AOL & Certified E-Mail: DMA Presents Feb. 24 Virtual Seminar on AOL-Goodmail's New Option in E-Mail Delivery

February 13, 2006 – The Direct Marketing Association will host an online forum on Friday, February 24 at 1:00 p.m. EST for marketers to hear directly from America Online (AOL) and Goodmail about how the proposed CertifiedEmail system presents marketers with a complementary premium system for e-mail delivery.  This new system will provide an additional and optional way for marketers to communicate with their customers.  It will complement AOL's traditional WhiteList Service.

At DMA’s virtual seminar, AOL, Goodmail, Williams-Sonoma, and DMA representatives will offer advice on what issues marketers need to consider in evaluating whether CertifiedEmail should be used in their campaigns.

In brief, the take-aways for marketers participating in this online seminar will include:

·         You might choose to pay to send some portion of the e-mail in your marketing program.

·         But, you will still be able to use the AOL Whitelist Service without a premium.

·         Your e-mail reputation still matters, whether you choose to send via CertifiedEmail or through organic (whitelist) systems.  So, list hygiene, e-mail authentication, and other best practices are critical.

Background:

On January 30, 2006, AOL announced it will begin to provide marketers with a premium Pay-For-Assured Delivery (postage) e-mail model called CertifiedEmail powered by Goodmail Systems.

This announcement means that if a marketer wants to be assured delivery to his/her AOL customers, he/she can choose to pay for "postage" purchased from Goodmail, and be subject to Goodmail's review of their e-mail sending practices.  Goodmail will be providing the CertifiedEmail technology and sender compliance services to AOL.

CertifiedEmail will allow marketers to take advantage of substantial AOL privileges when sending to AOL subscribers, including:

·         Assured delivery (without filtering),

·         CertifiedEmail inbox icon,

·         Full message functionality including images and links and

·         Detailed delivery reporting.  

At the February 24 Virtual Seminar, AOL's Postmaster Charles Stiles and GoodMail's CEO Richard Gingras will talk about how to determine if your e-mail program is likely to benefit from CertifiedEmail and how you can test it in 2006. 

They will also take questions from marketers on topics including:

·         How to sign up for a test

·         How much does the new system cost

·         How does CertifiedEmail complement authentication technologies

·         Future plans of AOL's WhiteList and Enhanced White List

·         Pros and cons of e-mailing your AOL customers without CertifiedEmail

In addition AOL and GoodMail will talk about why some marketers like the NY Times and American Red Cross have chosen to use CertifiedEmail.

To register or learn more about the February 24 virtual seminar, which will be held at 1:00 p.m. EST, visit http://www.the-dma.org/seminars/certifiedemail.

The cost of the virtual seminar is $99 for members of DMA’s Council For Responsible E-mail, $149 for DMA members, and $199 for non-members.

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