Everybody just chill out. We’ve got the EU cookie law covered for you.

Here’s the deal:

Changes to PECR came into effect in May 2011, requiring marketers to  audit their websites for types of cookies in use, inform visitors that the site is using them, and gain each visitor’s consent for their use.

Due to industry concerns about implementing the changes, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) granted a year’s exemption on imposing sanctions for non-compliance.

Your time is up as of the end of this month.

The bottom line is you’re going to need to implement some software if you want to continue using cookies.

We just held a sell-out seminar  for marketers wanting to know what they need to do make sure their websites are compliant with the regulations.

Luckily, we filmed the whole thing, so you can watch it, get up to date and get compliant. Just click the play button below.

The consultants here at dotAgency - dotMailer’s sister web design and search agency – have created a cookie compliance package that includes a website audit, and advice on compliance next steps.

For just  £1500, you can escape a potential £500000 fine. How’s that for value?

Call Ben Staveley on 0207 654 8686 if you’d like to learn more.  But don’t leave it too late. 

You can read more posts by Luella Ben Aziza here

The May #emailhuddle is almost upon us. This month, we’ll be discussing email automation – what is means to email marketers in the real world.

#emailhuddle was created to provide a platform for knowledge to be shared and somewhere for email marketers at all levels of expertise to get to know one another and share best practice for an hour.

This month’s #emailhuddle will be held on Wednesday May 30th at 4pm and discussions will cover the following:

TRIGGERS
What triggers do you use to automate your campaigns?
What is your best trigger tip?
Is there any part of email marketing that can’t or shouldn’t be automated?

SEGMENTATION
Does advanced segmentation help with email automation?
What kinds of audience segmentation is most suited to automation?

DYNAMIC CONTENT

What works best?
What advice do you have for those new to dynamic content?
What are the common results and success metrics you use?

To register for the May #emailhuddle or to suggest questions you would like us to discuss, please visit this link – http://tweetvite.com/event/emailhuddlemay

You can read more posts by Cliff Guy here

So the development team have been powering through all the thoughts and suggestions in our support forum and here’s the latest round-up of all the updates

Brand new drag & drop Image Manager

Oh boy – we think you’re going to love what we’ve done to the Image Manager tool in our template editor.

Thanks to feedback from dotMailer users, we’ve totally reimagined how images work in dotMailer and given the Image Manager tool a complete makeover.

• Now you can upload and file multiple images in no time, just by dragging & dropping them.
• Find images in seconds using the keyword search.
• Get your pics super-organised with nested folders.

Read more

Get personal with our new drag & drop dynamic content builder

Set up marketing automation in minutes!
Imagine being able to define and create powerful, rule-based dynamic content in your campaigns, in minutes – just by dragging & dropping. Well guess what? In dotMailer, now you can.

• Drag dynamic content elements straight into your campaign template.
• Drag & drop text and images to create dynamic content variations in minutes.
• Easily define dynamic content rules with our new drag & drop query builder.
• Clone dynamic content and rules in a mouse click for use in other campaigns.

Read more

An updated Facebook email signup form tool.

Ensure all your social ‘pals’ can signup to your emails with this new Facebook email signup form. Find out how

3 new API methods for images: Get; Create; Upload.

You can read more posts by Emma Raw here

A new ripple of change in the world of search marketing came in the form of a Google algorithm update recently; code name Penguin.

Other than trying to work out why Google is targeting my favourite creatures, the recurring question on marketers’ lips is ‘what’s changed’?

It’s clear that While Panda – Google’s previous update – was more focussed on content quality, Penguin’s aim is to remove spam and ‘unnatural’ rankings.

Some of the things that can be deemed spam…

Read the rest of this entry »

You can read more posts by Adnan Miah here

Cabbages and Roses are a premium quality homeware and women’s clothing retailer based in Chelsea. They identified the need for increased functionality for their online store, and were looking for a new design agency, with fresh ideas.

Their previous website platform had limited ecommerce capabilities which restricted what they could be achieved online. Problems included:

• Limited product order functionality
• No customer account ability
• Online ordering was long winded resulting in a low conversion rate

We quickly identified that all and more of their desired functionality could be achieved by migrating to the ecommerce platform Magento. So, after a short build period of less than a month, we launched a gorgeous new website with improved functionality including:

• Significantly improved usability and design
• Comprehensive customer account facility for quick product reordering
• Product search facility
• Product review functionality
• Customer ‘wish list’ system

So, take a look at the site at www.cabbagesandroses.com. Watch out for phase 2. Let us know your thoughts below. And if you’re looking to solve any of the issues above on your site – now you know who to contact!

You can read more posts by Justin Tyler Broomes here

Want to become a better email marketer, boosting your results and driving up your email ROI?

We have just the ticket. dotMailer’s MD, Tink, being a member of the email marketing councils of both the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), has brought the two together to organise this hands-on half-day workshop to help you develop and apply best practice.

You’ll learn how to approach:

• email marketing strategy
• data acquisition and management
• segmentation and targeting
• design and content
• testing and refinement
• measurement and evaluation
• and legals and compliance

And you’ll get to soak up all the pro tips that the IAB and DMA have to offer, in an ultra practical session where you can address your specific challenges. The next event will be held on the 25th June 2012.

Find out more and get yourself a ticket here before they sell out, and don’t forget to leave any pro tips you discover in the comments box below. It’s your time to shine!

You can read more posts by Luella Ben Aziza here

We know it’s what you’ve all been waiting for, and as if by magic *tad-dahhh* here it is…you can now upload pictures, logos and all things beautiful anywhere in your survey.

Like everything in dotSurvey, inserting images is super easy and flexible. Simply drag in an image field and drop it wherever you want; in the header, into the main question area, the choice is yours.

Then simply browse to your file and select like you would in any other word program, and hey-presto! Your image is inserted. You can upload .jpeg, .gif and .png files.

Read the rest of this entry »

You can read more posts by Emma Raw here

In tonight’s product update, we introduced our new image manager and side-panel in EasyEditor. Together, they provide a superior way to upload and organise your images: uploading, moving, renaming, cropping – you name it, it’s now easier and faster and, yes, cooler.

Firstly: the number one thing you’ve all been asking for in our forums was the ability to remove images directly from EasyEditor.  We heard you, and now all it takes to remove an image is to drag it into the bin.

We’ve done more than that though – a lot more.

Read the rest of this entry »

You can read more posts by Michael Duxbury here

Dynamic Content is a powerful way to automatically target your email campaign content to each individual recipient.

Imagine being able to define and create powerful, rule-based dynamic content in your campaigns, in minutes – just by dragging & dropping. Well guess what? In dotMailer, now you can.

• Drag dynamic content elements straight into your campaign template
• Drag and drop text and images to create dynamic content variations in minutes
• Easily define dynamic content rules with our new drag & drop query builder
• Clone dynamic content and rules in a mouse click for use in other campaigns

Read the rest of this entry »

You can read more posts by Cliff Guy here

Recent email consumer research we undertook here at dotMailer shows that 52% of consumers now access emails through their phones.

So it’s pretty clear that mobile devices and smartphones are changing the way we as consumers approach email.

But there remains confusion and uncertainty amongst many marketers about what this mobile

Luckily, we’ve put together a few tips to hopefully make things a bit clearer.

1.    Make sure your website and email are optimised for mobile

Even if your email renders perfectly on a mobile device, if a recipient clicks through and finds a website that isn’t optimised they will be unlikely to convert.

Read the rest of this entry »

You can read more posts by Cliff Guy here