B2B marketing has always thrown up its own set of patience-testing challenges. From reaching the right-decision makers to nurturing prospects through an often long and complex sales process, these challenges need to be met through the right choice of marketing channel.

While you’re deliberating whether your target will be more receptive to traditional or technology driven approaches, spare a thought for the channel that’s most likely in front of their eyes for most of the day – their everyday email.  Because eyes that may have long since become blind to the batch and blast of bulkmail are still very open to personalised one to one everyday email.

Which is why ‘email branding’ creatively branding your daily one to one business email with bespoke, interactive, trackable marketing banners and signatures – is a channel ideally suited to tackling the challenges facing B2B marketers.

But isn’t email a bit…boring?  Just because it’s not the latest AI or the shiniest new social channel, its effectiveness shouldn’t be overlooked.  Remember, it’s a channel you already own and which every employee uses every day, making it a particularly cost-conscious, smart way to market B2B.

While B2B prospects might ignore a bulk email campaign, they’ll always open an everyday email from a personal contact. What’s more, when it comes to click-through rates, email branding delivers four times more than bulk mailing, achieving 12% versus 2.7%.

B2B campaigns need to persuade all parties in a complex decision process

Even on an email with the same content, email branding allows different recipients to be targeted with different banners, personalised to them and linked to the supporting information they need, so whilst the finance director receives a banner stressing ROI, the IT director receives one on system compatibility.

B2B campaigns need sales and marketing close together

Introducing email branding across your organisation can help achieve closer sales and marketing alignment with central control, enabling the sales team to retain control of their personal contacts, while the marketing team sees brand consistency and nurture-campaign content delivered with every email.

B2B campaigns need to harness the power of opinion-formers

Email branding banners are the perfect place to highlight an endorsing quote from an industry expert, link to a glowing review in a trade journal, or feature a client testimonial that directs them to a case study success story. In fact anything that makes their research easier and positively positions your brand.

B2B campaigns place importance on your company brand.

Whilst your campaign might be for your latest product or service, it’s your company brand that can give your customer the reassurance they need to purchase. Not only does branding every email consistently create a strong, unified brand image, it shows you’re in control which together can translate into that most important emotional connection – trust.

When it comes to B2B marketing, Rocketseed email branding is up to the challenge. To find out more about how Rocketseed email branding can get you up close and personal to your customers…

Jenny Bassett  |  Account Manager

Connect with Jenny on LinkedIn here

Whaling, commonly known as spear-phishing is now targeting many business executives such as CEO’s, CFO’s and CTO’s.

While a regular phishing attack attempts to maliciously steal a user’s sensitive information, whaling targets a specific corporate employee for a range of possible motives.

Attackers usually masquerade emails that look legitimate and urgent, these fool business executives into believing that the email has been sent from another company member or possibly a legitimate authority such as the government. Some malicious emails are typically designed to look like a critical business email and may contain a harmful URL to a website.

Web pages provided on malicious emails frequently look like regular websites and ask users for a username and password. However, when users try to submit their login details, an error message is displayed stating ‘incorrect information, try again’ despite it being correct. The attacker now has the username and password that the user had originally provided and most probably installed a keylogger which tracks everything the executive does!

Regrettably, many organisations have fallen victim to whaling attacks such as the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). According to a report by one firm, whaling attacks alone were up 270 percent from January to August 2015 in which the business lost $800 million and $1.2 billion in just a short amount of time of a two-year period.

As whaling occurs over emails and websites, it can be prevented by analysing emails and not clicking on anything that looks distrustful or suspicious. Avoiding clicking on doubtful content is a good way to start as it will not execute any malicious code. In addition, if there is a new email which involves giving personal or business details, it should be confirmed with the sender first as attackers can make emails seem entirely legitimate.

Overall, users can greatly decrease their chances of being attacked by checking for illegitimate content first.

Through our new security policy, Rocketseed ensures vital email security criteria are met: Any significant money transactions requested via email should always be confirmed by phone or Skype first

Shrina Gohil | Cyber Security Analyst

Why are we, an ‘email branding’ business, sponsoring this year’s DMA B2B Campaign Award?

Is it for the profile-building programme mention? A boozy night out in the name of networking? Or perhaps our CEO’s love of the envelope-opening limelight?

Of course, it’s all 3! But it’s primarily because The DMA Awards bring together the greatest campaigns and people from across industries, showcasing all the years’ great work.  We can’t think of better company to be in or a better place to be inspired!

The B2B category is looking for that one campaign or piece of work that supported your marketing strategy and brought creativity together to ultimately generate new leads and sales.

The awards are known to be rewardingly hard to win, attracting over 500 entries from 33 different categories.

Want to be involved?  The DMA are running a series of events to help you shine amongst all the entries.  Entry for the awards is now open until September.

Tracey Adams | Account Director

Connect with Tracey on LinkedIn here

We’ve got a big announcement to make and we’re thrilled about it. And, as a Rocketseed customer (or future prospect), it’s good news for you too.

Microsoft has formally issued Rocketseed its certification for Windows Server!

It’s only fair that in true Oscar-night style, we thank everyone who made it possible, namely Janine Beard, Nasier Jaffer, Oliver Howe, Charles Oertel and the rest of the development team whose skill, hard work and patience have paid off with this certification.

So, what does it mean for you? Why is it important?

Well, perhaps Microsoft’s own blog puts it best “Technology consumers have come to rely on the Certified for Windows Server 2012 R2 logo (or badge) as a symbol of quality and best in class management of Windows Server datacenter apps.” And, of course, you’ll now be seeing this logo on all our marketing collateral (keep an eye out for it)

But it’s more than that…

Once again, Microsoft says it best – “Investing in certification translates to increased customer satisfaction”. That’s what we’re always looking for, and that’s why we’ve been committed to achieving this certification.

When it comes to any business offering SaaS or with a product involving IT and email, the key to user satisfaction, especially for enterprise clients, is security and peace of mind in terms of the Microsoft environment.

As Janine Beard, MD of Rocketseed Development, explains: “This certification proves that our product has passed all of the tests required by MS to ensure that it works correctly within their environment without any adverse results to their suite of products.  It further shows that the developed application adheres to their security standards and poses no security risks when installed.”

Without doubt, one of the key benefits here is client attitude towards R4E (Rocketseed For Exchange).  The application being MS approved means that the R4E plugin can now be installed into a client’s MS Environment with their IT administrators completely secure in the knowledge that it works harmoniously with server setups without impacting any of the software or posing any additional risks.

In a rapidly changing industry, you need high-quality applications you can trust for deployment in your private/public/hybrid clouds and IT professionals need apps they can trust to ensure their workloads are operating as planned. It’s exactly this trust that MS certification brings to Rocketseed.

In summary, being approved through this certification program offers compatibility with an upgraded test suite reflecting the platform improvements.

To end on a high note from Microsoft – “This program includes a number of certifications that include hundreds of tests and best practices with an emphasis on deployment, management, reliability, and security”.

That’s where the patience came in …it literally was 100’s of tests.

It was all worth it. See for yourself.

Damian Hamp-Adams  |  CEO
Connect with Damian on LinkedIn here

OK, so there are no screeching sirens or flashing lights and you won’t need a hazmat suit or a hard hat (unless your boss reacts violently to badly branded email) but there are tell-tale warning signs of bad email branding that, if ignored, could cost you dear in terms of engagement, lose you leads and become toxic to your brand.

From cold sweats over signature set-ups to banners being mangled on mobiles, there are a few signs that spell real trouble, and as we’re in the email branding rescue business, we’ve made them the subject of our latest campaign.

So if you’ve been over-squeezing the stress-ball or been accused of having an anti-social signature, you can’t afford to ignore the warning signs as they could cost you… and put your results, and ROI, at risk… but, rest assured, help is at hand.

Stressed over 1,000 signature set-ups?

The thought of setting up your whole company’s signatures on a Monday morning is enough to give anyone a cold sweat Sunday night. Except, of course, if you check at the outset that your email signature provider allows you to apply centrally controlled email signatures at the click of a button, with instant updates to a master template. That way you’ll get all your signatures sorted and a peaceful Sunday night’s sleep!

Mangled on mobiles?

They might look fine on your desktop but this counts for nothing if your finely crafted signatures and latest promotional branded email banners get twisted-up on tablets or mangled on mobiles. With up to 81% of business emails now opened on smartphones you need to check that your branding displays as desired on every device and you need a provider who continually tests on all devices. See our guide on how to make your email signature mobile-friendly.

Design Disaster?

Designing an email banner isn’t like designing for print or the web, and there’s a lot of potential pitfalls in such a small space  so make sure your provider gives you clear design guidelines and access to specialist design services to give your branded banner immediate (and interactive) impact and a clear, clickable call-to-action.

Toxic to your Brand?

This is the bottom line. If your email signature is sending out mixed signals, or if your email branding isn’t being seen, looks tired or antisocial or you’re not in control, it can all be toxic for your brand. It’s not just going to stress you out, it’s going to cost clicks, real results and ROI.

You need an email branding solution that gives you creativity, consistency and control with tamper-proof security, on-hand design advice, testing across all platforms and devices, and reporting of all results.

You know who you need…

Jenny Bassett  |  Account Manager

Connect with Jenny on LinkedIn here

Well, according to Seth Godin, marketing guru.

What he’s really saying is that potential customers aren’t buying into the rhetoric anymore. They are looking for authenticity – something you get from a one-to-one conversation with a personal contact – it’s the trust that comes with the relationship.

There is a wealth of information available out there, over and above your official company collateral – from review sites to candid user videos to minute-by-minute social media feeds – all with something to say about your products and services and with the credibility of independence. Somehow you’ve got to break through the noise and get your message heard. Email branding does just that with the personal nature of the message and allows you to be agile – able to deliver the right message, at the right time, to the right person.

Let’s Get Practical

Getting started on anything new can be a bit daunting so we’ve put together our top 5 tips for running a successful email branding campaign.

1: Set your email branding goals

Are you hoping to achieve greater brand consistency? Do you want to elicit immediate customer feedback? Or perhaps get a market indicator on a forthcoming product? Whatever your goals, it’s important to define them upfront and decide the metrics. The results will not only prove your success, but give you valuable insight and guidance for future campaigns.

2: Audit your content

Evaluate your content in terms of your goals – look at what you’ve already got and determine what can be reused, which pieces have the relevance to help you deliver on your objectives. Does the content support the right stage of the customer journey? Where are the gaps? Where are you taking them to next?

3: Build a plan – The Customer Journey

Are you using email branding as part of an integrated campaign or a stand-alone medium? Either way, a banner lends itself to short headlines and simple design for maximum impact. Because it’s so easy to customise and execute, plan a series of banners to underpin a wider marketing effort or as a standalone campaign. It keeps the message fresh and relevant.

4: Integrate, integrate, integrate

Using all the functionality of the customisable, interactive and trackable banners and email signatures is the key to success. Ensure that your systems such as CRM, marketing automation and analytics engine are all integrated with the email branding tool. That way, you get the maximum information from your results for the minimum effort.

5: Review and test

Email branding is a perfect way to get feedback on which messages are resonating with your audience, in real-time. Automated reports can be delivered to your inbox. Banners can be applied using a keyword in the subject line. It lends itself well to testing messages prior to a full campaign launch perhaps segmenting by department or domain name. With on the fly reviewing you won’t only have the agility to get the best results but also a way to gather important market data that may affect the success of future campaigns.

Tracey Adams  |  Account Director

Connect with Tracey on LinkedIn here

It’s Rocketseed Q&A time again (if you missed the first one, you can catch up here), as the resident email agony uncle and go-to technical trouble-shooter, this month I’ve put together the answers to a mixed bag of questions that I’ve been asked about email branding.  Let’s get started…

Q. How effective is my reporting? And how can I see what’s happened to my outbound messages after they’ve left my mail system?

The login we give you to your Rocketseed system allows you to view and troubleshoot the mail flow of your messages. As it is multi-platform, it works across Exchange, Google Workspace, Microsoft365 and others. With Rocketseed you can go back over a year and drill down to delivery reports for individual messages that will show you exactly what happened to each one, including the response code from the recipient mail server!

Q. These are legitimate every day emails that my employees are sending out, how can you ensure that once they’ve had branding applied, they will always end up in the recipient’s inbox?

Rocketseed has hundreds of thousands of customers globally and we are responsible for over a billion email messages sent annually. One of our biggest priorities is delivery of messages and making sure they go to the right place. We have several recommendations prior to us handling any of your messages that will help to ensure they are delivered into the recipient’s Inbox as intended.

Q. Won’t my domain’s email reputation be tarnished by your other users?

Another great question, in short, ‘No’. We are flexible enough so that you can use our cloud platform or have your own Rocketseed system either hosted by us or by you inside your corporate firewall if required. Our systems are constantly monitored too meaning we can assist with all aspects of email delivery including SPF, DKIM records, DMARC policies and DNS updates enhancing your email reputation. We can also smart-host to third party filtering and archiving services such as Messagelabs for final delivery if required.

Q. What about the broken icons or nasty red crosses I see in emails nowadays, won’t your system do the same thing to my messages?

No! With our system your recipients will not get broken icons that are typically associated with poorly configured mail servers and software. We know why such icons appear and we also know how to prevent it from happening. (Learn more about this in our previous blog embedded v’s Referenced)

Q. How flexible are you people?

When it comes to email, think yoga or pilates, we can literally bend over backwards!

Q. Do you have any clients I may have heard of?

We are a Dell preferred partner and currently handle outbound messages for their global sales teams. Some of our other larger clients include, Chelsea FC, the British Red Cross, and The Ritz, London. We can handle the requirements of all domains from small businesses through to multi-national corporations.

Q. Where do I go to super charge my every-day email?

Watch the video below to see us in action! Alternatively click here and we will be in touch shortly.  Thanks for reading and keep the Rocketseed questions coming…

Oliver Howe  |  IT Director

Connect with Oliver on LinkedIn here

This is personal.

One of my regular contacts (you know who you are) requests a read receipt with every email. Having just received a 5-word email accompanied by – you guessed it – yet another read receipt, I am gritting my teeth and venting my frustration … but I do have a smart solution.

Am I being unreasonable? Is it just one of those email bugbears that’s up there with broken email signatures and vague subject lines?

I think it’s more than that.

The read receipt is the ‘cry wolf’ of email – always attention-seeking so that when that urgent emergency finally arrives, I shall be so weary from receipt-deceit that their demands will simply be dealt with in my own time.

Do they do it on every communication, not just email? Do they demand a  receipt with every text? Do they send all their letters recorded delivery? (That must cost them a fortune) Does every gift they give come with a demand for a thank you letter?

It’s not the concept I have the problem with, it’s all in the connotation. If they only took 2 seconds to realise what their read receipt is really saying, how it makes them look – and makes me feel – they’d realise the risk:-

Coming across as a control-freak

A read receipt doesn’t reflect the relaxed reassurance they might take from a  reply, it’s the control-freak kick they get from every confirmation designed to put you under a bit of passive-aggressive pressure. If you don’t get an immediate read receipt I’m not lazy, I’m just busy or maybe your email just doesn’t need a response.

Making it all about them, and not about you the recipient

And marketing people can be the worst – even though it goes against market orientation 101. Time to start seeing your email through the recipient’s eyes.

Appearing paranoid about their performance

I know you’re probably under permanent pressure but do you really need to cover your back with every single email?

Being ‘ghosted’

They get their receipt but they don’t get a reply. Acknowledged but ignored. Will it teach them a lesson? You’ll probably just get even more increasingly tense emails each with – you’ve guessed it – their own read receipt.

Undermining their brand

It’s easy to forget that even the most mundane everyday email you send, reflects not just you but your company brand, both in its content and its style. So if someone in your company has gone to the trouble of ensuring that your email signatures are all on-brand (and we strongly recommend they do) then they’re not going to thank you for risking reputation with an over-zealous read receipt.

As up-tight as it may sound, to keep every email on-brand, you should have a policy on read receipts.

But there is a solution…

A solution so subtle that it’s effectively secret…

A single, invisible referenced image that guarantees confirmation that your email has been delivered and seen without the recipient having to click a read receipt.

Rocketseed enables you to include read alert beacons in your everyday email branding.  As soon as your email has been read, you will receive a notification email showing the date and time the email was opened.

This allows you to understand, in a non-invasive way, who has read your email.

It’s time to re-think, and replace, the read receipt. Contact us to here understand more about our solution.

Jenny Bassett | Account Manager

Connect with Jenny on LinkedIn here

So you’re Rocketseed-ready and you’ve created your email branding campaign – good work!

You now have the power to transform every (yes, every) email you send into a marketing channel with stylish branded signatures and eye-catching promotional banners. Every element is creative, engaging and compellingly clickable… and will deliver real results with unrivalled ROI.  But you’ve got a few questions…

How will it impact on my IT? How flexible is it for my business’s server set-up and my mobile workforce? Will my branding design display as desired on every device? Who holds my hand if I need help? Once I’ve bought in will I ever hear from the provider again? (Yes!) And, finally, is it secure?

These are all important concerns. No matter how stylish your signature or creative your campaign, these behind the scenes basics have to be right – after all, we’re talking about every email your business sends.

Well, we’re here so you can rest easy because Rocketseed has the perfect ‘peace of mind’ recipe for total reassurance – the Cloud, compatibility testing and client campaign service.

So let’s start with the Cloud…

The Cloud’s got it Covered – Security, Flexibility, Efficiency

Cloud platforms offer stable, secure, flexible and centrally-controlled environments that empower you to grow your business without the previously prohibitive costs of on-site installations. And the opportunities for email branding are no exception.

Because a Rocketseed Azure-hosted server is in the same cloud environment as your Office 365 mail, your mail won’t route outside of the Azure Cloud in order for Rocketseed to apply your branding – and with this comes security, “work from anywhere” flexibility and economy. What does that mean for you? No need to purchase additional hardware.

Through Office 365, mail campaigns can run for everyone in your business via the Cloud and with Rocketseed you can control them all centrally.

Everything’s clear in the cloud

Rocketseed in the Cloud email branding is set up using a secure, access-controlled web-based user interface…simple! Internet mail connectors within your Office365/Google Apps environment enable your mails to route through the Rocketseed cloud server for branding.  The branded mail is then securely resubmitted to Office 365 via a closed loop. This means that even though your email is being branded by Rocketseed, it doesn’t leave the secure cloud environment before final delivery.

So it’s super-secure?

Yep.  And we keep it that way. How?

• We ensure that the Rocketseed Azure-hosted branding appliances are kept up to the most recent patch level for both the operating system and software components
• The internal software undergoes security audits and thorough penetration testing on a regular basis
• All email conversations are conducted via secure TLS-encrypted communication
• The user interface is accessed using a secure (https) connection and is username and password access controlled with granular role-based access levels
• All mails sent from Rocketseed are SPF -to ensure safe delivery

NB. If you’re in marketing, go talk to IT!

Super-efficient and flexible too

Rocketseed in the Cloud can be accessed from any web-enabled device so no matter where in the world you are, you will still have email branding. On top of this flexibility, super-efficiency is also delivered as:

• Rocketseed’s “always on” technology means a highly available, scalable service with 99.99% up-time
• The scalable three-tier architecture is robust and has no upper limit in terms of mail throughput
• All mails sent from Rocketseed can be DKIM-enabled to enhance deliverability
• Time spent in the email delivery queue is monitored and any “slow” delivery issues are investigated and alternate solutions implemented
• Blacklists are monitored and delisting actioned, with alternative delivery IP addresses maintained to overcome any blacklisting delivery issues that may occur
• You can access and update your user information without the need for proxies etc.
• You don’t need to have outsourced IT to enable your branding.  Rocketseed support can do this as a one-off setting change for you
• Server health is actively monitored 24/7/365

Moving to the Cloud?

During the transition period from full on-site to cloud, many ISPs and businesses employ a ‘hybrid’ solution (part on-site and part cloud) and, with this in mind, Rocketseed works in all three environments (i.e. full on-site, hybrid and full Cloud), so rather than offering a ‘one size fits all’ solution, Rocketseed delivers exactly what you need.

Compatibility – testing, testing, testing

You have no idea how much we test.

Your branding won’t get clicked if your branding isn’t clear. So it’s vital that all the branded campaign elements in your Office 365 email perform perfectly and display as desired no matter when, where or on what device the email is sent or opened. After all, it’s about more than creative effort, it’s about potentially missed engagement opportunities and brand image damage – so the stakes are high.

Once again, Rocketseed can reassure you. How? By testing and testing … and then testing some more.

Rocketseed-branded emails are tested to render correctly on the broadest range of email clients. And not just for the original ‘send’. We also test against combinations of all email clients so that when a branded mail is forwarded, your branding maintains the correct appearance regardless of the email client used.

Peace of mind on the move

Just as importantly, with over 60% of emails now opened on the move, your email branding solution must be mobile-optimised. Again, we test, test and test some more across a range of devices so your signature and banner sizes automatically adjust to ensure easy readability and consistent design, whether on laptop, tablet or smartphone. 

Client Campaign Service – On-hand and hands-on

Email branding is all about engagement. But can you engage with your email branding provider? A one-click download and endless FAQ’s is NOT engagement – Results-focused client campaign service IS.

This is when it’s not all about the tech. To deliver real engagement it helps to get advice from real people and that’s why Rocketseed clients get a dedicated account manager who knows what works (and what doesn’t), who talks ‘tech’ (so you don’t have to), who lets you in on all the tricks of full functionality and who can make the recommendations that keep your campaigns on track, on target and ahead of the curve – while being always on-hand, and always hands-on.

Email branding isn’t a ‘one size fits all’ – it’s about what’s right your business when you’re Rocketseed-ready. From your initial conversation to the results report on your campaign, Rocketseed’s real people will be with you all the way.

Perfect Peace of Mind

We hope we’ve put your mind at rest. Email branding is an incredibly effective marketing channel, and with Rocketseed in the Cloud taking care of everything, you can concentrate on achieving the marketing objectives of your campaign, with perfect peace of mind.

Please contact us to find out how we can help your business. We’d love to give you a presentation.

Oliver Howe | IT Director

Connect with Oliver on LinkedIn here

Getting your employees on board and on brand is imperative and not just an exercise in ticking HR & internal communication boxes. It’s about empowering them to become brand ambassadors. It’s as simple as it sounds!

Think about it – lots of emails are sent externally, but your employees communicate with each other using email multiple times a day – especially in medium to large sized companies. Each email sent internally from employee-to-employee presents an opportunity to share your internal comms news, company announcements, marketing updates, HR policies and more.

Here are 6 reasons to brand internal company emails:

1. Surveys and events

Nurture employee satisfaction by inviting them to take part in polls, forums and social events, whilst tracking exactly who it taking part.

2. Brand consistency

Promote brand values with consistent email banners and signatures.

3. HR policies and documents

Deliver essential HR and other company-wide announcements via document download direct from your email signature banner, whilst tracking who has engaged with the message.

4. Global alignment

Connect staff who work in different time zones and locations with email banner messages that directly reach each work desk.

5. News announcements

Keep employees involved and up to date as soon as relevant news is released to get staff involved, engaged and enthused.

6. Reporting and analytics

Discover which company announcements resonate with staff (and which don’t) via fully trackable banners and click alerts.

We’re here to help

Providing knowledge and harnessing a sense of involvement will help your employees uphold your company’s brand values, be able to articulate what your goals are and remain inspired to drive the business forward. And if your employees feel valued, involved and loyal, we bet your customers will too! Here are 7 internal communication email campaign ideas with examples.

To get started, please contact us and one of the Rocketseed team will be in touch.

Tracey Adams | Managing Director EMEA
Connect with Tracey on LinkedIn here