邮件营销在中国一直致力于分享国内外优秀的邮件营销策略，技巧，案例。之前的很多文章，比方”推荐好友订阅邮件—SmartBargains案例一则” / “全美零售行业电子邮件退订研究” / 2010年北美在线零售邮件趋势“均来Chad White以及其团队，Chad White是著名邮件营销网站Retailemailblog.com的创始人，致力于研究北美零售企业的邮件营销策略和趋势,是本行业的先锋人物。
Chad现任职Responsys——北美多渠道营销巨头Responsys(NASDAQ: MKTG)，今年4月其在纳斯达克成功IPO。
感谢White先生百忙之中接受我的采访。
1. 能与读者分享下你的背景和工作经历吗？
我其实学新闻专业的。一开始在Condé Nast网站工作了几年，研究零售商如何运用当时的IT技术，之后加入道琼斯负责面向在线零售商的Newsletter项目，通过注册订阅在线零售公司的邮件，了解到很多关于网站改版以及提高网站效能等方面信息。
Retail Email Blog一直独立营运着，我也在Email Experience Council早期工作了一段时间。一年后EEC被DMA收购，随后加盟的Smith-Harmon也在去年被到Responsys买下。Retail Email Blog这个网站已经运作了5年了，超过2000个帖子，并发布了很多业内报告和最佳实践。我很幸运，天时地利人和，恰到好处。
2. 作为在线零售商邮件营销领域的专家，你是如何看待邮件营销的策略的？
零售商面临的主要是挑战是，他们需要不断的努力，利用数据细分，触发邮件以及动态的内容使邮件的相关性更高。因为用户的期望，发送频率的增加，邮件营销的技巧必须变得更加成熟老到，以维系发送者与其顾客的关系。零售公司手头掌握的大量数据，诸如以往订单记录，网站上的浏览行为，以及来自SNS的信息，都能促进邮件相关性。
另一个挑战是其他渠道对Email的影响。智能手机，平板电脑正对邮件设计和内容策略产生巨大影响力。同时，随着大量涌现的邮件客户端与社交媒体的整合性应用，社交媒体将继续扮演重要角色，对Email施加影响。
3. 要使邮件营销活动成功，必要掌握的技能又哪些？
技术的革新与消费者日益增长的需求，使邮件营销领域从未停下脚步—需要灵活和好奇。从业者应当不停地学习，测试。我自己也从学习和测试中受益，惊喜不断，哪些对某些品牌有效，哪些无效。
4. 你如何看待邮件营销的未来，特别是中国的情况？
虽然我不太了解中国的情况，更谈不上专家，但是我认为中国还处于邮件营销领域的初始阶段，目前搜索是中国的数字营销的主流工具。中国的从业者可以从欧美的先行者那里受益，他们已经在这个领域耕作了10年，积累了大量行之有效策略和最佳实践。此外，搜索引擎营销能帮助企业建立强大的邮件内容策略。
5. 还有哪些从业者我可以采访，请推荐？
我推荐你可以采访下Silverpop的Loren McDonald。Responsys澳洲分部的老大Simon O’Day也是不错的人选，他非常熟悉亚太市场的邮件营销。
下面为本次采访的原文
1. Could you share with us your background and experience?
My background is actually in journalism.
I worked for Condé Nast for several years, covering how retailers use technology, and later for Dow Jones & Co., heading up a newsletter on online retailing. One of the ways that we got leads was by signing up for retailers’ email programs so we would learn about website relaunches and other website improvements. I started the Retail Email Blog as a side-project and ended up joining the Email Experience Council when it was in its infancy. About a year after the EEC was acquired by the Direct Marketing Association, I joined Smith-Harmon, which was subsequently been acquired by Responsys.
During the five years since starting my blog, I’ve written nearly 2,000 blog posts and dozens of research reports on retailers’ email marketing practices. I’ve been fortunate to have been in just the right place at the right time.
2. You are an active evangelist for “email marketing for online retailers”. How do you define its strategies?
The chief challenge for retailers is to gradually make their emails more relevant to their subscribers by using segmentation, dynamic content and triggered emails. Because of rising expectations and steady year-over-year increases in email frequency, email programs have to become more sophisticated to keep their subscribers.
Retailers have lots of information about their customers—from purchase histories and browsing behavior to data from other channels like social media—but more retailers need to use that information to increase the relevancy of their emails.
Another big challenge is the impact of other channels on email. Mobile is on the cusp of having a huge influence on email design and content tactics. Tablets will affect email design as well. Social media will continue to affect email, especially as email clients and social media platforms converge.
3. What are the must-have skills/attributes that are important to be successful in email marketing field?
Email marketing is constantly evolving, both technologically and in terms of consumer expectations. So being flexible and curious are musts. Email marketers should always be testing and learning. I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about email marketing and I’m routinely surprised by what works and doesn’t work for particular brands.
4.Could you share with us your opinion for the future of email marketing, especially in China?
I’m not an expert on email marketing in China, but my understanding is that it’s still in the early days and that search is a big focus currently. Chinese marketers are in a great position to benefit from the email marketing pioneers in the U.S. and Europe who have been refining best practices over the past decade.
Also, a strong search program can help marketers build a strong email marketing content strategy. Key words that drive traffic for search should become the topics of your emails.
5. Who would you recommend us to interview?
I have a ton of respect for Loren McDonald of Silverpop. Also, Simon O’Day, who heads up our Australian office, is very knowledgeable of trends in the Asia Pacific region.
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