Is your eDelivery paperless program a lie?

Google “eDelivery” and you’ll find hundreds of company websites extolling their electronic delivery (aka paperless) programs. Here’s the rub: almost every single one is a lie. When you compare each eDelivery program against the definition of the word delivery, it’s clear that no actual document delivery happens for customers. Why is there such misrepresentation in the marketplace? 

Deliver/fetch...“You say potato – I say potato”???

Not really. 

Let’s go back to the trusty old dictionary: 

Deliver: to carry and turn over (letters, goods, etc.) to the intended recipient(s). 

Fetch: to go and bring back; return with, get. 

The key part of the definition of deliver(y) is that the recipient receives something 'in hand' at the end of the process. So in the context of eDelivery, the recipient should receive the actual document 'in hand' - just via electronic means. 

Most companies' eDelivery programs are not aligned with the definition of ’deliver’. Instead, their solutions require the customer to go to a website and fetch the document.

There are some folks who say that delivering the document to the website is eDelivery. They’d argue that I’m just discussing semantics. 

But the whole concept of eDelivery is sending the document to the customer. Just like an envelope would be sent to a mailbox, the company should deliver documents into the electronic equivalent: the email inbox. Email is the vehicle to really achieve eDelivery. 

Email: the most compelling eDelivery option

It ticks all the boxes:

		It feeds off existing customer preferences – have a look at Mike Wright’s recent blog post about a Harvard study that indicates nearly ¾ of internet customers use email for eDocument delivery. People don’t prefer file sharing sites, online PO boxes, or online document storage.
		It is the easiest online tool for sending and receiving documents. What better way to deliver a customer’s eBill, eStatement, ePolicy, or eDocument than as an encrypted PDF attachment to a personalized email?
		It is device agnostic and comes as a standard install on all smartphones.
		And finally, it’s already part of our daily lives – check out this ExactTarget table. Email tops the chart!!

Delivery of secure PDF documents into the email inbox mimics the mail world and keeps the concept of delivery alive. 

Contact Striata to learn how your company can provide a true email delivery channel for your customers. 

If you enjoyed reading this post on eDelivery, get our eDocument Delivery Solution Overview and read on

Chad Somodi
striata.com

Video in email - bring your campaigns to life!

In a recent discussion with a client, I asked if she would consider using video in her email campaigns. Her immediate response was skepticism, based on two key perceptions:

• Embedding video would result in an email that is too large to deliver
• Recipients would need a 3rd party plug-in for successful video play back

She was not wrong. These challenges have puzzled innovators for the past 15 years; resulting in a general reluctance to integrate video into email. 

What she was not aware of though, is that there is an exciting new technology available, which makes it possible to successfully create small, media rich emails that don’t require recipients to download plug-ins, yet enables full video playback - directly from their email.

Why is video in email so exciting to marketers?

Motion makes email more engaging. Rigorous testing of content has indicated that using motion in an email message is a very effective tactic. Adding simple animations drives increased engagement and higher conversion rates. Adding video pushes these metrics to even greater heights. This alone makes video in email a tool worth exploring.

55% of marketers plan to use video in email campaigns

How does it work? Tech alert!

• HTML5 has enabled video in email. Unlike earlier efforts to advance video in email using proprietary technologies, HTML5 is an open standard. It’s built into all of the modern web browsers and most of the modern mobile devices, including Apple iOS devices and the latest Android operating systems.
• HTML5 allows us to designate a list of media that can be displayed, enabling the email client to choose the best-supported format when the email is opened. These formats are open standards and therefore not subject to filtering by mail clients and internet service providers.
• In that list, we can include references to fallback media, like an animated gif or static graphic for those email clients that won’t allow video in email. Therefore, the client will never be subjected to a broken experience.

What about mail client support?

The stats shown below illustrate the extensive reach that video in email currently has on the B2C and B2B mail client landscape. Where video in email is not compatible with the mail client, fall back media is used, such as animated gifs or static images.

Would you like to explore video in email further? Get in touch with one of our eMarketing specialists today to find out more. 
References:

• Video Clicker
• Mythbusting
• Marketing Charts

Grant Shortridge
striata.com

76% of respondents use email as a document exchange - Harvard Business Review

It's the network stupid! 

James Carville's slogan for Bill Clinton's 1992 election campaign ("it's the economy, stupid") acted as a lightning rod for voters, refocusing them away from the war in Iraq onto the 'real' issue at hand, the US economy.

When I distil the reason that certain technologies become ubiquitous and other (seemly good ideas) languish in the paperless adoption chasm, the 'real' issue comes down to the network. 

Traditionally, documents have been distributed by the postal service. This worked because the postal services around the world had a working network. There are multiple input points and universal service - meaning 100% coverage of the end points (customer). 

The digital network exists. As the digital age takes over and the need for physical documents diminishes, the replacement of the postal service with a similar service has been the economic pursuit of many companies. But the creation of a new network from scratch is one of the hardest things to do. Facebook and Twitter have recently achieved this - but think of the thousands of attempts that have failed. 

Similarly, the requirement to get every customer to register and login to a document consolidator is an attempt to create a brand new bill distribution network - from scratch. Every biller will have to have a relationship with every consolidator. Every customer will have to register with every consolidator. Building this network will take a huge effort, as well as considerable time and resources. 

And it will ultimately fail. 

Because there is already a network that is quietly becoming the document distribution alternative to the postal service - it's email. 

The #1 finding from a global survey published in the Harvard Business Review: 

76% of respondents use email primarily as a document exchange.

The next generation document distribution network already exists and is in use - people are using email as the de facto electronic document exchange. Small businesses have already made the switch - they create a PDF invoice and email it to their customers - it's pretty manual - but it’s highly efficient. Medium businesses are finding the functionality increasingly provided by their accounting software - just the link to their email server is a bit technical (ED's hint: we're fixing that). 

Large business is next in line to latch onto this document superhighway. It's a little more involved for them. They have multiple transactional systems and document composition tools. They need enterprise level solutions that can provide the audit trails, deliverability and management information. They need robust security, ISO27001 and PCI-DSS compliance, as well as 24/7 support. 

They need strategic advice about user adoption and a trusted partner in the whole process. 

They need Striata.

If you are ready to ride the email document superhighway in order to reach your paperless destination - then buckle up and get in touch with us

Michael Wright
striata.com

Your 6 step guide to cleaner email data

Every email database will date. Customers may move companies, change surnames, move to another provider or even be inactive for a period of time on their webmail account. All these factors result in an outdated email database.

The bottom line is you are no longer getting your emails through to these customers. And any touch-point lost, is an opportunity lost or cost added. Keeping an email database updated should be a top and constant priority in your communication strategy. 

Here are a few steps to help maintain a clean email database: 

	Text subscribers when the email bounces
	This strategy requires a mobile number to be captured in the database of course. For those customers where you have mobile number on file too, implement the following process:
	Set up an automated procedure to send an 'update your email address' text to all undeliverable email addresses when they bounce Capture replies and extract email addresses automatically (you don’t want to be doing this manually) Send an email to the updated email address immediately. The longer you leave it the more likely the customer will forget they gave it to you If it bounces again – send a text message immediately. This will increase the chance of the customer correcting the email address
	Get your customer service center involved and invested
	Every time a customer service representative (CSR) speaks to a customer is an opportunity to confirm their contact details.
	If it’s possible, maintain a central database that indicates that an email is bouncing when the CSR views the customer details - this is a catalyst for them to ask for an updated email address If an updated email address is given – send an email to that updated address immediately If the email bounces, contact the customer through another channel (text, call)
	Use print to bring them back to email
	If you revert to print following a bounce (usually the case for statements or bills), make sure you let the customer know (in that print communication) that you can’t get through to them and make it easy for them to give you their updated details via:
	QR code – let them scan it and preferably take them to a personalized page that allows them to update their email address directly without logins URL – offer them a URL that’s easy to remember and once they enter it, they get to a page where they can quickly and easily update their details Set up a short-code number they can text their email address to and set up the same automated reply capture and confirmation email detailed in point 1
	Update details via your portal
	If you have a portal that customers log into, make use of the portal to get their updated details. Implement these two simple steps for a cleaner database:
	Have a pop-up or staging page show when they log-in, to let them know their email address is bouncing and they can update it Every 6 months, ask customers to update their details when they login As soon as you get an updated email address from a customer, email them immediately to ensure that it’s valid. If the email address bounces, let them know next time they log in or get hold of them via text or call – depending on the importance of your email communication (statements versus marketing).
	Use your own emails
	Include links in the emails you send to customers that allow them to update their details.
	Ensure the link takes them to a personalized page, making it easy for them to update any details Again, as per all the steps detailed above, if they provide an updated email address – send an email immediately to verify that it’s a valid email
	Use social media
	Use your social media sites to remind customers to update their details.
	If you haven’t received emails from us lately, check that we have your correct details. Visit our site and update your details now.

Putting one or more of these processes into action should effectively reduce the amount of invalid email addresses you have on file. 

If you would like more advice, contact us. We’d be happy to chat through your requirements.

Mia Papanicolaou
striata.com