes have admitted that there are hundreds of features they have "designed" into their cars that are not used or appreciated by their drivers and so could be viewed as over-engineered for the purpose.

They are losing sight of the fact that email marketers just don't need all the bells and whistles that are designed into the average platform.  To use another motoring analogy, Mercedes have admitted that there are hundreds of features they have "designed" into their cars that are not used or appreciated by their drivers and so could be viewed as over-engineered for the purpose.

So, when plenty of evidence from surveys suggests that email marketers only use a small percentage of the existing technology functions, what's the point of switching to a platform with even more buttons that won't be used?  I'm not saying that some of the very best marketers won't be able to get great performance out of the top end systems, but for Lyris to promise better email performance by scrapping your existing provider is a bit unrealistic.

Far better to get the marketers in for some advanced driving training, regardless of the car they drive (how far can I stretch this motoring metaphor?!).  Most email marketers know they should be segmenting, targeting, personalising, testing and planning campaigns, but too often they have too little resource or appreciation from their organisation of just how time-consuming GOOD email marketing can be, regardless of the service platform.  For example,  The Email Academy has been working with Emailvision in running marketing strategy courses for their Emailvision Training Academy; we run courses on being better drivers and Emailvision use their technical team to run training sessions on being better mechanics - using the suite of data and email tools that Campaign Commander has.

Finally, The Email Academy has developed with the Institute of Direct Marketing in the UK the first qualification for email marketers – the IDM Email Marketing Award.  This seeks to equip marketers with the knowledge and skills to make the most of the email channel – whether they are driving a Nissan Micra Constant Contact system or a Rolls Royce Responsys.   So Lyris, it’s not about the car, it’s about the person behind the wheel!  Toot Toot.