An Email Snob Interview with Fred Tabsharani

In this exciting next installment of the Email Snob Interview Series, I talk email with Fred Tabsharani, the man behind the marketing and industry relations for Port25 Solutions.

ScottWritesEverything.com: Fred, thanks for joining me. Let’s start off at the beginning. Tell me how you got into email marketing.

Fred Tabsharani: In 1998, as “Chief Packing Schlepper” of a Mail Boxes Etc., franchise (now called The UPS Store), I deployed my very first email notification alerting mailbox holders that a UPS or FedEx shipment had arrived for them. Customers were delighted to receive these notifications, and soon after I started collecting email addresses of each customer that conducted a physical transaction at the point of sale.

Shortly after, I began sending a series of emails directed not only to mailbox holders, but also to walk-in clients, which promoted a variety of the business services. The response was tremendous and increased my average customer visits by at least 20%. This is when I fell in love with the benefits of email. UPS later purchased all MBE franchises. Soon after earning my graduate degree, I was hired by a local ESP as Director of Marketing.

SWE: I love the whole “learning on the job” concept. Let’s talk about the industry. Given your deep involvement in the email marketing industry, what would be your recommendations for someone who’s looking to get involved in the “conversations” of the industry?

FT: Conversations in this industry stretch far and wide, and also extremely deep. There are dozens of organizations, including the Email Experience Council. There are conversations about different segments of the industry on Yahoo, LinkedIn, and, of course, on Twitter. There are clubs such as the Email Marketers Club, run by Matt Vernhout and Tamara Gielen,  where you can glean a wealth of industry knowledge.

As you become more experience, you begin to find your voice and can focus on a specialization in the industry. The sooner you develop a specialization in a certain sector of the industry, the sooner you will have more confidence in respective circles to formulate your own opinions in that particular space. There are, of course, additional conversations that stretch beyond the public social media channels as well.

For someone just entering the industry, I recommend first to listen to the conversations and remember to be a perpetual student of the trade. Also, remember to get to know the industry peeps as individuals first.

SWE: Speaking of conversations, let’s talk influences. Who is your biggest influence in the industry? Why?

FT: There are so many mentors in the industry that have aided in shortening the learning curve for me. I would say the biggest influencer might have to be Dennis Dayman. I consider him the ambassador to the email marketing industry. He’s not only one of the smartest people I know in the email deliverability space, but also one of the kindest.

Among others that I glean insight from and for whom I’m grateful for knowing are peeps like Mike Ferguson, Chad White, Stephanie Miller, Russ Fletcher, DJ Waldow, Loren McDonald, David Baker, Greg Cangialosi, Ken Pfeiffer, Michael Weisel, Simms Jenkins, Morgan Stewart, Stefan Pollard, Matt Vernhout, Tom Bartel, Mark Brownlow, Dela Quist… so many others.

Wow, did I just win an award of something?

SWE: Haha, no. But maybe I’ll think of something. Let’s continue in this vein about influence and great minds. If you could give me a list of three books you think every email marketer should read, what would they be? Why?

FT: “What a Party!” by Terry McCauliffe… okay, just kidding.

Really, anything written by David Daniels would be instrumental. His book, “Email Marketing: An Hour a Day” (written with Jeanniey Mullen) is great. He’s also written a host of timely reports through Forrester on the current and future state of the industry.

Bill Nussey’s (from Silverpop) book, “A Quiet Revolution” at the time was considered groundbreaking. Nussey’s a big-time thought leader, and the book includes a few case studies from some influential brands.

Let’s not forget “The Truth About Email Marketing” by Simms Jenkins… I actually need to get that book signed by Simms. He’s also one of the industry’s most respected voices.

It’s important to remember that since email operates in a dynamic environment, to stay on the pulse of the industry, you have to consider the numerous well-written and timely email marketing guides and whitepapers. MarketingSherpa produces a yearly benchmark guide. Chad White of Smith-Harmon (Responsys) also develops timely and very relevant papers. It’s challenging to read them all, so you’ll have to focus on a particular segment within the industry. Also, anything written by members of MAAWG should also be carefully considered as being on the pulse of the email world.

SWE: How about blogs? What are your top 5?

FT: I know I keep harping on this, but it’s really based on your specialization. That said, in no particular order, my top blogs might include:

• No Man is an Iland by Mark Brownlow
• Word to the Wise by Laura and Steve Atkins
• Retail Email Blog by Chad White
• Deliverability.com
• MediaPost’s Email Insider
• The ReturnPath and Pivotal Veracity blogs
• EmailKarma
• White Noise by David Baker

SWE: Coming from the perspective of an MTA, what do you think are the biggest challenges facing email marketers today? How can these challenges be best fought in your opinion?

FT: This is really a new era for deliverability. To complete, you’ve got to have a very high deliverability rate. And to have great deliverability, you need great deliverability infrastructure. So I highly recommend a commercial grade MTA to effectively manage a range of IPs and domains, bounce processing, and ease of configuration.

For example, if you’re delivering engaging content that subscribers want to a 100% opted-in list, but your MTA is not configured correctly, or you’re not set up to process abuse complaints, then you’re headed for big trouble fast. That said, there are several ways to ensure your reputation stays intact. First, don’t hammer the ISPs. It’s important to think about how much email you’re going to be sending, and depending on your sending volume, you can determine how many IPs to have prepared for proper distribution. Rate limiting or throttling is also a critical step in the MTA configuration as it allows ISPs the proper time to digest or process and prioritize your sends.

Commercial products generally provide many more benefits over the open-source products, like monitoring and configuration. The challenging part is getting all the configurations dialed in properly.

SWE: Let’s direct the conversation back to the industry for a moment. If there was one thing you could tell either clients or ESPs, what would it be?

FT: Frankly, without ESPs, we really wouldn’t have much of an industry. They are the catalysts for the industry, responsible for a majority of our sends.

The number one goal for all ESPs is to meet the changing and demanding requirements for each client while keeping pace with technology and innovation. For maturing ESPs, some try to be all things to all clients. That is challenging in and of itself. To become a recognized leader, they first have to have a competitive advantage. Finding that in an ESP’s arsenal is tricky. Once you find that though, you can capitalize on that and offer complementary services.

For senders, I would dedicate expert staff who are focused on deliverability and can collaborate with ReturnPath or Pivotal Veracity. Also, there is an emerging sub-industry growing within the email space. Currently, you can find a handful of expert deliverability consultants to help you increase your inbox placement rate. These experts are few and far between, but they do exist.

As ISPs tweak their deliverability algorithms and increase the weighting for domain-based reputation–which includes variables for engagement–finding your way to the inbox will be more valuable. Value comes when there is a good feeling associated with the email coupled with successful social programs that parlay into solid engagement metrics.

SWE: Okay, let’s have some fun questions. What’s your favorite thing about email marketing?

FT: Hands down, it’s the people. And frankly, I love them all. There are so many different character types that lends to a very colorful industry with a rich history. And the relationships I’ve built transcend more than just business goals.

It’s kind of like a zoo! You have the giraffes that are the visionaries of the industry. Those people who always look to the future with a keen eye, like Joe Colopy of Bronto or Jeffrey Rohrs and Joel Book of ExactTarget. You have the birds of the industry who can be found on Twitter and seem to share a dialogue all their own, in the likes of Greg Cangialosi, Loren McDonald, and one of my favorite, Chad White.

Then you have the aquarium, the underground elite which Andrew Kordek recently wrote about in a column whose collective industry knowledge is unsurpassed and deafening. They are the industry veterans who are stealthy. These are the catalysts who actually perform the creative and technical functions, of culling lists, producing creative, testing and delivering.

Finally, there are also the courageous types who battle spam. People like Al Iverson and Mickey Chandler, among many others.

SWE: On the flip side, what’s your least favorite thing about email marketing?

FT: SPAM!

SWE: Last question. What’s your “elevator speech” for email marketing for the CEO who isn’t using email yet?

FT: Mr. CEO, if you are interested in increasing your company’s bottom line, you might want to consider allocating part of your investment toward email marketing. Think of email marketing as a high-yield investment. Think of each sector of email marketing as a particular stock or mutual fund in your company’s portfolio.

For instance, your current customers (soon-to-be subscribers) are your most important asset alongside your IP/Domain reputation, which is pegged to deliverability. And, of course, allocating a portion of your investment to creative and analytics will pay enormous dividends in the long run.

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About Fred Tabsharani

Fred Tabsharani is engaged in strategic marketing initiatives for Port25 Solutions, a globally recognized email software company which serves Email Services Providers and leading enterprises. Fred immersed himself into email strategy and deliverability and constantly discovers new insight from thought leaders in the space. He is a columnist for the Deliverability.com Blog, and is also a member of several email-based organizations including MAAWG and the Email Experience Council. Fred currently serves on the Email Measurement and Accuracy Roundtable sponsored by the EEC, and is on the Senders BCP Committee for MAAWG. Fred earned his MBA from John F. Kennedy University. Feel free to ping Fred any time.

Tagged as: email snob interview