Cutting edge technology vs tried practices

As you may have noticed I try to give some coverage on new technology and techniques in email marketing on a regular basis. Just recently the interview with Movable Ink for instance. Also the growing support for html5 by email clients is something covered regularly.
However, don’t be blinded by everything that is shiny and new. We humans have gotten into the habit of embracing all the next best things, regardless of whether they really are ‘ best’. It is driven in part by the frantic tempo of developments in the tech world, but also the consumerism fueled by the retail industry.
What I’m getting at is that all these new developments are nice, but people focussing on the new stuff sometimes neglect the tried and basic practices in email marketing. Just recently I saw a great example of a not so great welcome email, posted by Loren McDonald on Google+.
The contents of the email were just this: “Newsletter subscription success” – and that was the subject line as well. A huge opportunity lost to welcome a new subscriber properly. A welcome campaign should be part of one’s basic email marketing skills – be sure to check yours.
If you don’t have your basics right, don’t pick up that new and shiny email marketing technology just yet, regardless of how cool it is. Those basics are much more important than doing funky stuff with html5 in email or streaming live content.
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