For those not familiar, Mad Libs are books that have a short story on each page, but with many of the key words replaced with blanks. Beneath each blank is a category, such as noun, verb, place or name. One player asks the other players, in turn, to contribute a random word as specified by each blank, but without revealing the context for that word. Finally, the completed story is read aloud. The result is usually silly and somewhat nonsensical but altogether fun.

A recent article by Luke Wroblewski of Yahoo! Inc. shows how using Mad Libs pays off when designing registration forms. Looking at one registration form before and after switching to a Mad Libs format, the results show that switching to a Mad Libs style form increased form completions by 25-40%. Wroblewski points out that two versions of this form are being used at Vast.com and Kelley Blue Book.

Who knew that forms could be so much fun?

I’ve never used that idiom before, but in this case, I feel compelled to use it in response to an article in BtoB Magazine that actually promotes the use of unsolicited commercial email (UCE). In the article, Gary Halliwell, CEO of NetProspex, says that “there’s nothing prohibiting a marketer from sending an e-mail to someone who hasn’t opted in. The recession has forced us to drop this etiquette.”

Everyone has a different definition of what spam is, yet I think we can all agree that at a baseline it starts with unsolicited commercial email — promotional messages sent to consumers who have not requested them. My feeling is that just because we are burdened by an economic recession right now does not give us license to abandon the principles of responsible, permission-based email marketing. By lowering our standards when the going gets tough, we risk losing our industry’s credibility with consumers altogether.

I’ll keep my underlying point here brief: PLEASE DON’T SEND SPAM! If you’re still new to email or striving for more education, please refer to these best practice guides which include recommendations and guidelines that the vast majority of the email industry follow:

• Direct Marketing Association US
• Direct Marketing Association UK
• Email Sender & Provider Coalition
• Messaging Anti-Abuse Working Group

I recently saw a great example from Rubio’s Fresh Mexican Grill showing how to request a boatload of subscriber information in a seemingly unobtrusive and gentle fashion. The key is to make your subscribers feel needed, appreciated, and welcomed when they read your emails and when they divulge their personal secrets. In the case of Rubio’s, they did not even have to give me a coupon or discount to encourage my participation. (I would note that offering a discount can be helpful in other situations, though.)

Rubio’s sent me an email asking me to join an exclusive panel where I could share my opinions and advise the restaurant on what they are doing right, what they are doing wrong, and what they need to be doing better. This in itself is a great idea and goes well beyond the typical subscriber survey.

Once I clicked through the email I was sent to a page where I updated my demographics, answered a bunch of questions, and joined the panel. The questions went well beyond the typical demographics such as date of birth, gender, and location. They also asked my marital status, eating habits, education level, how many kids I have, how large my bank account is, plus much more. In other words, they asked me enough questions to make the US Census jealous!

The end result for me was that I did not feel like I was being hounded for information. And who knows, it might be kind of fun to see where this advisory panel idea goes. Rubio’s is doing something different in email marketing. Even the subject line – “An Exclusive Invitation for You” – was well thought-out, taking the approach of offering value (improved customer experience) rather than asking for something.

For the loyal readers of Email Responsibly, I thought I’d add some of my thoughts on the report and explain what these data points mean for the email industry at-large and the state of email marketing.

Let’s jump right in and have a look at what the report tells us:

Time Magazine was right
Way back in December 2006, a number of people (myself included) had a good laugh at the expense of Time Magazine, who named “You” as Person of the Year. At the time, the decision seemed like something of a cop-out and also bit out-of-touch with technology.

But looking at the data from our 2010 Digital marketer: Benchmark and trend report, I couldn’t help but think about Time Magazine and say to myself that they were right — maybe prematurely, but still correct nonetheless. Email marketing today, much like the rest of the Internet, is about you, sometimes even literally. Consider these points from our report:

• Four out of five industries (business products and services, consumer products and services, multichannel retail, travel and entertainment) used the word “you/your” more than any other word in their email subject lines. The fifth industry (catalogers) actually uses the terms “you/your” more than the other four industries (24% of the time), but they also happen to use the terms “free” and “ship” slightly more than that.
• The words “you/your” appear in 19.94% of all email marketing subject lines.
• According to the report, “The increase in usage of the term ‘you/your’ illustrates increased emphasis on businesses building more personal relationships with customers by addressing them directly.”
• According to the report, ”The top term — ‘you/your’ — indicates a clear connection between consumer product and service businesses and their individual customers. The percentages of any ‘top’ word are lower given the wide mix of businesses and product types in this vertical.”

Viral/WOM marketing is now a reality
Beyond these literal connections with “you, the customer,” the report also touches on the significant power shift in media today. The ability to empower consumers to act as marketers on your behalf — the phenomenon more commonly known as viral or word-of-mouth marketing — is no longer just a marketing pipe dream.

• The report illustrates that consumers themselves are embracing the concept of viral marketing and actually enjoy acting on behalf of the companies that they know and love; “consumers are increasingly likely to pass those deals on. The share of online adults who say that they are either likely or very likely to forward emails containing promotions or discounts on to others rose to 30 percent in 2009 from 28 percent in 2008.”

Email is key to driving website traffic
For all of the Internet proclamations pronouncing email to be a dead technology, the numbers say that on the contrary email is alive and well. In addition to providing direct, measurable revenue streams, email is also driving business website traffic in general. In the coming weeks we’ll look at how these numbers compare to traffic generated via social networking sites, but in the meantime we can see some impressive numbers from the report.

• “For most retailers, email messages are an important driver for return visits to their Websites. For example, in November 2009, 11 percent of the traffic to Overstock.com was referred from email, and 62 percent were returning visitors who had not visited the Website in the past 30 days.”

For more insights like these, as well as extensive coverage on related topics such as consumer insight, digital advertising, mobile marketing, and multichannel marketing, download a copy of the 2010 Digital marketer: Benchmark and trend report from Experian.com. And remember, it’s all about “you,” folks!

Here are the results listing the sender and the subject line. What do you think about these? Please share your thoughts!

Results:

• 34 subject lines were analyzed.
• 20 used Presidents’ (59%)
• 10 used President’s (29%)
• 4 used another variation (12%)
• 2 used both another variation and President’s in different emails (6%)

The longest subject line was:  Presidents Day Deals: LG 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV $999.99, Sony Blu-ray Player $176.99, Altec Lansing Speaker System $89.99, Pentax Digital Camera $62.39,..

PRESIDENTS’
Ebates: Save big with Presidents’ Day sales and Double Cash Back‏
Bluefly: EXTRA 20% OFF Presidents’ Day Sale – Now Up To 75% Off!
eBags: Presidents’ Day Weekend Sale – Our Best Deal is Back
HP: HP’s Presidents’ Day Sale STARTS NOW!
Disney Store: Presidents’ Day Sale Starts Today! Up to 25% Off
Bass Pro Shops: Save up to 50% during our Presidents’ Day Sale
Colorful Images: Celebrate A Presidents’ Day Flag-Waver, Valued Customer, with FREE S&H
Current Catalog: Extended for 24 hours! Double savings at our Presidents’ Weekend Sale!
Bluefly: Project Runway! See Who Won Last Night + Presidents’ Day Sale!
Bass Pro Shops: Presidents’ Day Sale – Save up to 50%
Amazon.com: Presidents’ Day Shoe Sale Up to 45% Off, Plus Free Shipping at endless.com‏
Dick’s Sporting Goods: Final Hours to Save Big on Presidents’ Day!
Overstock.com: Presidents’ Day Sale + Last Day $1 Shipping
Lane Bryant: Last Chance For Presidents’ Day Savings + New Must-Have Tees
HP: HP’s Presidents’ Day Sale – Save up to 50%
Radio Shack: Preview our Presidents’ Day 48-Hour Sale!
Cooking.com: President’s Day Weekend Savings – Save up to 75%
The Sportsman’s Guide: Presidents’ Day Sale! Savings Coupon from The Guide…
Bluefly: Presidents’ Day Sale featuring COATS – Now Up To 75% Off!
Newport News: Presidents’ Deal: FREE SHIPPING for one more day.

PRESIDENT’S DAY
Ann Taylor: President’s Day Sale: Take An Extra 40% Off Sale + 40% Off 1 Full-Priced Item!
Ann Taylor: Shop Our President’s Day Sale Now! 40% Off 1 Full-Priced Item + Extra 40% Off Sale Items
Office Depot: Hurry In for President’s Day Deals + $10 Coupon
Norm Thompson: President’s Weekend Event: 15% MORE OFF SALE!
Sam’s Club: Save big during the Serta® President’s Day Mattress Event; online and in-Club Feb. 10-15, 2010!
Spiegel: President’s Day Weekend Savings! EXTRA 25% OFF Already-Reduced Styles!
Office Depot: Celebrate President’s Day All Week + $20 Coupon
Banana Republic: Celebrate President’s Day with 25% off! Today only!
LOFT Outlet: President’s Day Sale: 50% OFF Spring Styles + Free Shipping
Ann Taylor: This Weekend Only–Our President’s Day Sale! 40% Off 1 Full-Priced Item + Extra 40% Off Sale Items

OTHER
LOFT Outlet: Presidents Day Sale…Savings Throughout The Store!
Banana Republic: Happy Birthday Mr. President! Save up to 40% + Free shipping.
Macy’s: Free Shipping + 2-day specials at the Presidents Day Sale!
Buy.com: Presidents Day Deals: LG 42″ 1080p LCD HDTV $999.99, Sony Blu-ray Player $176.99, Altec Lansing Speaker System $89.99, Pentax Digital Camera $62.39,..

For the record, Wikipedia has the following to say about the spelling of the national holiday known as Washington’s Birthday:

Because Presidents Day is not the official name of the federal holiday, there is variation in how it is rendered. Both Presidents Day and Presidents’ Day are today common, and both are considered correct by dictionaries and usage manuals. Presidents’ Day was once the predominant style, and it is still favored by the majority of significant authorities—notably, The Chicago Manual of Style (followed by most book publishers and some magazines), The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Webster’s Third International Dictionary, and Garner’s Modern American Usage. In recent years, as the use of attributive nouns (nouns acting as modifiers) has become more widespread, the popularity of Presidents Day has increased.^[10] This style is favored by the Associated Press Stylebook (followed by most newspapers and some magazines) and the Writer’s Digest Grammar Desk Reference (ISBN 978-1582973357).