Best Email Marketing Blogs Resource Center 

Anna Billstrom is right in there with you in the email trenches, and she writes candidly about what works, what doesn't and what should never have seen the light of day. She pulls no punches either, so if you like sharp, tight writing that doesn't read like a press release or a spec sheet, she's the blogger for you. She manages to marry the technical aspects of email to the marketing side, so that you can plan your campaigns on firmer footing. She also turns a gimlet eye on the commercial messages she receives and dissects them with detailed and intelligent analysis.

Tamara Gielen is the one to consult when you want an international perspective on email marketing. (You should, because you never know which country your messages go whizzing off to every time you send.) Tamara's home in Belgium and her job - Director of Email and Digital Dialogue Strategies at OgilvyOne Worldwide – give her a bird's-eye view of trends, attitudes and news.

Hers is the blog that many other marketing bloggers read first for her original news and perspectives. She is also your eyes and ears at the world's major email conferences, because she posts her notes to the blog soon after each event.

One of the best compliments you can give a vendor blog is another vendor admitting he reads it faithfully. That's the surreptitious honor afforded Campaign Monitor. This blog is written for users of the Campaign Monitor email software, but many issues – coding, deliverability, rendering across different email platforms, devices and readers – are universal. The company is in the forefront of the move to standardize many aspects of email design and deliverability, two topics you need to stay abreast of to improve your own performance.

The EEC launched in 2006 as a trade group by and for people who actually do email marketing. It was so successful it got a can't-refuse offer to join the Direct Marketing Association and has since evolved into a major information source. You'll find a fair bit of fresh news here every day, plus tips, best practices and viewpoints (which are newsy rather than self-promoting).

The posting traffic is relatively low, so you can keep up easily, and you don't have to be a member to get the posts. It's also useful for connecting and networking with your fellow email marketers, since you'll see contacts here who don't post in other places.

Ever wish you could sit in while your CEO thinks out loud about email marketing's challenges and rewards? That's what you get when you read Bill Nussey's blog posts. The Silverpop CEO reports on legal and technical issues, muses about issues of the day and shares strategic advice. Every well-written post is worth the few minutes it takes to read. Look for Bill's take on tech developments, strategy, legal issues and better use of your email software, whether you're a Silverpop client or not. Disclosure: Silverpop is an advertiser in good standing with Web Digest For Marketers.

John is one of those tech wizards who can take scary, complicated email issues and distill them for the non-techs in the audience. He's the one to follow for the first news about changes and developments on email delivery, unsolicited email and legal issues, among other topics. You won't get marketing insights here, but you will be able to understand and stay ahead of developments on the tech side that can help or hurt your own performance.

His perspectives and advice sometimes run counter to the herd as well, given that he's farther out there on the edge than many email experts or consultants. But, that's a good thing!

Email is a key channel for e-commerce marketers, but it is only one of several in an integrated marketing program that also includes print, broadcast, direct mail, SEO and social networks. How to integrate your email campaigns and make them work with rather than independent of (or even against) your other channels is multichannel marketing guru Kevin Hillstrom's mission.

His blog outlines real-world strategies and looks at ways to sew all the channels together so they work in harmony. If you're a marketing or retail executive, you should be following what Kevin says in his meaty, data-driven posts. This veteran of retail powerhouses like Nordstrom, Lands' End and Eddie Bauer knows a thing or three about making channels work.

Mark's blog is an excellent combination of his own tips and advice and abstracts of worthwhile articles he picks up from other online sources. He has plenty of street cred as a best-practices email guy and he has a good eye for articles that both advance the practice for more experienced users and answer basic newbie questions. You'll find references to blogs, newsletters and forum posts that otherwise slip off the radar.

If you're involved in any aspect of e-commerce with an active email channel, this blog is required reading. If it's happening in retail email, Chad White will report it here, including hits and misses in copy and promotions. Especially useful is the Subject Line Index, which you can use to see what your competition is up to and which subject lines are currently most popular. Just be sure you don't end up in Chad's Hall of Shame!

Laura Atkins maintains a relatively low profile in the noisy world of email and marketing blogs, but she always manages to be at the front of the line with original reporting and commentary on email issues, especially for commercial senders coping with unsolicited email filters, deliverability and ISP issues. She's a consultant who works directly with large senders, so she knows what you're contending with and what you have to correct in both content and technology to send more email. She keeps a close eye on what the big ISPs are up to and often has the first word on changes or decisions that can hurt your deliverability.