As a marketing tool, email is a double-edged sword.

Marketers have traditionally had a lot of control over getting their email messages to their intended recipients because there isn’t anyone standing between recipients and their inbox (contrast that with social media platforms, whose algorithms dictate what shows up in your followers’ feeds). On the other hand, email is a platform full of fragility—if your emails fail to attract readers or are considered spammy, it can threaten your reputation as a sender with major email clients like Gmail, which are introducing algorithms of their own that affect deliverability.

In a two-part series, nonprofit marketer Kivi Leroux Miller makes the case that tracking how often your emails are identified as spam is only one part of the email marketing equation. Engaging people who aren’t interacting with your messages is an important strategy if you want to strengthen your list.

“You need to know who on your list is opening emails regularly and who isn’t,” Leroux Miller writes in her second post. “You need to try to re-engage those who are not. Then, if they still don’t respond, you need to stop emailing them. End of story.”

Entrepreneurial Spirit

"Entrepreneurship is an approach to strategizing and to strategy implementation, but beyond that it is a commitment to innovation."
Why does @MeenaDayak think entrepreneurship is so important for the association space? Find out more:https://t.co/4DuTu72cJL #business #assnchat

— Sidecar (@sidecarglobal) July 5, 2018

You may not be running a startup, but it still can be smart to bring an entrepreneurial mindset to your association.

In a post for Association Success, Meena Dayak, the American Public Power Association’s vice president of integrated media and communications, argues that entrepreneurial spirit isn’t limited to building new businesses. It can also be brought to bear on an organization’s mission and bottom line.

“Entrepreneurial thinking isn’t about changing minds so much as it is about expanding them,” Dayak writes. “This is an important point: Entrepreneurship is more about adaptation than change. Having an eye to the future—or toward the many possible futures—is a way of preempting the challenges and changes around the corner, so we can empower member success.”

Other Links of Note

Careful picking up your phone. According to CBS News, robocalls are becoming worse than ever, especially in several major cities.

Take pointers. In a piece on LinkedIn, Association Executive Management’s David M. Patt breaks down how he organizes his day.

Ask the right questions. Jeffrey Cufaude of Idea Architects shares 15 questions that can help improve the conference learning experience.

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