Many of you Blue Sky Factory followers out there may or may not know that, according to our web analytics, Blue Sky Factory’s team page is one of the most viewed pages on our website. The team of employees is what can make or break a company, and here at Blue Sky Factory we think it’s important to showcase the people behind the scenes. We also want our clients and other friends to get to know our team a little more personally, like finding out our favorite things about working here or what we do when not in the office. With that said, we want to give our fans out there some change every once in a while so…

(drum roll)

…we have updated our team page! (Click here to check it out)

I’m sure you have already clicked through to see it and are not even reading my blog post anymore. I can now talk about things like puppies (I want one like Bo), LOST (so Faraday left with that first sub three years ago in Dharmaville?) and the Orioles (too good to be true?) if I want to. In case you did keep reading, the new team page is pretty awesome. New employee interview questions, new photographs, and the most exciting update - new people! (Welcome Camille Carver & Mark Kucera!) Check it out and let us know what you think!

All we’ve been hearing about recently is the economy.  The economy, the economy, the economy.   I could write to you about something new and fresh but why not stick with what on everyone’s minds? Everyone, from consumers to corporate executives, is thinking and talking about the economy and money.  So what does this have to do with email you ask?  Well in short, everything.

Let’s use retailers as an example.  Some experts believe that this could be the toughest year for holiday shopping since the recession of 1991.  With that in mind, marketing teams for these retailers need to figure out the best way to reach their consumers without spending a lot of money.

Enter email.

The return on investment for email marketing is still at the top in terms of ROI across the board for various media channels.  The Direct Marketing Association made note in an October 2008 report* that the ROI for email in the U.S. was $45.06 for every $1 spent versus non-email internet marketing’s $19.94.   This statistic proves that email marketing is a very cost effective way to reach your customers - especially in these tough times.

The question then of course becomes what message should go out to the consumers through email?  What does this economy mean for your customers, and how do you use any kind of marketing to get consumers to spend money?

Being somewhat of a shopaholic myself, I’m going to take a personal approach to this question and just give my opinion on the matter.  I, along with a lot of other consumers out there, am a sucker for a sale - especially in times like these.  A few months ago in fact, Julia, our summer intern, and I went out to Baltimore’s Inner Harbor to film interviews with the average person on the street to get some info about email trends.  The information we received showed a very consistent trend among consumers.  Every single person, out of the 20 people we interviewed, mentioned that they tend to open emails when the content involves a sale, promotion, or coupon.

Back to the main point:  times are tough and budgets are low.  Choose email as your marketing solution and get the most return for your dollar.  Give back to your customers this holiday season and, finally but most importantly, give thanks for email.

*Numbers were released in The Power of Direct Marketing: ROI, Sales, Expenditures, and Employment in the US, 2008-2009 Edition from Direct Marketing Association.

Hello marketers, tech junkies, bloggers, tweeters, and everyone else familiar with Blue Sky Factory and or email marketing!  It’s been a few months in the making, but thanks to Keith and Noah, Blue Sky’s dynamic design duo, our new website (www.blueskyfactory.com) has finally been launched.  While we have stayed true to the Blue Sky Factory brand, there are some upgrades that make the site more streamlined and clean.

Let’s start from the very beginning.  We’ve pretty much completely redesigned the look and feel of the homepage.  By bringing our blog to the forefront of www.blueskyfactory.com, we hope to help visitors have real-time easy access to information about industry trends, best practices and everything and anything else email marketing related.   Other sections on the homepage include a rotating banner, listing some of our customers, information and links about upcoming events we are involved with as well as resources and white papers we provide, and a section featuring links to different subscription centers throughout our site.  Basically, the homepage creates a more user-friendly platform linking you directly to the popular features of our website.

 The team and creative services pages are two other noteworthy changes to the site.  The new and improved team page will let you get to know your friendly neighborhood Blue Sky Factory employees a little better.  Bigger more colorful photographs along with questionnaire answers from the employees themselves, give visitors to the site a more in depth, personalized look at the Blue Sky team.  The creative services page is also redesigned, allowing for a more organized look at the work our design team has created for our customers.

I could ramble on some more, but the best way to experience and learn about the new features is to actually get online and see it yourself!  Visit www.blueskyfactory.com  and let us know what you think.

You may wonder, what does a widget have to do with email marketing? Truthfully, when I first took the job at Blue Sky Factory my knowledge of a widget included the definition I knew from the Looney Tunes writers. But after a few months of working here, the discovery of RSS feeds (yes…I was very web-naïve) and one iMac later, I now know what a widget really is and I have realized the importance of the ever-changing facets of online marketing.  To brush up on your widget knowledge, click here.

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Did you know that the average ROI realized from email marketing is much higher than from other online marketing mediums? We’re talking $57.25 for every dollar spent versus $22.52. That’s a huge difference! If you aren’t yet convinced, read more staggering statistics from one of our latest articles.

This article was originally published in our monthly e-newsletter, Factory Direct. Sign up to get your copy here.